Chapter 9: IN GOD’S TIME

The Apostle Paul stood totally amazed. A cry of admiration and jubilation slipped from his heart:

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

In His wisdom and knowledge our God knows about all incidents that will take place in the process of bringing the ages of sinful man to their end. There will be a judgment of the nations. In my Bible that judgment is introduced by the words: ‘The sheep and the goats’. Personally I would have preferred the words: ‘Jesus on His glory-throne’.

Matthew 25:31-33 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

First the Son of Man came, a humble baby born of a humble mother, in a humble stable. Israel rejected Him and He began to build His Church. One day this Church will be complete and at home with the Lord.

Let us keep it well in mind, ‘all the nations will be gathered before Him’ after His Church has been taken from this earth.

The day is still coming when ‘the Son of Man comes in His glory. And all the angels with Him’.

The Word of God is so very accurate! It does not say that nations will be separated. People out of those nations will be separated. Some of those people will not be guilty and others very, very guilty. Guilty of one particular sin. How was their treatment of God’s chosen nation?

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for me.’ “

‘These brothers of Mine’ can not have been any other but members of the Jewish race. Like Jesus, descendants of Abraham.

It will not be a judgment like that at ‘The Great White Throne’ (Revelation 20:11-15). But of people of those nations who are found guilty of the ill treatment of Israel. They have never repented before the God of Israel. But He does not forget and those who were harassed, persecuted and killed, will sit on their thrones to judge their one-time tormentors.

Throughout the human ages there have been many nations, where people persecuted and banned the Jews. This writer, however, is thinking in particular about Jews who, during the Great Tribulation, will be faithful in preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and will do that at the cost of their lives. Once that Kingdom was very close, because the King walked amongst His people, here on earth. But His people did not want Him and crucified Him. Then the King of Israel turned away to become the Head of His body, His Church.

Faithfully they will endure to the end, proclaiming Jesus, the King of the Jews and His coming Kingdom. The evil trinity will be furiously trying to destroy that testimony. In the end, the culprits of those nations will stand before the glory-throne of Jesus, the King of Israel with His angels, and from His lips they will hear the judgment as determined by their former victims. As sure as those angels will find His elect, so sure they will also find all the criminals who killed the elect. Eternal punishment will be their end (Matthew 25:46).

In the wisdom and knowledge of our God He will also arrange a new Heaven and a new earth.

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

In an earlier verse and in connection with the flood in Noah’s days, Peter already used the word ‘destroyed’. The flood that destroyed all that grieved the heart of the Lord and filled Him with pain (Genesis 6:6). “I will wipe it from the face of the earth” were the words of the Lord God. But after the flood the old earth remained. Cleansed but not annihilated. So it will be in the Day of the Lord. Perfectly purified by fire, not a single smear of sin will be left. It will still be the earth but now like it was the day it was created.

May I just once more bring to our recollection what the eternal God covenanted with Abraham?

Genesis 17:7,8 “I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan where you are now an alien, I will give it as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God.”

Imagine, our Lord God about to annihilate this earth. Very soon a venerable, aged saint would appear, lift his hands, and cry out: ‘No Lord, No! You promised it to me and my people.’ Dear old Abraham would stand there and lay his claim to what was promised him. An everlasting possession, guaranteed by an everlasting covenant.

Heaven and earth will be free from all contamination caused by sin. Peter wrote:

2 Peter 3:13 “But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new Heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”

A new heaven and a new earth, one home of righteousness, perfectly suitable for the God of Heaven to walk with His people on earth, just as it happened with Adam and Eve, before they were disobedient to God and obeyed Satan.

Finally some of John’s further writing on Patmos:

“Revelation 19:6-8 “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters, and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah’! For our Lord Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory ! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints).

Never ever, not in all eternity to come, no, never ever will there be smear or smut on that ‘fine linen’. She always was the bride, but a soiled bride. We have seen it from the Word of God. From day one onward Israel has been rebellious. The prophet Hosea paints Israel as a prostitute. But now she will be dressed in ‘fine linen, bright and clean’, ‘the righteous acts of the saints’. Which saints? The saints amongst a sordid Israel! Many amongst them have been righteous, to begin with their forefather Abraham. From them came ‘the righteous acts of the saints’. Now the Bride will be ready, in a new dress, ‘Fine linen, bright and clean’. Ready to share the throne with her Bridegroom. A throne that will reign over one realm of righteousness, a new heaven and a new earth.

