Matthew 24

Signs for Us

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“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 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 ye 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. 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. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Matthew 23:37–24:5

The whole focus of the disciples was on the organization of the time. Even though they had walked year after year with Christ, they really had become somewhat conditioned to the belief that the system could dictate to God, and not that God would direct the system. They were more concerned with the organization than with the mission. As a result, when Jesus spoke about the temple, they had more faith in the temple than in God, and attempted to correct Him. They said, What do you mean that your house is left unto you desolate? And Jesus said, Listen, not one stone is going to be left upon another. This really confused the disciples when Jesus prophesied that the very temple, the center of their worship, would be destroyed. They wanted to know when these things would happen and what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the world.

Jesus began by giving them a universal sign. He gave them the signs in things that existed in heaven and the signs that have existed all throughout creation ever since man was here. He first warned about deception. “Let no man deceive you.” What man can deceive us best? It is self-deception. Deception is what caused the angels to be thrown out of heaven.

In Revelation 12:4 it says, “And his [the devil’s] tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” The devil drew with his tail one-third of the heavenly angels. I praise God that the appeals of Jesus caused some to turn, but still one-third is billions and billions of angels.

The Bible is explicit on what his tail represents: “The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.” Isaiah 9:15. The tail would represent lies or deceit. Here the devil deceived all of these angels into believing him. The prophet of God tells us that at first they did not believe him but sympathized with him. They really got caught up in business that really wasn’t theirs. They felt sorry for him and started listening to him and before they knew it, they were cast out of heaven. Satan would love to go back to heaven.

It was amazing to me what I read in The Story of Redemption. When Satan saw an angel, he would tell him to come and when the angel came, he would ask that angel to go get Jesus for him and the angel went to get Christ. Satan then pleads with Christ to be able to come back to heaven offering to take any position, but Jesus wept at his woe—it broke His heart, because Satan could no longer be trusted. Heaven is based on trust. The Bible says that, “Iniquity will not raise its head again.” Sin is not coming back. In heaven we will not lose our ability to sin; we will just choose not to do it. Our love and appreciation for God will place us where we would never, ever consider doing anything contrary to His word. It will not be a forced thing.

Satan is the great deceiver; he even tried to deceive Jesus. Knowledge of the prophecies in the Word of God are landmarks to let us know where we are in time. At the end of Jesus’ life He knew that the only thing He could trust in was His Father and the Word. While nailed to the cross He knew that Judas would throw down the ransom money he received from the priests and rulers and that it would be used to purchase the potter’s field (Zechariah 11). He knew the prophecies!

We do not know who will stand when severely tested. Each of us needs to be sure that our faith is strong. All through the trial of Jesus, He continued loving his disciples while He watched them look from a distance. Then, while hanging there and in the final moments of His life He experienced what David had prophesied many years before. Psalm 22 says that dogs encompassed him and that He could feel pain all through His body. They took His clothes and cast lots for them. Everybody ran out on Him. Jesus looked and He heard the conversation of the soldiers planning to split up His garments. Jesus knew what the prophecy had said.

The devil tries to manipulate prophecy, but he cannot. If you will notice in Matthew 24:29–31 it says, “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 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.” These events happen right before the coming of the Lord.

When all of the disciples comment on the same thing, it is something really worth paying attention to. Look at Mark 13:24–27. It says, “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

Again, Jesus said that certain things are going to transpire. These prophecies are landmarks. It first said there would be signs, an earthquake, then a sign in the sun, then a sign in the moon and signs in the stars.

Right now, we are living during the sixth seal, between the signs in the heavens and the coming of the Lord. Revelation 6:12–17 says, “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 unto 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 bondman, 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 is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

We know that on November 1, 1755, there was the great Lisbon earthquake. I believe that this fulfilled prophecy. Remember this great earthquake came just before 1798. Something big was going to happen in 1798. God started revealing these prophecies so that His people would understand that He was soon coming. There were three earthquakes, one at 9:00 a.m., one at 10:00 a.m. and one at 12:00 noon. At 9:00 a.m. people became afraid and at 10:00 a.m. they were really scared and by 12:00 noon they ran to the church to pray and thousands died there in church. God is not the author of fear. When these things happen we ought to get excited and exclaim that our redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28). We need to be resting in Christ, understanding what it means to rest in Christ and believe that He will keep us from falling and that He can save us, and not have a deceptive belief, while living in a known sin. This is not resting in Christ.

