Take Heed

But men and sometimes women too, pornography is a very destructive thing. And I talked with my brother-in-law this last week. He came up and visited.

He made a statement I thought was just pretty simple. He said, I don't get involved in things that hurt me. And if I see somebody that's going to hurt me, I try to avoid it at all costs.

And nobody willingly hurts themselves. I don't see too many people. I know some people who are demonic will cut themselves.

It's not good. But how many people just hit themselves over the head with a hammer? You just don't do that. But I know that people are willingly destroying and hurting their soul by hitting themselves with pornography and ungodliness and it's destroying.

So just a reminder here that let's flee those things, flee pornography, flee fornication the Bible says. And it'll destroy your soul, it'll destroy your family, it'll destroy your marriage, it'll destroy a lot of things. So let's be mindful of that.

Well I'm going to take this subject up here. We're down to two subjects. And I was asked a month or two ago to share also on some of the things that were leading up here to the second coming of Christ.

So I'm going to try to combine those two thoughts here today. The idea of watching. In the Bible probably 75% of the words or the phrase about watching have to do with the second coming of Christ, being watchful.

And so we're going to look at that, watch, in reference to the second coming of Christ. I know in the children's lesson we talked about watching out for the devil, the roaring lion who walks about seeking whom he may devour. But we're going to take today, this afternoon, this morning to talk about this watching with regards to the second coming of Christ.

The word watch means to keep alert or to be awake or to be vigilant. Keeping your spiritual eyes open. Being on guard.

The idea of the watchman on the wall of the city. You don't want to be asleep. You don't want to be drowsy.

You want to be alert. You want to be awake. And it's spiritually speaking, being spiritually alert.

Now I want you to go back with me to Ezekiel chapter 3 and I'll give you an example of this. I've shared on this before, but here's a good example. I believe in many ways the church is asleep.

At large, and even us here, we have to understand and to maybe awaken ourselves in some areas of life. Here in Ezekiel chapter 3, I want to start reading in verse 17. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman.

This idea of sitting on the wall under the house of Israel, therefore hear the word at my mouth and give them warning from me. Now the watchman was to warn about the enemy that was approaching the city. Here spiritually speaking, God tells Ezekiel, I've made you a watchman.

But no, it's not some army out there. It's a spiritual enemy. And that spiritual enemy is sin.

And that sin is destructive. It's going to destroy your city. It's going to destroy your soul.

And so I've set you as a watchman over the house of Israel. Verse 18, when I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely die and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. In other words, warn the wicked that the enemy is approaching so that the wicked can have warning and prepare himself.

Verse 19, yet if thou warn the wicked and he turn not from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Now, if you're a watchman back in those days and you're alert and you're vigilant and you see an enemy coming and you you sound the alarm and the people in the city get ready and they fight and that army that's approaching them, defeats them and destroys them, that watchman did all he could and he has no blood upon his hand. However, if that watchman sees the enemy coming and he's sleeping and the enemy comes and destroys the city, then the watchman has the blood of the people upon his hand because he did not warn in the very same way.

Spiritually speaking, the Lord says we are watchmen and we are to warn the wicked of their wicked way. And if the wicked continue on and get destroyed, you are free from their blood because you warn them. But if the wicked are never warned and the enemy destroys them or their wickedness destroys them, then their blood will be upon your hand.

And so spiritually speaking, we need not to be asleep as watchmen on the wall. We need to be warning the wicked of their wicked way, not only inside the church, but also outside the church. Now, I want you to listen here as I read and I've read this verse before, but it was brought to my attention again this morning as I was preparing to do the introduction here to the message.

Listen to what Paul says here in Ephesians 5. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them or warn them. For it's a shame even to speak of those things which are done to them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever does make manifest is light.

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest. Now notice the context here. Awake thou that sleepest.

Can you imagine yourself being a spiritual watchman for the congregation, for the unsaved? And you are to be the warner. You are to warn them of the dangers of sin and the dangers of iniquity. And yet we're asleep.

We're not warning anyone, not only inside of our congregation, but even outside in the world. Those things that are a shame to even speak of and they are destroyed. And we look at that and say, well, they deserve it.

