Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Beginning of Sorrows
Sep 4th, 2011
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Warning

Mark tells us that at the end of this present age, prior to the return of Christ, there will be a time of troubles and sorrows. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows” (Mark 13:8).

Luke refers to that day in chapter 21 verse 28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Notice, Luke refers to the beginning of these signs, not the consummation of them. He cannot be referring to the end of the tribulation period. At that time the signs will not be beginning, they will have been consummated. Luke here has to be referring to the rapture which will take place prior to the tribulation period.

Matthew also tells us about some beginning signs that will take place prior to the tribulation period. Matthew refers to them as the beginning sorrows, “All these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8).

In verses 4-8, Matthew describes the time immediately prior to the tribulation period, the time of the beginning of sorrows.  From verse 9-20, Matthew describes the first half of the tribulation period, from verse, 21-26 he describes the last half of the tribulation period. In verse 27 he describes the second coming of Christ.

It seems to me we are now living in Matthew 24:4-8, the time of the beginning of sorrows.

Let me summarize some of the news of just one day this week, September 13.

Italy's finance minister met with the head of China's largest sovereign wealth fund CIC last week as Rome tries to bring down soaring borrowing interest rates, a ministry spokesman said Tuesday. Italy along with a number of other EU countries is in danger of collapsing under the weight of high interest rates on their excessively large debt. Italians are in distress over their country's future.

A volcano has erupted on Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, with ash rising to an altitude of 10 km above sea level, RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday. During the eruption, a crevice with a depth of about 30 meters was formed on top of the volcano. An earthquake that lasted seven minutes was also recorded. The volcano's 10-km ash column was the highest during the past month, breaking the record of 8200 meters. If this were an isolated incident it would not be cause for concern, but these natural disasters are multiplying at an alarming rate.

Texas is suffering the worst one-year drought in its history. The state has received just 7.33 inches of rain this year until August, the lowest amount in four decades, state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon says. Temperatures, meanwhile, have hit record highs. Texas' June-through-August average of 86.8 degrees was the hottest summer for any state in U.S. history. This is another historic event.

"China keeps our admirals up at night. And for good reason," said McKeon in his speech at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington-based think-tank. "Any historian worth his salt knows that massive military build-ups and chest-thumping speeches about national destiny is a dangerous combination," he said, referring to a recent Pentagon report on Chinese military build-up. "The Pentagon report outlined a country that is emboldened with new found military might and drunk with economic power. The Chinese are convinced that they have been given an opening with our current financial crisis," he said. He said that for the first time in history Beijing believes it can achieve military parity with the United States. We have another historic event.

There were only 1.75 full-time private-sector workers in the United States last year for each person receiving benefits from Social Security, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics and the Social Security board of trustees. That means that for each husband and wife who worked full-time in the private sector last year there was a Social Security recipient somewhere in the country taking benefits from the federal government. This is an unsustainable situation that warns of coming disaster.

The prospects for President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan grew dimmer Monday as he unveiled the fine print of how it would be paid for—primarily through tax increases that Republicans said would destroy jobs, not create them. At a crisis hour in US history a conflict of political philosophy is threatening to prevent solutions.

Taliban suicide fighters launched an attack on central Kabul on Tuesday, taking over a multi-storey building under construction near the diplomatic district in the Afghan capital and firing rockets in the direction of several embassy and NATO compounds. The assault was the second major Taliban attack in the city in under a month after suicide bombers targeted the British Council headquarters in mid-August, killing nine. More war and strife.

Pakistan's commercial capital, Karachi, has been paralysed by floods as torrential rain continues to lash southern Sindh province. Schools have shut down, many markets were forced to close and commuters had to abandon their vehicles as rain water flooded the streets. Villages across the province have been inundated as canals have been breached and water has not adequately drained.

Major French banking stocks were pummelled on Monday on the back of persistent worries that Greece is on the verge of defaulting on its loans. Societe Generale, particularly badly hit, slid 10.8 percent while other European financial stocks emerged in little better shape. BNP Paribas was down 11 percent at one point in the day.

Al Qaida has released a message in which Osama bin Laden's successor as the group's leader, Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, said al Qaida supported the Arab Spring. The hour-long video was released to mark the 10th anniversary of al Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Turkey's Military Electronic Industry developed a new identification system for its F-16 fighter jets that will allow it to attack Israeli targets, according to a Tuesday report by the Turkish Star Gazete. The previous US system automatically classified all Israeli targets as "friend" and disallowed any attacks on them. The new system will allow Turkey to determine whether or not a target should be considered "friend."

Smaller corn surplus could push food prices higher. U.S. government estimates of a smaller corn surplus, could drive food prices higher in 2012. Add this to the existing threat of world famine.

The above items are just some of the news headlines for one day. I believe we are living in the days Matthew referred to as the beginning of sorrows.

Revelation 19:20-21
Sep 4th, 2011
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20).

Our Lord has defeated the armies of the whole world; verse 20 tells us what follows that triumph. The beast and the false prophet had been indwelt by Satan himself. They were willing servants of the devil. Their defiance of God results in their being cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

This scene will take place at the end of the Tribulation period. The fearful thing we notice is that a thousand years later they are still there when Satan is also cast in with them. Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” How men ought to fear the lake of fire! I have heard some say we ought not to scare people with emphasis on hell. Why not? Any possible truthful means of causing people to escape hell is good and legitimate.

The beast and the false prophet are the first inhabitants of the lake of fire. Later they are joined by Satan and all unbelievers (Revelation 20:10-15).

 We read in Matthew 25:41 that the lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. It is not God’s intention that men and women should enter that awful place. We read in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The Father gave His Son to deliver men and women from ever going to hell. The Son gave His life to rescue men and women from that frightful place.

The unsaved enter into hades, which is not hell, at the time of their death. Jesus said that the unsaved suffer torments in hades. We learn that they are later resurrected and face judgment at the great white throne and then are cast into hell which is the lake of fire.

Though some may be offended by being warned of the danger of the lake of fire, the best friend any man could have in this world is the man who would warn him of the danger of entering into an eternal hell.

“And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19:21).

Here we see that all of those who had rebelled against God and taken the mark of the beast are slain by the Lord Himself. We have a highlight of the anger of the Lord against sin and rebellion, as we see the fate of the bodies of those rebels. They are consumed by the birds of the earth. God hates sin with an infinite hatred. The warning of scripture is to flee the wrath to come. Now is the time to escape the eternal fires of hell. Jesus spoke more of hell than He did of heaven; do not gamble on His being wrong, you will lose eternally!

This whole scenario is referred to in Revelation 14:19-20, “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”