His Perfect Love

Guest (Female): Pastor Matt says there's hope to be found even during the tribulation period.

Matt VanderVen: There's hope for the prodigals, there's hope for the rebellious, there's hope for those that have hardened their hearts towards God because there's opportunity and then so many are going to be martyred that don't take the sign of the beast that that that are going to go through this. But he wants us to understand that even during that time he's given us great detail to understand that any humanity left at that time is going to acknowledge that judgments is specifically due to the to the lamb, to Jesus Christ. Again, there's not going to be a single atheist in the great tribulation.

Every time I read this I'm I'm always amazed at the hardness of heart towards God in in verse 16. Literally these men and women are talking to rocks and mountains. It's just problematic. They're going to ask these rocks to fall on them, to hide them from the face of him who sits on the front throne from the wrath of the lamb.

Guest (Female): Happy 4th of July to you and your family and welcome to His Perfect Love online at hisperfectlove.org. As we wrap up Revelation chapter 6 today, we have one more look at the sealed judgments. The sixth seal will bring cosmic disturbances like the sun turning black and the moon blood red and the sky will separate and stars fall to the earth. But it's important to realize this isn't the only time this will happen during the tribulation. If you don't get that straight, you'll be confused as Pastor Matt Vanderven explains.

Matt VanderVen: The main difference between the bowl judgments will compared to what we see here in regards to the cosmic disturbances because I'm sure you're going to meet somebody in your life that goes, hey, I'm a mid-tripper and you might be like, what's that mean? Oh, most of us here are pre pre tribulation, pre rapture. We believe that you know, we'll be raptured out before the wrath is given to the church, right? That there's no wrath given to the church, should I say it? Let me say it differently. There is no wrath given to the church that we will be raptured off of this earth before something like that happens.

That's 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and 5. But then they'll go to certain passages and please remember the order of operations and I'm only spending time on this apologetically because I want us to be educated here to understand our Bibles. We're at what point of the great tribulation? Are we near the end, the middle, or the beginning? I am sorry. What are we in the beginning? Yeah, it's the the first. We're only on the sixth seal judgment. Are you with me? John's in heaven. He's looking through the vision. He's seeing Jesus. He just cracked the sixth seal.

It's just right at the beginning. We just have lost a quarter of the population of the earth. Roughly 2 billion people have died for this point. It's just the beginning of the great tribulation. And they'll go to chapter uh Joel chapter 2 and they'll say, but what about Joel 2:30? You see Christians are going to go through this and it's not till the end. And I I say this is where hermeneutics matters. Biblical understanding, keeping everything in context of scripture. So please turn in your Bibles with me to Joel chapter 2 verse 30, okay? I I just think this is is very important.

Joel chapter 2 verse 30. It's in your Old Testament. This whole passage in chapter 2 is based on what we know as the day of the Lord. Okay, what is the day of the Lord? If I asked you that today, as Christians we ought to understand that terminology that God uses. Is the day of the Lord when the tribulation begins or is the day of the Lord begin when the tribulation ends? Well, we're going to understand that here in a moment, right? We're going to read. Look with me please at chapter 2. The idea here is this is pointing to the day of the Lord, a time that it comes at the end of the tribulation.

You will read that right in this right in the passage here so we we don't get confused. He says in verse 30 of chapter 2, and I will show wonders in the heavens and on earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness. Do you see him saying that? That's the same thing we just read at the beginning of the tribulation. So this means it's going to happen multiple times. And the moon into blood, once again we read that in the sixth seal, but this is also going to happen at the end of the tribulation again.

Before the coming, and it says it right here, before the coming in the great awesome day of what? The Lord. So if you look at the Hebrew and the idea here when he says and before, it's a conjunction. The way he's tying it together in the Hebrew with the before means preceding. So right as that next activity happens, then preceding then after that comes Jesus Christ, the great day of the Lord. That's what that's telling us in the Hebrew because he goes on and says and I will show wonders in heavens and earth, blood and fire, pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved from in Mount Zion and Jerusalem there will be deliverance and the Lord has among the remnant whom the Lord calls. This is very very important because so many have taken this passage and said, oh, this before not understanding the Hebrew. This means well it could why can't it be the sixth seal as the before? No, he's saying the way it's written is that's going to happen and then the day of the Lord is going to occur.

But we also know if we go to Revelation that in the sixth seal we haven't even got to the seventh seal yet. We're about to come to a chapter here in a moment where we kind of take a chapter break in seven on the seventh seal. So we know there's a whole lot of things that have to circumstantially unfold, judgment, persecution, things like that, 144 the gospel going forward, evangelists going forward to continue to convert those on the earth. We know these things are going to happen. So how can it be both? The only way it can be both if they're what?