From the day of Pentecost onward the Church of the Lord Jesus has always been ‘holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation’ (Colossians 1:22). Always has been, always will be His body, a body of which He is the Head. Never ever will the Head be separated from the Body, or the body from the Head. Together with Him, and in Him, His Church is the Bridegroom, loving Israel, the Bride.

The Church has always had ‘her life hidden with Christ in God’ (Colossians 3:3). Has always been His body of which He is the Head (Colossians 1:18).

The Church of the Lord Jesus NEVER will need a new dress. She always has been and always will be holy, without blame or accusation, because the Church IS IN CHRIST!!

This writer has never been able to accept the misconception presenting the Church of the Lord Jesus as His bride. John wrote:

Revelation 21:1,2 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed way and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Vs. 9-12 “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the twelve names of the tribes of Israel.”

‘The bride, the wife of the Lamb – twelve names of the tribes of Israel.’

John saw a new Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven. It came down to where? Down to a new earth, to be the King of Israel’s royal city.

We all know that salvation for the world has issued through ‘the gates of Israel’.

v.13 “There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west”

Revelation 21:14 “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”

Please, remember,

Ephesians 1:4 “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”

‘Before the creation of the world’ God saw sinful human souls in Christ, in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight. Sinful human souls, all purchased by the precious Blood of Christ, were God-ordained to be ‘the twelve apostles of the Lamb’. They had walked and talked with Him before they saw Him dying on the Cross and before they placed His dead body in a grave. And they walked and talked with Him after He arose from the dead and the grave. They were Christ-believing JEWS, who were chosen to be the foundation stones for His Church and to have their names written on the twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem.

Before the creation of this world, before Satan could ruin that, the eternal God had His plan for a new Heaven and a new earth, a home for righteousness.

The eternal God had his plan for the Church of the Lord Jesus and her justification in Him. He had His plan for Israel and her disobedient rebellion. Nevertheless, to finally see her as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband, in fine linen, bright and clean. The eternal God will have completed His plan for the ages and nations of man.

My heart sings with the heart of Paul:

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths, beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor?

Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory FOREVER AND EVER!

Amen.

Henk C.Kalkman

Notes:

Since I began writing these articles, now about two and a half years ago, dramatic news has come to my attention.

Global food-shortages.

Global nuclear threats.

Global climate warming.

Global economic melt down.

Global unemployment crisis.

Global power of Muslim religion.

Global need of control over nations and finances.

.

In short, a global need of a world-leader.

One that will need to rule ruthlessly.

UNTIL HE COMES,

THE PRINCE OF PEACE AND LORD OF LORDS.

Chapter 8: JESUS, ON THE THRONE OF DAVID

We will now consider one of the promises God made to Abram.

Genesis 12:3 “And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”.

It is a promise that has been fulfilled, is being fulfilled and will be fulfilled in and by Jesus, the eternal Son of God. The shedding of innocent and substitutionary blood began in the Garden of Eden and has always pointed to the precious blood of Jesus, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Please look it up:

Matthew 1:1 “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”

David was Israel’s great and godly king. Now let us read the words of the angel, when he spoke with Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Luke 1:29-35 “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

But the angel said to her ‘Do not be afraid , Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end!”

‘How will this be?’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin’ ?

The angel answered ‘the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. “

Where did David have his throne? Was it In Heaven? Or was it on earth, in Jerusalem? Where will the Lord Jesus sit on David’s throne? Will that be in Heaven? Or will it be on earth, in Jerusalem? Today we read all the predictions made by the angel to Mary. And we know that many of them have been fulfilled. Those that were not fulfilled also will be. It is certain that the Lord God will give His Son the throne of his father David! God swore an oath when He gave that promise to David and He does not break His oath and promise.

Psalm 132:11-14 “The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that He will NOT REVOKE! One of your descendants I will place on your throne. If your sons keep My covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne forever and ever. For the Lord has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling. This is My resting place, for ever and ever.”

Only one of David’s descendants kept God’s covenant and statutes; only one of them has the right to the throne of David. It will be Jesus, the son of David, the son of Mary, the Son of God.

