THE ANSWER TO “WHEN” – part 3:
Matthew 24:9, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. Verse 10, And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Verse 11, And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Verse 12, And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL MARKER:
The events Jesus describes in verses nine through 12 had already begun in His day and His disciples suffered this ‘tribulation’ (internal pressure of a tribulation, especially when feeling there is “no way of escape”) of persecution, alienation because of Jesus’ name, the rise of false prophets, lawlessness and death.
Jesus goes into greater detail in the sixth chapter of the book of Revelation, verses nine through 12, regarding this time of tribulation, death, hatred and the falling away of Christians from one another and from faith in God. This is a description of the breaking of the fifth seal of the tribulation scroll, which is the great apostasy, the great falling away from the faith and the great persecution of the Church.
Judged by the conditions around the world today, it seems that this fifth scroll seal has now been broken, and we are moving and inexorably toward the great tribulation also known as the great and terrible day of the Lord with a breaking of the sixth tribulation seal.
A CAUTION AND A WARNING: When you see a great persecution of Christians, many falling away from faith in Jesus, hating and betraying one another; in conjunction with wars and rumors of wars, an increase in earthquakes, famines, disease, a dangerous and dramatic increase in lawlessness; a rise of many false prophets and many being led astray from the Gospel of Christ, you will know the fifth seal of the tribulation has been broken, and we are nearing the end.
Verse 13. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
NEXT: THE ANSWER TO “WHEN” – Part 4: AND THEN THE END WILL COME.
PREVIOUS: THE ANSWER TO “WHEN” – Part 2: WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR.
THE INTRODUCTION: THE END OF THE AGE?
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