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This is the End: How to Prepare for the End of the World (Matthew 24-25) | Pastor Rod Gomez
01:55 The Divine Deadline: Understanding the Rapture
05:47 Jesus' Teachings on the End Times
12:52 The Timeline of Future Events
14:53 The Tribulation and Its Challenges
18:52 Parables of Preparedness
20:05 The Parable of the Bridesmaids
20:50 The Parable of the Talents
22:51 Be Prepared for Jesus' Return
24:56 Stewarding Your Time, Talents, and Treasures
29:16 The Final Judgment
34:22 The Importance of Being Ready
Transcript
Alright, so I want you to imagine that you work all four
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:years of your high school career.
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:You put in three really amazing years
in your junior high to get the best
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:grades possible to go to your best and
most favorite school, Texas a and m.
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:No.
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:No.
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:Okay.
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:Utah, Utah State?
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:No.
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:Okay.
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:UCLA.
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:I see it.
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:Alright, so you wanted
to go to UCLA with Sean.
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:You put in all the, the effort, all
the work you get, you get the best
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:score and the SAT, you take the a
CT, you do all the work, you get
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:the extra credits so that you could
have the best possible application
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:to go to the school of your choice.
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:The week of the deadline shows up.
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:You think, you know what I'll, I will
submit my application after work and then
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:I've got, I've got a baseball practice.
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:Oh, and then I've got cheer.
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:'cause you're doing
both baseball and cheer.
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:And then I've gotta do a
couple chores around the house.
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:My parents told me I have to clean up the
floor and I have to do some babysitting,
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:but then I'm gonna get the application in.
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:I know I'm gonna do it.
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:The deadline approaches,
it comes and you miss it.
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:You've totally missed the opportunity.
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:All three years of middle school, all
four years of high school only to miss
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:the opportunity to attend your school
of choice for the next four years.
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:Imagine what you might feel
with a situation like that.
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:Imagine what, what you would be
doing to yourself or saying to
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:yourself if that were you, how would
you talk to yourself after that?
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:If you're like me, you might
say, man, you are such a dummy.
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:Like, what is wrong with you?
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:You could not get this right.
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:You worked your whole
life for this basically.
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:'cause if you're working junior high
and high school, or middle school
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:and high school, that's basically
most of your life at this point.
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:You might feel like all that
work and all that effort was
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:wasted because it basically was.
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:One of the things that I'm concerned
about for you is that you guys realize
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:tonight that there is, there is a deadline
fixed, a deadline that God has written.
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:It's a date and a time, a specific
date and time whereby Jesus will come
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:back and take his people home with him.
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:This is often called the
Rapture, and here's the thing.
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:We have no clue when that deadline is.
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:In the illustration I just gave you,
if you know the date and time that
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:your application is due for your
school, you know when to turn it in.
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:But in this particular case tonight
we're gonna look at what the
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:Bible says about the future, and
here's what Jesus is gonna say.
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:You have no idea when the deadline is.
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:Therefore, you really have to be ready.
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:In fact, the whole point for tonight is
that Jesus is gonna warn us about the
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:answer, that we can be ready for the end.
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:He's gonna tell you, you gotta be ready.
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:You can't wait.
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:You can't assume that you
have all the time in the world
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:because you really don't.
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:You have no idea when Jesus is coming
back, and the challenge for you is,
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:oops, lemme get outta the way here.
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:The challenge for you is to believe that.
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:I remember a long time ago, I've
told you guys this before, but
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:I just gotta tell you again.
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:I Okay, so twice.
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:Twice I talked to a psychic.
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:Okay?
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:You, you guys know what a psychic is.
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:Psychic is someone who supposedly
has access to the future.
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:They could tell you about the
things that are gonna happen.
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:So one time I called a, a, a phone number.
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:Back in the old days, there
was phone numbers that you
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:could call to talk to people.
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:Uh, one of those phone numbers would
lead you to talk to psychic mediums,
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:people that would tell your features.
