morning and open up to Mark 13 as we continue in our study and preaching through the Gospel of Mark. And we're in Mark 13, verse 14 to 23. If you grab the bulletin on your way in, the notes are on the back of the bulletin. And we are in the midst of a study from the Gospel of Mark. which is called the Olivet Discourse. And just as a way, as we continue in this text of the Olivet Discourse, let us pause for one moment to review and to bring us up to date. We first saw, a few weeks ago, we first saw what the Olivet Discourse is not discussing. that's the church and the rapture of the church. They were a mystery at this time of the discourse, and they were only alluded to by Christ in the Gospels. And they weren't fully revealed, the rapture of the church and even the church being the body of Christ with the Jew and the Gentile together, they weren't fully revealed until the Apostle Paul wrote about them. So what is the subject of of the Olivet Discourse?" Well, I'm glad you asked that question. And to answer that question, in Matthew 24, verse 3, you don't have to turn there, but in Matthew 24, verse 3, which is the same subject matter, but it's Matthew's take on, and Matthew's writing on the Olivet Discourse, the disciples asked Jesus this question. What will be the sign of thy coming in the end of the world? So, of course, if Jesus is standing in front of the disciples, and if the disciples are asking Him the question, what is the sign of thy coming? It obviously can't be his first coming because he's already there. So it's talking about his second coming. And one thing that you and I need to understand as people who approach the Bible with a dispensational hermeneutic, we see a difference between the rapture of the church and the second coming of Jesus. The rapture of the church is imminent. It may happen at any time. And that's when you and I, if we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, if we're alive, we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Those who have gone on before us, who are in the graves, Their new bodies will burst through the ground, however God is going to do that, and we're all going to meet the Lord in the air. That's the rapture of the church. Then the events on the earth will take place, or what we call the tribulation period, the seven year tribulation period. So, the subject of the Olivet Discourse is the Second Coming of Jesus to set up His Kingdom, and the signs leading up to it, the Seven Year Tribulation. So, what we read in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 and 25, it's not signs leading up to the Rapture, but signs leading up to His Second Coming. When can the rapture happen? Any minute, right? It's imminent. It could happen right now, it could happen ten years from now, right? But that's not what this is talking about. Understand that, it's very important. Now, our last time we were together, we saw the events of the first half of the Tribulation period, with the unleashing of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, And what happens during that time? Remember, the church is already raptured. So after the church is raptured, the seals are released, and the first four seals release the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Antichrist is revealed, and wars and death and famine follow. And we saw in Mark, catastrophic events on the earth will take place. We saw the salvation and the sealing of the 144,000 Jewish people, male evangelists. And then we saw how Jesus warned that there'd be lots of deception going on in the world. Okay? It'll be interesting to read the newspaper. We won't be here. But what will... Well, newspaper. No one probably reads a newspaper. But it'll be interesting to read the headlines. the day after the rapture. How is it going to be explained? Aliens, I don't know, spontaneous combustion, whatever, you know. But of course, you know, and people will be made to believe a lie. But today, we are going to look at the events of the second half of the Tribulation. Now the Tribulation is a seven year period. And the scriptures tell us that that seven year period is not a good period. At all. But the scriptures tell us that it's divided in half, and even though the first half of the tribulation is not good, the second half of the tribulation is really bad. Okay? As we'll see today. That second half of the tribulation is called the time of Jacob's trouble by Jeremiah the prophet in in Jeremiah chapter 30 if you want to turn there Jeremiah chapter 30 in verse 1 The Bible says this The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. So here's direct revelation to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all these words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave their fathers, and they shall possess it." And we see some of this already partially fulfilled, right? Since 1948, where has Israel been? In the land. And prior to that, they were not. They were scattered. And these are the words, verse 4, that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child. Wherefore do I see every man with his hand on his loins as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas, that day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him, but they that serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. So, what is Jeremiah saying? There is a time of great trouble coming for Jacob. Who is Jacob? Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes. Jacob is the man who Israel is named after, because God changed his name to Israel. So there's coming a time when Jacob will be trouble, but in the midst of that trouble and out of that trouble, God will save them. And we have to believe that. God will save the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel today still has turned their back on God. Is God saving Jewish people? Yes. They're becoming part of the church. But there's coming a day where God's focus and attention, once again, will be on the nation of Israel. He will bring them to their knees. He will use other nations to do this. He will bring them to the point where the only hope they have is God. And He will burst through the clouds, and He will come, and He will save them. And they'll look at Him whom they have pierced, and they'll what? They'll weep and they'll mourn, but He will save them. So the judgment that is about to be released upon the earth, now back in Mark 13, the judgment that is about to be released on the earth that Jesus will talk about, it's judgment that's about to be released. And those who have rejected the Messiah is so severe that Revelation chapter 8 Verse 1 says there was silence in heaven for 30 minutes. So, Jesus comes and He opens the seals, and those seals begin to bring about the tribulation period, and judgment upon the earth. And as the next series of judgments are about to begin, all of heaven is silent for 30 minutes. Think about that. What is heaven filled with? God's praises, every day. Could you imagine what heaven must sound like right now? I mean, you know, angel singing, the redeemed singing, and it's just filled with the praise of God. And what is about to take place on the earth causes heaven to be silent. So I would say that that's pretty severe. So let's look at this text today, verses 14 to 23, and let's look at the second half of the tribulation. And Jesus makes them aware, verse 14, Jesus makes them aware of Daniel's prophecy. Look at verse 14, Mark 13, verse 14. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, let him that readeth understand. Then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains." Okay? So we've already seen the events of the first half of the Tribulation. It's bad. You and I are seeing visions of war on our TVs in Israel. We're seeing Gaza be decimated. Gaza is a city that is very small. I think there's two million people stuffed in that little bit of area, and it's just being that, friends, if our Bible is correct, and you know that it is, it's going to be worse. And when you see, Jesus says, the abomination of desolation, what does that mean? What does that phrase mean? What does Jesus mean? Why is He taking us back to Daniel? The abomination of desolation means the presence of an idolatrous person so detestable that it causes the temple to be abandoned and left desolate. Turn to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9 is, of course, the prophecy of the 70 weeks of Daniel. We've looked at this a little already. But understand something. In verse 27, this is what Jesus is making reference to. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of that week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, And for the overspreading of the abomination he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. So Jesus directs our attention to the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy. And Jesus is telling us to recognize the significance of his words in light of their Old Testament prophetic context. Seventy weeks were determined on Israel to bring about their punishment. And after their punishment, to bring about their salvation. And we've already saw how 69 of those weeks had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and then the Messiah was cut off His death, right? And then the 70th week, and there's like a pause between the death of the Messiah and the coming of one who's going to confirm the covenant for one week. And this time out period we call the church age, right, the dispensation of grace, where God is calling out for himself a people. But God is once again going to turn his attention to Israel. And a man of sin, Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians. Look there. Who is this one that Israel is confirming the covenant with? Who is this person that we call the Antichrist? 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 3, the Bible says, "...let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first." and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." What is happening to the faith in the world today? We see a falling away. This is the word, the Greek word, where we get our English word apostasy from. To fall away. Right? We see once great denominations no longer faithful to the Word. Could you imagine if John Wesley were alive today and to see the state of Methodism? Could you imagine if... what was the guy who started Presbyterianism in Scotland? How come I can't think of his name? No. Anyway, but some of these folks, John Knox, you know, if they could see what is going on today, and you know, even Bible and Baptist churches falling away, falling away. A great falling away. So that's been prophesied. We're living in that. And notice, "...and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition..." That word perdition means ruin. "...who opposes and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple showing himself to be God." How do we know the events that are going on right now are not leading up to the Second Coming of Jesus? Has the Temple been rebuilt in Israel? What's on the Temple Mount right now? A mosque, right? The Temple will be rebuilt. And the Antichrist will somehow, someway, church is gone, right? Church is gone. Antichrist comes on the scene. And the Antichrist is going to be able to do something that world leaders have not been able to do so far. Bring about peace. Especially peace in the Middle East. There have been all kinds of peace accords and peace deals, but they've