Welcome to the Plenteous Redemption podcast, where the cross and the culture are on a collision course for discussion. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign The Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Under the Jews a stumbling block, under the Greeks foolishness, but under them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, here's your host, Thomas Ervin. Amen. Amen. All right. Well, we have a lot of ground to cover this morning. So if you want to turn your Bible to Matthew 24 and rush with me. I would appreciate it, because I'm going to try to cover the whole chapter. It's an important chapter. It's a very important chapter. We need to spend about six months on it. But we're going to do it today in about 40 minutes, 35, 40 minutes. Amen. All right verses 1 through 2 and Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple and Jesus said unto them see not all these things. Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. All right. Now, this is prophetic. The Lord is, imagine it, they're walking out, and they still have this attachment to their flesh. We are Jews. And so they're walking out of the temple, and they walk out, and they say, man, Lord, look at how good we are. And the Lord says, I'm going to tear every stone of that down. Wait, what? I mean, that's our temple. Well, which one? You've already had Solomon's temple. You had Zerubbabel's temple. You've gone through two or three temples. I've already torn them down multiple times. And now, not long from now, or actually, we already read it, the Lord walked out of that very temple and said, behold, I leave unto you your house desolate. Lord said, it's not my house anymore. It's yours, and it's desolate. And I'm going to tear down every single stone that's standing there. Well, that prompts some questions. Verses 3-14, let's read verses 3-14. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed, that no man deceive you. You know how many times the Lord says that in the Bible to Christians? Look, I'm telling you, don't be deceived. So if you end up in deception, guess whose fault it is? It's your own. The Lord gave you the Word of God. He told you repeatedly, here's the problem you're going to encounter. Don't be deceived. He filled you with the Holy Spirit. You come to a Bible-believing church. You have everything you need to not be deceived, and yet people still end up in deception, especially around Matthew 24, the very chapter that said, don't be deceived. It's amazing how that works out. So the Lord said, and Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass. But the end is what? Okay, so then wars, rumors of wars, nations against nations, kingdoms against kingdoms, pestilence, famines have nothing to do with the end. In fact, they said, what is the sign of your coming? He said, well, I'll tell you what is not the sign of my coming, wars. And yet every time there's a new war, what happens? Oh, there's prophecy. Prophecy is being fulfilled. According to who? The Lord said, wars, that's what men do. That's just how it is. This has nothing to do with the end or my coming. And yet, every time there's a new war, or Russia invaded Ukraine, there it is. There's prophecy. Well, what prophecy? In what way? It's not prophecy. It's men doing what men have always done since Cain killed Abel. That's what it is. And that's just how it's going to be. That the end is not yet. All right, now continue going. The end is not yet, verse 7. For nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, and diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you 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." You see, that's works-based salvation. That's what people teach. Let me ask you a question. In the context of what we just read, has salvation been mentioned in any way, shape, form, or fashion at any time? Not once. Have you read about any souls being saved, the gospel being preached, anything of that sort? Not one time. So what is being saved? Well, wars, rumors of wars, pestilence. It's your flesh. Lord said, if you endure to the end, that is, you don't die, then you are saved from the war, the pestilence, the famine. Which, you know, living in America, we think $4 a gallon for gas is a pestilence and ready to go to war. Now, praise the Lord that we live somewhere where even high gas is still cheap compared to the rest of the world. I don't want to lose that expectation. It'd be nice to keep it that way. But that's not a pestilence. That's not a famine. There's a famine in the land. My milk is $3. I wish it wasn't, but that's not a famine. Verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom, of the kingdom, all right, now what is the gospel of the kingdom related to? Look around this room, most of you should know. the kingdom of heaven, the physical earthly kingdom. This is all news about the physical earthly kingdom. This has nothing to do with the spiritual kingdom or the salvation of the soul. So, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all what? Souls, right? No, nations. Nations, kingdoms, physical, earthly. It is not spiritual. It is not the salvation of the soul. So we're not talking about the kingdom of God. We're not talking about the church. We're talking about the Jews and the coming earthly kingdom. Before they get that kingdom, things are going to get real ugly. But that's what we're talking about. And then, and then shall the end come. Not until after all that. Now, some quick notes out of this section. The discourse from the Lord continues based upon a very important series of questions. Number one, when shall these things be? That's the first thing they ask them. Lord, when is this going to happen? What, you're going to tear down the temple? When? We don't