Fourteen Things to Happen in Prophecy

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This is a follow up to the sermon I brought on The Coming Economic Tribulation, I just want to emphasize that even though we brought out all the things that are going to happen with the dollar, please understand that it’s not going to happen instantly, it’s not going to happen overnight, and the reason I gave it is because there is time to prepare, there is time to avoid some of these things and total disaster. To give us a greater perspective, so we know it’s not going to happen right away. I’ve given this sermon periodically just as a guide so we can focus on what we need to focus on, which is before the end comes. How close are we to the end?

It seems like every time a disaster happens, every time something major happens, some preacher somewhere says, ‘Oh, the end is here, the Great Tribulation is ready to start.’ There are some people saying that the Tribulation is going to start in five years. Well, let’s look and see. We’ve been wrong! Every human endeavor to say when the end would be has been wrong. Why is that? It’s very simple, Jesus said so!

Let’s start here in Matt. 24; that is the focal chapter for a lot of the events that are going to happen at the end-time. We’ll be back and forth between there and other Scriptures. We’re going to follow it through because this is one whole section to the end of this chapter, which tells us the things we need to look for, and tells us how we need to do it, and show us that the most important thing that we need to understand is not to understand the prophecies perfectly, but we need to realize how we are in right standing with God at all times. That is the important thing. Whether you know or don’t know Scripture, whether you know or don’t know prophecy, is not going to be a key as to whether you’re going to spared or not, or saved or not. Your standing with God is the important thing! Then you can follow Matt. 24 with Matt. 25 and he parable of the ten virgins and the parable of talents and so forth. Everything is not as it appears, and the reason that it is not as it appears is because we don’t know exactly how far things are going to go before the end comes.

Now, we’ll cover some of the other parts of the first part of chapter 24, but I want to pick it up in Matthew 24:32: “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branches have already become tender, and it puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. In like manner also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors” (vs 32-33).

So, you have to have all of these things. It’s kind of like a big stage and each one of these things would be an actor in the final scene of the play. You’ve got to have all of these things in place. If you have some of them, then that gives us some indications. But, if you don’t have all of them, then it’s not going to happen. We’ll take a look at that because that is a very key thing.

Verse 34: “Truly I say to you, this generation shall in no wise pass away until all these things have taken place.” {note sermon: Two Generations} These things applied to the time just before 70_A.D. Many of the things which transpired, which are listed here, but not all of them, were there. That’s why we have to understand that there is a type and antitype. The type was a generation which ended in 70_A.D.; the antitype is a generation which ends with the end of this age.

Verse 35: “The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away. But concerning that day, and the hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” [Acts 1:7] (vs 35-36). He doesn’t leave us clueless. He gives us many clues, many things to watch for, and many things to look at.

Verse 37: “Now as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be at the coming of the Son of man. For as in the days that were before the Flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark” (vs 37-38). This also implies there was economic activity, there was a lot of things going on which are taking place today. We won’t go through a lot of those, but it has to do with science and genetics and technology.

Verse 39: “And they were not aware until the Flood came and took them all away; so shall it also be at the coming of the Son of man.”

The coming of the Son of man is a broader period than just the particular day in which He returns. The coming of the Son of man includes all of these events. Like He said, ‘When you see all of these things’ know it’s at the door.

Verse 40: “Then two shall be in the field; one shall be taken, and one shall be left; two women shall be grinding at the mill; one shall be taken, and one shall be left. Watch, therefore, because you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming” (vs 40-42).

Let’s look at it this way: Rev. 12 does tell there is a place of safety for some of the people of God. This tells us how it’s going to happen, but this is also included in the coming of the Son of man. If you’re taken to a place of safety, apparently by the angels of God, has not the coming of Christ come upon you to take you to a place of safety? Yes, indeed!

Most Sunday-keeping Protestants believe that this has to do with what they call the ‘rapture’—which the word is not in the New Testament at all—in which all Sunday-keeping ‘Christians’ who have accepted Jesus will be raptured away and spared the Tribulation. Well, they’ve never asked the question then: If they’re all spared the Tribulation, how come Rev. 5 tells us that there will be the martyrdom of the saints. This is going to be an overview. We’re not going to get bogged down in details, because this is an overview. This tells us our constant responsibility in watching for these 14 things.

Verse 43: “But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have been watching, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you also be ready. For the Son of man is coming at a time that you do not think” (vs 43-44).

This is also important to understand going back to their day. They had to be ready, and even though many of these things were transpiring exactly as Jesus had said, it wasn’t the time. But what if they weren’t ready, then they would not be in the Kingdom of God. This is telling us that regardless of where we are in history; regardless of how close or far away we are from the end and the return of Christ, we always have to be ready! That’s a key thing!