They got destroyed. And the Lord says, you're supposed to be a watchman and you're supposed to be warning them. So the idea of the church being asleep, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead.

And so a watchman is one who is to be warning of an enemy. And our enemy is sin. Our enemy is the devil.

And so we're to be watchmen. And so we come here to this idea of watching for the return of the Lord Jesus. And I want to spend our time this morning just as we have time to go through some of the things that the Lord has encouraged us to watch for with regards to the return of our Lord Jesus.

And so turn with me to Matthew chapter 24. We're going to spend most of our time here this morning in Matthew chapter 24. Now, like I said before, probably 75 percent of the times when the Lord mentions the word watch, he is referring to the second coming of Christ.

Let me read a couple of examples. Matthew 24, 42, Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord does come. Matthew 25, 13, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man comes.

Listen as I read here in Mark 13. Mark 13, verse 33, Take ye heed, watch and pray. Those two words again together.

For you know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore, for you know not when the master of the house comes, that even or at midnight or at the cock crowing or in the morning, lest coming suddenly he finds you sleeping.

And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch. So the idea of watching. Having an alertness, a spiritual alertness, as you think about the coming of Christ and all the things that are going to precede it, the Lord encourages us to be very watchful.

Watch for his second coming. So let's pray and then I'll just share some thoughts here for Matthew 24 about the second coming of Christ and what we need to watch for and be alert. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we acknowledge you here again this morning and all of our ways. Lord, that you might direct our path. Father, I pray you'll direct my heart as I share your word and try to communicate and teach that we might be vigilant and sober as we near the end of time and the return of Christ.

May we not sleep, Lord. Help us to be alert, to be vigilant. Lord, bless the message this morning.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, let's look here at Matthew chapter 24.

I'm going to start reading in verse number three. Just a few verses here to start off, the disciples are asking the Lord a question in verse three. 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 to them, take heed that no man deceive you.

Now, many, many Christians today have this attitude that I'm just going to focus on my day to day life and I'm not going to worry about any signs of this coming, anything about the return of Jesus Christ. It's all going to pan out in the end anyway. And it doesn't matter whether I am aware of its coming or not, it'll all work out.

There's a lot of people who believe that. And I'm here to say this morning that it's not the heart of God for you to have that attitude. As a matter of fact, when those disciples asked Jesus, tell us what's the sign of your coming and the end of the world, he didn't say to them, don't worry about it, it's all going to pan out and you don't need it to have any sign that precede my coming.

He didn't take that attitude. He actually said, take heed, take heed that no man deceive you. Now, I realize there's a lack of interest in many ways for the signs and the warnings that the Lord's coming is near, but we need to understand them and to be watchful.

And a lot of people are getting stirred up nowadays because of the way the world's heading. And I wanted to share with you some very simple things that the Lord gives here to help you to be spiritually alert and to be prepared for the return of the Lord Jesus. First of all, it's take heed that no man deceive you.

In other words, it's going to be a time of deception. So you need to be vigilant. You need to be sober.

You need to be awake spiritually. You're not just going to lollygag through this thing and go to sleep. You need to be alert.

So let's go down here and read some of these verses, starting in verse number five. 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 not yet. For nations 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. Now, here's something that's very important to remember.

This little phrase here, the beginning of sorrows, actually is referring to the birth pangs that a woman has before she gives birth to a child. And if you look in the Bible, you'll find that the Lord takes the birth process and He uses that as an example of His return and the sign that will precede it. And here He does that very thing.

These signs are the beginning of sorrows. They are the birth pangs. Now, I learned something when my wife and I were first, my wife was pregnant.

I wasn't pregnant, but we were having our first baby and Ezra and I was pretty simple as far as my naive, as far as my understanding. And so, so my wife's nine months, you know, and we're getting close and we don't know the date or the hour, like the Bible says. And we're laying in bed, I don't know, two o'clock or so in the morning.

And my wife wakes me up and says, I think we're about ready to have a baby. How do you know that? He says, I'm beginning to have birth pain. I'm beginning to have the cramping that now it's time for the baby to come.