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:I called the number, it was a, it was like
a one, 900 something, something or other.
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:A lot of bad one 900 numbers
at that time in my life.
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:I called, uh, I don't think my
parents appreciated that, but
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:they never found out it was me.
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:So I called and I spoke to a psychic
about my life, and I said, here, I
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:want to know what's happening next.
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:And I, it was only about your age?
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:Honestly, I wasn't very old.
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:I don't even remember what she said.
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:I, I do not recall this, but
the second time I talked to a
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:psychic, I was on the radio.
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:I was listening to my local radio station
and they're like, so and so this amazing
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:psychic's gonna be on the radio, call
in now if you want to talk to them.
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:And I'm like, I'm gonna talk to a psychic.
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:And so I called the radio station
and I said, yeah, I'm I, I changed
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:my name 'cause I don't want my
parents to find out and kill me.
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:And said I want to talk to the psychic.
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:And I talked to the psychic on the radio.
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:And so I asked, I wanna know what
my future love life looks like.
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:I wanna know who I'm gonna marry.
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:I was in middle school at
this time and she said.
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:Uh, I'm not seeing it.
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:I, I guess she saw, thought I was gonna be
single for the rest of my life, she said.
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:But I feel like I'm hearing
something from someone close to you.
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:A relative perhaps that recently died.
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:Now, here's the funny thing.
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:I did not have any relatives
that died at that point.
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:I had nobody.
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:So what was I to do?
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:I didn't wanna embarrass her.
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:And so I said, oh yeah, my
uncle Tom recently died.
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:I guess I lied on the radio 'cause I
don't wanna embarrass the poor lady.
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:But she made her whole
life, her work, her effort.
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:She wrote books and she made lots of money
telling people, here's the future that
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:you're gonna, that you're gonna have.
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:Here's what you need to know.
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:So funny and so strange.
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:And honestly, if anyone has that power
in real life, it's because they're
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:working through the power of the enemy.
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:What you need to know is that God
does wanna tell you the future.
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:God genuinely wants to tell you what
the future is for you, but you have
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:to have the wisdom to say, okay,
am I gonna submit to what he says?
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:And here's again the punchline.
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:I'm telling you, the end of my sermon
right now, Jesus is gonna tell you a
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:lot of things about what you can expect
for the future, but the punchline is
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:that you just gotta be ready for it.
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:Your job right now is to be sure
that you're ready for Jesus' return
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:because it can be at any moment.
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:Jesus could legitimately, if
we're understanding our Bible
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:rightly, he could return right
now before this sermon is over.
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:God bless you.
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:He could return before
small groups are finished.
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:At any moment Jesus could return.
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:Let me show you though what Jesus
has to say about the end times.
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:Turn to Matthew chapter 24.
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:I want you to see the things that
Jesus is gonna warn you about,
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:and honestly, it's frightening.
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:It's terrifying.
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:Not being ready for this is not just
gonna be like, oh, bummer, I missed the
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:deadline to go to my favorite school.
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:Not being ready for this means,
oh no, I'm not right with Jesus.
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:So being right with Jesus is gonna
mean being ready for Jesus return.
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:Look at Matthew Chapter 24.
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:We're not gonna be able to read a
lot of these things, but we're gonna
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:read a few portions together and
we're gonna start with Matthew 24.
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:We're gonna start at verse
three, starting at verse three,
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:as he sat on the Mount of Olives.
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:This is Jesus talking to his
disciples, and this is one of the
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:longest teaching sections that
Jesus has with his disciples.
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:Second only to the Sermon on
the Mount, which is Matthew
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:chapter five through seven.
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:He sat on the Mount of Olives.
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:Disciples came to him privately saying,
tell us Jesus, when will these things be?
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:And what will be the sign of your
coming and of the end of the age?
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:They wanna know, when are you coming
back to establish your kingdom?
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:And how do we know?
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:What do we look for to find
out that it's the last days?