Two separate events. And then we also, as we'll get to it in in in our reading of the trumpet judgment, guess what it mentions in the trumpet judgment? Cosmic disturbances as well. This then makes you take a pause and step back and go, why was I never taught this? Why did I not look at Joel? Why did I not look at this harmoniously in scripture to realize that this isn't just in the seal judgment? This is going to happen in the trumpet judgments. This is going to happen in the bowl judgments. Now why or why does this make sense?

Because did Jesus not say in Matthew 24 they're going to say he's over here, he's over there. Go do this because even at that time in the great tribulation there's going to arise false messiahs before and even during. And if the sign that everybody looks for is when the sun darkens or and the the moon turns to blood, didn't we hear just a few years back people that were chasing a blood moon? And then all of a sudden it meant when this is going to happen and that's going to happen and Are you starting to get this now?

Is it starting to kind of illuminate for you what's been happening? And so what's going to happen in the great tribulation is you're going to we're kind of getting a glimpse into this. There are people at that time that are going to go, Jesus is coming right now and somebody's going to say I'm the messiah. People are going to follow after him thinking that that's the bowl judgment according to Joel chapter 2 and what's going to happen. They're going to be miss led. This is gone so far as to why Christians have literally begun to adopt a mid-trib or a post-trib perspective because they will take some of these things and say, well this isn't exactly the great tribulation yet.

That's what they'll say. This isn't the great tribulation yet. I am so thankful for Matthew 24. Will you you just take a moment with me here? Turn to Matthew chapter 24 because Jesus says very clearly to when this is all going to happen, the beginning and the end. He's going to make it very clear. Now Joel again talks about cataclysmic events. Again, before the great and awesome day of the Lord again the great and awesome day of the Lord is when Jesus Christ comes physically down to earth. We all get that. It's not during the sixth seal judgment, but I want us to also see if we turn to Matthew chapter 24 I want us to look at verse 29, please, in our scripture, verse 29 because this is really interesting and I'm so thankful that Jesus sort of put these chapters together first, 24 and 25, and he keeps it chronological for us so we can't misunderstand and he protects us by doing that.

We, the believers today, because we can give the gospel and give hope to people so that they're not confused, so that they don't follow a false messiah, so that they truly give their life to Jesus Christ today. And they realize they don't have enough to go into the great tribulation and then even the great tribulation saints that get saved that they will not turn around and follow after obviously an antichrist or a false messiah. So he's trying to make this very clear. Now if I turn and I start actually in Matthew 24 and I go to verse 15 with you this morning, therefore when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads this let me let him understand.

Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is in the housetop go down, take anything out of the house, and let him who is in the field I'm reading verse 15 in chapter 24 not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days and pray that your flight is not in the winter on the Shabbat. For then there will be a great tribulation such as not been seen since the beginning of the world this time nor shall ever be.

He's describing the great tribulation that's already unfold, right? He didn't say that it began in the bowl judgments. You know, he's even describing that when the abomination of desolation happens, which is antichrist coming, we already read in the first few seals many of us believe that horse coming that's riding, that's been given authority is the antichrist. It's right in the beginning. Yes, he's not going to desecrate the temple until 3 and 1/2 years in. We know that because of Daniel. He tells us the time that's going to happen, but he doesn't say that the great tribulation doesn't begin till right before the Lord comes back.

He didn't say that. So there's all these labor pains and things that are beginning to unfold. And then if we continue on he even tells us that hey, uh in verse 22, and unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved, but the elect's sake for those days are shortened. That makes sense, right? Because God allows a quarter of the population to be destroyed during the um seal judgments. He allows a third of the population, an additional third of the population during the trumpet judgments, and then more than 60% of the population by the bowl judgments, okay?

And we'll see that as we go through these judgments. But then verse 23 tells us something. He says then if anyone says to you, look, he's here or look, here is the Christ or there, do not believe it. The false Christ and false prophets will rise. They're going to show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the who? Those that get saved during the great tribulation. See, I've told you beforehand, Jesus say I'm warning you of this because there's going to be signs. There's going to be things people are going to see and they're going to misinterpret those things.

Therefore if then you say, look, he's in the desert, do not go out. Look, he's in the inner rooms, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will also be the coming of the Son of Man be. And we already know that because the thief of the night coming isn't Jesus Christ's second coming. We already know that for 3 and 1/2 years after the abomination of desolation comes Daniel says that that will be the end of the 70th week Jesus Christ will come. We know that.

