All right, Matthew chapter 24. Getting into the tribulation chapter, commonly known. So we're gonna start in verse six here this morning. We'll read probably through verse, we'll go ahead and just read through verse 13 just to get context for our material today. Matthew chapter 24, start in verse six. says, And ye shall hear wars and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places, All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." Let's pray here this morning. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you, and I'm thankful again just for the opportunity to come and study and put some time in your book, Lord, and just allow you to show us some things. Father, I ask that you'd get myself out of the way, Lord, and just speak through me. Open up the hearts and the minds of the people here, Lord, so that we can learn something from your word here today. God, we love you, and we thank you again for it. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right, so for the first few verses before this, starting in about verse three, last week we covered it, but if you remember the Olivet Discourse, as this is commonly referred to as, this whole chapter and section that we're about to cover, There's only four disciples that are present. We covered it last week, but there's heavy, heavy tribulation, and so many times preachers, teachers, whatever, will get in here and they'll try to force the church into all this stuff. Force the church into all these different teachings that we're about to look at, and they'll spiritualize so much, which from a spiritualizing and a practical application standpoint, that's okay, but they blatantly miss the doctrinal pieces and the doctrinal applications. You then get into things like the Tribulation Period, which is undeniable in the Book of Revelation. Now they struggle to actually understand what's going on in that book, and you become like the Catholic Church, where you don't call it the Revelation of Jesus Christ, you call it the Apocalypse. And that's just, I've heard it put this way, calling it the Apocalypse is much more fantastical. It's much more like a fantasy story. So it's much simpler to take what's in the Apocalypse book and make it metaphorical where you just try to allegorize and spiritualize everything and be like, well, we have to apply personal interpretation and private interpretation because we have to make up everything that it's teaching instead of just taking the book at what it says and applying it and just believing it. A pastor says a lot of times, a book is not difficult to understand, it's difficult to believe. That's the piece that you've got to get over. You've got to get over that hurdle. As soon as you just believe it at face value for what it is and what it says, then it's much easier to understand because you're not trying to fake it. You're not trying to make it up. So a lot of chapter 24 here is focused heavily on the Great Tribulation period, this time of sorrows. Jesus even calls it in verse 8 there, he says, these are the beginning of sorrows. So we're going to run some references here and see what exactly we're getting into with Christ's teaching here in verses 6-13. But I point out the fact that there's four disciples for this reason. If you remember a few weeks ago when they came out of the temple, the beginning of chapter 24, we ran the references in Mark 13 where it's Judas who's asking Jesus Christ about, hey, look at this temple, look at all the things. And then Judas is not there when Jesus is talking to these disciples here at the Olivet Discourse at the Mount of Olives. It's four disciples, Peter, James, Andrew, and John. It's his inner circle, if you will, of his disciples. And so it's interesting if Judas Iscariot, and we're not going to reteach the whole thing, but for some folks maybe that weren't here or didn't catch it, that Judas Iscariot, if he's going to be the one or his spirit's going to be the Antichrist, He knows nothing about the tribulation because Christ intentionally left him out of this discussion. So Christ is teaching the disciples that were, at the time, about to hit the tribulation period. Because remember, the two Advents are right up next to each other. So it could be that just within a handful of years, these events were going to take place had the Jews, the religious leaders and the Jews there, accepted Christ as their Messiah after his death, burial, and resurrection. But he's not there. So, all right, so verse six, let's get into it. So verse six, it says, and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For all these things, all these things that he talked about in verse four and five, the deception, the deceiving of many, the false teachers, all of those things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. All right, so the end is not yet. We kind of ran a little bit last week on it, but it refers to the end of the world, okay, not the end of the church age, not the end of the apostolic age. It's the end of the world, and this world ends, according to other scriptures that we ran, this world ends after the tribulation period when Christ comes and sets up at the second advent, sets up his kingdom. That's the world to come, and that leads directly into eternity, okay? So this end here, again, and when you see the end throughout chapter 24, it's very likely, if not every single time, it's referring to second advent, tribulation events, second advent, the end is then taking place, right? Because you've got to keep in mind here, these Jews, these apostles specifically, the disciples here, were not going to get raptured out like you and I are getting raptured out. They were going to go through it, which is why the kingdom gospel is being preached here. It's also talked about how that's still the kingdom gospel is still going to be