This Must Happen First - Before Jesus Returns

Main Ideas

The presenter reviews signs of the end times in Matthew 24, beginning with Jesus’ warning not to be deceived. He applies this warning to claims about Christ, the Gospel, repentance, and the rapture, and says that false messiahs and false Christians are part of the deception Jesus described.

Jesus’ references to wars and conflicts are mentioned, but the presenter focuses especially on the persecution of believers: being hated, oppressed, and killed for Jesus’ name.

The presenter explains the Greek word thlipsis—rendered in the subtitles in several forms—as meaning distress, pressure, oppression, crushing, or sorrow. He distinguishes this from God’s wrath, which he associates with orge, meaning anger or indignation.

He interprets the persecution described in Matthew 24 as a future, worldwide event in which believers will be hated and killed by all nations. He says this has not yet occurred on that scale and connects it with the fifth seal in Revelation.

The presenter reads Matthew 24:29–31 as placing the gathering of Jesus’ elect after the tribulation. He associates the gathering in the clouds with harpazo, a term he says is commonly called the rapture. In his interpretation, believers face persecution before this gathering.

He distinguishes persecution and suffering from divine wrath. Citing 1 Thessalonians 5:9, he says believers are not appointed to wrath, though they may experience hardship and persecution in the world. He also says that the elect—and, in his formulation, the obedient—will be spared God’s wrath.

Preparation Urged by the Presenter

The presenter urges believers to:

• Repent of sin and give their lives to God through Jesus.
• Follow Jesus’ teachings, take up the cross, and pursue spiritual rather than material or bodily desires.
• Seek holiness and obedience while avoiding lukewarmness and habitual sin.
• Pray now—not only when danger arrives—for daily courage and spiritual strength.
• Build faith and courage through ongoing spiritual practice, testimony, and reliance on Jesus.
• Endure without fear and remain faithful even in the face of death.

The presenter’s overall message is that believers should prepare spiritually for a period of severe persecution, which he believes must occur before Jesus returns.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Speaker: The video’s presenter and narrator, identified by the channel metadata as Wayne Levi Price.
• Biblical sources: Matthew 24, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, and Revelation’s fifth seal. Jesus’ words are quoted through the biblical passages rather than presented by another speaker.