Great Tribulation/Mark Of The Beast
WILL
CHRISTIANS GO THROUGH THE GREAT TRIBULATION?
WHEN
WILL JESUS RETURN?
WHAT
ARE THE SIGNS OF HIS RETURN AND THE END?
THE
MARK OF THE BEAST
REVELATION CHAPTER 7 The 144 Thousand Sealed
New The Book Of Revelation The Scroll Sealed With Seven Seals
JESUS ANSWERS ARE IN RED.
Bible in Black.
My words in Blue.
As Christians we are to study God's word for ourselves.
2nd Timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that need not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.
Don’t just take what you have
heard or what some preacher says about the Tribulation and the timing of the
return of Jesus the Christ, The Lamb Of God, not even from me.
Study it yourself.
This will be an in depth study
and will take some time. I will try to cover as much as I can about the
Tribulation and the Lord's return and the Mark of the Beast.
I would suggest that you read the 24th chapter of Matthew and
the 13th chapter of Mark before you continue. Matthew and Mark are
very plain and are the words of Jesus but study it carefully. Seek God for an
understanding of the order of events, which the Lord gives.
Matthew and Mark only give the
short story if you will. It all
comes together about what Jesus says about the end and his coming and it is backed
up with other scriptures in the Bible.
We know no man knows the hour
or the day of his return but Jesus did tell us what the times would be like. He
told us we would be able to recognize the signs of his return.
The place to begin any study of
end time or last day’s prophecy is to see how Jesus answered His apostles when
they asked Him about these things.
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?
Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them. Take heed that no man deceive you. V 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Notice what Jesus says first. He says to not be deceived. Don’t you think that’s odd that he starts his answer about his coming and the end with (Take heed that no man deceive you.)?
He knew that many would
be deceived. They
will preach he was, and is Christ. They
will be Christians; we know this because he says they will come in his name. He didn’t say they were wolves in sheep’s clothing, but
that they would come in his name, and that they would deceive many.
Deceive many in what way? About
his coming and the end. After all
that is what they had just asked him about, and that is how he started his
answer.
Because many don’t
study and seek God they will be deceived about this. Perhaps some of you don’t know anything about the
Tribulation or the Rapture you’ve never heard about it.
The Rapture means the
catching away, gathering together, taking the Christians up in the air to be
with Jesus.
There are three different
preaching’s about the Tribulation, Pre Trib, Mid Trib, And Post Trib each using
scripture to support their claim.
For many Christians
(Pre Trib) has been preached that the rapture will come before the Tribulation
and because they are Christians they won’t have to go through the Tribulation.
Movies have been made about it. How bad it will be if you are left
behind so you need to get saved so you won’t go through the Tribulation.
They have good intentions but we don’t get saved from the Tribulation
we get saved from sin, from death.
We
receive everlasting life. Read John 3:16 and 3:17
Mid Trib preach
Christians will go through part of the Tribulation and at the mid part of the
Tribulation before the Antichrist and Mark of the Beast comes they will be taken
out Raptured out.
Post Trib preach
Christians will be here and have to live through all the Tribulation and at the
end of the Tribulation the Lord comes.
I’ve also heard that
there will be three Raptures that will take place Pre, Mid, and Post.
I must say the Pre and Mid
Tribulation preaching totally ignore what Jesus says in Matthew the 24th
Chapter verses 29-31. In fact I know of one preacher who is very well known and
has his own Bible you can buy from him and it has his commentary. I know this
for a fact because my Mother has one. He
starts with Matthew Ch 24 verse 3 where the disciples ask Jesus what the signs
will be. Instead of using what Jesus says in verse 4 he skips the rest of the 24th
Chapter of Matthew. He goes somewhere else in the Bible to show you the rapture
takes them out before the Tribulation starts.
That is not sound doctrine, you
must include all scripture. I also
know another preacher I asked him what he thought about Pre, Mid or Post. He
said he found five scriptures he could use saying it was Pre Trib.
I didn’t get to ask him at the time but does those five scriptures
agree with what Jesus says or is it contradicting to what Jesus says.
Sound doctrine is not contradicting.
That’s why the Pre Trib and Mid Trib must skip what Jesus says in verse
29-31 in Matthew the 24th Chapter.
So we can see there is
no doubt Jesus knew what he was talking about and that is why he started his
answer with that statement. He was very plain & tells about his return and what
things would be like and said not to be deceived. Therefore, we must seek the truth so we won’t be deceived.
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 7
For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: Notice
here he says Nation shall rise against Nation telling us that countries that
don’t operate under the rule of a king will be against each other. And he says
that Kingdom against Kingdom so no doubt the Middle East will be at war as well
and perhaps all at the same time World War.