There is a Scripture that, one year after another, is on the mind of many:

Isaiah 9:6,7 “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given. And the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom. Establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will establish this!”

Today Israel does not know about the zeal of the Lord Almighty. She has chosen her own time to return to the land and must now continue her difficult battles with difficult people. Israel does not have an attitude of God’s righteousness and justice. And judgment will follow. But many Scriptures repeatedly mention the important word -‘forever’. They assure us that the truth mentioned is still to become reality, because it will be ‘forever’.

In our days, when mighty nations become exasperated and international power conferences are powerless to stop the turmoil and bloodshed in the Middle East, the people of God may rejoice. Their Lord and Master will bring all of it to an end.

Isaiah 11:4,5 “ With righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness will he the sash around His waist.”

Jeremiah was called to underwrite Isaiah:

Jeremiah 23:5,6 “The days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King Who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the Name by which He will be called: ’The Lord our righteousness’.

There will be no turmoil and bloodshed. No quibbling over land-rights. The Divine King will reign on earth in His own right. All warmongering will be banned. Causes of pollution will be stopped before they can start. It must and will end in the brightest glory for His holy Name..

The Lord Jesus, on the throne of David, will show up the foolishness of human hearts that rejected Him and His loving grace. Yes, there still will be poor and needy people. But under His reign there will not be any oppression or wilful harm. Sinful human hearts will have to submit to His rule of righteousness. That will guarantee food and shelter for all.

The Bible tells us that our Lord will reign with an iron Sceptre. It will be so because some will still want to be unruly (Psalm 2:9, Revelation 19:15). A sceptre over nature as well over the nations.

Isaiah 11:4-9 “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra and the young child put his hand into a viper’s nest. They will neither harm or destroy on My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,”

When God is in control there will be nothing out of control. He will have nature like He first created it. Like it was, before Sin entered the world.

One question was: “Do you think that the Lord’s reign on earth will change the animals’ digestive workings?’ Good question! It generated more questions. ‘What do you think it was like when God first created the animal-world? Does God have the wisdom and power to restore according to His plan and desire?’ Didn’t Isaiah answer all those questions?

The Church of the Lord Jesus may already sing the glory-song. United to, and one with her Head, one day the song will reverberate through the heavens:

Revelation 11:15-18 “And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet and there were loud voices in Heaven, which said:

‘The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.’

And the twenty four elders who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipping God, saying: ‘We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, The One Who is and Who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. The Nations were angry . . . “.

From creation onward ‘the world’ has always been one of the provinces of the Kingdom of God. But temporarily, and by God’s permission, the prince of this world has been doing the ‘reigning’ (John 12:31 / 16:11). That prince has been defeated! On the Cross and by the open the grave of Jesus! And finally Jesus’ victory will become complete! With Him His Church in glory and through Him peace on earth.

During the reign of ‘the prince of this world’ the nations were happy. But once our Lord’s victory becomes confirmed, the nations ‘will be angry’. For one thousand years they must bow to the iron sceptre. For one thousand years they will see, in the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, the divine credentials, but . . . the nations will be angry.

Revelation 20 tells us about the 1000 years. It relates to the capture of Satan, the prince of this world. Its purpose will be ‘to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore, until the 1000 years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.’ (Revelation 20:3).

‘Until the thousand years are ended’ does not mean that our Lord will reign for a thousand years. Isaiah tells us that He will reign on David’s throne forever and ever.(Isaiah 9;6,7).

Oh, the marvellous mercy of a mighty God! One thousand years of His reign in righteousness. His Grace ruling with an iron sceptre. And sinful nations will still be angry.

Revelation 20:7-10 “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of he earth - Gog and Magog -, to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city He loves. But fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.

And the Devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning suphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.

On Patmos the Apostle John confirmed an ages old prophecy. We find that in the Book of Zechariah. Zechariah 12: 1-9 “This is the word of the Lord - concerning Israel:-

The Lord, Who stretches out the heavens. The Lord Who lays the foundations of the earth and Who forms the spirit of man within him, He declares: ‘I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all surrounding nations reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire-pot in a woodpile. Like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain in tact in her place. The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord going before them.

On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.”

Jerusalem, ‘the camp of God’s people, the city He loves’ so wrote John..