preached during this tribulation, during this time of sorrows as well. That gospel is not changed until the Jews reject, until then. So the end here is the end of the world at the end of the tribulation. So many of these things that Jesus Christ mentions, the wars, the rumors of wars, the pestilences, famines, earthquakes, so many folks try to say 70 AD was basically the kickoff of these events. That's tribulation happened there and we bring in the kingdom and all this kind of stuff. That's your amillennialist and postmillennialist kind of perspective in teaching, okay? where Christ, if he comes back, doesn't come back until after this millennial kind of kingdom and reigning and all that stuff, and it's completely anti-biblical. But they teach that all these things happen in 70 A.D. is the kickoff of that, is when the destruction of Jerusalem and all that takes place. But there's so many things that Christ mentions that never took place, even up till today, have not taken place like Jesus Christ describes, and they definitely didn't take place in and around 70 A.D. You think of wars and rumors of wars. The Roman Empire was in nearly its height of its power during this time frame. There were no wars and rumors of wars, because no one was strong enough to contend against the imperial Rome. No one existed. Rome was the one that ran out and conquered and expanded their borders. But it wasn't until a couple hundred years later, maybe 100 or so years later, when you've got the Goths and the Huns, you've got these other groups, these other countries, that started rising up in power and overthrowing the Roman Empire. So that didn't take place here. So nation against nation, that's literally just that, nation against nation. Turn over to Revelation chapter 6. So you've got nations against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, you've got famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. We're about to see all four of those spelled out here in Revelation. Revelation chapter 6, look at verse 3. So you've got four horsemen of the apocalypse here. So you've got when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see. And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. So you've got nation against, you've got wars. and rumors of wars. So every time, you know, we got Russia and Ukraine, you got Israel, you got all these things taking off. So a lot of times people say, see, there's wars and there's rumors of wars out there. Folks, there have been wars and rumors of wars as we like to define it for centuries, for thousands of years. There's nothing new and there's nothing unique about the times that we're in right now from a wartime standpoint. Now we can see other spiritual things that are pointing us towards this, the end is near, the end is coming, right? But that's just because Russia kicked off with Ukraine a couple years ago that that that's not alright tribulations come and get ready for the rapture It's right right right now. This is the war that Jesus was talking about. That's not not the case at all There's rumors of wars. I mean you think of like all the shadow governments and secret agents and all that kind of stuff. Those are rumors of wars that have been going on for a hundred years and more. Those things take place. So just because another conflict rises up in the news media, don't think that that is, all right, that's it, Jesus said it was happening, here we go. We should live as if it's happening anyways, but that is not what Christ is talking about. He's talking about this time of the end. And he's talking about, like I said, when that end comes, that end comes when Christ comes back and steps foot on the earth. That's the end that he's talking about. So when he says back in, hold your place in Revelation, but in Matthew 24, when he says at the end of verse six, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. All these things in chapter 24 he's describing are taking place during the tribulation period, okay? So it's not the end of the church age where we get raptured out when these things take place or begin to take place. These are taking place during this time of sorrows, okay? It's just important that we understand that frame of reference here moving forward. All right, so next, famine. Stay in Revelation 6, now look at verse 5. So Jesus says wars, rumors of wars, you've got nations, you've got famines. Verse 5 in Revelation 6 says, And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld in low a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Folks, there's gonna be famines, there's gonna be, you're gonna, Food is going to be scarce. Resources are going to be scarce. There's going to be so much destruction and everything going on in this time. I mean, you think throughout the book of Revelation, you've got, how many times does a third of the world's population show up where they die? Half the world's population, they die. A third of the oceans turn to blood. A third of this turn, you know, all the trees are gone and all that. That's going to have a huge impact on the global economy, the global market. It's going to be, that's going to be required, all those terrible things be required. And that's going to be so much easier than for the Antichrist to come in and say, take my mark. We have to control the food flow. We can't just, I mean, COVID hit, right? Everyone lost toilet paper for some reason. They're going to have to control. I mean, you went to stores, it was like limit one per customer, limit two of these food items per customer, because things became getting scarce. And there was no famine during that time. There was no famine. It was just people losing their absolute mind. governments or local governments coming in and saying, all right, we've got to control the flow of these goods because we're going to run out or we