Then he says:
and
there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
(Divers places) means different places.
Verse 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Verse 9 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. He is not saying they will be hated because they are Jews He is saying they will be hated because they are Christians for his name’s sake.
Verse 10 And
then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one
another.
Verse 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
This
is the (Falling Away) spoken about in 2nd Thessalonians Ch 2 1-4 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering together unto him, (notice they say
brethren they are talking to other Christians.)
Verse 2 That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Verse 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: Notice this warning again not to be deceived about this.
For that day shall not come, except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
Verse 4 Who opposeth and exalteth 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.
We will get to that man of sin later but notice here it says that the falling away and the man of sin must happen first before the Lord comes and gathers us unto him. Lets look at the falling away some more. I think Pre Trib uses this Falling away they take it to mean that the Church isn’t here any more so the world turns totally sinful. The ways of the world are sinful that’s why Jesus came and Christians are to be a light to the world.
1st John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If
any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1st John 2:16 For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not
of the Father, but of the world.
1st John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and
the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Lets look at the falling away:
2nd Timothy Ch 3 This know also that in the
last days perilous (dangerous) times shall come. Verse 2 For men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
Verse 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Verse 4 Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God;
Verse 5 having the form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof from such turn away.
Matthew Ch 24
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.
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:)
This is the time that the Beast and False Prophet take control for 42 months he makes war with the saints. I’ll show this later but first lets look at Daniel and see what he said about the abomination of desolation. If you want you can study The Book of Daniel Chapters 7 through Chapter 12.
Daniel Chapter 9 verse 27: And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: (Covenant means agreement)
And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, (a ruin)
Here we can conclude that a peace agreement with Israel and the use of the temple will be agreed to and they will share the temple and do the sacrifice and offerings. But then he will cause the sacrifice and offerings to cease.
Remember in 2nd Thessalonians Ch 2 1-4 Where it talks about the man of sin being revealed.
2nd Thessalonians Verse 4 Who opposeth and
exalteth 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.
This ties into Revelation Chapter 13 where it talks about the two beasts. The Beast and the False Prophet. It brings forth the Mark Of the Beast.
Now go to Revelation read chapter 13. You can find what Daniel chapter 7 says about the Beast in Revelation. Daniel Chapter 7 verse15-27 gives somewhat of a short story about this.
I’ll start with Revelation Ch 13 Verse 5
Revelation Ch 13 v5.
And there was giving unto him a mouth speaking great things, and
Blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
V6. And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to
blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven.
V7 And it was given unto him to make war with the
saints, and overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues
and nations.
V8. 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.
If the Christians weren’t going to be here, he couldn't make war with them. And there would be no need to point out those whose names were written in the book of life wouldn’t worship him. It would just say all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.
He also changes times and laws look at verse 12
V12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him and caused the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first
beast whose deadly wound was healed.
V13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire
come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
V14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means
of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to
them that dwell on the
earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a
sword and did live.
V15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the
beast, that the image should both speak and cause as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed. (Only
the Christians will not worship the image of the beast.)
V16. And he causeth all both small and great, rich
and poor free or bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their
foreheads.
V17. And that no man might buy or sell unless he had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
I believe many so-called Christians will take the Mark Of The Beast so they can buy and sell. If you don’t take the mark of the beast how are you going to pay your bills? Just think about it for a minute. How are you going to buy food, things you go to the store and buy each week? How long can you go without going to the store to buy food and other supplies? How will you pay your house taxes, water bill, electric bill, cable TV bill, car and house payments if you have them? How are you going to pay for school fees, trips, buy you and your children clothes? How will you buy gasoline for your car? Without gas you won't be able to go anywhere. How will you buy shoes for your children when they out grow the ones they have? How will you receive your paycheck or the many other things that we do to live life, as we know it? If you're not ready for it you won't make it. Many will seek to save their lives by taking the Mark but when they do they will lose it. Notice the wrath of God will be poured out upon those who take the Mark. Also you would have to be here to receive the Mark Of The Beast before God pours out his wrath. God's wrath comes after the Mark Of The Beast. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 you cannot serve God and mammon.
Look what happens when you take the Mark Of The Beast!
Revelation Ch 14 verse 10-11 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Verse 11 And the smoke
of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or
night, who worship the Beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of
his name.
Now
notice verse 8.
V8.
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.
Matthew
24 Verse 16-20 Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which
is on the housetop not come down to take any thing 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:
Verse 21-22 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Verse 23-26 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. 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.
So here, no doubt the Christians will be in hiding and they will try to
get the Christians to come out by saying that Christ is here or there come and
see him. But here Jesus warns us
not fall for these kinds of tricks. He explains how we’ll know his return.
Now he tells us how we’ll know when he comes.
