After That Tribulation (Part A)

You will not have to go to the great tribulation to end up in eternal hell. This is the message we are to preach. So what do I say to the unbeliever when he engages me about Jesus Christ have to be ready have to give the Holy Spirit something to shoot.

No bullets, no bang, and that's why you are encouraged to stay in the word of God, whether you are in the mood or out of the mood stay in the word of God and God will use you. This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville*is currently teaching through the gospel of Mark. Please stay with us after today's message here. More information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now let's join Pastor Rick in Mark chapter 13 as he begins a new study called after that tribulation gospel putting Mark chapter 13 Bibles. We will take verses 24 through 27, but in those days after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

Then he will send his angels and gather together his elect Four Winds fathers part of the earth. The fathers part of heaven's message is entitled, after that tribulation and as I was walking up. I thought to myself, perhaps a better title would be between the lines, because how do you read such a short section of Scripture and not have many questions. What is he talking about what this is cataclysmic. What is going on here for verses this morning because with remarkable brevity. Christ marks his return to us is when I'm coming back.

This is what's going to happen and then he's going to move on to other things concerning the end times in Israel which will get in the coming days.

If were still here. But between these lines are cataclysmic events and great carnage who can read it without being provoked to investigate more. Have a lot of Scripture verses to read to you this morning and cross reference to to cross reference unlike anything we've ever known where you believe it. We believe these things are going to actually happen.

Isaiah writing about the Messiah in the beginning, out of Isaiah 53 he says who has believed our report. These are heavy things. Noah warned scoffed the smart mocked him, the observed and possibly participated in the building of the ark.

Still, they did not believe they did not receive Peter rights. He says once the divine, long-suffering, waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved. Eight out of how many only eight believed Peter rights again in the second letter Noah, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

My point is that we preach the Zen time things for a reason not to satisfy the curiosity of our listeners or ourselves but to preach Christ for conviction for the salvation of souls to destroy the works of the devil. What better way to destroy what Satan does in the lead someone to heaven to be used by God to save souls covering a multitude of sins. James writes but they paid no attention to know was preaching that are of Noah was a pulpit for 120 years.

Every sound that went into its construction was was a sermon every tree that fell to build that are was a representation of death coming in still the best they could do was scoff, Mark, and smirk and not believe we are faced with the identical situations in our lives. However, there will be more than eight souls who will be saved because of with the church does Jesus talking about this very thing in Luke's gospel in the 17th chapter he says as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. They hate they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark flood came and destroyed them all. See the significance of reading about end times Jesus sought in these last few days of his life on earth.

He used a tremendous amount of Scripture and everything that he spoke to these people every answer everything he said was so packed with Scripture that was its foundation. He continues likewise as it was also in the days of Lot.

They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built what on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all Lot is a type of the New Testament church that is rapture out before the judgment falls and then Christ adds this. Even so, will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Folks are going to see the ark being built throughout testimony in our churches and our preaching all that. Not that is shrinking drastically in these last of the last days as an apostasy. Apostasy continues to sweep the church people and pulpits don't even believe the Bible, pretending that the Christians I don't know how you do that, not only God knows how you can do that either the rapture of the church, the return of Christ, the great tribulation. And that statement from Luke, Christ treats it all as a single event, he says.

Even so, will be in in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. What will be all the Zen time things he just lumps them in together even though they're separated by seven years. The rapture of the church the end of the great tribulation. And his return. All of this is part of the day of the Lord that goes into the millennial reign to the its end actually we are preaching as Noah that the end is near enough. If you have not yet given your life to Christ, then you must understand that God expects more and he expects better from you if you cannot open your heart to Jesus Christ who died for sinners than your outside of God's will, but he doesn't expect you to stay outside of God's will. Though he knows the end from the beginning.

His great expectation is his great hope and desire built in love to come to him.

Moses told the Jewish people choose life. Joshua said serve the Lord. Elijah said how long the U-Haul between two opinions make up your mind if you going to serve Yahweh serve Yahweh to go to servile servile but make up your mind.

You can do them both.

This was the message of the great prophets of our Bible God gave them that message he was they were saying to the people you should know better were preaching the same thing. To this day. You should know better. You know what sin is. You know sin is harmful you do not like to be the victim of sin. So don't go pretending that sin is something to be trivialized and take the same out of it. Sickness and death violence everything we hate in life product of sin. People do not have to go through the great tribulation to end up in eternal hell.

This is a message we are to preach. So what do I say to the unbeliever when he engages me about Jesus Christ have to be ready have to give the Holy Spirit something to shoot.