Why is Israel in the city and land today? Did God bring them in? Or was it the zeal of Zionism? With bloodshed and murder Israel must defend her position. Is the Lord God fighting for her? Or is Israel fighting for herself? Just like forefather Jacob.

When God brings Israel back into the land, it will be like this:

Isaiah 51:11 “The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; Everlasting joy will crown their heads.”

Isaiah 49:22 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up My banner to the peoples, they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.”

23 “ . . . THEN you will know that I am the Lord, those who hope in Me will not be disappointed.”

26 “ . . . Then ALL MANKIND will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel.”

For the remainder of His Church the Lord Jesus will come on the clouds. Not every eye will see Him and the nations will not mourn. The remainder of His Church has, in the Bible, the assured hope of a promise, which the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church :

1 Corinthians 15:51,52 “Listen, I tell you a mystery : ‘We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. Then the saying that is written will come true: DEATH has been swallowed up in VICTORY”

Now, for the Nations and Israel the Lord Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives. In Him and with Him will be His Church, His body of which He is the Head (1 Corinthians 12:13,27 /Colossians 1:18).

That will be after ‘the Gospel of the Kingdom’ has been preached to ALL nations.

The nations then will mourn. For one thousand years, on the throne of David, Jesus will prove to them the validity of the Divine credentials. The rightful owner will claim His possession. And He, and in Him His church, will be joined by His elect, those who, through the great tribulation, stood firm to the end. For one thousand years the elect will reign with Him.

Revelation 20:4,5,6 “I (John) saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended). This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

They will be given authority to judge their perpetrators of pain and dealers in death.

Chapter 7: AT THE FEET OF JESUS

Matthew 24. A chapter relating to events which will take place in this world, after the remainder of the Church has been taken up into Heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The chapter has caused many aches and fears in the hearts of uninformed Christians. That in itself is the reason why we must endeavor to understand it.

Words in three verses need our full attention: v.9 ‘then’, v.29 ‘immediately after’ and v.30 ‘at that time’.

The chapter commences on a sombre note.

v.1 “Jesus left the temple and walked away . . . “

How tragic. It was the climax to all He had spoken in Matthew chapter 23. Near the end of that chapter our Lord spoke these words:

v.37 “O Jerusalem, o Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing, but . . . you were not willing. Look your house is left to you desolate.”

The Jews were not willing and the real, one and only Son of the Father’s house, was walking away and now His Father’s house became ‘your’ house and was left desolate.

v.1(cont.) “When His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to

its buildings.”

They were true Jews and pretty proud of that magnificent monument, the Temple. They well remembered that day, not long ago, when their Lord and Master showed His honest feelings about His Father’s house. The money-managers had their tables turned upside down. The cattle-merchants could not catch their animals as they were eager to escape. Righteous anger had the Lord to honor His Father’s house. Now He walked away from ‘their’ house.

v.2“ ‘Do you see all these things ?’ He asked.’ .”

Yes, they did see them.

“ I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

In AD 70 this prophecy, from the lips of Jesus, was literally fulfilled. The Roman armies levelled the temple to the last stone. There is no reason whatsoever, to doubt a literal fulfilment of all further prophecies by Jesus.

v.3 “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to Him

privately.”

They asked Him three questions in one:

‘Tell us’ they said ‘When will this happen?’

and ‘What will be the sign of Your coming ?’

and ‘of the end of the age ?’ “

Three specific questions and the Lord answered each one of them with a specific, prophetic answer.

I do hesitate, but I must mention one fact. In the whole of this chapter, in the three questions, in the Lord’s answers, there is not a single hint about the Church of the Lord Jesus. In His answers the Lord referred to future events, which today are still in the future. These events will take place in this world, and affect the Nations and Israel, while His Church will be with Him, in Heaven. However, that part of His Church now still here on earth, may well be witnessing “the beginning of birth pains” (v.8).

Our Lord answered the third part of His disciples question first.

‘The end of the age’.

To Noah the Lord did say: ‘Seven more days’. The nation of Israel would receive 70 more years of opportunity, before their temple would be destroyed. The world today has already received more than two thousand years. Many thousands have preached the precious Gospel of Grace, today they are telling the good news about Jesus, the Savior. And they are warning the world, but to no avail. The world of nations, including Israel, remains un-perturbed. And righteous judgment must and will fall, because God is Holy. In His answers to the disciples’ questions the Lord Jesus prophesied about that judgment. It will not come without prior warning.