know when. Now, what did they connect that to? The next question, what shall be the sign of thy coming? Now, he's standing right in front of them. What do they mean? Oh, when are you coming? Now, that's a direct reference, whether they know it or not, to the second coming of Jesus Christ, which is then connected to the third question they ask, what shall be the sign of the end of the world? What do I say constantly about the end of the world? It's directly related to the end of the tribulation and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now, whether they know what they asked him or not, they just asked him, when is the tribulation going to end? When are you coming back? When are you returning? When is all this going to take place? That's what they're asking him, whether they know they're asking him that directly or not. Now, notice that the last two questions are posed together. They make the assumption the Lord's second coming will coincide with the end of the world. And it's a correct assumption. It's biblically correct. It's what's going to happen. Now, verses 3 through 14 provide generalities of the signs that exist. Now, if you think with me, we've looked at it several times. We don't have time to look at it right now, but I'll just remind you of it, and hopefully you remember. What was the first question the disciples asked the risen Lord Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 1? Will thou at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel? And what did the Lord say to them? That is not for you. So guess what this is? Not for you. The church will be gone. Now, This is also an area of confusion that needs to be cleared up. They asked the Lord, what is the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? And he said, first, let me tell you what is not the sign of my coming or the end of the world. Wars, pestilence, earthquakes, famines. That's life in this world. That's life in a sin-cursed world. That has nothing to do with my coming. All right, so that's the foundation that he lays down. Now we get to verses 15 through 28, we start to become a lot more specific. In fact, the Lord's going to be extremely vague until he gets to verse 15, then he gets very specific. And he doesn't even talk about the first half of the tribulation. He immediately jumps to the second half of the tribulation. He says, you want a sign that you need to look out for? When you see the abomination of desolation set up in the holy place, run. Flee. Go somewhere and hide. Don't grab anything. Don't pick anything up. Don't go back to your house and try to get some valuable items. Just run. Get away. If the idea is to endure to the end, this is instruction you're going to want to listen to. Now, if you're not saved, you better take heed to this, because your only hope after the church is taken away is to endure to the end, which means you've got to live through wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, all the horrendous things that happen right now in the world. Don't die. And also if the tribulation begins, you still have to survive through the seven year tribulation period. And if you do all that, then you can enter into the kingdom. Why not just trust in Jesus Christ right now and get it all over with and let him take you away before that begins. Or if you die before the tribulation begins, you're absent from the body and present with the Lord. Why take your chances? That's a foolish thing to do. I wouldn't do that. But, you know, that's your decision. God's people are continually told to take heed so that we do not fall into deception repeatedly. Far too many people are not careful with scripture and therefore propagate confusion. They don't even know they're propagating confusion. Sometimes people say things and you start listening to them after you've learned the Bible a little bit, and then you start to realize they don't even know what they don't know. They're unaware of what's coming out of their mouth. They have no self-awareness of what they're saying and how wrong it is. But they think, man, they think it's right. They think it's dead on. Some of the best, some of the most popular, I won't say best, some of the most popular pastors and preachers you've ever heard preach the Bible so out of context, it's ridiculous. And it got transferred from their mouth to the ears of the people listening. And because they followed the man rather than the word, they just bought it. And then they went home and they taught it. And then they went home and they taught it. And it just spreads like wildfire. Then somebody shows up who wants to do things in accord with the Bible, and everybody's mad at him. Because he wants to follow the Bible, and they want to follow the famous preacher who told them it was A and not B. And so, it's problematic. Just be clear. If you are deceived, you are in violation of Scripture. The Lord told you not to be deceived. How's that for instruction? The problem is too much of deception is willingness. You were either unwilling to learn the truth by studying your Bible, or you were willing to receive the deception because the situation might be hard or difficult or complex or dangerous. Some of these people going through the, you know, getting closer to the tribulation period, the world's only going to get worse. And people who follow Jesus Christ are going to become even more hated. And that's going to put you in some awkward situations. You follow Jesus, we're going to bring this mob over here and stone you, or kill you, or execute you, or mock you beyond that which you can handle if you don't reject Jesus Christ and join us right now. And a lot of people are going to do it. They're going to reject the Lord, and they're going to follow. They're going to