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:Pay Close attention to what
Jesus says about the last days.
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:He says this.
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:Jesus answered.
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:See that no one leads you astray.
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:The first thing out of Jesus'
mouth about the last days is be
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:careful because there's gonna be
a lot of liars, people that want
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:to trick you about what's to come.
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:You need to be aware that there
are a lot of voices out in the
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:world that want you to believe
the wrong thing about the future.
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:So Jesus says, first of all,
he puts a finger in your chest.
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:Imagine Jesus putting his finger
in your chest right now like this.
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:See that no one leads you astray.
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:Do you feel Jesus finger in your chest?
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:He's talking to you.
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:See that no one deceives you listen.
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:For many will come in my
name saying I am the Christ.
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:And they will lead many astray, lots
of people who are claiming to be
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:Jesus and saying, Hey, follow me.
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:I'm actually Jesus in the flesh.
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:And in in the past, I mean there's
been literally thousands of people
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:that have claimed to be Jesus.
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:Or some form of the Messiah.
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:And so Jesus says, you
need to be prepared.
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:People are coming and they're
going to be successful.
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:They're gonna be successful.
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:They're gonna create cults.
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:And cults are really good at causing
you to believe something that is a lion.
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:So Jesus says, be aware of this.
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:You need to be aware that they're coming.
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:Many will come in my name saying I'm the
Christ, and they will lead many astray.
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:Verse six, and you'll hear, listen
to this, you're, you're gonna
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:hear of wars and rumors of wars.
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:See that you were not alarmed for
this must take place, but the end is
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:not yet For nation will rise against
nation and kingdom against Kingdom
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:and, and there will be famines.
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:That is, there's gonna
be a lack of food supply.
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:There's gonna be earthquakes in
various places and all these are,
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:but the beginning of the birth pains.
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:And so Jesus is talking about
a period of human history.
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:This is the future where things
are gonna get progressively worse.
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:False teachers are gonna come after
you and he's saying there's gonna
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:be, you hear about wars right now.
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:You got Ukraine, you got
China, and you got Russia.
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:You've got different nations right
Now that America is saying, these are
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:our threats to our national security.
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:And so Jesus is saying
this is to be expected.
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:In fact, there's gonna be a period
of human history where this is gonna
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:be become so intense and so high in
its importance that Jesus is saying
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:this is gonna characterize the end
of times he says in verse eight,
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:but these are just the beginning.
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:This is just the start.
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:In fact, before we even go any
further, let me just say this.
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:When I put Jesus' finger in
your chest to say you need to
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:be, be ready and be careful.
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:My whole point in that is
actually the first point.
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:You need to make sure,
in fact, here we go.
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:You need to make sure to study.
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:Study what Jesus says about the end
because Jesus is holding you accountable
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:to make sure that you are not deceived.
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:So everything that we're just about to
read, this might, this might apply to you.
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:This might be your marching orders.
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:Jesus is coming back to take
the church away at some point.
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:And again, we believe if we're
understanding the Bible correctly, that
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:that could be any actual moment right now,
which means then that if we're not gonna
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:be deceived by false teachers and false
Christ, I need to know what Jesus says.
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:I need to know what the master is saying.
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:What is Jesus who
actually knows the future?
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:Say the future is gonna be like.
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:And that's what we're talking, that's
what we're talking about tonight.
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:In fact.
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:What we're looking at right here.
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:Some people think about Jesus like this.
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:Have you ever played the Shell game?
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:Uh, the shell game is where
someone takes three shells, right?
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:And they'll hide a ball or, or
something small and circular like that.
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:Or, or cylindrical, not
a cylinder cir circular.
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:Ball.
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:It's a ball.
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:Let's just call it a ball.
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:They're hiding a ball
in these shells, right?
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:You ever play this game?
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:You go to the carnival, you'll see
vendors that do something like this.
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:If you're a tourist in a different
country, you'll see people that
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:are doing this say, Hey, win $20.