No bullets, no bang, and that's why you are encouraged to stay in the word of God, whether you are in the mood or out of the mood stay in the word of God and God will use you as I read from Scripture about what's coming.

All of us should again ask ourselves what do we believe it. Jesus had to tell John we were just singing the words that I'm telling you they are faithful and they are true.

John needed to hear that is so astounding the things that were revealed to him and the Lord said write it down and believe it is going to happen just like I said it. Now we look at verse 24 Christ says, but in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, but in those days the typical of predictive prophecy probably is telling the future. The different tenses of prophecy, but this one is predictive, merging multiple events together to confuse the timeline for us now and not intentional, but that's what it does when he says, but in those days. How much information is and what days what is happening there. After that tribulation seems well at the tribulation is over. Why are things still going in a catastrophic way the sun will be dark and I thought it was over talking about the tribulation without him visibly on earth. That part is ending and he's going to wrap the whole thing up on fulfilled prophecy has many silhouettes there are just things that are just more you know you can't make out the details yet comes prophecy does with revealing concepts to difficult to comprehend. Since much of it doesn't even exist yet. When Christ gave his prophecy. So much of what he said was that far into these people. For instance, the New Testament church when they said, Lord, you see the stones of these is not one will stay upon another and he goes on to lay out what's going to happen.

They have no concept of the New Testament church as we know it. Gentiles leading the charge for God.

For over 2000 years.

So how do you give details about that because it doesn't exist in their heads. It would be almost blasphemous to suggest that somebody other than the chosen people would actually be chosen to breathe the light of the world Jesus that you are the salt of your view of the light of the world. He drafts us. He recruits us make some what makes us like himself in that regard. So in time as event fulfillment stacks up, we get a improved understanding here in this section when he says, but in those days, again lumping in the rapture, the great tribulation and the second coming, all blended together near impossible for them to grasp what they know about the rapture. They can even believe in the resurrection yet this still struggling with that that he's actually going to be murdered in public and then get up the going to find out in a few days about that part of it is predictions were obscure, they will fade in every age. The essentials are known in spite of the obscurity of prophecy we get the point. The details that we have to work out and in those details is our message comes from so much work lining these things up.

We look at the end time story we find out that there is going to be horrific events on earth with the righteous will survive ultimately in heaven even the cost of many believers lives as they will be in the great tribulation believers being beheaded. God is very upfront about these things, so his to his disciples for them. Everything was centered on Israel in their thinking.

They could not think globally. They just thought in the promised land and and mainly in Jerusalem, how could he say to any of them that there are going to be radios and televisions and an Internet company say man is going to harness electricity put lightning in a bottle they would limit. What's a bottle. I maybe just the two. Beyond them, of the going to be microwaves and you know central air conditioning and interstates and a plastic that they could not grasp it and so that's why many of the prophecies are in fragments and symbols. And, as again event fulfillment takes place. The obscurity fades we get a better picture even in the days of the Crusaders, there were things that they just could not understand about end time prophecy and so much of it was allegory. The allegory was a accurate application. Many times it was not the exact fulfillment of what is being said and so he says, but in those days starting from the rapture which they could not know about through the covenant with the seven year covenant with Antichrist that is broken and then his return he says after that tribulation and would we pause there with go back to verse 24 but in those days, after that tribulation. I know this could be a lot of information for some of you, but you have to start somewhere.

You have to get your appetite going somewhere and if your blackout during the message that Sarai will will make sure you we get you out before the lights are turned off. After that tribulation's God finishes the great tribulation, which is judgment and wrath on the earth. That is what it is there's no way to spin it and put a bow on it and make it something other than it is. That's why it is called the great tribulation. We never forget Christ has this way with understatement.

He says things don't sound so important were so serious was dramatic but yet they are everything he says is dramatic and he is going to return with a dramatic display of his sovereignty.

Matthew 24 verse 27 or as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man is pretty intense in the coming of the Son of Man refers to the second coming all the time and not the rapture of the church. He comes for his church with the rapture.

He comes back with his church seven years later and so these events that were talking about here. And when we as we finish chapter 13 in the coming Sundays were mainly dealing were not dealing with the rapture dealing with the great tribulation. Events leading up to that. And and then of course after that. So Daniel's weekly says after that tribulation Daniels 70th week is going to end which will then issue in the thousand year reign of Christ from Jerusalem. He says the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, so in preparation for this. What about what is my what is my mission.