give in to the pressure. If people will barely come to church on a Sunday, you think they're going to deal with persecution? Who that barely participates in the church's ministries or gives to the church or just attends is going to deal with persecution? Not me. I mean, I only went on Easter anyways. I don't need that. We live in such a weak, undisciplined society that can hardly, unless it's feeding their bellies, they can't do anything faithfully. They can figure out how to do that faithfully, but just about everything else comes at too high of a price tag for them. Part of that deception will include a false Christ. The Jesus you serve should match what is taught in the Bible. It's that simple. If it doesn't match the Jesus of the Bible, then you have the wrong Jesus. Islam will offer you a Jesus, but you've got to go to the Koran to get him. You've got to leave the Bible and go to the Koran. Mormons will offer you a Jesus, but you've got to leave the Bible and go to the Book of Mormon to get that Jesus. Jehovah's Witnesses will offer you a Jesus, but you've got to leave the Bible and go to the Watchtower. Are you seeing a pattern here? They all start with the Jesus of the Bible. Oh, yeah, we love that Jesus. Have you read the Book of Mormon? No, I haven't. And I'm not going to." And so, that's how that goes. Now, wars and rumors of wars. War is not a sign of the end of the world. It's part of the deception. People are trying to, whether they know it or not, deceive you into believing something that is not true. What Jesus said is, they said, what's the sign of the coming and the end of the world? He said, well, it's not wars. And yet, everywhere you go, Christians look at wars and say, it must be close to the end, the sign of the coming, the end of the world. According to who? Not according to the Bible. Well, this video I saw on YouTube or this book I read for $29.99, it said that Russia's the bear and Gog and Magog and all this garbage. Well, that's fine if you believe that book, but that is not what the Bible teaches. None of that aligns with the Bible whatsoever. You've got to do so many cartwheels and backflips and gymnastics to make that fit. It's ridiculous. It makes no sense. In fact, you can make anything fit if you can make that fit. and yet people fall for it. The Lord says, do not be deceived, and yet every time war breaks out, people are deceived into believing they have some reference to the Lord's coming, and they don't. They have no reference whatsoever. Do you know what the next thing is you should be looking for? The Lord's coming. That's it. What prophecy is going to be fulfilled between now and then? Nothing. Everything is on hold until Jesus Christ takes the church away. So anybody trying to sell you the idea that some current event is the fulfillment of prophecy is misleading you. Whether they're doing it intentionally or accidentally, I cannot tell. Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. But it's not true. The next thing on the prophetic calendar, as people like to call it, is the coming of Jesus Christ. When that happens, then his dealings with Israel and unfulfilled prophecy will begin to take place. That's it. There's nothing else. I know. See, that's so boring. You know how short that book would be if I wrote that book? And who would want to buy that only to find out Obama's not the Antichrist, Hillary's not the Antichrist, Russia's not the bear? They'd be all messed up. They wouldn't know what to do with truth. Now, look at James 4. Let me show this to you. James 4, quickly. Verses 1 and 2. Now listen to this. From whence come wars? Well, that sounds familiar. And fightings among you? Come they not because of prophecy in the Bible that has to trick you into believing the Lord is coming soon? No. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts that warn your members? Why did Russia invade Ukraine? They want it. They had nothing to do with prophecy. They want it. Why did Hamas invade Israel? They hate them and want to kill them. Yeah, but what's the prophetic significance? There's not any. It's evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse. Look at Proverbs 13, real fast. So where do wars come from? Your lusts? If you're a lustful, vengeful person, and you've got a modern military behind you, man, you're a danger to the world. Proverbs 13, verse 10, only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom. So where do wars come from? Your lust and your pride, that's where they come from. No other place, no other source. War is not a sign of the Lord's coming. It's a sign of man's pride and man's lust in a sin-cursed world. That's the sign. That's it. The Lord said, if you hear of wars and rumors of wars, the end is not yet. And yet, every time you turn around, Christians say, did you hear about that war? Man, we're in the last days. The Lord must be coming soon. Well, yeah, the Lord must be coming soon. That's true. But what does the war have to do with it? Nothing. That's just life in this world. But it never fails. Every time some major event happens, there it is, prophecy, prophecy. No, it's not, it has nothing to do with prophecy. The next prophetic thing to happen is the second coming, or the rapture of the church, that's it. Then begins the tribulation, and then all the other things promised during the tribulation happen, then the second coming of Jesus Christ. That's it. in a very simplified version. The Lord said, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, pestilence, earthquakes. These are all called the beginning of sorrows. The beginning of sorrows. Turn to Genesis 3. Let's see when that began. When did the beginning of sorrows begin? Genesis 3, verses 16 and 17. Unto the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply thy, what? Sorrow. And thy conception in sorrow. Thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. It doesn't stop there, though, verse 17. And unto Adam, he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake in, what? Sorrow, shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Now, that's an amazing thing. The beginning of sorrows began when sin entered the world. People look at it, they say, oh, you know, divers, earthquakes. Yeah, because we've never had earthquakes before. Jesus must be coming back, because we've never had an earthquake before. Pestilence, COVID-19, that's prophecy. That is sorrow. That's the beginning of sorrow. The Lord said, when it comes to tribulation, you don't have a concept of what's coming. It's going to be worse. Imagine the worst thing you have ever read about, heard about in the world to date, and what's coming will not measure up. It will far exceed that. All right, so an earthquake, it's sorrowful. A pestilence, it's sorrow. But nation against nation, the horrendous things that happen when a kingdom goes after a kingdom, it's horrible. But that's not the tribulation. That's not the great tribulation. That's not the sign of the Lord's coming. That's a whole different matter. He said they'll deliver you up and you will be conflicted. And so the Lord informs them the times are coming in which the world will persecute God's people. They already do it to Israel. They're going to do it to the church. They have done it to the church. They're doing it to the church in certain places. It's coming to America real soon. I can tell you right now, if you're not serious about Christianity, the days ahead are going to test you in ways you have never been tested before in your life. So if you don't settle down and get serious about God right now, it's not going to happen. It's only going to get harder from here. especially as these lunatics that hate us take more control of our country. They're already in the highest levels of government in our country, and they're Marxist and communistic in their mindset, which means there will be work camps, and if you don't reject Jesus Christ, you're going to be sent to them. That's, I'll prophesy. You want prophecy? That's one. It's coming. You let Bernie Sanders, AOC, you let that crowd get in charge of your government, you're done. It's over. You're either going to reject Jesus Christ or you will finally understand what persecution is in a very real way. It's coming. Many shall hate and betray you. People have never hated each other before. It must be a sign of the Lord's coming. Up until recently, everybody just walked hand in hand and loved each other. No, not at all. That's life in this world. The Lord's telling you none of that has anything to do with my coming. Iniquity abounds. Have you read the book of 1st and 2nd Timothy? What it talks about, iniquity abounding? That's now. That's yesterday. That's 20 years ago, 100 years ago. That's not future. That's the current state of affairs. And it's not a sign of the Lord's coming. And so we just got to keep those things in perspective. Then the Lord says, endure to the end, and you shall be saved. And then here we go. Here's the people who believe you've got to work to gain your salvation, except there's nothing about salvation in this text whatsoever. said, if you can endure to the end, okay, what end is he talking about? Has to be the end of the tribulation, second coming of Jesus Christ. In the entire context, the end is directly related to the second coming of Jesus. Jesus does not come again until the end of the tribulation. So the Lord says, you want to take your chances? Endure to the end. So don't die now, and also make it through the seven years of tribulation, and then you can get into the kingdom. Or, before the church is taken away, trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Have your sins forgiven, your soul saved, and let the Lord take you away from all this. Doesn't that sound like a better option? That's the route I'm taking. People say, well, I just think the church is going to go through the tribulation. Have at it. Let us know how it goes. We'll see you on the other side. You know, I am guilty of often doing things the hard way. I am hard-headed. Sometimes I get it made up in my mind, and I'll plow right through it. I'm not testing that one. Well, I just, you know, I think I'll just try it out. No, no, I think I'll go be with the Lord. No thank you. And people tell me, oh, I think the church is going to go through the tribulation. I ask them, have you read the book of Revelation? Because right now I'm doubting whether you've ever even read it. I don't think you understand what's coming. I think you're just saying something you heard somebody else say. Now, look at verse 22 real fast. Verse 22, and except those days should be shortened, there shall no what? Flesh. Where's the salvation of the soul in this chapter? It's not there. At no point is the context the salvation of the soul. It's all about your physical life being preserved in the hopes that it can be preserved long enough that you enter into the tribulation. Now, what if the Lord comes back tomorrow? Okay, well, you've got seven years to try and make it. What if the Lord didn't come back for another 500 years? Okay, well, now you've got 507 years to try and make it. Why not just trust in Jesus while you can? So, I won't ever understand someone who would take the other route. Now, the end. Look at verse 1 real fast. Matthew 24 verse 1 and Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came unto him for to show him the buildings of the temple. All right, so they're going to ask him about the end of the world. Look at verse 3. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Surely, if you're going to tear the temple down, it must be, I mean, the world's coming to an end. That's how Americans feel. Man, if America goes down, the world must be coming to an end. No, America's just going to go through what every nation went through. You enjoyed, you had a great ride, and then everybody got complacent. Nobody wanted to maintain the responsibility that comes with the great ride. And so it's over. Well, it's not over yet. Well, no, not quite yet. But it's about to hit real hard. And it's going to be an abrupt awakening. Look at verse 6. And ye shall hear of 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. Verse 3, when is the end of the world? Verse 6, not when you see wars, not when you see pestilence, not when you see kingdoms and nations rise against each other. That's not the end. Verse 13, look at verse 13. But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved. Now you can try that if you want. I don't suggest it but the Lord is literally suggesting that you make it all the way to the end and and if you want to go that route, but then look at verse 14. Verse 14, 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. Right now, when that takes place, how that takes place, that's all discussion for a future date. There's a lot of variance to that. But notice the focus on nations and not souls. The end is the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. All right, so I don't suggest you try and make it to the end. I suggest you trust in the Lord now. Let's actually read verses 15 down to the end and then we'll we'll discuss it as we go. Verse 15, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let him understand. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation." All right, now do you see how things jumped? Look at verse 15, "...when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation." Verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation. Now, we're going to talk about that. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. Let's read down to the end, and then we'll come back to this. Such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. So wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, that's bad. It's sorrowful. But it has no comparison to what's coming, not in the slightest. And so the Lord wants to make that very clear. Verse 22, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before, that's part of that don't be deceived. If somebody tells you ahead of time, how did you fall into it? It was a choice. And the Lord says, I'm telling you now. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels, does that sound familiar? We might have read that a few times in Matthew 13 with reverence to the kingdom of heaven. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branches yet tender and put forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the door. What is near? What's he talking about? The end. He's telling you when you see all this, verses 15 down to here, when you see all this, then you know the end is coming. All right, all the verses 3 through 14. That's not the end. That's just life. All right now verse 34 merely I say unto you this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, but of that day and hour knoweth no man know not the angels of heaven, but my father only but as the days of no we were So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 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 into the ark. So what were they doing? Nothing, just living life. Well, we got a meeting at church today. Sorry, I got a waiting to go to. We got street ministry Saturday. Sorry, I gotta wash my hair. I have other things to do. They're just marrying, giving in marriage, eating, hanging out, just living life. There's always something to do other than serve God. The whole point of service is to give up the other things in order to serve God. And yet, you don't see a whole lot of that these days. Verse 39, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken in the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken in the other left. Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth come." Now that's the point. The whole point of all of this, you know, what's all this about? Be ready. The Lord is coming. All right, now you get into the tribulation, be ready. The Lord is coming. You got seven years. And when he comes, man, it's going to be like lightning. But don't take the mark. Don't give in to the beast. Don't give in to the Antichrist. Don't give in to the false prophet. Go hide and pray that you don't have children. Pray that you don't have a baby that you're breastfeeding. Pray to God that it's done at a time when it's convenient for you to go and hide for seven years. Or trust in Jesus Christ now and not have to deal with any of this. Verse 43, but know this, that if the good men of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, if you knew when the thief was coming, what would you do? You and the police would be there waiting, or you and a private army waiting on them to quietly enter so that they will never leave again. They might be there waiting. But the Lord said, you don't know when the thief is coming. You don't know when. They're not going to let you know ahead of time, hey, I'll be there at night, 11 o'clock, just in case you were wondering. I'm going to rob your house. Not going to happen. You're supposed to be vigilant. You're supposed to pay attention. It's your responsibility. The thief would come. He would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be also ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man cometh who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find find so doing now wouldn't that be a good thing? For the Lord to come back and find you doing what you're supposed to be doing? How's it going to feel for Him to come back and find you not doing what you're supposed to be doing? The same way it felt when your parents caught you doing something you were not supposed to be doing. Except intensify that by about a billion. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm supposed to be at church. Instead, I'm out at a football game, or I'm, you know, wasting my time doing something else. I'm supposed to be part of ministries. I'm supposed to be doing things, and I'm not. And then the Lord returns. And what a shameful thing that would be. I make enough mistakes. I want to be faithful to church and do my best to be faithful to the Lord. Verse 47, verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming. See, this is the problem. When is the Lord coming? He said he was coming. He's not coming right now. So I'll just slack off a little bit. and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. All right, now this is the second coming. This has no relationship to us. But the principle is still true with relationship to the rapture of the church. When is the Lord coming to rapture the church? You don't know. So be ready. Be ready means live appropriately. Be faithful. Don't be slack. Don't loaf off and be lazy and complacent and lack of discipline. Serve the Lord Jesus Christ so that when he shows up, you're where you're supposed to be, doing what you're supposed to be doing, and it can be a joyful union. Can you imagine that flight all the way up to meet the Lord and you're like, oh man, I'm not where I'm supposed to be right now. I don't want that to be me, I don't want that to be you. And so I encourage you to do something about it. Now, just real quick, let's go through verses 15 through 28 real fast, really, really fast. Ms. Pat held me up, and so I have to go through it quickly. The Lord said you must read to understand. Anybody here want to gain understanding? Well, according to this passage in the Bible, understanding comes from reading the Word of God. So if you don't read the Word of God, guess what you're not going to gain? Understanding. There's a direct relationship there. You've got to spend time in the Word of God in order to gain understanding. If you're not going to spend time in the Word of God, you're not going to gain understanding. How many times does the Lord look at the Jews and say, have you not read? How do you not know this? How do you not understand this? If you just read your Bible, you would already know this. And how many times could we all, pastors, non-pastors, whoever, look at Christians, listen to what they say, and say, have you even read your Bible? That makes no sense whatsoever. And so, when you see the abomination of desolation in the holy place, that marks the midpoint of the tribulation. That happens dead in the middle of the tribulation. How long is the tribulation? Seven years. The entire tribulation, seven years. The first half of the tribulation, three and a half years, is called the tribulation. The second three and a half years after the abomination of desolation is put in place is called Great Tribulation. It goes from really bad to so bad it's beyond anything the world has ever seen or conceived. And that's about the time that war in heaven happens between the devil and Michael and his angels, and he's cast back down to the earth. And the Bible says he's so angry, he begins to take it out on the earth. So you've got a mixture of God pouring his wrath out on the earth, and now the devil on the earth, angry and pouring his wrath out on the earth. Good luck. Have at it. The tribulation will last for seven years. First three and a half is called tribulation. Second three and a half is after the abomination of desolation is called great tribulation. And if you read the book of Daniel, you will understand what the Lord is talking about. If you're alive when the abomination of desolation is set up in the holy place, this is the Bible's instruction to you. Everybody ready? Run. Hide. Well, I just think I'll talk to him and reason it out. No, you won't. The Lord said the only response, if you see that temple, which is not there right now, it will be there. When you see that temple and you see the Antichrist going there and set himself up as God in the temple, run. Go hide. and survive don't don't die Daniel 9 24 to 27 talks about that. We don't have time to go read it. It breaks down the there are 70 weeks or 490 years. I believe it is if I remember correctly and they are that's the amount of time that the Lord is going to punish Israel for their rebellion against God. All that is accomplished except for one week. A week is how many days? Seven days. So in prophetic terms, a week is how many years? Seven years. Very good. You're all prophetic scholars and didn't even know it. This is the time of Jacob's trouble. It's all about Israel, has nothing to do with the church. Church will be long gone. In verses 17 to 28, the Lord describes how you don't want your flight to be. Now, my flight is going to be come up hither, and I leave here and go up there and meet the Lord in the air. My flight will not be looking for a mountain to hide in during the tribulation. That would mean something went terribly wrong. So then is the coming of the Son of Man, and that's how those things will be. We hope you enjoyed this podcast. You can learn more about our ministry by visiting www.plenteusredemption.com. You can hear more Plenteous Redemption podcast audio at www.plenteusredemption.media. Please comment below if this podcast has been a help to you. Also, inform us of future topics that would interest you. Thank you again for listening to the Plenteous Redemption podcast.