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:And so you'll go and you
say, I'll play that game.
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:I'm really good at this.
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:And so you put $20 on the table and
they say, thank you very much, sir.
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:Ma'am.
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:Now keep your eye on the ball.
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:They put the cover, they put
the shell over the ball, and
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:they start doing this right?
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:And then.
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:They say, okay, pick
which one is underneath.
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:Uh, pick which one you think
the ball is underneath.
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:And you say, oh, it's clearly that one.
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:You didn't go that fast.
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:I saw exactly what you did.
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:And then what happens when
they pick up the shell
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:con?
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:It's not there.
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:It's gone because the shell
game is actually a con.
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:This is a very common con because being
quicker with your hands then you are with
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:your eyes is actually part of this skill.
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:I can trick you into thinking that
the ball is under this shell when in
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:actuality it's under the shell over here.
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:Actually, if they're really good,
the ball is under none of them.
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:You could pick any of the shells.
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:They're all empty because they're
hiding it under their hands somewhere.
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:And then when you say, oh, I
missed, how did I miss that?
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:Then they secretly sneak it under
the shell that they pick up and say,
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:oh look, here it was the whole time.
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:So the game, the game of
the shell is a con game.
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:Some people think this is what
Jesus is doing right here.
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:They're confusing them.
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:'cause I see wars and rumors of wars
right now and, and Jesus is saying,
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:no, I'm not trying to trick you here.
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:I'm trying to help you
understand what's to come.
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:The problem is that Jesus knows that
there's lots of competing voices.
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:There's lots of people that are trying
to tell you how to live your life
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:and how to understand the future.
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:There's lots of people that want
to make you think, oh, this is
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:how I should live your life.
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:Oh, the future not a big deal,
or the future is a big deal.
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:You should be terrified and
afraid and Jesus is warning you
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:against following other voices
that are gonna really confuse you.
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:And so I, I'm afraid, I'm sorry
that I have to do this, but I
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:need to show you a chart, okay?
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:Because what Jesus is talking
about here is super important
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:to how everything unfolds.
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:Jesus wants you to know the future.
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:Here's what it looks like, okay?
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:Now, let me also say this.
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:Some Christians disagree
about some of these things.
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:I'm just gonna say that if your friends
go to a different church and they say,
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:well, my pastor taught me something
different, uh, we're not mad at them.
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:We're not, we're not enemies.
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:We, we just understand this differently.
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:We teach the right way.
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:I'm just gonna say that we
obviously, we teach the right way.
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:Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25 is talking
about this section right here.
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:Okay?
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:We are presently right here in the
church age, so this is us in:
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:We are in what is called the
church age at some point.
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:Jesus is going to come down.
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:This is called the rapture and
take believers up with him.
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:The rapture is his, is his idea that
Jesus is going to secretly, sometimes
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:people use that word, they to come
take Christians away with him.
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:This could happen at any moment.
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:Jesus could return right now.
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:Take people away.
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:There's movies written about
this, but that's the idea.
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:This could happen at any time.
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:He's gonna take believers
when that happens.
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:That begins a seven year period
of time called the tribulation.
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:Say tribulation.
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:Tribulation means fantastic.
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:You're doing a great job.
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:This begins a seven year
period of the tribulation.
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:After this seven years, Christ is gonna
come back with Christians and he's
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:going to establish his millennial reign.
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:Does anyone know what
millennial stands for or means?
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:Thousand means thousand.
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:His millennial reign is
his thousand year reign.
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:Jesus will live on the earth in
his resurrected body and govern
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:for 1000 years with Christians.
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:It'll be a thousand year reign.
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:At the end of that thousand year
reign, there's going to be a
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:rebellion in uprising against Jesus.
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:Crazy, right?
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:Who would do that?
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:But it's gonna happen at the
end of that thousand year rain,
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:Jesus will squash his enemies.
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:He'll vanquish the foe.