And some of you ladies know exactly what that is. Some of you men probably learned those things as you experienced and watched your wife go through labor. So the Lord, He uses this as an example to show us the return of Christ and all the things that are going to be coming to pass.

And so here you have a woman, she gets pregnant and she begins to have more and more discomfort as the baby grows and as her stomach swells, she gets bigger and bigger. And people say to me, you know, we've always had earthquakes. We've always had famines.

We've always had kingdoms against kingdoms. We've always had wars. All these things that Jesus mentioned, yes, and just like the baby and the stomach getting bigger and bigger, it is intensifying and it's intensifying and it's intensifying as time goes along.

But there comes that point where, whoa, the birth pangs have hit and there's a marked change in what's happening. And so this birth process the Lord is using to teach us about His second coming. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to read it for the sake of time.

But in First Thessalonians, chapter five, the return of Christ is likened to travail as a woman with child. Sudden destruction. So this whole process is pictured in the birth process of a child.

So let's put it this way, the church, we're in the place where we're just prior to the birth pain. I mean, we've been it's getting more and more intense, more earthquakes, more famines, more wars, more rumors of wars, more tsunamis mentioned here a little later on. Just things are intensifying.

But there is coming a time, just like with my wife, boom, things are going to intensify dramatically. As a matter of fact, when Luke writes his gospel, he says things are going to start getting so dramatic that men's hearts will begin to fail them for fear of the things that are coming on the earth. What is going on? And so we have this illustration here that the Lord uses.

There will be a marked increase, according to the authority of God's Word, a marked increase in these things. So much so that men's hearts, it says here in Luke 21, there should be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars and upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity. The idea is people are perplexed.

What is going on in this on this planet? There's signs in the sun and the moon. And you know what they're going to say? Global warming or there's going to be some excuse made. They're not going to look to the Lord.

But you and I need to be alert. We're going to look to the Lord. With perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear.

And so they're going to look for answers, just like lost men do. And where are they going to look? They're going to look to an Antichrist. That's what they're going to look to.

But you and I are still going to be looking to the Lord Jesus. There'll be reasoning about global warming. There'll be reasoning about all kinds of environmental issues.

That's why we have famines and pestilences and earthquakes. All this is brought on by man. And some of it could be.

But what I'd like you to understand is this. We've always had earthquakes. We've always had famines.

We've always had wars. And just like that woman who's always got some discomfort carrying this baby, morning sickness, and the process goes on. But there comes to that place where it's like, boom, we're getting real close.

That's the birth pangs. And Jesus said that's what will signal. Things are very, very close.

And I don't believe we're there yet. We're getting very, very close, and the pregnant wife is very uncomfortable at this point. So the birth pangs.

Now, there's going to be a great deception. I want to throw this out. Some of you have been in our Bible studies on Saturday morning, remember this.

Look at Matthew chapter 24 here. There's going to be a great deception. People are going to be looking for answers.

And there's going to be a rising Antichrist comes that's going to have answers. But in Matthew chapter 24, verse number 24, it says, 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. So here you have perplexity all over the world, things dramatically changing.

Then people are rising up with amazing signs and wonders. Verse 25, Behold, I have told you before, Jesus is telling us ahead of time, 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. Now, when people are perplexed, and the world is really starting to shake and rock, and there's amazing things going on, there's going to be some deception. And here the Lord warns us ahead of time.

They're going to say to you, Hey, the Lord has come. Jesus has come. The Messiah has come.

And he's over there in the desert. Or the Messiah has come. The Deliverer has come.

He's over here in some secret room, some secret temple. The Lord says, Don't believe it. Now listen, the Antichrist is going to rise up, Revelation says, from the earth.

He's coming up from humanity. He is going to be down here. So they're going to say, Go over here to this desert place, or go over here to this temple.

But I love Philippians 3.20, and listen to what Paul says, For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know where next time you're going to see Jesus? It's not going to be in some secret chamber or some desert somewhere. You're going to see him coming from heaven.

We're supposed to be looking up. And so all the false Christs that are coming, they're all going to be down here. They're all going to say, Hey, the Messiah has come.