In Christ there is no sin, because the mind of Christ literally dwells in you. It is to have the faith of Jesus. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. It is literally Christ’s faith activated in my life. I don’t have the faith to believe that God is going to open up a body of water for me to walk across which is contrary to everything my humanity knows. But He has the faith and He is willing to activate that faith in our lives. You will never get that experience unless you go to God and plead for it.

Preachers started preaching that the Lisbon earthquake was a sign of the coming of the Lord and people believed. In 1780 when all of a sudden at noon time the sun went black like a light bulb that went out and the cattle started heading back to the barn, people became afraid. That night the moon became as blood. Preachers were preaching, churches were full and the people believed that it was a sign of the coming of the Lord. The Lord has given us these signs specifically for a reason.

In 1833 when the stars fell there were preachers, including William Miller, preaching all over the world that the Lord was coming. When they saw the stars fall, they looked at Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 and Revelation 6 and they said Jesus has to come, because the prophecy said that after these stars would fall, He would come. What happened? 1844 came and Jesus did not come to this earth, but went into the Most Holy Place in heaven. Prophecy was fulfilled, but the people did not understand it until a little later when God revealed more light.

An important Scripture to understand is Ezekiel, chapter 8. Ezekiel was not preaching to the heathen but to God’s people. The church was in sin and God sent an angel who grabbed Ezekiel by the lock of his hair and suspended him between earth and heaven and showed him the people of God. Ezekiel was a true Christian and he did not want to see sin and he tried to turn. He saw all of these abominations and his heart was broken. The angel kept telling him to look further and finally, notice what he saw in verse 16: “And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.”

Ezekiel saw that God’s people were involved with sun worship. That is when he said it was time for the destroying angel to do his work. If you don’t believe that our people have been deceived, and they have bought into this Ecumenical Movement, it is time to open your eyes. I don’t study what the churches are doing because I am too busy working myself. But, I do know that when we have a Catholic cardinal open our General Conference session with prayer, something is wrong. At the last General Conference session, why, at the parade of nations, does the Vatican have a flag? Italy was there. God is trying to show us something but some of us still will not agonize with God. We still refuse to get our lives in order so that the Holy Spirit can use us to be effective workers for God. When this message goes forth, it will go forth by Seventh-day Adventists, the faithful ones, who are really praying and studying and according to Ezekiel 9 are crying and sighing for the abominations being done in the land and are not involved in gossiping or tearing down.

One of the top selling songs is Man in the Mirror. I went on the internet to read the lyrics. It says something like, “Who are you fooling? If you want change, you need to look in the mirror at yourself and change yourself and stop dealing with other people.” I said, Lord, are the rocks crying out? We have to start examining ourselves to make sure that we are on the path that God has placed us. There is no time to get caught up in surface issues; we need to take time to study and know the message; then preach it.

Stop wasting time and start studying. If you do not have a schedule for your time every day, make one. Your time belongs to God. No other gift has He given of which we have to give a more strict account. Study now and you will be prepared and not overwhelmed when the winds of strife are no longer held back and all breaks loose upon the world. Don’t be found with a form of godliness but denying the power thereof (II Timothy 3:5) and be exposed as a fraud.

Now is the time to develop an ear to hear the Holy Spirit saying, this is the way, walk ye in it [Isaiah 30:21] and stop running to man. Every day start your day with worship.

Once, in India, we were riding in a car that stopped because of a cow in the middle of the road. The driver stopped for that cow and did not even try to move it because it was believed that cows were sacred and we were told that if we attempted to move the cow we would be killed because that cow was sacred. Some Christians do not have as much reverence for the true God as those people had for that cow. There is no excuse not to have a personal relationship with God and to be able to go to Him and know that He is answering your prayers. All have squandered time, but we can redeem the time by not wasting any more, by giving God as much time as you possibly can and He will prepare you for the crisis or He will trust you to die. You have to be trusted to die, because you have to die in Christ.