Verse 45: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom his lord has set over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he comes shall find so doing…. [regardless of what time] …Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his property. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming’” (vs 45-48). Here’s something else, too. This brings us into another aspect of how Christ comes upon you. Can He come upon you individually without returning to the earth? Of course! That’s what it’s talking about here.

Verse 49: “And shall begin to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” Tie that in with the harlot of Rev. 17 and the prophecies of Rev. 13, 18 and so forth]

Verse 50: “The lord of that servant will come in a day that he does not expect, and in an hour that he does not know.” In other words, God’s judgment is going to come upon him. That’s what He’s talking about here. If it is not the literal return of Christ that is going to happen, there is a coming of Christ’s judgment and Jesus will come upon you for judgment in an hour that you don’t know, in a time that you don’t think.

Verse 51: “And he shall cut him asunder and shall appoint his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We need to really understand and know these things.

Let’s fill in some of the blanks; let’s look at some of the events that Jesus told us that would happen. And then we will see on an individual basis, because there’s an overall picture that is going to happen to the whole world, and then there are individual causes which are leading to that. We’ll see it.

Matthew 24:1: “And after going out, Jesus departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to point out the buildings of the temple.” They were up on the Mt. of Olives looking down into the Kidron Valley and there was a 650-foot wall coming from the bottom of the valley up to the top of the wall of the temple. It was quite an awesome thing they were looking at.

Verse 2: “But Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here even a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.’ And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him alone, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the completion of the age?’” (vs 2-3).

Remember, we already read when you see all these things coming to pass, know that it is ‘at the door.’ It always begins this way, and here is the cause of all the troubles and difficulties we have in the world today.

Verse 4: “Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ”; and they shall deceive many’” (vs 4-5). It says a little later that there will be false prophets that show ‘great signs and wonders.’ Many! We have more ‘Christian’ denominations—true and false—we have more people preaching in the name of Christ that at any time in history. Are they leading people astray? Yes, indeed!

Verse 6: “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars…. [That’s all we hear—isn’t it?] …See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet,”

I’ve got Langer’s Encyclopedia of History, which is a synopsis of history. It is filled with one war after another war, after another war and leaders assassinating each other, killing each other, building empires, destroying empires, building kingdoms, destroying kingdoms. This is what He’s talking about here:

Verse 7: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.” That’s exactly what we have today. There’s famine in parts of the world. There is pestilence. There are also manmade pestilences. More that more people are dying because of the early approval of medications and drugs to sell on the American market.

I tell you what, you look at some of these ads for drugs on television; just put it on mute and read the words. Going to cause heart disease, mental disorders, liver destruction, all of these things. Then you think: How can there be any benefit from that? That is another pestilence that has not been figured in addition to the ones you have like flu and even tuberculosis and leprosy are beginning to become common in America as well as many, many different diseases. With the lower immune systems that are developing in people today, when some of these things happen it’s going to go Slam! Bam! Boom! It’s really going to be something!

Earthquakes in different places. Well, let’s see: Japan has had at least a half-dozen major earthquakes. The Philippines has suffered from four huge typhoons. I was kind of reminded what happened in Florida—four hurricanes came through there; four through the Philippines and they’re almost exactly opposite each other when looking on a globe. It made me ask: I wonder what the connection is between them? I don’t know!

Verse 8: “Now all these things are the beginning of sorrows.” This doesn’t tell us how long the sorrows are or how intense they are, but it’s going to end up in this:

Verse 9: “Then shall they deliver you up to affliction… [today we are edging closer and closer to that point] …and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” We’re getting to the point that anyone who professes any Christianity is hated, despised, ridiculed, persecuted, and even arrested.

Verse 10: “And then shall many be led into sin and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold” (vs 10-12). The next verse tells us something very profound. It tells us this is going to be a much more protracted period of time than we have imagined.

Verse 13: “But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved.” That’s a key, important thing! It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish! There are two ways of enduring to the end:

1. to the end of your life; faithful unto the end
2. if you survive everything that goes on, and are actually alive when Jesus returns, and are faithful to the end, then you will be saved

Let’s look at it on an individual basis. As we look around and we see people out there doing their own thing, going their own way, doing the things that they desire, this tells us how it happens on an individual as well as collective basis. Here it’s more individual. In Matt. 24 it gives us an overview. Here in 2-Tim. 3 it gets down to a personal basis. Everything that people do on a personal basis can be multiplied over and over and over again. This is how God makes judgments on the nations, as we’ve seen in the past.