are running out. Now imagine that on a global scale where, no kidding, you have famines, you've got rain that's not falling properly, you've got all these crops are dying and not producing. that it's going to be incredibly difficult. There's going to have to be a one world government that has to get set up so that they can control the food supply across the globe. How easy is it going to be to fall into that deception? Now you have to get a mark so that you can get access to it. Now you've got to get all these, oh, now you've got to worship this image so that you can maintain your status. You see how easily that works? We saw glimpses of it a few years ago and we still see it today. It's gonna be so easy and then just think once the rapture does take place and all of Christianity, true Christianity is gone, the ones, if you will, who truly have something to base their morals against, they're now gone and now you've got free reign of wickedness in the world. I'm thankful we don't have to even see one second of it. All right, so you got famines. Next thing Jesus says, he says, pestilences are gonna come. So stay again, Revelation six, look at verse seven. It says, And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death. And hell followed with him, and power was given unto him over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. There's going to be pestilences that come up here. Hold your place there, but also turn to chapter 16, Revelation 16. Verse 2 says, And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. Pestilences, sores, sicknesses, all that stuff, it's all going to be coming out. Think of the plagues that Moses, that God had Moses put out in Egypt. You had boils. It was more than just bugs eating up your crops. You had physical ailments as well that affected the people with the infections and the boils and all those things, the terrible, terrible things that came in. Those pestilences, those plagues, they're coming back. They're going to affect these people. And Jesus says, the end is not yet. All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. All right, and then lastly here, earthquakes Christ mentions out back in Revelation 6. Revelation 6, look at verse 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?" How are you going to hide in mountains and then wish the mountains were going to fall on you and kill you? There's clearly some earthquakes that are going to take place, and there's other references as well, but there's going to be some heavy, heavy, mighty wind, it says. It says the earth is shaken. There's going to be earthquakes here that take place, but the end is not yet. Christ is not yet back on the earth. It's all leading up to the end when he steps foot on the earth. All right, so all those things must come to pass. All right, verse seven for nation, I'm sorry, verse eight. It says, all these are the beginning of sorrows. The beginning of sorrows. So the sorrows have started. That time of Jacob's sorrows, Jacob's troubles, that time has started and these are the beginning of them. Look at Isaiah chapter 13. You can leave Revelation now. You don't have to hold your place there. Isaiah 13. The beginning of sorrows. Isaiah 13, look at verse 6, it says, So keep that phrasing in your mind. The woman that travaileth. A woman in travail. Travail is basically childbirth. That's how the Bible uses that. So you have a woman in labor. It's going to come up. We're going to run a few more references where you're going to see that continue, that travail, that woman being in travail. And then we know Revelation. We're going to run to it here in a second in Revelation 12 where you have the woman there with the man-child. She's in travail to deliver that man-child. That's a picture of of Israel's restoration and being reborn effectively, being brought into God's grace and God's goodness, and the restoration of Israel takes place there. But that woman and that man-child there, she's in travail. It's all part of this sorrow. So the time of Jacob's troubles, this period of sorrows is likened to a woman in travail, likened to a woman in labor. And women in here, men, if you've been married during a childbirth, you understand kind of the sorrow and the pain. That was one of the main curses that God put on Eve was that her sorrows would be increased, her conception would be increased, the pains of that stuff would be increased. And so it's all pointing towards this end. So now we all, as people, we all understand the challenges and the level of seriousness that that is, the difficulty there, and that's how he likens this period of time. Alright, look at Psalm 48. Psalm 48. In verse 6. Of course, so much of the Book of Psalms is is tribulational Second Advent. What I say verse 6 fear took hold upon them there and pain as of a woman in travail. Jeremiah chapter 30, we're just seeing this constant reference to the second advent, to this time of tribulation, likens it to a woman in travail. Jeremiah chapter 30, verse six, says, ask ye now and see whether a man doth travail with child. Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness. Men, I mean, there's a bunch of jokes out there in social media and in videos and stuff where a man tries to put this little device on his stomach and it simulates labor contractions and all that kind of stuff, right? So men try to pretend like they understand labor and everything a lady goes through with that kind of stuff. And it's funny, the men are like, nope, I can't handle it. You can keep that one. I mean, I don't even have to, you don't have to put a device on my belly. I'm good. You ladies can keep that one. I'm good right where I am. But he even talks about here, men are going to be as if they are like a woman in travail. The tribulation that's time to start is going to affect everyone. Everyone is going to feel it. This isn't going to be like, women are equipped to handle this thing. You think of labor today, yeah, of course it's difficult, but women are, God made them to handle this stuff, and you're right. God didn't make men to handle that stuff. Well, folks, God didn't make any man able to handle what's gonna come in the tribulation. It's gonna be a time of travail for everyone. Everyone's gonna feel it, and everyone's gonna be affected by it. All right, and then lastly, turn to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12, this is where you actually see that the woman show up here. We'll start in verse 1, Revelation 12 in verse 1. So this is how you know that there's something not literal about this. So we take the Bible as literal as possible until you can't or until it's not possible to, then there's a picture here. There's something, there's some figurative teaching that's coming. There's not, I don't believe there's gonna be, maybe I'm wrong, brother, and you can correct me when you get to chapter 12. I don't think there's gonna be a woman who's gonna be clothed in the sun standing on top of the moon. She's not gonna be some astronaut out there wrapping herself up in the sun. That can't physically happen. And upon her head a crown of 12 stars. That's a very simple example here of we take the Bible as literally as you can. until you can't. And then you study it out and you figure out where does that fit in? Where does that apply? How do we teach this thing? All right, verse two. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. So there's a deeper, deeper doctrinal teaching there than just there's going to be a woman during this time period and she's going to give birth. Yeah, there's probably going to be a whole bunch of women that give birth during this time period. So, but it's likened to this beginning of sorrows, and when we get there, I don't want to ruin or spoil it. I haven't studied it out as much as I'm sure his pastor has whenever he gets to it especially, so we'll save all that as far as what all that means when we get to Revelation 12. But anyways, all these things must come to pass, and these are the beginning of sorrows. That's what we're pointing out here. All right, verse 9, back in Matthew 24, verse 9. Says, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted. So then, when? After the beginning of sorrows. So during this time period, the beginning has happened. Now you're in the sorrows, this time of Jacob's troubles here. Then shall they deliver you up. He's talking to his Jews there. He's talking to his disciples. They shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Folks, you think the Jews are hated now? The Jews have a lot of safe haven locations. Think of World War II, a simple example, right? There were a lot of places where they were protected and kept shelter and kept hidden away from the Nazis. And today, there's a lot of safe havens for the Jews today. And a lot of it is with Christianity, this Judeo-Christian whatever, just even though they don't believe in Christ as we do, we know that they have a special place in God's heart, therefore they have a special place in our heart. So they have a place of refuge with Christians, with Bible believers especially, but with Christians. And any country in the world that has still a lot of Christian backing to their policies or their beliefs and their morals, They have a lot of safe havens in those kinds of places. But think about it, as soon as you strip away all of Christianity, you strip away all the Bibles, and you strip away all of Christ and the day-to-day life of so many people and places, that they will have no place of refuge. Their places of refuge will be so much more limited as compared to where they are now. It says he's going to kill you, and you should be hated of all nations. There's not going to be some America, there's not going to be some Great Britain, Russia at the time. There's not going to be any place like that, like they had in World War II, where they could go to a country and be safe. No place will be safe for them. All right, it says that they're going to kill you. Turn over to John chapter 16. John 16. John 16, verse 2, they shall put you out of the synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service. And we've studied this out as well in the past. You can apply that to church history. You can apply that to us today. You got the Catholic Church throughout the dark ages there. They thought they were doing God a service by persecuting and killing Christians and Jews. They thought they were doing God a service. Hitler, thought he was chosen by God to lead this Aryan nation into godliness. He thought that he was doing the will of God. He thought he was chosen to do this. And so he thought, therefore, he's going to kill all these people because they don't believe God as he believes. He's doing God a service. Again, think about how much more then. Now you've got the Antichrist coming in. Second Thessalonians 2.4 says, So that he being as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. These people are going to be so deceived, they're literally going to think they're doing God, who's sitting on the throne, they can see Him and talk to Him, this Antichrist, they're going to think they're doing Him a service by killing and hating and murdering and butchering and raping and all these wicked, wicked, terrible things to God's people, to the Jews here. They're literally going to think they're doing God a service by killing them. That's all part of that deception. So, you've got the Antichrist as God, sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. You don't have to turn there, because I told you you didn't have to, but Revelation 6 again, Revelation chapter 6 and verse Verse 9 says, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? and white robes were given unto every one of them. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. The Lord says, they're not done. You still got brethren that have got to die and they're gonna die as you were. It's gonna be terrible. It's gonna be heinous. It's gotta take place. And all that's doing, the antichrist Satan is just filling up that wrath of God, that cup, until their fullness has come. And then he says, all right, Jesus, time to step foot on that Mount of Olives, time to get rid of this whole party. Overturn it. All right, then Jesus says back in verse nine, it says that you shall be hated, hated of all nations. So not just they're gonna kill you, the ones that maybe don't have the gall enough to kill them or maybe just not outright, yet kill them, they're definitely gonna hate you. You can look back at Matthew chapter 10, hit on this in the past, but if I'm not mistaken, we did some tribulation doctrine as well for this period. Matthew 10 and verse 22, Jesus again talking to His 12 disciples here, and He says, And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Yourselves, put yourselves just out in the world, right? If someone hates you, isn't your natural instinct just to try to figure out how to mend that relationship and make things better if they hate you? especially if they hate you for something spiritual, if you're not well-rooted and strongly rooted in what you believe and why you believe what you believe, and the world, the first time someone comes up and says, I cannot stand the fact that you're out here talking like this, or you're out here holding signs, or you're talking about this, or reading your Bible at work, or whatever it is. I cannot stand this. I hate you for it. Oh, well, maybe I'll do it more in private, or do it more quietly, or not show up on the streets as boldly as I did, or not at all. Our nature is to not be offended by that hatred. That's why so many of us, we don't share the gospel when we know we should. We don't hand a tract to someone when we know we should because we're afraid of the hatred that they're going to show towards us, right? And maybe that's just me, maybe I'm out on a limb here, but that hatred affects us. And so Jesus here in Matthew 10 says, you're going to be hated of everyone, but he that endures to the end shall be saved. So when they're hated, how simple is it going to be for them to just be like, I can't handle this. I can't deal with this. I want to be done with all this hatred. Fine. I'll go that way. And I'll do this thing and I'll take the mark and I'll follow this way. If he that endures to the end, those are the ones that are gonna be saved, not the ones that succumb to the hatred and change of their ways. So you can apply that to yourself here today as well. Obviously not for salvation, but for saving your relationship with the Lord, saving your fellowship with the Lord. You've gotta endure some hardness. Paul talks about endure hardness as a good soldier. You've gotta be willing to put yourself out there and be put down and hated by the world, the devil, for your stance for Jesus Christ. And if you're not willing to do that, Your fellowship is going to suffer. Your fellowship is not going to be saved. All right. Okay. Joel chapter three. Joel three, looking at this hatred. Joel, very, very, very heavy, heavy tribulation, heavy second advent application. But Joel 3, look at verse 1, says, So there's some captivity involved there. Okay, so just hold that thought, keep that in mind. Watch it. and sold a girl for wine that they might drink. So they're in captivity yet again. What do we have today, folks? We've got human trafficking. We've got sex slavery today throughout the world. When you take Christianity away and you take the moral stance that people are willing to take on the Bible today, you take that away with the rapture and things like that, and the Antichrist comes in and shows himself as God, you're just gonna have pure, unadulterated, unfiltered evil and wickedness taking place all across the world. It's gonna be everywhere. And who's gonna be the first culprit that gets sold or purchased into this slavery trade? It talks about they're going to be, he's going to merchandise them. They're going to be sold and trafficked. These Jews are. So the people that remain are going to eventually, I imagine, if you've seen the Left Behind series, there's some goodness to those things, or read the books, or watched any of the films. There's some goodness to them, but there's a lot that they don't rightly divide the whole doctrinal salvation, but that's fine. The point is there are going to be some things that are left. Dr. Ruckman, I think, has got a track, and there's multiple folks that have tracks out there that are intended to be read by folks that are left behind after the rapture. This is what just happened. Here's the Bible. Here's what we've been teaching. This is why we are gone. I believe that's going to be prominent and prevalent. And it's going to be on the devil, and the Antichrist is going to try to suppress that as much as possible and burn those things, get rid of that heresy. He says, no, no, this didn't take place. I'm God. I'm in charge of this thing. Everything's fine. But those Jews are going to say, no, no, no, this was an act of God. We're starting to see it now. We missed it because we rejected Jesus Christ. This is what the Bible was teaching all along. And those Jews, because there's no Christians left, those Jews are going to be the ones that I believe are going to be the prime suspects for being brought in to this trafficking, this sex slavery. But it said there in Joel 3.3, it talks about how the boys are going to be sold. They're going to be given to a harlot. The girls are going to be sold for wine. Now, it brings a different understanding, different level of