The End
Great Tribulation
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We want to thank all of you for your presence this morning… If you are a guest, once
again we are grateful that you are here.
 If you are a regular, thank you for your faithfulness.
 We are in the fourth week of a five week series named “The End”.
 Once again, this was the number one requested topic from our surveys back in the
summer.
 It is a very solemn topic…
 This is not something pleasant to preach… But it is necessary for our understanding so
we might be more motivated to reach the lost and more motivated to live Godly.
 The first two weeks we looked at cultural signs and signs found within the church.
 Last week, we looked at what Jesus referred to as birth pains… And we saw that the
Birth pains coincide with the first three seals opened in Revelation 6.
 These birth pains will last in the vicinity of three and one half years…
 In Revelation 6… three riders were released.
 1st seal… Rider on a White horse… which is a counterfeit messiah… antichrist
 2nd seal… Rider on the Red Horse: War…
 3rd seal… Rider on the Black Horse: Hyper-inflation, famine and natural disaster…
 Jesus called these birth pains…
 This morning, my objective is for us to look at what is referred to in (Isaiah 30:7), as the
time of “Jacobs Trouble” or in the words of Jesus in (Matthew 24:9), as time of “Great
Tribulation”.
1. The word tribulation is thlipsis (Gk.); meaning: pressure, affliction, anguish, and
trouble.
 Every time in the scripture that this word “thlipsis” is used prophetically, it refers to the
persecution of God’s elect by wicked men.
Seals of Satan’s Wrath
2. The fourth seal releases a rider on a pale green horse whose name is Death and his
companion is the Grave.
Rev. 6:7-8 (NLT) “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say,
“Come!” I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named
Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of
the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.”
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Death and the Grave are given authority to kill… Death is the antichrist and the Grave is
the false prophet.
 There will be unprecedented deaths during this period.
3. The fifth seal is the wrath of Satan on the Jews and Believers.
Rev 6:9-11 (NLT) “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all
who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. 10 They
shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge
the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”11
Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until
the full number of their brothers and sisters —their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be
martyred—had joined them.”
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We see very clearly that during the 4th and 5th seals… there will be an open assault on
both Jews and Believers… or the true church…
Jesus was very clear about this in Matt. 24… So let’s look at the words of Jesus.
Matt. 24:8 (NLT) “But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.”
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Once again, this is something that women especially can identify with… When the water
break’s… the contractions “really begin”… They become more frequent… and the closer
it is to the delivery… the more severe the pain!
So let’s look at what Jesus said about the 4th and 5th seals to His disciples… Does His
words to His disciples parallel with His revelation to John?
Matt. 24:9-13 (NLT) “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all
over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and
betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many
people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one
who endures to the end will be saved.”
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So we see that Jesus is revealing to His disciples the broad strokes of the 4th and 5th
seals.
Then Jesus gives us a little more detail of why this occurs.
Matt 24:15-28 (NLT) “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke
about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader;
pay attention!) “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. A person out on the deck of a roof
must not go down into the house to pack. A person out in the field must not return even to
get a coat. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days.
And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For there will be greater
anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. In fact,
unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be
shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the
Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up
and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.25
See, I have warned you about this ahead of time. “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah
is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it!
For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of
Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these
signs indicate that the end is near.
 Progression of the 70th week. Time line
4. In the middle of Daniels 70th week the world leader who brought deceptive “peace
and safety” is killed.
Rev. 13:3 (NLT) “I saw that one of the heads of the beast seemed wounded beyond
recovery—but the fatal wound was healed! The whole world marveled at this miracle and
gave allegiance to the beast.”
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As Jesus was crucified and resurrected… this leader is assassinated and raised…
As Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead bodily…
The raised antichrist is the incarnation of evil…. The fullness of Satan drives his life.
And because of his resurrection… the world will marvel and worship him.
He sets up an image of Himself in the Temple. That is the abomination of desolation
that Jesus referred to in Matt. 24…
5. In the middle of Daniels 70th week the world will worship the beast.
Rev. 13:4-10 (NLT) “They worshiped the dragon for giving the beast such power, and they also
worshiped the beast. “Who is as great as the beast?” they exclaimed. “Who is able to fight
against him?” Then the beast (antichrist) was allowed to speak great blasphemies against
God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. And he
spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his temple—that is,
those who live in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people
and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and
language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They
are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made—
the Book that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered. Anyone with ears to hear should
listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone
destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must
endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.”
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While all of this is going… antichrist has a partner… Remember the 4 th seal of Rev. 6?
The rider on the pale horse whose name was Death and his companion was the Grave
(hell)?
 We just saw what the antichrist was doing but what about the false prophet?
6. The false prophet hunts down anyone who will not take the mark of the beast.
Rev. 13:12-18 (NLT) “He exercised all the authority of the first beast. And he required all the
earth and its people to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. He did
astounding miracles, even making fire flash down to earth from the sky while everyone was
watching. And with all the miracles he was allowed to perform on behalf of the first beast, he
deceived all the people who belong to this world. He ordered the people to make a great
statue of the first beast, who was fatally wounded and then came back to life. He was then
permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast
commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die. He required everyone—small and
great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead.
And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the
beast or the number representing his name. Wisdom is needed here. Let the one with
understanding solve the meaning of the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.
His number is 666.
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Last Chart… Monitors…During the 4th and 5th seal… antichrist and false prophet will
emerge…
Antichrist will break his deal with Israel…
A remnant of Israel will go into hiding and be protected by God. 144,000…
Then antichrist will turn on the offspring of Israel… the believer…
The elect will stand firm… some will die... some will survive it…
The chaff will take the mark and worship the beast…
As John said:
Rev. 12:12b (NLT)… “terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down
to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.”
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But God will shorten the days for His elect…
What do we need to do?
1. We must be people of resolve.
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We need to make up our minds to be faithful and trust God no matter what we face.
Because that is what Jesus did… He had the resolve to obey His Father at the expense of
His own death.
1 Peter 4:1 (NLT) “So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with
the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for
Christ, you have finished with sin.”
2. Be people of prayer.
1 Peter 4:7 (NLT) “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and
disciplined in your prayers.”
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Ask the Holy Spirit to make you aware of the hour in which we live… Ask for wisdom
every day…
3. Love people and build relationships.
1 Peter 4:8-9 (NLT) “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for
love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or
a place to stay.
 Love God… Love man… Love through the good and the bad…
 Build relationships… we will need each other…
4. Use your God-given gifts to serve.
1 Peter 4:10 (NLT) “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.
Use them well to serve one another.”