2-Timothy 3:1: “Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, braggarts, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, despisers of those who are good, betrayers, reckless, egotistical, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (vs 1-4).

When you add all of that up and see how this is in the society, this is portrayed not only in society but also in entertainment and movies and television. In spite of all this now, here’s what happens:

Verse 5: “Having an outward appearance of Godliness…” You look at the things that are happening in this nation, and yet, what do we keep saying? We are Christian nation! Oh, really? With all the heinous things that are going on?\

“…but denying the power of true Godliness. But as for you, turn away from all these. For from men such as these come those who are worming their way into houses, and are gaining control over empty-headed gullible women given over to various sins, being driven by all kinds of lust. They are always learning but are never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth” (vs 5-7). That’s exactly where we are in society!

Let’s see another thing that is causing this. Hos. 4 is the collective evil behavior of this society. In 2-Tim. 3 it emphasizes the individual, but here it shows the collective result of these things all put together. It’s quite interesting!

Hosea 4:1: “Hear the Word of the LORD, children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, ‘There is no Truth…’” Where can you find Truth? If you have been following the trying to take Christ out of Christmas, they never ask: Was He ever in it? There is now a radical secularism that is sweeping the country in league with the radical homosexual movement, which is seeking to destroy everything of God and everything of religion and it is trying to abolish the Truth! That fulfills this.

“‘…nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and the committing of adultery they break out; and blood touches blood’” (vs 1-2). There you have this society we’re living in.

Let’s look at the things, in the backdrop of all of this, that have to take place before the end comes. Let’s look at it this way, let’s run a scale of 1-10 and let’s see the fulfillment that we have in some of these things. We will see there’s a partial fulfillment before our eyes today; other things they have to develop much more.

I. The King of the North/Beast/UN

There must be a King of the North which is also the beast power. Let’s come to the book of Daniel 11. We see two things:

1. King of the North
2. King of the South

Daniel 11:40: “And at the time of the end, the King of the South shall push at him. And the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and sweep through. He shall also enter into the glorious land…” (vs 40-41)—Palestine today.

In order for there to be a King of the North, there has to be a setup, a government, for him. There has to be a people, countries and nations under him. It does look like this is going to be the EU, United States of Europe. But the central leader is not even apparent, yet. At the present time, they have two years to ratify the EU constitution. There is time before the King of the North comes. But let’s understand that if there’s a King of the North on the scene there’s very little time left. On scale of ten, let’s put this at about two-and-a-half. Of course, more and more they’re saying to get the UN out of America—which is a very interesting thing. They probably will; probably go to Europe and that makes it right in their home country.

Looking at this again, it shows that he has to have an army. Right now, Europe—even though they are looking to come together in the European Union—is having a lot of trouble with the military. The reason being is that there are very few young people eligible to go into the service and few even want to go into the service. That’s a big problem. How is their army going develop? That means it’s going to take time. Go back and look at how Hitler developed his army. It took quite a period of time in order for that to happen. That will have to be.

Another thing in Europe: There was a special report put out on Eurabia, showing all the Muslims that are in Europe. They don’t know what to do with them; they don’t know how to handle them. They are sitting on ticking time-bombs, worse than America as far a potential terrorist activities. Somehow they’ve got to solve that.

II. King of the South

There is no amalgamation of the Arab nations so there could be a King of the South. They are planning to have a Pan-Arab Common Market. That’s going to take time to get together. It’s going to take time to get the Muslim nations to where they will work together. I mean, we’re dealing with the nature of people who are wild, who are savage, that have everyone against his neighbor and a sword in his hand to do it. So, it’s going to take quite a while for the King of the South to come on the scene and to get organized so that he presents any threat to the King of the North. On a 1-10 scale of fulfillment, we could put there zero, at the present time.

How quickly will it come to pass? We don’t know! Is the war in Iraq going to be key to that? Probably! So, let’s see how those things come. All of these things take time.

III. World Trade

I covered that on The Coming Economic Tribulation. But there is world trade. If you don’t believe it, go into the famous/infamous—depending on your perspective—Wal-Mart and read where these things are made: China (probably 10-1); Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica; all of those things. We have world trade coming and going. It’s amazing! If you have an opportunity to watch anything on the History Channel, watch about how they ship goods and supplies into America in these containers, and they now have it where they can pretty well detect everything that is in there.

This tells us there is great economic activity at the end. This economic activity is fostered by the religion of the world, and it is fostered by the economics we have in the world. This is the angel that came from heaven:

Revelation 18:2: “And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication…” (vs 2-3). So, all nations are deceived and the instrumentality behind that, the personality, is Satan and his demons—deceiving the whole world.