He's in the temple over here. The Messiah has come. He's in the desert.

He's in some secret place. You say, No, the Messiah has not come, because he's coming from heaven, as lightning shines from east to the west. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

So the Lord is telling us this ahead of time, so that we can be alert. We can be watching. We don't have to be asleep, like the man on the Californian back during the sinking of the Titanic.

The Titanic was going down. People were drowning. And as the telegraph operated, the Titanic was sending out telegraphs to try to find any ship within 15, 20 miles to come and help them.

There was one ship that was pretty close, called the Californian. But the operator was sleeping on the telegraph. And while it was coming in, the emergency, he was asleep.

And so not sleeping, being mindful, understanding what is coming upon the earth. So there will be a marked intensity. So I'm looking for a marked intensity of false Christ, wars, famines, pestilences.

By the way, the word pestilence comes from the root word pest. Most of your diseases nowadays have been born by animals. Even the COVID-19 came from an animal.

You've got the swine flu. You've got all of these bird flu. You've got all of these diseases that are coming out of pests.

Why we have the idea of the pestilences and earthquakes. Luke's account says the sea and the waves are roaring. Sea and the waves are roaring.

You know, earthquakes in the ocean cause tsunamis. I never knew what a tsunami was until 1994. And that tsunami that hit Indonesia.

Then a few years later, Japan got hit by a major tsunami. Incredible. So as earthquakes intensify, there's going to be more tsunamis.

The sea and the waves are going to roar. You're going to see them on a regular basis. So we're encouraged here to watch.

Now let's keep reading here in Matthew 24, starting in verse number 9. 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 so persecution is going to really intensify.

Now, this is human nature. It's happened throughout history. When things start to go wrong, people look for someone to blame.

And guess who's going to get to blame? God's people. Remember poor Jonah? They come down to get him in the bottom of the boat. What's this storm about? Jonah says, I'm the one to blame.

Throw him overboard. Sea and the waves calm. Well, people are going to be looking for someone to blame.

And they're going to start persecuting God's people. Many, it says in verse 10, will be offended. That word offended means to turn back from the faith.

Many are going to betray one another. There'll probably be people here. During this time, as things begin to intensify, they're going to go with the world.

They're going to pull out. As Brother David said, they're not true Christians. They've come in some other way.

They're just spectators. They don't have a reality in their life. It says many are going to betray.

They're going to turn you in. They're going to betray you. Just like Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus.

Get ready for it. Many will betray one another. It'll be a time of not knowing who is on your side.

Verse 12, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. It's a very difficult time. Love of many waxing cold.

Verse 13, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Here is the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints, enduring unto the end.

The true Christian will hold fast to his faith. He'll continue to look to the heavens for the return of the Lord Jesus. Turn back with me to Matthew 13.

Hold your finger here. I'll try to stay in the book of Matthew. Look at Matthew 13.

This is explained here very clearly in Matthew 13, starting in verse 18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, when anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catches away that which is sown in his heart. This is he which receives seed by the wayside.

But he that receiveth the seed into the stony place, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. I heard the gospel and I received it with joy. The Lord is going to save me and forgive my sin.

Yet, he has no root in himself, no depth. But he endures for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Remember, many shall be offended. You know what's going to happen? I'm telling you ahead of time. What's going to happen? Things are going to get tough.

There's going to be a lot of things going on in the world. And then, there's going to be persecution come, serious. And at that time, those who have a shallow faith, those who, yeah, I want to be a Christian, this is wonderful, my sins are forgiven, but have no depth in your commitment, they're going to be wiped away.

You're going to be washed away. You're going to be offended. And when it comes time to die or to go with the world, you're going to choose to go with the world.

And so I would encourage you here ahead of time to make sure your faith not only is just an unsaved faith, but your faith has some depth to it. That it's not just shallow like that seed that falls into my driveway and it shoots up when the sun is up or when my daughter hits it with Roundup. It's removed.

Make sure you have a deep faith when you go in to these times. You need to be deeply grounded in your faith. 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.

So even in this time, the Lord is encouraging us to continue preaching the Gospel. Remember Jesus said go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and lo, I am with you even until the end of the world. So this Great Commission is all the way to the end.