Verse
27 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 The Coming Of Jesus
Notice that Jesus says immediately after the tribulation:
Matthew
Ch 24 verse 29 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:
Notice
Now he shall appear: Verse
30
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.
Notice what he said next: Verse 31 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.
The
four winds are at the four corners of the earth. Look at Mark Chapter 13 verse
24-27 Verse 27 says And then shall he send his angels and gather together his elect from the
four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven.
R
Our Gathering Together With The Lord
Let's
look at 1st Thessalonians Ch 4 verse 15-18 and see what it says about
our gathering together with the Lord.
1st
Thessalonians Ch 4 Verse
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain until the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which sleep.
Notice it says we which are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord.
V 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first:
V 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
When does it say that the gathering together of his elect will take
place? It says immediately after the Tribulation that’s when. Matthew
Ch 24 verse 29-31
Verse 6. And I saw the Lamb open one of the seals,
V2. And I saw and behold a white horse:
and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went
forth conquering, and to conquer.
Many say that the first seal is the Antichrist, and because he only has a bow he will come in peace and the crown means he is successful. And he will conquer, after he makes peace with them and the crown means he is a leader. This is the first beast in Revelation Chapter 13 that comes out of the sea. (a sea of people)
2nd seal Rev.6V3&4
Takes away Peace from the earth, and they shall
kill one another.
3rd seal Rev.6V5&6 This spirit
causes prices to go up things will be very hard to get.
4th seal Rev.6V7&8 The Pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
(The Beast and the False Prophet) this fourth seal is the timeline that gives them power over the fourth of the earth, To kill with the sword (war) and with hunger and with death and the beast of the field. No doubt the Antichrist will have food if you want to eat you bow to him.
This is when the second beast the false prophet, the one that comes from the earth, makes war against the two witnesses and Christians for 42 months. He kills the two witnesses and leaves their dead bodies in the streets for all to see. Revelation Chapter 11 verse 7: And when they (the two witnesses) have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. The second beast builds up the first beast and his wound is healed. And the Antichrist and the False Prophet make war against the saints (All Christians, those who follow Jesus) for 42 months. The people will then say who can make war with the beast.
Rev.6v9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and the testimony which they held.
Now lets look at the sixth seal.Revelation Ch 6v12 When he had opened the sixth seal and
lo there was a great earthquake and the sun became black and the moon became as
blood.
V14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. And every mountain and island was moved out of their places.
V15. And the kings of the earth and the rich men the
mighty men hid themselves in the dens and the rocks of the mountains.
V16. 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.
V17. For the great day of his wrath is come.
There is no doubt Christians will be here during the Tribulation. Jesus says he comes immediately after the tribulation. Remember the seventh seal brings the seven trumpets. Jesus comes after the seventh trumpet.
Some say Jesus comes back secretly as a thief
and raptures out the church before the tribulation. Then he comes back again
later at the end of the tribulation and that is the second coming. The bible
doesn't say that at all. It does say he comes as a thief to the world not
to the Christians. The Bible doesn’t say there will be a secret rapture. In fact it says
we will see it coming.
1st Thessalonians Ch 5 But of the times and seasons, brethren
you have no need that I write you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord
cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they say, Peace and safety; sudden
destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child and they shall
not escape. Notice it says comes up on them and they
shall not escape.
Verse 4 But you brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Notice he says brethren. He is talking to Christians and says that we are not in darkness and that day should not over take us as a thief. Are you in darkness or are you walking in the light?
Jesus tells us more.
Matthew
24 Verse32 -35 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch
is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So
likewise 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. I believe Jesus is saying the generation
that sees these things come to pass he will return in their life time.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
The world will not realize that the Lords return
is at hand. But we who know his words will know that his return is near.
After Jesus comes and we meet him in the air great wrath is poured out on
the earth and those who took the Mark Of The Beast.
This is another scripture that Pre Trib uses that
the flood came after Noah entered the ark. Therefore the Tribulation comes after
the Christians are taken out. The Great Tribulation is just that, Great
Tribulation. That is what Jesus said it would be. God did destroy all people on the earth in Noah’s day but
because God found Noah to be a righteous man God saved Noah and Noah’s family.
God will destroy all after Jesus comes and get his family but that is
after the Tribulation just like Jesus said.
I hope this helps you understand what is to come, please seek God while
he may be found. I’ll post more
about the 144 thousand and the end times later!
In his service
Gary Sturdivant
There will be more to come, The Book of Revelation The Scroll Sealed With Seven Seals, The Seven Trumpets, The Fall Of Babylon, The Harvest Of The Earth, Jesus Comes In The Clouds The Rapture Of The Church, The Great Winepress Of God's Wrath