We are in a war. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will find yourself weeping because there are so many people trapped in sin. You will find yourself losing your comfort to cause others to feel comfortable so they can know your God. You will constantly pray and ask God how you can reach somebody. It is Christ allowing you to feel His burden through you. Have the patience of the saints who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12) and you will be sealed by settling into the truth, both spiritually and intellectually, because you have surrendered to God.

Pastor Stephen Lewis is an international speaker and director of The Present Truth Ministry. This article is from a sermon he preached at the Steps to Life Camp Meeting 2009. He can be contacted at: www.thepresenttruth.org.

Final Signposts

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Most Christians are familiar with Matthew 24 but we are going to re-examine the chapter. To give some background to the events mentioned in Matthew 24 it is good to look at Matthew 23, where Jesus condemned the Jewish church—God’s church, that had been given the truth. They had been blessed with prophecies and prophets had been sent to instruct them. They had the word of God in their midst, yet they had backslidden so much that God could not recognize them or use them as His own church any longer.

They were in much darkness and were about to murder God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In Matthew 23, we read that Jesus condemned their church, their ministry, and their educational work. He told them that they travel across the continent and the ocean to find a soul, bring him or her into their church but make them worse than they were before (verse 15). With tears in His eyes He said, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matthew 26:64.

As He left the church, Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matthew 23:37. Jesus said, “You have stoned My prophets and you are about to kill Me. You have denied the voice of the Holy Spirit. What more could I have done?” The apostles had been listening to what Jesus had said, and it made them very nervous. If He had departed the synagogue and was never going to return, what was going to happen to them?

As Jesus rested at the mount of Olives, the last place where the whole scene of Jerusalem was visible, the disciples asked Him the meaning of what He had said: “You are acting as if you will never return to the church. What will be our future? What about Your becoming King for us?” Jesus looked at the church once more. It was very beautiful. No other nation had a temple that was as magnificent. Looking at His church, which God had appointed and raised up, He said, “See ye 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.” Matthew 24:2. “The building, which you call the temple of God, will be desecrated, destroyed completely.” The disciples were shocked. Then they asked Jesus if it would be the end of the world if that happened. They just could not think of the destruction of God’s church, and they asked Jesus to tell them what would be the sign of the destruction of God’s temple; what would be the sign of His returning and the sign of the end of the world.

In Matthew 24, we see that the time in which we are living is right at the end of the signs that were given. The content of the words of Jesus in this prophecy has already been fulfilled before our eyes. If this is the truth, what will be the fate of God’s church? This is a very solemn theme on which we need to contemplate.

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?” Matthew 24:1, 2. One thing must be made clear—the church is not the denomination; it is not the brick and mortar. The church is not the building or organization. The church is the people of God who believe the word of God and keep His commandments. “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all of these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” This temple will be thrown down completely.

This was such a shock to the disciples that they could not understand. We must apply this to ourselves today. Certainly the temple was beautiful, one of the most beautiful buildings built by human hands, but it was destroyed by the invasion of the Roman armies exactly as Jesus Christ had described, and it became desolate.

“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?” Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple and the disciples put that together with the end of the world. “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 ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Verses 3–6.

Up until the present time, all has been fulfilled through the Christian era. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to heaven, these signs were fulfilled. But look at Matthew 24:7 and 8. It says, “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Don’t you know that we right now are in the season of sorrows and the season of calamities? As we study and read Matthew 24, many times we miss the points. These are points to which we must pay attention.

Earthquakes and famines and pestilences have been in the world for a long time, so how can they be the sign of Jesus’ coming at the end of the world? Jesus gave a clue for only those Christians who are eagerly searching to find truth. He said, “in diverse places.”