“…and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her…” (v 3). This has got to be referring to Rome, because all nations have ambassadorships to Rome. She has to modify a little more. She’ll do it as long as it’s to advantage in gaining power; she will do it!

“…and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury” (v 3). These merchants of the earth are these great transnational or international corporations that we have in the world. Some of the great brand names that you buy things from. You can name them in electronics, clothing, sportswear, machinery, goods—absolutely amazing!

That’s all part of the world trade. On a scale of 1-10, what could we say of world trade? 6 ½-7, maybe 8! Pretty close to that. It’s going all the time. That’s why they can’t come against the dollar yet, because we are the great consumer in the world. If they come against the dollar too quickly then they’ll have no place to sell their goods; they will have no money to make their products. So, they’re going to back off and be cautious, and they will do what they’re going to do when they can cause the least amount of harm to their economies.

Another thing they want out of America is United States technology. The technology that we are giving them is old technology, which they think is new technology. There are technologies that are being developed now, which are going to stand our hair on end! Absolutely amazing things, which will boost world trade.

IV. Mark of the Beast

{note sermons in this series for the mark of the beast} The mark of the beast is not only coming, it is here! What we are going to see is not only is it going to be governments, because governments are now telling corporations: You must have ways of ensuring that there cannot be terrorist sabotage in products and in food. They have mandated that every food product will have RFID—Radio Frequency Identification—chips in everything that is sold: vegetables, groceries, clothes, goods, things, apparatuses. They will all have a RFID. Little did we know that the mark of the beast would also be including all of those things.

All of these things are leading up to the mark of the beast more and more and more. We already have it where people can get chipped. Of course, for identification purposes, but we have also seen how the mark of the beast is for control. The ultimate thing is to have every human being on earth with a mark in the right hand, a chip in the right hand or in the forehead, for control and identification and also they will invent police enforcement things, which then by radio frequency they can disable anyone who has the chip—if they’re a criminal they can disable them.

It’ll be total control! That’s why God is so against the mark of the beast, because you give up your free will to have it! This is what is happening with all this terrorist thing. Laws are being created and enacted and who knows what’s in that 600-page thing that Pres. Bush signed on the 9/11 Commission terrorist recommendations. We don’t know what’s in there. Most of the Senators and Congressmen don’t know what is in there. How many read the 600-pages? Well, there are a lot of things buried in there. Could it be that it’s going to be giving authorization to tag criminals first. We need to know where criminals are, so we will tag them first.

This is how Satan wants total control. It says, Revelation 13:14 “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet was alive. And he was given power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast also could speak; and he causes everyone who will not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (vs 14-15).

There’s going to be absolute world-control over every human being! We’re getting closer to that. We’ll give this an evaluation here in just a minute. So, it’s going to be you’re either going to worship the beast or you’re going to be killed.

Verse 16: “And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to receive a mark in their right hands, or in their foreheads; so that no one may have the ability to buy and sell unless he has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (vs 16-17).

Everything is getting numbered. All these numbering systems are leading up to the implantation of the chip in the right hand or in the forehead. When it comes to the implantation of the chip, that is the last step. Many of these things leading up to it are not the mark of the beast, but are precursors to it. Yes, there are three options:

• you take the mark of the beast
• you get killed
• God takes you to a place of safety

Those are the only three options, nothing else will work.

Now, with everything that we’ve covered on the mark of the beast, on a scale of 1-10 where are we? When we consider the whole world and everything that there is, we consider the products that are coming, we are probably at 5-1/2 or 4, 4-1/2 to 5, say between 2 and 5 depending on what you’re looking at. With RFID they’re going to be able to track from production to packaging to wholesale distribution, sub-wholesale distribution, to retail distribution, to purchase and who purchased it. And they will be able to track it all within just seconds.

So, there won’t be anything that you can buy which will not be traceable. They even have it on these ‘purchase cards’ that you have. It records the date you purchase it. It can tell the date you purchase bread, what kind of bread, how old it was. When they have RFID on it, everything is going to be traceable! The government is now pushing all industries to do this. All things that comes in packages, everything that is produced.

Comment from someone who works in a fresh vegetable production plant where they have things like fresh lettuce packages, fresh frozen things—beans, corn, mixed vegetables, cauliflower, and so forth: They are working on these controls right now to do it where they can track it. They point out the benefits: if something happens on the production line—a piece of wood gets into some of the product—they can track exactly which packages it went to and take those off for they’ll save themselves from lawsuits and from hurting individuals who buy it. It will track everything. It’s going to be absolutely amazing what they’re going to be able to do with this. So, we have to say with the mark of the beast we’re between 2 & 5.