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:He will judge unbelievers and we
will then enter into the eternal
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:state, which is the forever and
ever, all things happily ever after.
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:This is a snapshot of what's to come.
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:Again, this is us.
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:The next thing in line is called
the rapture, and the rapture can
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:happen at any moment even now.
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:Who gets raptured?
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:Who gets taken up to be with Jesus?
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:The answer is believers Christians, people
that have trusted in Jesus Christ are
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:raptured and taken to heaven with Jesus.
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:Okay?
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:This is a very simplified
overview of what's to come in.
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:Matthew 24, we're talking about
this period of time right here,
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:the seven year tribulation.
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:This is.
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:After Christians are taken
away to go with Christ.
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:This time now is what we're
looking at right here.
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:We're looking at what people are
doing during the tribulation, and
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:if Jesus is telling us what to
expect, go back to Matthew 24.
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:Matthew 24, let's pick
it up back at verse nine.
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:Lemme show you more what's to happen in
the tribulation that Jesus describes.
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:Verse nine.
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:Then they will deliver
you up to tribulation.
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:There's that word, and put you to death.
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:You will be hated by all
nations, for my name's sake.
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:So Jesus is saying, the future for people
on the earth at this time who become
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:Christians is that they're going to
be hated because they are Christians.
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:Now, if you're a Christian, now there's
some of this that we can expect.
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:Even today, you should be experiencing
at least some, some, some level
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:of persecution as a Christian.
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:Verse 10, he says, and then many
will fall away and betray one
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:another and hate one another.
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:There's gonna be increased
hostility against Christians.
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:Verse 12.
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:Verse 11, and many false prophets
will arise and lead many astray.
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:Again, you have influences that are
trying to steal your attention away
362
:from Jesus and put it on themselves.
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:Verse 12.
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:And because lawlessness will be increased,
the love of many will go, will grow cold,
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:but the one who endures to the end will
be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom
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:will be proclaimed throughout the whole
world as a testimony to all nations.
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:And then the end will come.
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:So everything Jesus just talked
about, this is the tribulation period.
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:Now in verses 15 and onward, we're not
gonna be able to cover these verses,
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:but 15 through 20 through 28, 15
through 28, this is Jesus talking about
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:the second half of the tribulation.
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:It's called the great tribulation.
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:This is where the rise of the antichrist
comes and he's going to say, I am God.
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:You should worship me.
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:This guy is powerful and
he's effective in his work.
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:You don't wanna be here
during the tribulation.
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:There's a lot of bad things
that are gonna happen.
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:It's gonna be really hard to be
on the earth at this time because
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:the tribulation effectively is
God's judgment upon the earth.
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:He's judging all the unbelievers.
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:He's judging everyone who
ever stood against him.
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:And even though judgment is coming,
there are gonna be Christians here,
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:there are gonna be Christians.
384
:That's why there's, there's gonna
be people that are gonna be saved.
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:They're gonna put them to death, but you
don't want to be here during this time.
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:This is all the more reason why you need
to make sure that you're ready for this
387
:to study the end times to study what Jesus
says is to be ready for what's to come
388
:because Jesus is saying here, you don't
want to be here for this period of time.
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:Heavy stuff I know to start with,
but you gotta know that's what we're,
390
:that's what we're working with here.
391
:So this is what Jesus is talking about.
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:Matthew 24, rapture is next
on the on the time clock.
393
:And that could happen when, anytime,
once the rapture happens, that initiates
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:a seven year period of time called the.
395
:Very good.
396
:Okay, so that's the
starting place of this.
397
:You gotta make sure that
you're ready for it.
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:In fact, you're on summer
break right now, right?
399
:Yeah.
400
:I was just talking with one of you
just a few minutes ago saying, what
401
:are you doing for your summer break?
402
:And he's like, well, really nothing,
nothing preach in a sermon next week.
403
:But besides that, nothing.
404
:If you got some, if you got nothing
to do this week, let me encourage you.