appreciation for when Jesus was teaching about, whosoever offendeth one of these little ones, it'll be better for them to have a millstone hung around his neck and him be dragged to the bottom of the sea, right? That offense there, when we studied that out, we talked about things today, pedophilia, when you literally, that offense is not just, oh, you hurt my feelings. That offense goes much, much deeper. It's much more of a physical, spiritual kind of offense as well, much more than how people get offended today. But those God's people, they're going to be sold. They're going to be casted lots for those people. They're going to be sold into slavery. So there's not just going to be human sacrifices and cannibalism. There's also going to be a lot of wicked, wicked, wicked type stuff going on there with God's people. They're going to be hated, and they're not going to be killed for that. They're going to be hated, and therefore, they're sold into that stuff. They're kept alive. They're kept preserved to be given as people for that. All right. Revelation chapter 17. Revelation 17. Stay on that same thought. It says it can be given to a harlot, right? Remember that? So you've got Revelation 17, and who shows up here? The mother of harlots. So chapter 17 verse one says, and there came one out of the seven angels, or one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials and talked with me. Did I have the whole, yeah, verse one. It says, come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So you've got fornication, we know what that is, and we know what's going on there, but it says they're also, they're drunk with the wine of her fornication. So that matches perfectly with Joel 3.3 there, with the boys and the girls being sold for wine and for fornication. Verse three, so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names and blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. What do we call that today when we hear about those things in the news? That's just, it's filth, it's disgusting, it's wickedness, filthiness of her fornication. And then verse 5, upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. So it makes me wonder who's going to be direct in traffic when these sex slave trades and these drunken parties, these words that you don't even want to mention here in a church setting, when all that stuff takes place and the selling of people takes place. I wonder who's going to be direct in traffic. We know in this group here who that mother of harlots is. We know who that's a reference to. It's just interesting to think about. All right, back in Matthew 24, verse 10. All right, here it is. And then shall many be offended. and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. It says you're gonna be offended. Jesus said in verse 14 that this is all connected with the kingdom gospel, by the way. Everything that you read in verse 10, 11, 12, verse 14, it says in this gospel of the kingdom. Not that that is the gospel, but that it's all connected to the gospel of the kingdom. All those things are taking place there. All right, look at Psalm 119. Psalm 119 and 165, common passage here, I love it. But it says, great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them. So there's going to be a group of these Jews during the tribulation that are going to be protected from such things. They're going to be, you know, told, Jesus tells them, hey, you've got to flee to the wilderness. You've got to run and hide. And Jesus is going to meet them there. He's going to feed them. He's going to protect them. And all that stuff doesn't mean that they're exempted from a bunch of the troubles and trials and tribulations there, but there's going to be some. It says, "'Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.'" So they won't be offended if they love thy law. Isn't that part of the kingdom gospel? You've got to keep the law, and the testimony and the faith of Jesus Christ. You've got to keep those things. So great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. So I think there's gonna be some semblance of protection from some of those offenses that we're talking about if they truly love God's law. Back in Matthew, Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 in verse six. It says, blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. These offenses will come, but the great peace of they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Okay? Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. That points directly to Jesus Christ, not just his law. So you've got the law will provide protection. You've got Jesus Christ that will provide protection as well. Matthew chapter 13, verse 21. It says, Yet hath he not root in himself, but doerth for a while, that's enduring, but doerth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth, because of the word by and by he is offended. Of course, you know, you set that out, you've got a direct connection between God's law and God's physical word, and Jesus Christ. So Psalms tells us to love the law, Jesus tells us in Matthew 11 to love Jesus, and right here it makes the connection one and the same here. So love thy word. Jesus is the word. We know that here, but you've got that connection. And lastly, Matthew 15. Matthew 15, verse 12. Matthew 15, 12, Then came his disciples and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? So the Pharisees, we know, they didn't truly love God's law. They misunderstood God's law and misapplied it all the time. And they obviously didn't love Jesus Christ, so they get offended. So that's kind of a type of the Jew, I believe, that will be more susceptible to these offenses in the tribulation. is the ones that don't love the law and they don't love Christ, likely because they didn't follow the law and get out into the wilderness to be able to meet Him whenever