But understand this: There are billions and billions of things that this needs to go into. This is going to take time. This is going to take planning and implementation in making these little chips by the trillions! But it’s going to come! That’s why all these satellites have gone up through the years, all planning for this. This has been in the planning works for a long, long time. Now it’s coming to fruition.

(go to the next track)

Let’s understand this: The whole commercial setup in the world is going to be radically changed in the next few years. One of the great benefits that these new RFIDs and all of the global positioning will have—and it will be touted as wonderful thing—is that it will reduce theft. If someone steals something, they can just put the RFID code of what was stolen into the computer, send it to a global positioning satellite and find exactly where it is, just like that! If you don’t want to be arrested, they can send a receipt directly to you, thank you, your account has been billed. All of this is going to lead to the totally cashless society. We’re getting there very rapidly now.

You stop and think about your paycheck and checks that you write. You have no money. You have credits and debits and it’s all figures. Cash that you have is only psychologically worth what people accept it to be. There is no real money out there. So, the mark of the beast and the way for it has already been paved for years and years. It’s going to have to develop to where it’s going to encompass the whole world. So, this is going to take some time to do it, but it will come quite rapidly.

Think about how many computers there are in the world since they first had the personal computer. Hundreds of millions if not billions of them! How many people are on the Internet? Of course, with billions of people on the Internet, going to and fro in the world in seconds. This just shows you some of the potential that is there and how it’s going to happen. That’s how they traced down this woman who killed a woman and cut out her 8-month baby and took it home. They had her within a few hours. They would have had her sooner had the baby been counted a baby in the womb rather than a fetus. Technically, you cannot put out an ‘Amber Alert’ on a fetus, because it’s technically not considered a person, yet.

So this just shows you how this thing is going to be. Even without the mark of the beast,there is no place you are going to hide—period! We’re going to have to stand up for our faith one way or the other.

V. Kings of the North and East

Watch this carefully. Let’s come to Daniel, the eleventh chapter; here’s something that we haven’t put into the equation before. We’re going to put it into the equation. This is after the King of the North settles into Jerusalem.

Daniel 11:44: “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall alarm him. Then he will go forth with great fury to destroy and to utterly annihilate many.”

We need to understand that there is a lot of development yet to go on. These nations don’t rise in power instantly. It takes place over a period of time. China is rising. Japan has already risen. Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Pakistan and all of the countries from Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and all of the Soviet powers now called Russia. So when we get to the end, there will be two of these armed camps. The King of the South will not have a lot of military so it will be easy for the King of the North to come down there and take care of the ‘King of the South.’ But then, they’re going to be confronted with the ‘kings of north and the east.’

When we come to Rev. 9:2, here’s where it is where it talks about where he will go and take a way many. This is going to be the King of the North who will then have supernatural power of demons come out and assist him.

Revelation 9:2: “And he opened the bottomless abyss; and there went up smoke from the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power was given to them…” (vs 2-3). Here is this super-secret demonic retaliation weapon that he is going to have.

If you’ve seen anything concerning the rise of the Third Reich and the occult power, you will know those things exist and you will know that this is a reality. So the King of the North is going to have all of these demonic powers and he’s going to come against the other kings of the north and the kings of the east. It’s going to stymie their military movements, because they’re going to have power that’s given to them “…as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said to them that they should not damage the grass of the earth, grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only the men who did not have the seal of God in their foreheads. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months…” (vs 3-5). He’s going to buy five months of time by having them tormented or incapacitated.

“…and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death but will not find it; and they will desire to die, but death will flee from them. And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for war; and on their heads were crowns like those of gold; and their faces were like the faces of men; and they had hair like women’s hair; and their teeth were like those of lions. And they had breastplates like iron breastplates; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots drawn by many horses running to war” (vs 5-9). This is quite a powerful thing that is going to happen.

We need to understand that these are mammoth things that are going to occur. You don’t want to be around when this takes place. Right now, we don’t know exactly the development of this as it’s coming on a scale of 1-10, but we do know that Europe is going to develop, the kings of the north and the east are going to develop, which then will be simultaneous with fall of Israel. The further that Israel falls, the greater that these nations are going to rise. They don’t want to take away from Israel—that is modern America, England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada—at the present time. But they will later on. This is going to be quite an awesome thing!

Verse 11: “And they have over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the name he has in Greek is Apollyon [Satan the devil].” There’s going to be a retaliation, and here are kings of the east:

Verse 13: “And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God; and it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, ‘Loose the four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates.’ Then the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were loosed, so that they might kill a third of men; and the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred thousand-thousand; and I heard the number of them” (vs 13-16)—200-million! That can only come out of the kings of the east. Then it talks about their fierce war-making capacities and everything.