405
:There are cool, easy books to, or
even sermons to go through that
406
:talk about this period of time.
407
:Why not pick up.
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:YouTube and, and do
something productive with it.
409
:Watch a sermon or two about the end times.
410
:Lewis has plenty of
recommendations for you that he
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:will give you if you want them.
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:Okay.
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:I, I need to keep going
'cause there's so much more.
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:Okay.
415
:Here's what school does.
416
:I, I'm glad we're in a classroom.
417
:School teaches you this
awful learning habit.
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:You learn something so that
you can regurgitate it on a
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:test, and then what happens?
420
:What do you do with it?
421
:Forget it.
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:Jesus doesn't want you to do that.
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:He doesn't want you to
play the school game.
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:Jesus wants you to remember it so
that you could do something with it.
425
:In Matthew chapter 25, he's
gonna tell two parables.
426
:Parables are like stories
that have a punchline.
427
:The two parables.
428
:The first one is the
parable of the 10 Virgins.
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:That's what it says in your Bible.
430
:Now, you might not understand what
he's mean, what he means by that,
431
:but a, a virgin is like a bridesmaid.
432
:Uh, when you get married, ladies,
you're gonna pick several gals
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:that stand next to you, and those
women are called bridesmaids.
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:They're ladies that stand next
to you and give, uh, the, the,
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:the witnesses to your wedding.
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:They stand with you to affirm
your vows and all those things.
437
:Uh, fellas, you'll stand up
there and you'll have what?
438
:Not bridesmaids, but groomsman.
439
:Groomsmen.
440
:Very good.
441
:Okay, so these are the 10 bridesmaids.
442
:They're here waiting for the arrival
of the groom in ancient times.
443
:This is how they did it, so
let's just keep it at that.
444
:Five of them are well prepared.
445
:They're waiting for the nighttime wedding
to happen, and so they have lots of
446
:oil in their lamps so that their lambs
are able to burn all through the night.
447
:Five of them are ready,
five of them are not.
448
:Jesus.
449
:The, the groom comes at, at, at, at
a time that they're not expecting and
450
:they're unprepared and they're like,
oh, no, we don't have enough oil.
451
:Ladies who brought more,
can you give us some?
452
:And they're like, sorry,
we don't have enough.
453
:You have to go to the
market and buy your own.
454
:And so they go off to do that.
455
:They go buy some more oil for their
lamps to help light the ceremony.
456
:They depart and after they depart, the
groom comes and they go into the wedding.
457
:Here's the punchline, verses 10 through
13, while they're going to buy more
458
:oil, the bridegroom came and those
who were ready went in with him to the
459
:marriage feast and the door was shut.
460
:I.
461
:No opportunity to come in afterward,
the other bridesmaids came
462
:also saying, Lord, open to us.
463
:But he answered Truly I say to
you, I do not know you watch,
464
:therefore for you neither.
465
:You know, neither the day or the hour.
466
:The whole point of that parable is
that Jesus is coming at an hour.
467
:You don't expect.
468
:You gotta be ready for it.
469
:The second, the second story.
470
:The second story is the
parable of the talents.
471
:You know this one, you've heard
of this one before, right?
472
:The master goes away for a long time,
but before he does, he entrusts an
473
:amount of money to three servants.
474
:Two of those servants were faithful.
475
:One of those servants buried his
treasure, and when the master came
476
:back, that servant said, oh, you were
kind of a, you're kind of a stingy
477
:hard guy, so I hid your money here.
478
:You got back what you gave me.
479
:What did Jesus say, or what did
the master say to that servant?
480
:Here's the punchline.
481
:Pay attention.
482
:Take the talent from the one
who hid it and give it to him.
483
:Who has the 10 talents for everyone
who has will more be given and he will
484
:have an abundance, but from the one
who has not, the one who is taken from
485
:even what he has will be taken away.
486
:Look at verse 30.
487
:This is the important punchline.
488
:Cast the worthless servant
into outer darkness.
