In the 24th and 25th chapters of the Book of Matthew Jesus tells us generally what will take place on earth between the 31 A.D. and His Second Advent.  The disciples had asked Him what would be the sign of His return to earth and the end of the world as we know it?  He began by warning that the Temple would be leveled.  This took place in 70 A.D.  He then listed the lowlights of world history from that time (31 A.D.) until His return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God in the area He had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit because of his obedience.  This land area stretches from the Euphrates River in the east westward to the Egypt’s Nile River.

Jesus begins His prophetic discourse with an overview of world conditions beginning with the establishment of the New Covenant Church to the beginning of the Great Tribulation (vss 4-14).  First and foremost He warned the disciples (and His people from that time forward) to beware of false prophets who would proclaim that He, Jesus of Nazareth, was indeed the Christ.  Having gained the people’s confidence, they would “… deceive many.”  Because the people would follow
Satan’s messengers and live lives of sin as would the rest of the world, He then warned of wars, famines, diseases and earthquakes on a global basis.  But these, He said, were only the “… beginning of sorrows.”  The bulk of humanity would suffer other types of sorrows–both bad and often–before He returned to bring the mess mankind would produce to a merciful end.

Beginning with the establishment of the New Covenant Church God’s saints would be hated by people in every nation on earth.  Some saints would be martyred.  Because the Law would be rejected, the love of many toward both His ministers and mankind in general would grow cold.  Betrayal and hatred would abound on a global scale.  Many false prophets would deceive the masses.  Only those saints who remained in their holy state until death would be saved upon Christ’s return.  In verse 14 Jesus prophesied that just prior to His return “… this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end (of the world) will come.”  This statement reveals that, following the deaths of the apostles, God’s true Gospel would not be preached globally for some 2000 years.  History reveals that following the deaths of the apostles the Gospel of the Kingdom of God was not heard around the world until early in the 20th century.

Today the world is inundated with false prophets (vs 4,5) who have deceived billions of people with their counterfeit gospel known as Catholicism and Protestantism.  Over the centuries since the apostles’ deaths many true believers were martyred for their refusal to join “the church.”  Those who clung to the true Gospel were often hunted down and killed like animals.  Many were burned alive.  Millions of God’s people were martyred during the Catholic Inquisition.  Read Simon of Samaria: The Legacy.  Key word–Legacy.  God’s hated Law was “nailed to the cross” by false Christians to persecuted, and often killed, the few true believers who obeyed the Law.  Having destroyed God’s Law, religious men took upon themselves the power to determine good and evil by replacing God’s Gospel with their own and calling it “church doctrine.”  With God’s Law of love out of the way, man began to hate his fellow man with a vengeance.  Look at what is going on in the world today, specifically the United States.  Man’s hatred toward his fellow man has never been seen on this scale.  And it is going to get worse as people, including church people, drift further and further away from God and His Instruction Book.

Following the deaths of the original apostles God’s Gospel of the Kingdom of God stopped being preached throughout the nations and remained in a dormant state until the early 1930’s when God raised up an American named Herbert W. Armstrong who began to preach the true Gospel of God.  First through radio, then through television he sent God’s true Gospel around the globe where it is still being preached by God’s true servants today.  I am one of those few.  Due to the advent of radio, television and the internet the Lord’s Truth is being heard and read by people of every race.

As even the casual observer can see, everything Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:1-14 has taken place in the past and continues to take place today.  So what is left to be done before the coming of the Lord?  Generally speaking, the Great Tribulation (World War III) and the terrible Day of the Lord are still ahead of us.  This 3 1/2 year period will, in my estimation, begin within the next five years, and will mark the final countdown to the end when Jesus will return for His Very Elect who will accompany Him to Jerusalem where He will establish the Kingdom of God which will cover the entire Holy Land.  Read The Kingdom of God.  Key word–Kingdom.

So far we have noted Christ’s Words concerning what would happen from 31 A.D. until modern times when the Gospel of the Kingdom is being preached throughout the earth.  In future postings we will study the soon-coming “Great Tribulation” and the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.”  Jesus describes this 3 1/2 year period as a time that will be worse than all of the catastrophies that have ever taken place on earth–COMBINED.  Before ending this segment I want to remind the reader that it is God who has sent every horrible curse mankind has ever experienced.  Why?  REBELLION AGAINST HIM AND HIS WORD.  Read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 for a perfect explanation of the Lord’s “cause and effect” treatment of His most prized creation–man.  Man has simply refused to learn.  But he will learn–the hard way.  AND IT WAS ALL TOTALLY UNNESSESARY.  L.J.