And so I know that in those times you're going to want to say, let's just hide out and be quiet. But God's children ought to be valiant. And like Jesus said, be willing to lose their life for the Gospel's sake.

And so you're going to have a time of intense persecution coming. And then we come here to a very difficult time. Verse 15, When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.

Whosoever reads, 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 get his clothes.

And woe unto them that it was child unto them that give suck in those days. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither in the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Now, there's coming a time in the very end, it's actually the last three and a half years, a time which the Bible calls great tribulation. And it's during the time of the rise of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is going to come in the place of Christ.

The word anti means in the place of Christ. He's going to be a false Christ. And he's going to persecute God's people.

The Bible says the devil's come down having great wrath because he knows he has a short time. And so this last three and a half years is called great tribulation. Great tribulation.

I think these things are fascinating. We don't have time to talk about the great tribulation and all the details of it. God came into this world and He took upon Himself a human body.

1 Timothy 3.16 calls it the mystery of God. God was manifested in the flesh with a scene of angels, preached onto the world and believed on the world and received up into glory. But Satan is going to come into the world too.

He's going to take upon himself a body. And that body is the Antichrist. And 2 Thessalonians, interestingly enough, calls him the mystery of iniquity.

Satan in a human body. And that last three and a half years is going to be a very difficult time. It's called great tribulation.

Look at verse 15. When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet... You can go back and read it. In Daniel 11, stand in the holy place whoso readeth, let him understand.

Now this Antichrist is going to stand in the holy place and that's the temple in Jerusalem. Paul makes mention of that in 2 Thessalonians. I want to read to you.

You don't have to turn there. 2 Thessalonians 2, he says, let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Now that's what Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica.

So there is coming a day when the Antichrist will be revealed. He'll sit in a rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and claim to be God. And persecute just like Nebuchadnezzar.

Everybody come and worship me in this image and if you don't, you're going into the fiery furnace. And that's a picture of these days. You worship the Antichrist or you're going into a fiery furnace.

I've got good news for you. When you go into that fiery furnace, the Lord will walk with you. Right in the furnace.

Just like He did with those three Hebrew children. And so the nation of Israel, just in passing, God has a purpose for it. That's why 1900 years, it was non-existent, but now back in 1948, God raised the nation up again.

Jerusalem is now half controlled by Israel and someday they're going to build the temple. And the Lord has a purpose in it all. So that tribulation will begin when the man of sin, the Antichrist, stands in the temple and claims to be God.

That's why those in Judea, persecution will start right there in Jerusalem and Judea. You who are in Judea, don't even go back to the house to get your clothes, Jesus says. Just flee.

Get out of the place. Because it's going to start right there. And we don't have time, but in Daniel chapter 11, it says the Antichrist comes down from the north and he plants his tabernacle right there in Jerusalem.

And he commits the abomination of desolation. He stands in the temple and claims to be God. And so the tribulation begins, or the great tribulation will begin.

And it's a period of three and a half years. Let's go back and hold your fingers here. Let's go back to Revelation chapter 13 for a minute.

I could read it to you, but I'd like you to look at it. Revelation chapter 13, starting in verse number 4. Revelation 13, 4, this is a chapter that deals with the Antichrist. And they worship the dragon, that's the devil, which gave power unto the beast.

And they worship the beast. The beast is the Antichrist saying, who is like unto the beast and who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. There's your three and a half year period.

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and then to dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints. Now notice this.

God gives him the right to make war with the saints and to overcome them. You know, it's just like with Job. God gave Satan the right to go and inflict Job, and Job was the better for it.

Here the Lord is going to give the devil through the Antichrist the right to afflict the people of God. When it says he overcame them, it means he killed them. Not that he overcame their faith, but he killed them.

Power was given unto him over all kindreds and tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the Book of Life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So this last three and a half year period is going to be a time of intense persecution. The devil has come down unto you having great wrath because he knows he has but a short time.

Now, I want to clarify something because there's a lot of false concepts out there. This is called the great tribulation for a reason. It's not called the great wrath of God.