489
:That's a way to talk
about eternal judgment.
490
:This is the concept of hell in the Bible.
491
:The Bible, Jesus talks a lot about hell,
far more than he does about heaven.
492
:And in this instance he's saying, look
for someone who hears what I say and
493
:doesn't respond the right way, they
don't do the thing that they should do.
494
:They're gonna cast a
servant into outer darkness.
495
:He calls him a worthless servant
because he didn't do his job.
496
:In that place, there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
497
:Think about someone crying, great
tears, and not only crying great
498
:tears, but what do you think about
when you think about gnashing?
499
:Does gnashing bring to mind this idea of
like, oh, that's, those are happy tears.
500
:Gnashing is someone grinding their
teeth, and oh, it either means anger
501
:or agony, and maybe it's a bit of both.
502
:The servant who is sent to the
outer darkness, hell is angry.
503
:In agony that he's there.
504
:He's not happy about this.
505
:This is a place where there's
weeping and gnashing of teeth,
506
:and so this is what Jesus says.
507
:Again, the punchline here is
that Jesus says this is the end.
508
:This is what you can expect.
509
:This isn't school.
510
:Don't learn it and forget it.
511
:Learn it and do something about it.
512
:Point number two, you gotta always
be prepared for Jesus' return.
513
:You gotta always be prepared.
514
:And when I say prepared, I mean action.
515
:There's gotta be something that you
do in response to Jesus' return.
516
:If Jesus is saying, look, I'm coming
back and I want you to be ready, the most
517
:foolish thing you could do is nothing.
518
:I mean, imagine what your parents
will say, okay, your parents.
519
:I imagine mom and dad go to the grocery
store and they say, when we come back,
520
:we want these five chores finished.
521
:I want you to make your bed.
522
:I want you to wipe off the counter.
523
:I want you to empty the trashes.
524
:I want you to sweep up the floors.
525
:I want you to clean up the table.
526
:Whatever it is that they say, they give
you five chores to do, and they say,
527
:we're gonna be back in a little bit.
528
:These things better be done when we get
back, or there's gonna be consequences.
529
:You're one of two kids.
530
:You're either the kid
that says, I'm on it.
531
:As soon as they said it, even before
they leave, I'm already doing the thing
532
:'cause I don't wanna get in trouble.
533
:Or you're the kid who says, how
long does it take you to get to the
534
:store again about how long you think
it's gonna be before you get back.
535
:Okay.
536
:Can you text me before
you leave the store?
537
:Maybe, or, or, or maybe may.
538
:How long do you think this will take me?
539
:You're the kid who delays and just
drags your feet for the whole time.
540
:Jesus doesn't want you to do
this because the problem is.
541
:You have no idea when
Jesus is coming back.
542
:Your parents maybe you'd
be able to guess, okay?
543
:I know that the Kroger
is about 10 minutes away.
544
:Uh, if dad is with mom,
I know mom loves a shop.
545
:It's gonna be two hours.
546
:I've got a solid two and a half
hours before they get back, and
547
:so I can hang out for 45 minutes
before I even do anything.
548
:It'll be fine.
549
:That might work with your parents.
550
:It will not work with Jesus because you
have no clue when Jesus is coming back.
551
:So you gotta always be prepared.
552
:You gotta always be prepared.
553
:Remember the chart, we are presently here.
554
:The next thing on the end Times
calendar is surprise everyone.
555
:We're going to heaven now.
556
:And that moment is any moment.
557
:Therefore, the only way to be ready
for something that you can't be ready
558
:for is to be ready all the time.
559
:You gotta be ready all the time.
560
:You gotta be prepared.
561
:Here's the, here's the lessons
from the parable of the virgins
562
:and the parable of the talents.
563
:Here's how you're ready.
564
:Okay?
565
:Jesus wants you to be
ready in three areas.
566
:Number one, you gotta
be ready in your time.
567
:You gotta be ready in your time.
568
:How you spend your time reveals
what matters most to you.