There have been earthquakes all throughout human history. So why do they become a sign of Jesus’ second coming at the end of the world? Because He said that these earthquakes and famines and pestilences—these three things—are going to simultaneously happen in diverse places of the world. There have been pestilences, and illnesses that cannot be cured. There are many pestilences in the world right now. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, Georgia, United States), reports that at least 240 occur per year. There are famines, pestilences and earthquakes going on at the same time in different/diverse places. Our day is the time about which Jesus was talking, and He said that all of these things are the beginning of sorrows.

“These things [events] are the result of drops from the vials of God’s wrath being sprinkled on the earth, and are but faint representations of what will be in the near future.

“Earthquakes in various places have been felt, but these disturbances have been very limited. … Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, and the lordly palaces erected at great expense will certainly become heaps of ruins.

“The earth’s crust will be rent by the outbursts of the elements concealed in the bowels of the earth. These elements, once broken loose, will sweep away the treasures of those who for years have been adding to their wealth by securing large possessions at starvation prices from those in their employ.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 391.

There is a vast gap between the rich and the poor, and it is getting bigger and wider. God is soon going to release the winds from the four corners of the earth (Revelation 7:1), and tremendous destruction is going to sweep over the land. “The elements of nature are to be placed in the power of angels of God. He holdeth the winds in His fists.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, 220.

Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, United States) is sitting on a volcano. This park is very interesting to visit with its beautiful scenery, but under the surface is an active volcano with boiling magma causing it to shoot hot spring water high into the air. This is just part of the Lord’s arsenal that He will use in the last day of destruction, which will be devastating. The destruction on that day will be ten thousand times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped in Hiroshima, Japan. Lands, houses, everything will be gone.

We are living in a time that is close to this destruction—it is very close! Our only protection on that day is to be connected with the God of heaven. How do we get that connection? The first thing is to make a total surrender to the Lord, giving Him all of our faults, confessing all of our sins and forsaking them while Jesus is still ministering in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary. Life is a precious gift from God—do not waste this opportunity. Give your whole heart to Jesus. If you love the things of the world, forsake them. If there are any idols or unforsaken sins, give them to Jesus. Be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ; He is still holding back the close of probation for that last sinner to repent.

The signs pointing to the end are all around us. Look at all of the pestilences, the incurable diseases like the bird flu, the swine flu and mad cow disease. The 1918 flu epidemic went for two years and killed about 25 million people. Any of these kinds of things can happen. We are living in the beginning of sorrows.

During 2010 there were record-breaking snowstorms in the United States of America and also record-breaking rainfalls and tornadoes, many in the same regions. There have been recent earthquakes and tsunamis, and we are told that the earth’s axis was tilted eight inches during one big earthquake. The earthquake in Chili (February 27, 2010) caused the earth’s axis to tilt three inches. The earthquake in Haiti (January 12, 2010) caused floods that destroyed so much, and China also has been devastated with flooding that started during early May 2010. There was a major flood also in Fargo, North Dakota (United States), in March 2010. Poland also suffered flooding—dams were submerged and towns were destroyed (May 2010). A violent late winter storm with fierce rain and hurricane-strength winds devastated many cities in western Europe (February 2010). But Jesus said these are just the beginning of sorrows! These are very strange phenomena we are experiencing, with very different changes in weather patterns in many regions of the world.

Remember the recent volcano erruption in Iceland (April 2010), which resulted in so much volcanic ash in the sky that airline flights were cancelled for seven days? Many companies lost billions of dollars and some went bankrupt because of the problem. Right at that time, the European Parliament had invited Roman Catholic Bishops and other church leaders to start a movement called Work Free Sunday Law Legislation. God is warning the people with signs, and while the talks were being held, the ashes covered the whole sky. A coincidence? I do not think so!

There are many of God’s people still in Babylonian churches who are seeking for the truth and for the true church. There are people in our ranks who have the Spirit of Prophecy books but have not read them. Ellen White says, “There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches—even the Catholic Church—whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 386, 387.

There are people in our churches who are just warming the pews. They do not read the Spirit of Prophecy books and apply the precious truths in them to their lives. But God has His hand on His remnant people, even in Roman Catholic churches and many other churches, waiting for the right time to bring them together.