What we need to do is watch and see how this is developing. Right now at this present time, Russia and China are working together more than ever before. China and Iran are working together. Iran figures in the ‘kings of the east.’ Look what’s happening in North Korea. China is not going to expose itself or waste its power on an invasion until they are sure that they have the upper hand. This is why if China is involved in an invasion against Israel—America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Britain—it will be a small contingency of the armies that are listed here. Of course, we don’t know exactly how all of that is going to take place. But sooner or later the U.S. will come down, England will come down, and all of the modern ten-tribe nations of Israel will come down.

VI. Israel Will Lose Power

That’s not talking about the Jews alone, but isn’t it interesting, out of all this terrorist activity—what nations are united together? England, America, Canada will be—they’ll probably have a terrorist attack and they’ll be fully encamped with us—Australia and New Zealand. And all the rest of the nations of the world hate us. We can’t understand why the nations of the world hate us. Something has happened, because of the fulfilling of the prophecies. We’ll just have to see how this comes about. The power of Israel is going to gradually come down and it will be hit economically, first, as we covered in The Coming Economic Tribulation.

VII. The False Prophet/the Pope

If you’ve read anything about the Roman Catholic Church, if you’ve read anything about the Vatican, the power of the pope and things like this, you’ll understand that there is a revival of Catholicism that is coming about very slowly. But this Pope John Paul; I remember seeing him when he was inaugurated and that was back in 1977, and I thought to myself when I saw him give his greetings in 45 different languages, one right after the other. I said, ‘This has got to be it.’ This has got to be the last pope. Well, he’s not! More things have got to happen, and its going to enhance the power of the Catholic Church. They’re going to ecumenize with the Protestants. They’re going to ecumenize with the other religions of the world and develop what will look like a world religion. But the ecumenizing of Protestantism right now at the present time is their main goal. Let’s see what’s going to solidify the power of the pope and the Vatican. There are only three places in the New Testament that talks about the false prophet—Rev. 13, 16 & 19. But notice this, he’s going to work in tandem with the beast who will be the King of the North. We’ll tie this together in just a little bit.

Revelation 13:11: “And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon; and he exercises all the authority of the first beast before him… [which is worldwide, over ‘all nations and kindreds’ and so forth.] …and he causes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performs great wonders, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men” (vs 11-13). You’re going to have great revival of this great religious system. There is going to be the false prophet and the beast working together.

Let’s see how this comes together in 2-Thess., because this is going to be awesome. Remember, if we’re living in the days when this is happening, please understand there is hardly any time left. The beast and the false prophet working together will be this. As it says there in Dan. 11, the King of the North—who is the beast—comes down into the Holy Land and he goes into the temple. Let’s talk about this ‘mystery of lawlessness’ or the ‘mystery of iniquity.’

2-Thessalonians 2:1: “Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present. Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…” (vs 1-3). That apostasy is going to make an absolute division between the worshippers of Satan and the worshippers of God.

“…and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition” (v 3). So, there is a particular man that comes out of this system, and it is a system that has existed from the days of the Apostle Paul writing this in 52_A.D. He says it’s already working. There is only one counterfeit ‘Christian’ religious system, which traces itself back this far, and that is Roman Catholicism and the split off with the Orthodox.

Here’s what’s going to happen when the beast comes into his full power and marches into the temple, v 4: “The one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God”—and is designated so by the false prophet. That’s why they work together. Put in your notes: Dan. 8:23-27 where it talks about the beast power.

Verse 5: “Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time” (vs 5-6).

There is going to be a set time when he is revealed and he will first come on, approximately seven years before the end. And the first part of his reign is going to be miraculous, doing wondrous things, bringing peace to the world, being worshiped as God. He will have all the satanic power that he needs. This is going to be awesome. When we see, if we live to see, this man come on the scene, you know that the end is almost here. What we can say with this is this: As far as the ‘mystery of lawlessness’ it’s about 9-1/2 out of 10. All they need is the last pope.

The one who is going to be the beast we don’t know where he is. If it comes in our generation, he’s alive somewhere. He’s got to be born of some woman. We don’t know where he is, but when he comes on the scene you’re going to know. It’s going to be instant, 100% fulfillment at that time. The system is ready.

Verse 7: “For the mystery of lawlessness is already working; only there is one Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst.” God is holding it back for all the other prophecies to be coming on the scene. Remember where we started. ‘When you shall see ALL these things, know that the end is at the door.’

Verse 8: “And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)”—Rev. 19—that’s when it’s going to happen. He and the false prophet are going to be cast into the Lake of Fire

Verse 9: “Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. This is going to be amazing! The people of the world are going to flock and follow after this as the false messiah, the great savior of the world, the one who can bring peace on earth.