It's called the great tribulation. You see, the wrath of God is going to come when Jesus appears. This is a time of tribulation at the hands of the Antichrist, at the hands of unbelievers in this world.

Tribulation is a good thing for us. Amen? The Bible says tribulation works patience. The Bible says we're to rejoice in tribulation.

Tribulation is something that makes us actually better. Let me read a passage here in the book of Acts. Barnabas and Paul are talking to the church in Acts chapter 14.

It says, And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and it taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must... Listen to this. We must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Wow.

Now, if you're in the early church back there, you've got Paul and Barnabas coming and saying, Folks, disciples, we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. That's just the will of God. So the tribulation, the great tribulation, and that's during the time when there'll be the mark of the beast.

By the way, I don't think all these things... You know, people used to think that the social security number was the mark of the beast. They think your driver's license number is the mark of the beast and, you know, vaccinations are going to give you some mark of the beast. No, the mark of the beast will be something.

You won't miss it. You'll have a clear choice. Yes, I believe we're getting inoculated and our minds are being trained to accept these things.

We need to be very watchful and careful. But the mark of the beast not only requires you to receive a mark, it requires you to fall down and worship the image. Revelation says it's going to be made.

Something else is mentioned here in Matthew 24. There'll be great signs and wonders during this time. Paul said it in 2 Thessalonians.

He calls them lying wonders. By the way, not all miracles are good miracles. They're lying wonders.

You know how you can tell the difference between a true and a false prophet? The book of Revelation says that this false prophet will rise up who looks like a lamb but speaks like a what? Lion. He looks like a lamb. That's why you don't judge according to appearance.

He looks like a lamb. If you judge according to appearance, hey, he looks good. But he speaks like a lion.

In other words, there are many people throughout the Bible who came with great miracles and wonders, but they spoke contrary to the Word of God. And so there are sometimes lying wonders. The Bible says they're going to call fire down from heaven.

Can you imagine the world is being shaken and people are wondering what to do and you're under great persecution and tribulation and fire starts coming down from heaven and people are like, the lions are calling fire down from heaven? I can just hear people saying, but Jerry, this has to be from God. And then you listen to the guy speak. Oh, he wants me to worship this man? He wants me to receive a mark? He's speaking like a lion even though he looks like a lamb.

So you have these signs. You have this intensity. Then you enter into a time of great suffering and persecution and tribulation.

And we can talk a lot about that, but for the sake of time, I'd like to just continue on here. Let's look down to verse 29. Immediately after.

Matthew 24, verse 29. Immediately after. Immediately after.

In other words, at the close of this three and a half year period, immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be dark. The moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from heaven.

The powers of the heavens 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.

Well, you know, all the glories of heaven, the moon, the stars, the sun, 1 Corinthians 15 says the moon has a glory. Stars have glories. The sun has a glory.

All the glories of heaven are going to be turned off because there's only going to be one glory. And that's the glory of the return of Christ. So all the glories of heaven will be turned off.

And then, verse 30, shall appear the sign of the Son of Man. Our Savior is coming from heaven. He's not going to be down here.

He is coming from heaven. Now, just to give you a little story here, verse 29 says, Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Lord returns. I was up in Canada preaching a revival meeting.

And I must have preached something about the second coming of Christ because they had a meal afterwards and I sat down. And across from me was a lady, a middle-aged lady. She said to me, she said, you know, it would have been nice if the Lord would have shared in His Word when He's coming, either before the tribulation or after the tribulation, or in the middle of the tribulation, because all this confusion.

And I looked at her and I said, well, the Lord did tell us when He's coming. And this is the way many Christians are. I said, the Lord did tell us.

She said, no, He didn't. I said, yeah, He did. I said, no, why would there be all this confusion if the Lord told us? I said, the Lord did tell us.

I opened up my Bible to Matthew 24. I said, immediately after the tribulation of those days, great tribulation, the Lord returns. It hit her like a ton of bricks.

What? You know, many Christians, they don't even think. Yeah, I know when the Lord is coming. Immediately after the tribulation of those days.

Then He comes in glory. Well, look at verse number 30, and I'm almost finished here. Verse 30, And then shall appear the Son of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.