Ellen White refers to the eleventh hour workers. The search for these workers is continuous. They are about to come out to join God’s people and receive the latter rain to enable us to go out and give the loud cry to the world. “For this reason the eleventh hour laborers will receive their penny. These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain sound. When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come to the front, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, and exalt His law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives.” Ibid., 387.

We are in the midst of the season of calamity. Actually we are in the middle of a crisis. The mark of the beast is beginning in the European countries and other nations. The true crisis—the true Sunday law, the true mark of the beast persecution—will begin from the United States of America, according to prophecy of Revelation 13, and then will spread to different regions of the world. Then the eleventh hour workers, who are about to come out of both the Catholic and Protestant churches, will come to the front. They will come out girding themselves with the whole armor of God, exalting His law and adhering to the faith of Jesus. Here is the patience of the saints; they keep God’s commandments and have the faith of Jesus Christ (Revelation 14:12). They will also maintain the cause of religious liberty that the reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives. This means they are going to fight the battle of religious freedom in the day of the crisis of the Sunday law. We are in a crisis—the season of calamities has begun.

Jesus Christ is coming soon, and the Sunday law will come so soon that it will be an overwhelming surprise. “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.” Matthew 24:9. We need to pray as we have never prayed before. These things are no longer far from us.

“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.

“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 11.

The things that are taking place right now are happening rapidly.

Has there been in the past any generation of true Christians, the true church, that has been hated and persecuted by all nations? No. They have been hated by some nations, but not by all nations. God’s true church will be hated by all nations for Jesus’ namesake at the time of the Sunday law. There will be only two groups of people remaining in the world—one who will receive the seal of the living God, and the other group, the vast majority who will receive the mark of the beast. At that time the true remnant church will be hated by all nations, by those who receive the mark of the beast fulfilling the words of Jesus in Matthew 24.

Jesus, talking about the generation living here, right now, says, “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.” Verses 10, 11. Some of us will be like Judas Iscariot and sell their Lord and their brothers and their sisters for some worldly benefit. If we want to avoid that kind of treachery, let us keep our hearts in Jesus today. We must wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Righteousness is a powerful experience where Jesus sows the seed into our hearts, and we become like Him in our hearts and in our actions. Sanctification is the process of carrying out the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and souls; that is, living a holy life, true righteousness.

“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.” He that will endure long-suffering in faithfulness and loyalty shall be saved. This is the patience of the saints. This is the time for us to prepare. “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.” Verses 11–14.

Right now we are living in these things. All of the signs are being fulfilled around us; earthquakes, pestilences and famines are taking place in diverse places simultaneously in the world right now. Soon we will be hated by all nations, and then false prophets will arise and the evil angels will appear in the form of dead people such as John the Baptist, Elijah, Enoch or Daniel. Evil angels will thus appear and deceive the people.

“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 shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.” Matthew 24:23–25.

After all of this phenomena, Satan will appear and counterfeit Christ, and he will deceive the whole world. This is coming in the very near future. “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. 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.” Matthew 24:9–14. Only by the power of the latter rain, the power from on high, will we be able to finish the work of the gospel of the kingdom, and then the end shall come.

“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Verses 33, 34. What things will be seen? Earthquakes, pestilences, famines taking place simultaneously in various places in the world. The generation who is watching these happen at the same time in diverse places will be hated of all nations and will be sold and betrayed by their former brothers and sisters. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” Verse 45. That meat is the present truth for this time—the Three Angels’ Messages—that need to be preached.

“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, 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.” Verses 48–51.

To “eat and drink with the drunken” means to accept the wine of Babylon. People will be drunk with the error, the wine of Babylon, and smite their good fellows. The Bible says these are evil servants. I am so thankful for the wonderful mercy and grace of my Lord and for the opportunity we have to serve Him. Jesus is coming very soon. May the will of Jesus be done in my life and in your life.

Pastor David Kang is Director of Light for Life Ministry operating out of Georgia, U.S.A. His sermons are broadcast weekly on New York and Virginia Korean television stations. Pastor Kang also frequently travels to Asia where he trains pastors. Pastor Kang may be contacted by telephone at: 706-377-1004.