never been fully embraced by all the people around Israel. Well, the Antichrist is going to be able to do that. He's going to be able to bring them together. And their temple will be rebuilt. Now you say, hey, it takes a long time to build a temple. Well, remember, all they need is a tent, right? That's what they first had. When we were in Israel, not this time, but the time before, we were at the Temple Institute. And the Temple Institute has everything they need. Everything they need. Except the place For temple worship to start so temple worship is going to start. That's the peace agreement that God brings with That that I'm sorry the Antichrist brings and that and that peace agreement will come and in the middle of that The Antichrist breaks the peace agreement with Israel, because as Paul tells us, as Daniel tells us, as Jesus told us, check out what Daniel says, when you see the abomination, stand in the holy place. The Antichrist will come, step in the temple, and set himself up as God. And that will defile the temple. And what will he do? I don't know, but he'll set himself up as God and he'll defile the temple. The man of sin, Paul tells us. So, it's interesting that the Bible mentions this event three times. Now the Bible only has to mention something once. to be important, but if the Bible mentions it in Daniel, in the Olivet Discourse, and technically, then it's in three different Gospels, and in 2 Thessalonians, if the Bible mentions this three times, I think it's important. And when the Antichrist comes and desecrates the Temple, The second half of the tribulation is coming, and Jesus says, run. Run. If you think it's bad now, if you thought it was bad the day before this event takes place, He says, run. Get far away from Jerusalem. Notice the warnings. Notice the urgency to flee Judea. Verse 15, don't go into the house to get your household belonging. Back in Mark. And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein to take anything out of the house. Wait a minute! I need to go get my cell phone. I need to pack a bag. Jesus says what? Get out. Don't go to the house to get your belongings. Don't go back to pack your clothes. Verse 16, and let him that is in the field not return back again to take up his garment. So if you're working technically what he's saying, don't worry about going home and getting a change of clothes. Get out. Verse 17, we see Jesus' compassion for the pregnant and nursing. But woe to them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days. Jesus' compassion again for the pregnant and the nursing. Friends, we've seen, even today, we've seen the picture of this brutality and why Jesus is warning us about it. Because what did the Hamas do? They killed children. They plucked children out of their parents' hands. They killed parents in front of their own children, right? Brutality. We've seen a glimpse of that brutality. And Jesus says, if you're pregnant or nursing during this time, whoa. And then he says something interesting, verse 18, pray that your flight be not in the winter. Well, we live here in New England, we live in New Hampshire, we know what winter's like. Israel doesn't have, he's not talking about snow and putting your snow tires on, and he's not talking about that. But in Israel, the wintertime is the rainy, damp season. It's cold, but not cold like here, but it's rainy and damp. Rivers and streams overflow in the wintertime. There's no grain or fruit on the vine in the wintertime. So wintertime, it's more difficult to travel, and you just don't have the supplies that are needed. So Jesus warns them in these verses. He warns them, when you see this take place, remember, let's go all the way back to the first message from Mark 13. Jews require a sign. When you see this, when you see someone in the temple that doesn't belong there, setting himself up as God, run. Now this is not a warning to the church. Where is the church? In heaven. But this is a warning to the believers who do get saved during the tribulation period, because what did we see our last time together? 144,000 Jewish evangelists get sealed and saved, and they go out and they preach the gospel. Those 144,000 are not Jehovah Witnesses. They're real Jehovah Witnesses, alright, not the Jehovah Witnesses we know of. They're God's evangelists who spread the Gospel. People get saved, because if you read through the book of Revelation, people get saved. They don't receive the mark, and there will be many, many martyrs during the Tribulation. Notice verse 19 and 20, the greatest Tribulation the world has ever known. Look at verse 19. The Bible says for in those days shall be great. I'm sorry, but in those days shall be affliction Such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time neither shall be The greatest affliction the word affliction here is is the same Greek word that is translated tribulation. Look at verse 24. This will be a topic for next week's message. But in those days after the tribulation, that Greek word tribulation is the same Greek word that is translated affliction. Okay? So what does that tell us? Affliction. The same word that is translated tribulation. What does the word mean? Pressure, anguish, distress. The tribulation time is going to be a time of great affliction, great pressure, great anguish, great distress. The Jewish people Even the world have seen some terrible atrocities But nothing will compare To the judgment of God that he will pour on the earth during the second half of the tribulation Jesus just said There's never been anything like this The Jewish people have seen some terrible things haven't they I mean the Holocaust What just happened on October 7 these are terrible things. There's no doubt that And there have been atrocities committed all around the world. When we think of the rise of Nazism and we think of, you know, Hitler didn't only kill Jewish people. He killed a lot of other people. And when we think of Russia and the amount of people they killed, and we think of China and the amount of people they killed, and we think of how, you know, all of these other, you know, socialism and communism and all that, and how they have just massacred millions of people, nothing compared to what's coming. That's a pretty strong warning. But we even see grace, God's grace in the midst of judgment. Look at verse 20. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. But for the elect's sake, whom He has chosen, He has shortened the days. You know, man deserves more, but God shortens it. Who are the elect? The word elect means chosen. Now, of course, let's remember context. In this context, the elect is not the church. Where's the church? We've been raptured. We're in heaven. These are the people who are living on the earth. Who are the elect? What did God do once the church left, once the Antichrist came? What did He do? He sealed and saved 144,000 Jewish people. Look at Isaiah 68. I'm sorry, Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65, 22. Who's the elect? Don't let Bible words scare you. Word elect simply means chosen in the context here Isaiah 65 22 they shall not build and another inhabit They shall not plant and another eat for as the days of a tree are the days of my people and mine What's the next word? Elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Who is the nation that God chose? Israel he chosen he elected them And he chose them. Are all of them saved? No. But as a nation, God elected. He chose them. And if it weren't for the salvation of these folks during the tribulation time, and God's mercy upon His chosen people, the earth would be completely wiped out. But God shortens that time. Man deserves more, but God shortens it. What else is going to be happening during this time? Okay, so it's going to be bad. People are going to be martyred. There's going to be war. The wrath of the Antichrist is poured out upon man. If you don't have the mark of the beast, you can't buy, you can't sell. And if you don't have the mark of the beast, you're the enemy of the state, and they will do everything they can to kill you. And notice there will be deception, verse 21 and 22. Don't believe the false prophets. And then, if any man shall say to you, lo, here is Christ, or lo, He is there, believe him not. Now we're going to talk more on this next week, but if someone... Now again, people reading this during the tribulation period, if someone said, hey, the Messiah is over here. Don't follow him. Because when Jesus comes the second time, the whole world's going to know He's coming. He's not going to secretly be meeting over here. Don't believe Him. Okay? Alright? Don't believe Him. Look at verse 22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. There are going to be such seductive things that take place that look so real. The world will fall for these, but not God's elect, not His chosen. Many Jewish people will believe the Antichrist is their Messiah. You know what Isaiah tells us in chapter 28, verse 18, Isaiah says that Israel will make a covenant with death. What does Daniel say about a covenant? He will confirm the covenant with them for seven years. Israel will accept the Antichrist as their Messiah. And then in the midst of that, he breaks that covenant. You know, the Muslims are awaiting a human figure also called the Mahdi. He is the final leader of Islam. They're awaiting a Messiah themselves. So can you see how this one polarizing, charismatic figure, can't we see in our world now how it's getting to that point where everybody follows a personality? Right? Ooh, you know. Taylor Swift. I mean, but people are... Who cares that Taylor Swift is going out with this football player? Who cares? Who cares? You know? And other people... Why are they popular? Because people are just... You know, they fall for this. And this person will be a person that unites people. He will be able to unite the Muslim and the Jew. No two people on planet Earth hate each other more than that. And he'll be able to unite them, because maybe, maybe, they're both looking at him as their Messiah. Many others will be deceived by false prophets in Christ. So Jesus ends it in verse 23, our last verse for today, with a prophetic warning. He says, but take ye heed. Behold, I have foretold you all things. He starts off by saying, take heed. And what does he mean by that? Perceive and beware. You're being warned. You asked me about what will the signs be of my coming. I just told you. Now, there are many people who look at the book of Revelation as history that has already happened, and they said that this is This is prophecy that Jesus told them about what happened in Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when their temple was destroyed and Israel was destroyed. Okay? If that were true, who would have already come? Jesus. Because, as we're going to pick up next week, verse 24, but in those days after the tribulation. the sun's going to come. So this is a warning for something yet future. AD 70 was a terrible thing for the nation of Israel, but I think that was judgment on the nation of Israel, because they refused their Messiah, so God took away their sacrifice. Israel today has no sacrifice for sin. Why? Because their Messiah already came and died for them. They rejected that. And there have been terrible events that have happened to the nation of Israel and have happened to this world. But nothing will compare, not even the first half of the