Verse 11: “And for this cause, God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie.” Why is He going to do that?

Verse 10: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved.” We’ll talk about this in a little bit because the love of the Truth is very profound and important for us. Today, everyone seeks a position. They don’t seek Truth. And because they’re not seeking Truth they don’t know what is happening to the Word of God. They don’t know what is happening in the world.

For example, a lot of people say, ‘Let’s not take God out of the public.’ Listen, He’s already gone! They don’t believe the Truth, and have pleasure in unrighteousness. So, that’s going to come. Along with it, there will be many false prophets and so forth that will go with it, as we have read.

VIII. Temple of God in Jerusalem

We just read here that he goes into the temple of God. So there must be a temple of God that is going to be built in Jerusalem, and the temple must be built before the two witnesses.

Revelation 11:1: “Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, ‘Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy City for forty-two months’” (vs 1-2).

There will be a rebuilding of a temple. When that happens, please understand this: With the way they are able to build things today, they can build the temple in a short period of time—within one year to 18 months, because the temple was really very small.

On a scale of 1-10, where are they on the temple? I would say, 3! They have the gowns. They have a lot of the ritual tools already made. They have the high priest implements all ready to go. They now have a new Sanhedrin. And there will have to be peace in Jerusalem with the agreement that the Jews will be allowed to build their temple. I also think at that time that the Spring of Gihon will start flowing and they will know exactly where to build it in the right place, because the western wailing wall has nothing to do with the temple. As you know that is part of Roman property.

When the beast goes into the temple of God, this is a key. If you live to see this, then you know you’re right smack in the middle of it. There was no rapture and you didn’t go. You didn’t make it to a place of safety. Now what are you going to do?

This tells us when the Tribulation will begin. It’s an absolute key. In order for the Tribulation to begin, this event must happen. A lot of people want to try and say the Tribulation is here, it’s upon us now. They have missed the whole point.

Matthew 24:15: “Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place’…” That can only mean the temple. Jesus was talking to the disciples and telling them that these things would be destroyed. The Holy Place is in the temple. It won’t be a tabernacle. You can rest assured that the Jews will not settle for just a tabernacle. It will be a temple.

“…(the one who reads, let him understand)” (v 15). In other words, when John canonized the New Testament, they did not understand this. He only understood from Rev. 11 that there will be a temple built, but he didn’t understand it because when it fell in 70_A.D. there was no man who came in who fulfilled Rev. 13. As a matter of fact, that was before Rev. 13 was even given. That’s why it says “…the one who reads, let him understand.”

Then He says, v 16: “Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house” (vs 16-17).

Verse 21: “For then shall there be great tribulation… [that’s when the Great Tribulation is going to start] …such as has not been from the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be again. And if those days were not limited…” (vs 21-22). The KJV says ‘cut short’ so a lot of ministers say ‘God could cut this short at any time.’ Not so! Then the words of Jesus would not be fulfilled. This means limited. He has limited the Tribulation to 3-1/2 years.

“…if those days were not limited there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be limited” (v 22).

IX. Two Witnesses

Two witnesses come on the scene after the temple is built. {see this series for sermons on the two witnesses} If you see the two witnesses come on the scene, and you see the miracles that they do from Jerusalem, you know that all hell is going to break loose in a matter of months.

X. Laodicean Church

We’ve talked a lot about the Laodiceans—haven’t we? Where are the Laodiceans? Everywhere! The whole society is Laodicean. All of Protestantism is Laodicean. Most of the Churches of God are Laodicean. So they’re going to have to repent and start doing the work of God. That’s why the Church has been scattered: to try and test everyone! Are you going to do what God wants?

• we worshiped the leader
• we worshiped the buildings and land
• we worshiped money

—so God took it all away! We all better be about repenting because if we’re not Laodiceans I don’t know how to understand the Bible very well. We all have to admit that and be about repenting.

XI. Where are the Philadelphians?

Very rare, very hard to find! You can do a study and compare the two of them yourself.

XII. Hating of Christians

I’ve got an article here where a man in Philadelphia and four others were arrested for preaching the Gospel on the curbside where they were having a ‘Gay Fest.’ We’re going to be hated. Anyone who names the name of Christ is going to be hated. Anyone who stands for God is going to be hated. This means that those Protestants who are neither/nor—kind of sitting on the fence—they’re going to have to make some decisions. But we are being hated more and more and more and the fact that we are hated in America more than any other nation is because we’re the only nation that believes in Christ—whether in sincerity or whether in error.