What is my objective as a pastor not to tickle your years with fascinating things to hope. It's interesting the goal is always to equip to build up and equipped us for the work of ministry, and when ministry goes beyond the walls of the church building and it goes into the world. How else are they going to get the stink can you preach end times to an unbeliever absolutely if you explain it. If you clarify, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light visible cosmic disturbance. A dysfunctional universe.

It seems it's going to the going to be faced with is quoting Isaiah the prophet.

I mentioned the Scriptures all over that his words.

Isaiah chapter 13 verse 10 for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going forth in the moon will not cause its light to shine. Now there can be some very practical reason for that because it's going to be a whole lot a war going on and where there is warmth there is smoke and the Lord used very significant. As I mentioned a very significant amount of Scripture Isaiah and Joel. Joel came before. Isaiah Joel writes so much about the end times. The last days.

Joel chapter 2 and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire in pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And that's what were talking about Zechariah ramps up. We in this shall be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem. Now he's using that word plague in the same sense that Moses plague struck Egypt. These are judgments. They come from God they're not coincidences. They are deliberate and they are divine. He continues Zechariah. Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths is gross and he is. This is no clear or some variation thereof.

Ezekiel 39 okay again. Ezekiel chapter 39 I believe is Antichrist coming to power in that little horn that struggles and exalts itself and then the 39th chapter of Ezekiel's prophecies deals with Armageddon. That final battle which begins on earth and in the is ended by heaven, will come to that as we go through this morning, but Ezekiel 39 talking about that the end of the great tribulation. Which Zechariah was talking about.

Also, listen to this. I mentioned nuclear or some sort of biological chemical warfare something going on that we already we have these kinds of things he says the search party will pass through the land and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. The name of the city will also be, and thus they shall cleanse the land right so let's get those odd words out of the way.

Hamon Gog.

Literally, the multitude of Gog Gog being the spiritual forces behind the enemy of the Jewish people.

That shows up in in the leaders who are coming against Israel.

I know they going to know Roche means Russia and and and me checking in and I disagree with them and I'm not alone. You'll need to know that I'm not alone unless you think I'm going off in my own things I draw times. I like to be alone when I have a lot of ice cream.

For example just like to be left alone but anyway, remember they did not believe the preaching of no and it happened, will they believe us was really not up to us to get too much into that was important that we listen to the Holy Spirit that were ready were armed and ready Mesa from Satan's view, may we be armed and dangerous in open carry, that were not hiding our faith.

We do not have a concealed Christianity right now some some of our brothers doing brothers and sisters of the of the being persecuted they cannot be out in the open with their fate, we can listen that they can be out there open with their sexual perversity. Why can we not be out in the open with the God who is the solution to perversity. It's very basic. Everybody understands that even the unbeliever gets that the armies of the Far East will mobilize in rebellion against Antichrist and the West Antichrist will be very powerful but at some point in the great tribulation for the end that at the ends met affected the battle of Armageddon military forces of the East will come of Revelation 1612 then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared now Antichrist is he's going to deal with this new threat. He is still determined to wipe out any remaining Jews he can find, and anybody who converts to Christ, but he will have to mobilize see in the West to meet this threat. Nonetheless, and that will set the stage for Armageddon. Where Christ will wipe out all of the unbelievers coming against. Will there will be some survivors. What it comes down to ground troops in Israel conventional warfare. Why not just send missiles and blow them to smithereens because the technology the iron Dome which will even be further developed SCUD missiles. We saw SCUD missiles going in all being fired by the Saddam Hussein and we had patriotic Utah above missile defenses that shot them down and so the armies coming against Israel are going to be very reluctant to fire these things into Israel, lest they be exploded over their own heads, and so they going to have to send troops on the ground and that's why you have this conventional warfare in the Valley of Megiddo. That is 50 years ago or maybe 30 or so, you might've said, but doesn't make any sense. With all the met weapons we have to they want to just fire the endless amount of Trident missiles original into Israel. While there, there's the answer there ways to stop those things in force a ground confrontation. Revelation 13 for this is speaking about how successful Antichrist has been in defeating the armies of the world so they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the beast was able to make war with him say well how can I use a verse like that share the same very easily solicit and receive human nature is so impressed with things they can see. Thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study in the book of Mark cross reference radio is the teaching ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia to learn more information about this ministry. Visit our website cross reference radio.com once you're there you'll find additional teachings from Pastor Rick. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast. When you subscribe will be notified of each new edition of cross reference radio. You can search for cross reference radio on your favorite podcast app that's all we have time for today, but we hope you'll join us next time.

As Pastor Rick continues to teach through the book of Mark right here on cross reference radio