So we can count that whatever, you know, 360 multiplied times 3 and 1/2 years. We can do the math. It's like 1,000 and something uh days. I meant to say. And so we know that Jesus Christ is going to come back and they that nobody is struggling with knowing when Jesus is going to touch down to terra firma. What we don't know is when the rapture of the church is going to happen because that's going to start the whole process of the church being removed. And once the church is removed, that's when the great tribulation will begin to unfold and these things will be in heaven these seal judgments are going to start to unravel and begin to unfold as he splits each one.

So he's saying that even during the great tribulation cuz that's the context we're in right here that people are going to be fooled and some of that is because of the seal judgment of seal six where they're going to sit there and go, boy, this is this is what we read about the darkened and the the moon and even the elect and not knowing that there's a trumpet and bowl judgment that's also coming they may think he's coming right now. They're going to forget that there's 1,000 and something days that have to transpire before he comes back down to earth.

But we know. We're reading our Bibles. We know. Then what else does he say? He says therefore if you look it says in the desert, right? Do not go out. Look, he's in the inner rooms. Do not believe it. For as lightning comes from the east west, so will the coming of the Son of Man for whatever carcass wherever the carcass is the eagles will be gathered. He's talking about a lot of death. Now look at verse 29. This is very important here. Immediately after the tribulation. Does everybody with me on that? Jesus is not grammatically challenged.

Do you see that right here in verse 29? Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. You mean it's going to happen again? Yes. That's what Jesus is telling us. It's going to happen in the sixth seal beginning in the great tribulation. It's going to happen in the trumpet. We'll get there when we read trumpet judgments. And then even after the tribulation before Jesus comes back it's going to happen again. And this is why it's going to cause so much confusion for those alive at the time, the saints that are that get saved during the great tribulation, those that aren't martyred right away.

Immediately after tribulation will say the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the power of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of the heaven to the other.

And that is the tribulation saints that will finally be gathered up because at that point, remember what we've already read in chapter 6, oh, how long, oh Lord? Remember the souls that were John sees that were under the altar and he's looking at them and what are they asking him? How long, oh Lord, holy and true, verse 10, you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them. This is chapter 6 I'm reading verse 11. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren would be killed as it was as as they were was completed.

Do you see what he's saying to them? He's saying hold on. There's more that are going to get saved. Matthew 24:29 tells us that even up to the very end of the great tribulation the gospel's going to go forward, people are going to get saved. They're going to pay through it for martyrdom cuz God is a God of love, mercy, and grace. He doesn't stop that even in the great tribulation. With judgments going out the word of God's going to go forward. People are still going to get saved. Hallelujah because there's hope for the prodigals, there's hope for the rebellious, there's hope for those that have hardened their hearts towards God because there's opportunity.

And then what they're going to turn around and do and it's going to be the most horrific time to be saved because as I said so many are going to be martyred that don't take the sign of the beast that that that are going to go through this. But he wants us to understand that even during that time he's given us great detail to understand that any humanity left at the time is going to acknowledge that judgments is specifically due to the to the lamb, to Jesus Christ. Again, there's not going to be a single atheist in the great tribulation.

Every time I read this I am I am always amazed at the hardness of heart towards God in in verse 16. Literally these men and women are talking to rocks and mountains. It's just problematic. They're going to ask these rocks to fall on them, to hide them from the face of him who sits on the front throne from the wrath of the lamb. They were afraid of the cosmic events, but they were more afraid because of their rebellious hearts to face Jesus and his judgment. You would think it would make sense just to again acknowledge that we have all sinned full sort of the glory of God.

We blow it. We get it wrong just like when before we were saved. We get it wrong. We blow it. And then Jesus is so gracious somebody comes alongside us, tells us that there is the Lord and we humble our hearts, we believe the testimony, we believe in faith, receive the gift of salvation and all things are made new. And we have hope and and our rebellious hearts change and those things are not for us anymore. It doesn't mean that as Christians we don't struggle though. I mean that's what led Caleb and and Paul and the fellowship to to to start the the the ministry of hope for for men and women even in this fellowship that are struggling men particularly right now that are struggling whether it's anxiety, depression.

There's a lot of people struggling with anxiety and depression today. You know, people struggling with alcohol, people struggling with pornography, addiction, lust, all it it's real. Because you get saved sanctification is a lifetime. Everybody understand that, please. Don't ever judge somebody because they're they're struggling with sin. That's reality for the Christian. We've been told in scripture we have overcome. We've been given victory. But we need to encourage each other in that when we're struggling to remember we have been given victory and we're not alone. And that's what's on their hearts when they come together and they meet and they open the word and they're praying together to build each other up.

What's it going to be like when you don't have the church during the great tribulation and here you are a saint and you get saved? Well, sorry, you get saved and become a saint. It's going to feel very lonely. You're not going to have a church to go to. You're not going to have brothers and sisters. You're going to kind of be underground even if you are. And then if anybody finds out they're going to kill you because they're going to make you either profess antichrist and take the mark of the beast or or you or you're going to be martyred right then and there.