Vs.4-7 “Jesus answered: ‘Watch out that no one deceives you! For many will come in My Name, claiming ‘I am the Christ’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these things are the beginning of birth-pains.’ “

Many false teachers who deceive many. In the year 2011.

Wars and rumours of wars. In the year 2011.

Nation against nation, . In the year 2011..

Famines and earthquakes. In the year 2011..

Today each of these warnings is with us in increasing reality and measure.

Today we hear many anti-scriptural, deceiving philosophies. Hear about wars and rumours of wars and quarrelling between nations and kingdoms. The secretary-general of the United Nations warns about global food-shortages and tens of thousands who are starving.

Important world-leaders deliberate and disagree about climate change and nuclear energy. WE know Who has laid the foundations of the earth and Who knows when and where those foundations will move. More and more we do hear about earthquakes. Are we witnessing ‘the beginning of birth-pains?’ The pains Israel will experience in her restoration.

So called ‘Zionism’ has caused Israel to return to the land. The ancient prophets said that it would be God bringing them back. Was it God? Or was it Israel’s old father Jacob’s self-dependence! And now, in haughty and murderous fighting they must try to maintain independence. They just could not wait for their God to fulfil His promise.

The sign of your coming.

God is Holy ! In His holiness He must judge! His fierce and righteous judgment will lead to horrendous suffering for the Nations and Israel. ‘Birth-pains’ will be the beginning of the process of Israel’s re-generation.

Vs. 9: ‘THEN’, (after the beginning of the birth-pains).

THEN those of Israel and the nations who found pre-loved Bibles and began to believe, will begin to know the consequences of their earlier rebellious attitudes and self-determination.

v.9 “THEN you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

‘Firm to the end’ does NOT mean ‘firm unto death’! It does mean ‘firm to the end of that time, those days’. Firm against all the evil deceptions, firm against all the pain and sorrow caused by the lawless man. As already mentioned, that period of time will come after the Church of the Lord Jesus has been taken up, out of this world. It will be a time of judgment. For believers in those days their suffering will be ‘the sign of His coming’. It cannot, never will apply to His Church. Here is the reason why.

Romans 5:1,2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 8:1 “Therefore. there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

At various times Christians have endured grievous sufferings. That was and is not judgment by God. It always was and is the bitter hatred of the enemy of God, Satan. No judgment for the Church of the Lord Jesus, but hope of the glory of God. If judgment on the Church still needs to be, what about that large part already with Him in Heaven?

The Church has never been hated by ALL nations. But today some Christians are being harassed, persecuted and killed. There are some people, convinced, religious people, who are beheading Christians. However, only after the Church has disappeared from this world will the haters of Jesus have free sway with their cruelties. The man of lawlessness will see to the persecution of the believers of those days and put them to death ‘because of Me’ the Lord Jesus said.

When those dear people die, they will not join the Church, because the Church will already be complete and with the Lord, in Heaven. But they will rejoice on a new earth and in a new Jerusalem. Then earth will be ruled by righteousness (2 Peter 3:13 / Revelation 21). A world as it was before Adam and Eve submitted to Sin.

But first, for them, there will be a time of great tribulation (v.21).

v.13 “But he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Some may ask: ‘How does that fit in with our message ‘Believe the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’? Well, it does not! The condition of ‘standing firm to the end’ will apply to the time of ‘great tribulation’ on earth, while the Church is with her Lord, in Heaven.

Not only will they stand firm to the end. They will also persist at preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

v.14 “ And THIS Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to ALL nations and then the ‘end’ will come.”

In the darkest of difficult days, especially the converted Jews, will preach, not the message of the Savior, but the glad message of the coming King of Heaven. In the midst of terrible, deceitful oppression, there will be a message of hope and light, the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. There will be the promise and hope of the soon coming King of kings. The once rejected King of the Jews.

The lawless, stern faced king will severely hate that message and bitterly, in his anti-Christ attitude, punish those who preach it. He has always wanted that Kingdom for himself and now, when the whole world and all nations are being told and warned about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven the lawless man will know that the Kingdom will not be his. In furious hatred he will try to stop the message by killing the messengers. How many tears will be shed?