He shows up to protect them. All right, so, but all this, like I said, verse 14 there, back in Matthew 24, it says, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. That gospel of the kingdom there, love the law, love Jesus, endure to the end, endure those offenses, get through it, love the law, love Jesus, you'll be protected from those things, endure to the end, thou shalt be saved, and you'll have right into the kingdom of heaven. That's the difference. You cannot apply. There's no church in this anywhere. There's no church anywhere on the spectrum here with this teaching. So you can't do that. You can't try to just squeeze it in because everything applies to us doctrinally. But you can see now why it's so important to understand the difference between the Gospels, not Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but the Gospels that are being preached and taught. You've got the gospel of the grace of God given to us. You've got the everlasting gospel. You've got the kingdom gospel. You've got so many. Abraham was given a gospel is what it says. Gospel just means good news, good tidings. So gospel does not mean death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel of our salvation is death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But that is just because gospel is mentioned is not the same thing. We have to understand the difference, we have to apply it. And you can see all those references we just ran from Psalms all through the multiples in Matthew there, it's all pointing to tribulation. All of those are pointing to tribulation. Love the law, that's got some work, some self-righteousness involved there, some things you gotta do. Loving Jesus, that's a relationship and accepting Jesus for who he is as the Messiah, as God's Christ. It's all part of the kingdom gospel. That's why you and I have it. It's different for us, and it's different for them. All right. Wow, I just finished my first page of notes. Alright, so important to understand the difference between the Gospels. It's important to understand this is why throughout the study of the book of Matthew we've said from the beginning, read the book of Matthew as if the church didn't exist and never was going to exist. Of course there's spiritual application, there's blessings that you and I can get. Absolutely read the book and get those things. Fix and repair your relationship with Jesus Christ. Absolutely 100%. All things were given for our learning, but not all things were given to us. Illustrations galore for that one, but we have to understand how to rightly divide and where to rightly divide. It's one of the most important things. after your salvation. You have to know how Matthew is doctrinally not for you and me. Matthew is connected all throughout the book of Matthew and Jesus is continually teaching his followers how to be ready for this tribulation because it could have happened right around the corner. Death, burial, and resurrection Another round of preaching to Jesus of who Jesus is as their Messiah. If they would have accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah there, we believe Acts 7 is probably the end of that, that final rejection. Something changed there. That was their chance to accept him as a Messiah. I believe the, excuse me, the tribulation period in the second advent was right around that corner, right around it. All right. And then we'll finish with verse 10 there. It says, shall many be offended, shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. So we see they're gonna betray one another back in Matthew chapter 10. Multiple teachings here. If I remember my notes correctly, this is, I won't comment on it until we read it, but chapter 10, verse 21. Yes, all right, so perfect, this is it. So understand again why this teaching is in Matthew chapter 10. Look at verse 21, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, that's betrayal, and the father the child, and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And then look at, stay in that chapter, look at verse 35, same concept. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. There's going to be some betrayal within the family. And when we started that out, we did a lot of personal, practical application to you and I, the world, your family, your friends. They're going to hate you. You're going to feel betrayed by them. They're going to feel that they've turned their back on you. They've forsaken you because you stand on the book and you stand on Jesus Christ. And those things are more important than those family relationships. But now take that and apply it to the Tribulation period. These Jews, really anyone who's trying to follow Christ and follow God and not be part of this Antichrist movement here, they're all going to be betrayed, or they're likely to be betrayed, and they're obviously going to be hated. But it's going to come from within. It's going to come from family. So you're going to have a brother or a father or a sister or mother or wife even that's going to say, Yeah, he told me he was taken off, and when the government comes, the Antichrist people come and say, hey, where's your Jewish husband at? You took the mark, you're good. Where's the one that didn't? Where's he at? Oh, I don't know, but he may have taken off to that there wilderness over there down at that location about so many miles south of here. You might find him there. You might find actually all of his friends there too. They're going to be betrayed. And these folks are going to come looking for him. They're going to find him. They're going to turn him in. And it says they're going to be betrayed unto death is what Jesus says in chapter 10. All right. And they're going to hate one another. All right. So we will pick up in verse 11 next time. All right, cool. Let's be dismissing a little prayer.