The Beginning of Sorrows

THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS             BMF Notes               Meeting 23/07/22

A message looking at the biblical understanding of the days in which we are living.

Message Headings

The Source of Truth

Yeshua’s Olivet Briefing

The Coming Sorrows

The Source of Truth
  • Too Much Information
    • We are bombarded with information in these days
      • For Example – About the Covid-19 Virus and its Effects
        • About the Lockdown and its Impact
        • About the Vaccines and their Reliability
      • About Everything!
    • Information from Every Direction
      • From the News Channels on TV and Radio
      • From E-Mails with Stories and Attachments
      • From Websites of all descriptions
      • From YouTube Videos
      • From Social Media
      • From Everywhere!
  • Discerning Truth from Fiction and Propaganda
    • Can Politicians Be Trusted?
      • Political agendas of the power hungry
      • Weak men & women influenced by advisors
      • ‘Guided by the Science’ – but science is often contradictory
      • Leaked information and stories – manipulating the narrative
    • Information from Experts
      • Discerning truth from lies or propaganda is so difficult
      • For Example…Covid – most of us are not Scientists or Doctors (MD’s or PhD’s) nor are we Epidemiologists or Immunologists
      • How do we know when we are being told the truth?
    • Pilate’s Question to Yeshua

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”  Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.                John 18: 37-38

  • Pilate was a governor and a politician
  • He had to govern possibly one of the most unruly provinces – having to appease the local rulers (Herod) and the powerful religious groups to maintain control
  • The question ‘What is truth’ is a politicians question – he knows that facts can be twisted, stories manipulated and the narrative (media) can be controlled to make lies appear as truth
  • So it is today – and we ask ‘What is the truth?’
  • Pilate has no doubt that Yeshua is speaking truth to him – therefore he says to the assembled crowd ‘I find no fault in Him’
  • Life Application Study Notes Bible: Pilate thought that all truth was relative. To many government officials, truth was whatever the majority of people agreed with or whatever helped advance their own personal power and political goals. When there is no standard or acknowledgement of truth, there is no basis for moral right and wrong. Justice becomes whatever works or whatever helps those in power. In Jesus and his Word we have a standard for truth and for our moral behaviour.
  • Yeshua is the Truth
    • Yeshua has come to bear witness to the truth (John 18: 17)
    • Yeshua is ‘The’ Truth
      • Yeshua tells Thomas

‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’                                                            John 14: 6

  • John Testifies of Yeshua

‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’                     John 1: 14

  • As it was for Pilate so it is for us – hearing the voice of Yeshua is how we discern what is truth
    • Yeshua, though no longer on earth in person, stills speaks – and we can hear His voice (He has not got laryngitis)
  • Two Witnesses
    • The Biblical Principle

‘“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.”’                                                                                                                         Deuteronomy 19: 15

  • Yeshua speaks to us mainly through two channels of communication
    • Of course, He can speak directly to us in other ways
  • The Word of Truth
    • Scripture is God’s Word in written form – it is truth unchanging

‘The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.’                                                                           Psalm 119: 160

  • We must be completely familiar with His written word – so study it!

‘Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’                                       2 Timothy 2: 15

  • ‘Rightly Dividing’ (Greek: orthotomeō) means making a straight cut
  • Every Word is True – so be thoroughly equipped! 2 Timothy 3: 16-17
  • The Holy Spirit
    • Another Helper

‘“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”’                                 John 14: 16-18

  • The Spirit is another helper, like God’s word to guide us
  • He is the ‘Spirit of Truth’, and He lives in us
  • We Know Him – we can become familiar with His voice and recognise when He speaks and guides us – He should become a familiar voice to us
  • He is our Guide

 ‘“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”’                                                                                           John 16: 12-13

  • We can trust the Holy Spirit completely – He will only speak truth to us, and He will guide us into all truth
  • He speaks Yeshua’s words to us…He is the inner voice of the Lord

Yeshua’s Olivet Briefing

  • The Inside Story to the End Times
    • The Disciples’ Question – Read Matthew 24: 1-3

‘Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”’                                                         Matthew 24: 3