‘THEN the end will come’ the Lord Jesus said. For the believers during the end of the ages of man there will be further indications:

v.15 ‘The abomination that causes desolation’.

v.19 ‘Special dread for pregnant women and nursing mothers’.

v.21 ‘Great distress’ (by the hands of sinful, anti-God men).

v.24 ‘Deception at its peak’.

v.29 “IMMEDIATELY AFTER the distress of THOSE days’ one more distress, but now by the hand of God.

v.29 “ the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

Clear confirmation of the Old Testament prophets.

There is only one power that can interfere with God’s creation in that way, the eternal God of creation Himself. When He does so, it will be the Lord’s indication of what next will be at hand.

v.30 ‘AT THAT TIME the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.”

Not after a day or moment, but at THAT time .

All nations had heard the Gospel of the Kingdom. They were told about the coming of its King. When they will see the Son of man, coming on the clouds of heaven, they will mourn.

Acts, chapter one, confirms Jesus’ prophecy:

Acts 1:11 THIS SAME JESUS Who has been taken from you into Heaven, will come back IN THE SAME WAY you have seen Him go into heaven.”

‘The same way’ will not be the way in which He will come to collect His Church, in 1 Thessalonians 4. There the Lord Jesus will come in the sky. At least seven years after that, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. To the end of the very last human age, there will be, on this earth, disciples of Jesus. They will stand firm to the end, experience the sign of His coming, and be saved..

v.31 “And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet-call, and they will

gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the

other.”

Please let us get this correct! ‘He will send His angels!” to gather His elect

When He comes to collect the last remainder of His Church from this earth

“the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a loud command, with the

voice of the arch-angel and with the trumpet-call of God, and the dead in

Christ will rise first and after that . . .”

The disciples’ first question, was answered last.

When will this happen?

No doubt, the disciples were referring to the words of the Lord Jesus about the destruction of the temple.

Vs.32, 33 “Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know IT is near, right at the door.”

‘All these things’ (verse 29) will be seen and be so abundantly clear to the believers at the end of the end-age. For us, in these days, we may be seeing ‘the twigs getting tender and the leaves coming out.’ The believers of those days will know ‘that the end is near’.

Now finally:

v.36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

V.42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know what day your Lord will come.”

For our Lord Jesus and for them, what a day of rejoicing that will be!

From John, on the isle of Patmos, we learn what will be in store for those who stood firm to the end. All their suffering and sorrowful deaths will be wonderfully rewarded.

Revelation 6:13-17 “Then one of the elders asked me (John), ‘these in white robes, who are they? ‘ I (John) answered: ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said ‘these are they who have come out of THE GREAT TRIBULATION; they have washed their robes and have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.. And He Who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them,. Never again will they hunger and never again will they thirst! The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat! For the Lamb at the centre of the Throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ “

Steadfastly they had refused to wear the Mark of the Beast. Then they had not been able to buy or sell. So they had suffered hunger and thirst. There was very little or no sympathy for them. They were being hated and betrayed and many of them had died an ugly death. They did come through great tribulation. Many had stood firm to the end. How much did they hanker for His coming? He will come, and His angels will gather them, from the utmost corners of the earth. And then? They will be before the throne of God and serve Him, day and night. Never again to hunger, never again will they thirst. And God will wipe away their tears.

Revelation 20:4 “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus AND because of the Word of God. They had not worshipped the Beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands; they came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

Those end-time believers, many of them will be beheaded ‘because of their testimony for Jesus’. And ‘because of the Word of God’. With powerful signs and wonders, the lawless man will beguile humanity. But those who know the Word of God and stand in its light, they will detect and reject all those bogus signs and wonders and show them up as frauds. They will stay with the Word of Truth! They will stand up with ‘their testimony for Jesus’ and in defense of ‘the Word of God’. The Lord will honour those who endured to the end. That’s what the Apostle John tells us about.

Vs.34,35 “ ‘I tell you the truth’ the Lord said; ‘this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened . Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

Clearly, the generation of Jesus’ days on earth has passed away. But the generation of those days will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Since the day the Lord Jesus told that truth, more than two thousand years passed by. But what He does tell us, will never pass away. Let us listen, very carefully listen.