You think about it! Europe is secularized. It’s going to have to have a great Catholic revision in order to come to the fore. But America, they profess Christ. Even the President does. That’s why we’re hated. It says there in Matt. 24 that you’re going to ‘hated by all nations.’ We’re seeing it happen right now.

XIII. The Preaching of the Gospel

Matthew 24:14: “And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come.” What we thought as proclaiming to all the world really was not to all the world. Has not that generation passed? I mean, some of us straddle it a little bit, but when there were the radio programs and the television programs booming out all over the world, that generation has passed. That leader is gone! Many of those who were a part of it are getting old and heading to the finish line. Where is the Gospel being preached?

• How is going to be preached?

Christ is going to have to open the door because He promised the Gospel shall be preached and then the end shall come!

• How is that going to be? How long will it endure?
• In what form is it going to take place?
• How involved will the Churches of God be?

As I’ve mentioned before, if all 300 Churches of God repented and started doing the work of God the way that God wants them to, being empowered with His Holy Spirit, it could really make a great difference in the world. It would be hard to track down, because there’s not one organization, not one man, not one church—but 300 of them. Maybe that’s how it will come about; I do not know.

A lot of people say the two witnesses are going to preach the Gospel from Jerusalem. That’s true! But do you want to give up your responsibility? Then God says, ‘Why didn’t you preach the Gospel.’ Well, I was just waiting for the two witnesses. He’d say, ‘You go preach the Gospel to every creature. You go into all nations.’ That’s a continuous thing to do. How this is going to come about? How big it will get? how great it will get? We don’t know!

XIV. No Truth and No Faith

We said in Hosea 4 there is ‘no truth and no faith.’ That’s why Jesus said in Luke 18, ‘When the Son of man comes shall he find faith in the earth.’ That tells you something very profound—doesn’t it? It tells you there will be FEW true, faithful believers! It also tells us: Will there be the true teachings of the faithful doctrines of the Word of God? As we’ve seen, what they’re doing to the Bible. It is absolutely incredible! They’re still trying to keep God in the Constitution; they are forgetting that God is being taken out of the Bible. Of all things, the very Word of God, which is to tell us the Truth is being taken right out of the Bible by all of these terrible and absolutely satanic and awful translations that we see in the world today.

These fourteen things have been a little different than we’ve had in the past. We have to watch for the King of the North; the King of the South; world trade. Let’s go back before we finish that and we’ll take

• #12 on a scale of one to ten of hating Christians—about 4-1/2 or 5
• #13 preaching the Gospel to the whole world, preaching from the Churches of God—2 or 3
• #14 no Truth, no faith: Probably 5, because there are a lot of Protestants out there who think they have faith, but they have a false faith.

What does the term ‘shall He find faith on the earth’ mean? Knowledge of Christ only? Understanding of the doctrines? In a strict looking at it, it means the true doctrines then we’re probably down to .5. I we say that it includes everybody that believes that Jesus is the Messiah, and Christ is returning you can probably bring that up to about a 5.

Let’s go ahead and review these fourteen points—how long will it go, we don’t know.

1. King of the North
2. King of the South
3. world trade
4. mark of the beast
5. kings of the east and north
6. Israel isolated
7. false prophet and false prophets
8. temple
9. two witnesses
10. Laodiceans
11. Philadelphians
12. hating Christians
13. preaching the Gospel
14. no Truth, no faith in the earth

There’s a lot that has to happen. This is only an overview and many other smaller things, which fit into the overall picture, will be coming along and will be fitting into it and leading up to it. We need to keep on being prepared, keep on watching and these are the things to watch for, the 14 things that are coming in prophecy. Each one of these things is worth a sermon in itself—maybe two or three—but the overview of what we have will be filled in with the details as it comes down in the future. But this gives us an overview and guideline to see how prophecy will be fulfilled.

The main reason for this is so that we will not be led astray or be deceived by the events that are taking place.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

1. Matthew 24:32-51, 3-13
2. 2 Timothy 3:1-7
3. Hosea 4:1-2
4. Daniel 11:40-41
5. Revelation 18:2-3
6. Revelation 13:14-17
7. Daniel 11:44
8. Revelation 9:2-9, 11, 13-16
9. Revelation 13:11-13
10. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9, 11, 10
11. Revelation 11:1-2
12. Matthew 24:15-17, 21-22, 14

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Acts 1:7
• Revelation 12, 5, 17, 16, 19
• Daniel 8:23-27
• Luke 18

Also referenced:

Sermons:

• The Coming Economic Tribulation
• Two Generations

Book: Langer’s Encyclopedia of History

FRC:bo

Transcribed: 8-27-10

Reformatted/Corrected: 9/2014