  • Question 1: ‘When will these things be?’
    • The disciples are asking about the destruction of the temple – Luke records Yeshua’s answer to this (Luke 21: 20-24)
  • Question 2: ‘The sign of Your coming and the end of the age?’
    • The disciples want to know what signs to watch out for that precede Yeshua’s coming again
    • Matthew records Yeshua’s answer, which we shall look at (Matthew 24: 4-13) – and there is a parallel passage recorded by Luke (Luke 21: 8-19)
  • Key Signs that Yeshua Mentions
    • Two Signs Throughout the Ages – Read Matthew 24: 4-6
    • Deception in the World and in the Church
    • Wars and Rumours of Wars
    • There have been such things throughout the ages – ‘but the end is not yet’
    • There seem to be more today – particularly deception in the church
  • Signs of Sorrows Read Matthew 24: 7-8
    • Nation (Greek: ethnos meaning ‘race’) will rise against Nation
      • Indicative of the rise of Anti-Semitism and of BLM
    • Kingdom (Greek: basileia meaning realm) will rise against Kingdom
      • Indicative not simply of wars but of political strife – e.g. Europe and the UK, China and the West
    • Famines – shortages of food (generally a distributional problem)
    • Pestilences – plagues (like Covid-19)
    • Earthquakes in various places – there have been an increasing number in the last 150 years
  • Yeshua’s Summary
    • These are the Beginning of Sorrows (v.8)
      • They are Precursors of what will come in the Tribulation (Great Sorrows)
      • We are living in the days of ‘the beginning of sorrows’
    • Warnings and Encouragements to Disciples – Read Matthew 24: 9-14
  • Warning 1: Persecution – Greek: thlipsis; translated as Affliction (KJV), Tribulation (NKJV), Punishment (CJB) and it can also mean anguish, burden or trouble
    • The persecution of true believers is growing – it has been so in Russia and behind the Iron Curtain, and in China and in the Middle East and Africa…now it is increasing rapidly in the West
    • Coming Persecution – we must prepare now for such days ahead
  • Warning 2: Strife from Outside and Within the Body of the Church
    • Offence – (Greek: skandalizō) meaning to scandalise or entrap
      • Many outside the church are scandalised by the biblical viewpoint
      • Many within the church are sceptical of those who hold a biblical view, or those who speak of coming persecution
    • Betrayal – (Greek: paradidōmi) meaning to surrender or yield up
      • Many outside the church seek to use the law to trap believers
      • Many within the church have and will betray believers with whom they disagree
    • Hatred – (Greek: miseō) meaning hate, detest or love-less
      • Many outside the church hate true believers and do all they can to silence their voice in society
    • Many, even within the church, detest those who speak biblical truth
    • Coming Offence, Betrayal and Hatred – we must prepare now for such days which lie ahead
  • Warning 3: Religious Impostors (Greek: pseudoprophētēs)
    • Not just those who prophecy but those who teach
    • They Will Rise Up
      • Great prominence today of mega-churches whose leaders preach a prosperity or feel-good gospel, not a biblical one
      • Many apostate Churches and Teachers
    • They Will Deceive Many
      • Huge numbers in Sardis (dead) or Laodicea (apostate) churches
  • Warning 4: Lawlessness will Abound – Greek: anomia, meaning not just violation of law or illegality, but also wickedness
    • It is God’s Law that is envisaged here – hence the KJV translates it as ‘iniquity’
      • Increasingly since the 1950s laws law have been passed which are contrary to God’s word
      • Increasingly the law is used to punish godliness
    • Increasingly law-makers break the law – e.g. the lockdown rules affecting churches which are in contravention of Magna Carta
    • Lawlessness abounds in the church – e.g. the acceptance of gay marriage and gender identity
    • Hence ‘the love (for the Lord) of many (within the church) will grow (has grown) cold’ – just as Yeshua said it would
  • We should Not Be Dismayed at these beginnings of sorrows
    • The Lord has told us these things will come
    • The Lord will never leave us nr forsake us
  • Encouragement 1: Perseverance leads to Salvation
    • Scripture is full of encouragement to endure or persevere
      • The Example of Yeshua (Hebrews 12: 2-3)
      • Love is the Key (1 Corinthians 13: 7)
      • Our Hope will Not Disappoint (Romans 5: 3-5)

‘And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’                                          Romans 5: 3-5

  • Encouragement 2: The Gospel will be Preached in All the World
    • The Witness of the Good News of Salvation in Yeshua
    • The Indomitable Gospel – Yeshua promised that He will build His church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it
  • Encouragement 3: Then the End Will Come
    • There is an end to our sorrows
    • It will end when Yeshua comes to take His bride