It it's not a Thank God people will get saved, but it's not a time you want to be alive on this earth as a Christian. I mean this isn't me hitting the things saying this is fire and brimstone. This is literal truth. And again we keep making our way through this revelation. Thank you Jesus. He's tarrying. But if there's anybody here this morning that doesn't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, what are you waiting for? That's the whole point. And if you're struggling with addiction or you maybe you've gotten saved but you're still struggling, what are you waiting for?

There's a ministry that God has birthed here to to to for men to come alongside you, to encourage you, to build you up so you are not alone and you don't have to be embarrassed. You don't have to run. You need to press into it. You need to press into the Lord and let him do that work. And ladies the same thing, press into the Lord. Cuz just to think it's only men that are struggling, we're not that foolish, are we? We're not that foolish. Everybody struggles. Salvation is in a moment. Sanctification is a lifetime.

It's a lifetime. So if you don't know Jesus Christ, ask him to be your Lord and savior right now. I don't want to make any presumption. I see most of you every week. I don't want to make a presumption. There's people listening online. I don't want to make a presumption. People tune in from all over. If you're hearing this right now and you're in your car and you're thinking, Lord, are you really speaking to me? Open your heart cuz he's asking to come in right now. And all he's asking you to do is believe. Believe.

Put your faith and trust in him. And like I said if you're here and you've been walking with the Lord and you're struggling remember no matter how dire circumstances your God is greater. Your God is greater. It's sobering this last sentence. I'm going to close with this just because I want to be on time here. Verse 17. It's opened my eyes so many times. For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand? It's very sobering, isn't it? There's nobody that's going to be walking in the great tribulation that's going to say this is party hardy time and I'm finally doing it my way and I got everything I've ever wanted.

Oh no. You're going to be begging for rocks to fall on you. You're going to be talking to inanimate objects. My heart breaks. You know, we're going to read next week if the Lord tarries John's going to describe a group. We're going to go into what's called an interlude in scripture uh in the book of Revelation specifically between the sixth and seventh seal. And John's going to describe a group of 144,000 Jews who are supernaturally protracted during the tribulation. And their primary focus is to bring the word of God to a lost and dying world.

I can't get over God's mercy and love. I I can't get over it. Every morning I wake up and the first thing I do is thank him because he really means what he said every day. He said I make my mercies new. He says every day I make my mercies new. And I'm constantly thinking, God, I don't deserve new mercies. None of us do. And God says it's not about what you deserve. It's about my love. And my love for you never wavers. He says my love for you is agape love. It's unconditional. It's not based on what you do or even could do.

Not even could do. If you had all the money and all the time and everything else. He says I love you because I created you to have fellowship with me forever and ever. And I can't think of anything more near and dear to my heart, God would say, than you. I mean today we would say it another way. He's got our picture on his fridge. And he just looks at us and he said, and whom I'm well pleased. And it's just the picture. That's who our God is. Amen.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Matt Vanderven on His Perfect Love. You can hear the study from Revelation again when you visit hisperfectlove.org. That's hisperfectlove.org. We've expanded our podcast too. Look for us on oneplace.com and most of the major podcast platforms. The Calvary Chapel Harrisburg mobile app is another great way to listen to Pastor Matt's messages shortly after they're delivered. We can help you get started when you visit hisperfectlove.org. We're thankful for the listeners that come alongside of us with their prayers and financial support. If you're interested in supporting this radio ministry, there's a place to do that at hisperfectlove.org.

Together we can reach people with the love and truth of God in these last days. Pastor Matt loves to hear from his listeners. Even just a quick hello telling him where you hear the program and how you're blessed by it means a lot. Email us there at the website hisperfectlove.org. And whether you live in or around Mechanicsburg, PA or will be visiting the area soon, we'd love to have you join us for a service at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg Westshore. Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek service too, Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

You'll find us at 28 North Locus Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to cc harrisburg.org for more information. Are you looking for a Christian school that offers a quality education and a nurturing environment for your children? If so, you might be interested in Calvary Chapel Christian Academy, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg Westshore. Calvary Chapel Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian school that serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The academy's mission is to provide a Christ-centered education that equips students to love God, love others, and serve the world. The academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum, a variety of extracurricular activities, and a caring and supportive staff.

The academy is located at 28 North Locus Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information, please visit our website at cc harrisburg.org/academy. That's cc harrisburg.org/academy. Well, that'll do it for today, but come back next time when Pastor Matt will again study the book of Revelation with us here on His Perfect Love.

Guest (Female): His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg Westshore.