tribulation, nothing will compare to the second half of the tribulation, when the Antichrist sets himself up as God. What have world leaders and dictators done when they've just set themselves up as king? Can you imagine when someone reveals to the world, I'm God? Could you imagine what will happen? We get a picture. No tribulation like it's ever been on planet Earth. And it's funny how all our world is leading to this. one world figure. It's all leading that way. Currency's going that way. You know, the United Nati- it's all going to one world. You know, the world is so concerned about what's happening in Israel right now. And everything is leading up to that. The Bible is coming true before our very eyes today. Okay? Take heed, Jesus says. I've told you this before it happens. So Jesus warns the Jewish people by giving them signs of what will take place before his second coming. And next week we'll look at his second coming. Turn with me two passages and then we're done. I already mentioned Revelation chapter 8 verse 1. But there's coming a day when God's wrath will be poured out upon planet Earth. And in Revelation chapter eight, verse one, and when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. It's going to be bad. A terrible event, as terrible as the events the Jewish people have endured and are currently enduring, there is coming judgment that will silence heaven. And look at Psalm 83 as we try to make sense of what's going on in the world. You ask me maybe, Pastor, do you believe that the Lord Jesus is coming to rapture us soon? I do. But we don't know the day or the hour. It's imminent. We don't know. There are signs that lead and point directly to Jesus' second coming. When the Antichrist sets himself up as God in Jerusalem, in the temple, you know that in about three and a half years, I'm coming. Okay? We don't have those signs. That's not taking place now. What is happening in Israel today are probably birth pains, but it's not those events yet. The Lord is going to come for us. But look at Psalm 83. And when we think about Israel and what is going on right now in Israel, how do we respond to this? Keep not thou silent. This is Asaph writing. A man who probably wrote the second most of the Psalms. David writing most of them. Asaph writing a very large chunk of them. Keep not thou silence, O God. Hold not thy peace. Be not still, O God. For lo, thine enemies make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation. that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance, for they have consulted together with one consent. They are confederate against who? The God. Do you know it's the charter of the Palestinian nation to wipe Israel off the face of the earth? What did Psalm 83 said? There were people like that back then. People don't like Israel. Why don't they like Israel? Because Israel is God's chosen nation. And ultimately, they don't like God. What did Jesus tell His disciples? You know why they don't like you? Because they don't like Me. You know why they don't like Me? Because they don't like My Father. So it's interesting that the world hates Israel because God loves them. And God's not done with them. God is, I'm not making light here, God is about to take Israel to the woodshed. Severely. But it's going to be because He's going to bring them to salvation. What about you and me? What does all this have to do with us? We're not going to be living during the tribulation period, so what does Mark 13 have to do with us? It should remind us of what is coming for the world. And I don't want anybody I know to go through this. You know, like two-thirds of the world's population is going to be killed between wars and famines and martyrdom. Come to Christ today. Maybe we'll get raptured and maybe we'll go to heaven without dying. Wouldn't that be great? You know, none of us, if we're believers, we're not afraid of death. What is death? What happened? We know what's going to happen. Dying is not always pleasant, is it? You know. There's, I don't know, is there a good way to die? I guess you can go to sleep, but you know, there's ways that you don't want to die. And our blessed hope is being raptured. So as we study these things, and we look at what is going on in the world, and we definitely can see things being put into place. Hey, Israel's a nation. Until 1948, they never were a nation. Hey, the Temple Institute has everything they need to build the temple, but the temple. You know? Nations are coming against Israel. Gog and Magog. Did you see? And the nation from the east. Did you see what happened this past week? China and Russia met together for a conference. The armies from the east. Gog and Magog. It's all coming. It's coming soon. If the disciples lived like Jesus could come any moment, and we're some 2,000 years away, how should we be living right now? Look up. for your redemption, draweth nigh. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and we thank you so much for the truth of your word, and we thank you so much for the clarity of your word. Help us, Lord, to believe your word. Help us, Lord, to live your word. Oh God, there's coming a day. There's coming a day when your judgment will be poured out upon all flesh. And Lord, many, many people will die, but yet even in that, Lord, you will save souls. But Lord, why would we want our loved ones to go through such a terrible time? Help us, Lord, to be zealous, to spread the gospel. Lord, and if there's any here who know not Christ, may today be the day of their salvation. But help us to believe and to know your word and to look for your soon coming. when you'll rapture us and take us home with you and we'll forever be with you. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.