The Coming Sorrows

  • They are Portent of Things to Come
    • The Coming World Leader
      • The Beast from the Sea (Revelation 13:1-9)
        • All Nations will Bow to him
        • All will Worship him
      • A One World Government
    • The Time of Tribulation – 7 years (Daniel 9: 27)
      • Begins with the World Leader Confirming a Covenant with Israel
      • After 3½ years – the Abomination which Desolates
      • Last 3½ years – the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24: 15-22)
  • The Beginning of Sorrows – Our Days
    • Days in which we see some small aspect of the Coming Sorrows (Tribulation)
      • We are seeing the centralisation of power – globalisation and the elite of the WEF / Bilderbergers / Familial Blood Lines
      • We are seeing, in some small measure (though it seems a big thing to us now) the signs of Tribulation Sorrows
    • We will be ‘Kept from the Hour of Trial’ [the Tribulation] (Revelation 3: 10)
    • The Rapture of the True Church will precede the Coming Sorrows
      • We will only see and experience the precursors to the sorrows of the Tribulation – the first beginnings
      • Those ‘beginnings of sorrows’ will be like nothing we have seen before
    • The Great Tribulation
      • The Coming Sorrows begin with Four Horsemen
  • The Four Horsemen (the first 4 of 7 Seals) (Revelation 6: 1-8)
    • The White Horse – A Crowned Conqueror (The Coming World Leader)
      • Centralisation of Power is growing…individuals, families, groups (e.g. believers), even governments are becoming powerless in the face of global bureaucracy and elite powers
    • The Red Horse – Peace Removed and a Sword of Slaughter
      • Complete breakdown of law and moral restraint is worsening – individuals murdering each other, governments breaking their own laws and increasing corruption
      • Lawlessness is the result of ‘the restrainer’ (the Holy Spirit which is in the church) being removed (2 Thessalonians 2: 7-8) – the increasing apostasy in churches means a lessening of the impact of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in society
      • Absence of peace – can mean war but also the absence of peace of heart and mind in man (like hell on earth)
    • The Black Horse – Famine and Scarcity of Food
      • Basic staple foods being sold for extortionate prices – because of scarcity – possibly due to wars (red horse) – but also by a deliberate policy of an economic power (i.e. deliberately contrived)
      • The use of scales to weigh out such small quantities of such staples is itself unusual – indicating the extreme nature of the cost – it is costing all of a day’s wage to buy food for one day
      • We see today the increasing cost of oil and gas affecting the prices of other things, and the increasing scarcity of certain foods (e.g.: Grain as a result of the war in the Ukraine)
      • We see deliberate policy decisions causing reduction of food production (e.g.: The Dutch Farmers revolt), or the changing of the quality of food (e.g.: GMO foods)
      • Do not touch the oil or the wine – indicates that luxury goods (oil and wine) were not scarce or inflated in price, as are staple foods
    • The Pale Horse – Death & Hades – a Killing Spree – ¼ of the earth’s population die…death on an enormous scale
      • Power to Kill – with …
        • Sword – through murder and war (Red horse)
        • Hunger – through famine and scarcity (Black horse)
        • Death – disease and plague and pandemic infection (Pale horse)
        • Beasts (Greek therion) meaning wild beasts or dangerous animals
      • We have already seen how man-made viruses can be used to subdue, terrify and kill the people (e.g. AIDS and Coronavirus)
      • We are seeing the impact of the Covid ‘vaccines’ – reducing birth rates on a worldwide basis – causing increases in death rates (not due to Covid)
    • Then 3 More Seals are Opened (Revelation 6: 9-11; 8: 1-5)
  • Then Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8: 6-13; 9: 1-21; 11: 15-19) – then Seven Bowls of Wrath (Revelation chapters 15 &16)
  • It is God’s Wrath – not Satan’s
    • The Seals, the Trumpets and the Bowls are all part of God’s wrath upon unrighteous man and his world systems
    • These days in which we love now are the beginnings of Coming Sorrows
  • The Lord is King
    • The Lord Reigns
      • He Reigns Forever

‘The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength.  Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.  Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.’                                                                                                                                        Psalm 93: 1-2

  • His rule is the same now as it was at the very beginning
  • He is the one in majesty
  • He is clothed with strength…none can stand against Him
  • Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian world ruler) testified of His rule

‘I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me.  How great are His signs, and how mighty His wonders!  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation.’                                                                                            Daniel 4: 2-3

  • In the days of the ‘Beginning of Sorrows’ we should, like Nebuchadnezzar, declare his signs, wonders, kingdom and dominion
  • Though the world currently lies under the sway of the wicked one – the day is soon coming when the King will return to rule and reign

‘We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.  And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God and eternal life.’                                       1 John 5: 19-20

  • Though the wicked one has sway now – we know Him who is the King
  • The Lord is Coming Back to the Earth
    • The day is coming when the King will return to rule and reign

‘Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”’                  Revelation 11: 15

  • He comes at the end of 7 years of real ‘Sorrows’ to reign on the earth – and the wicked one will be bound for 1,000 years
  • He Comes Soon

‘“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”’                                            Revelation 22: 12-13

  • Before the Tribulation begins His bride will be ‘caught up’ to meet Him – and so we shall always be with Him…Hallelujah!

‘For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.   Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.   And thus we shall always be with the Lord.   Therefore comfort one another with these words.’                     1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18

  • Comfort in the midst of sorrows
  • Look Up – Your Redemption (Redeemer) Draws Nigh
  • How Long? Soon!
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