And that word is translated wail in another place, Revelation 1-7. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Every eye shall see Him, and all kingdoms of the earth shall wail.

You know, that's what the lost are going to do when they see the Lord Jesus come. Because they know it's time for the wrath of God. So they begin to wail.

They weren't wailing before this time, but now they're wailing. So you have people running for the rocks and the mountains to cry out to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne. So this is the day of the Lord's wrath.

And good news for us, when we see Jesus, we're not going to wail because we're going to be transported up to meet Him in the clouds and the air. 1 Thessalonians 4.13 The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet Him in the air. There's going to be a separation as soon as the Lord appears.

Hey, good news. 1 John says when we see Him, we shall be what? Like Him. So He appears, and all of a sudden I'm changed, and I'm caught up to meet Him.

The lost are left here. Some are taken. Some are left.

As a matter of fact, if you jump over here to Matthew 24 in verse number 40, it says this, Then shall two be in the field. The one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill.

The one shall be taken, and the other left. There'll be a separation. Those who are true, Brother David mentioned, those who are true Christians are going to be caught up to meet Him.

And those who are not are going to be left. It doesn't matter whether you've got your church membership in your pocket. If you don't come through the Lord Jesus to get into the sheepfold, you're going to be left.

And so that day is going to be a glorious day for God's people, but an awful day for the unconverted. It's kind of like, you know, I'm being attacked by some thieves, and I'm laying on the sidewalk, and they're trying to get my wall, and they're beating me up, and I'm in tribulation. And all of a sudden I hear, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What do those things do to my heart when I hear those sirens coming? I rejoice, right? What does it do to the thieves' hearts when they hear it? Whoa, let's get out of here. The same thing is going to happen when Jesus appears. Praise be to God.

Here we go. It's a joy for us, but the world is going to say, whoa is us. And so there'll be a separation.

And then just one other illustration the Lord gives here, and then I'll close. Look down at Matthew 24 in verse 37. But as the days of Noah 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, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Here's how it's going to happen, just like it did in Noah's day. You're not going to get into a boat.

I know the Lord came to Noah and said, hey, I'm going to judge the world now. Seven days you better get into the boat, get everybody in the boat, get ready. You get into this place of safety, and then I'm going to bring judgment upon this world and I'm going to kill everybody.

In the very same way, the Lord's going to come, get His people out, get them to a place of safety, they're going to meet Him in the air, and then literally all hell is going to break loose. Right? It's not going to be with water this time. The Lord promised us with the rainbow, you know.

Not with water, it's going to be with what? Fire. He's coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and those that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. When He shall come to be admired by His saints and all them that believe.

And so you sit here just like Noah. You know, you hear that children's story about Noah, and some of you children think, boy, I'm glad Noah and the family got into that boat. I wouldn't want to be outside that boat.

Well, guess what? Some of you are still outside the boat right now. You're outside the boat. And yes, there's coming a day when that door is going to close on the boat.

By the way, Noah didn't close the door. God shut the door. And once the door was shut, all the pounding on that door wasn't going to do you any good.

Remember those foolish virgins? They missed the call. They came up to the door, and they knocked, open unto us! And the Lord said, I don't know where you're at. And so the Lord gives us warning.

He tells us ahead of time what's going to come. I don't believe we're to the time of the birth pangs yet, but I do know this, that there's coming a day when things are going to start changing dramatically, and you're going to see earthquakes multiple around the world. You're going to see tsunamis.

You're going to see wars breaking out. And people on this earth are going to say, what in the world is going on here? And you're going to say, we're real close. We're real close.

Because we're watching. We're vigilant. And then we're going to enter into a time of 3 1⁄2 years of great tribulation.

And then after that 3 1⁄2 years, the Lord will return. And we'll be caught up to meet Him. So, all that said, when the disciples asked Jesus, tell us what is the sign of your coming and the end of the world, He didn't say to them, don't worry about it.

It will all pan out in the end. He said, take heed. In other words, you watch.

And you be vigilant. See what's happening in our world. And so that you're not taken unaware.

All right. Does anyone have anything they'd like to share this morning?