569
:Remember the virgins who
are there, the bridesmaids.
570
:We're wasting time.
571
:They could have gotten oil earlier,
but instead they just laid there.
572
:They were drowsy, they got sleepy.
573
:Who knows?
574
:There's lots of reasons that they
could have offered lots of excuses.
575
:Jesus doesn't want you to do that.
576
:Here's the beautiful thing
about your life right now.
577
:You're young.
578
:You've got all your life
ahead of you, right?
579
:And you're gonna live until you're
85, 95, maybe 115 years old.
580
:You got so many years ahead of you.
581
:Is that right?
582
:Healthy life ahead of you.
583
:Is that right?
584
:You've got 95 a hundred
years ahead of you.
585
:Is that right?
586
:Yes.
587
:No, you have no idea, right?
588
:You don't know.
589
:You just don't know that man.
590
:I, I, I just reached over 40 years old.
591
:I think that's a pretty amazing
thing because I've had friends
592
:that didn't reach that far.
593
:I had a friend that I was in
the same room with praying to
594
:Jesus with who died in that room.
595
:I'm older than he is right now.
596
:At least physically.
597
:Isn't that crazy?
598
:We were, we were just around a
table praying and then he went
599
:to the bathroom and he died.
600
:Isn't that crazy?
601
:You and I think and, and I understand why.
602
:We think like we just have
the rest of our lives.
603
:We've got a hundred years maybe.
604
:You know, I'm gonna get
married, I'm gonna have kids.
605
:I'm gonna go to this college,
I'm gonna do this thing.
606
:I'm gonna accomplish these things.
607
:That's great to have
dreams and and desires.
608
:That's a good thing.
609
:But when you assume and prism
upon God that I've got this much
610
:time, you're making assumptions
that you just can't assume.
611
:You just don't know.
612
:You don't know how long you got, and
one of two urgent realities, you've
613
:got to feel A, you're either gonna
die or B Jesus is gonna come back.
614
:Both of those things you don't
know when they're gonna be.
615
:Secondly, then, you've been given talents.
616
:This is where the idea of
stewarding your talents comes from.
617
:The parable of the talents.
618
:Talents is actually a form of money.
619
:And so you've got resources
that God has given you.
620
:Some of you guys have gifts that
you need to use to further Christ's
621
:kingdom, and that's exactly what
God wants you to do with them.
622
:If God has given you gifts.
623
:Skills to use talents that you have.
624
:He wants you to use those things
to bring honor to his name.
625
:This is why he was so mad at that servant.
626
:That servant was given something by God,
and God said, go do something with that.
627
:And he's like, great, thank you.
628
:Let me just hide this right here.
629
:You know, don't look at that.
630
:I'm just gonna, I'm just
gonna pretend I don't have it.
631
:Not even gonna think about it.
632
:You've been given a gift.
633
:Every single person in this room, you
have something to offer the world.
634
:God wants to use you for that purpose and
to not use it is unfaithfulness your time,
635
:your talent, and lastly, your treasures.
636
:Some of you guys don't
have very much money.
637
:Some of you guys have more
because your family gives you
638
:cash to work with or whatever.
639
:Really, the amount of money
you have doesn't matter.
640
:What does matter is that you
use it to further Christ's
641
:kingdom, whatever that is.
642
:You've been given time, you've
been given talent, you've been
643
:given some form of treasure.
644
:The question is whether
or not you're using it.
645
:To further and build God's Kingdom
or just to build your gaming setup.
646
:Being prepared is super important
647
:because the consequences
are so important here.
648
:In fact, that's where we're
gonna land this plane here.
649
:Jesus doesn't want you to play the
school game, learning about the fact
650
:that there's an end time coming,
that he's coming back at some point.
651
:Just so you can forget about
it and go about your day.
652
:He tells you so that you can be prepared.
653
:And being prepared looks at least like
these three things, stewarding your time,
654
:your talents, and your treasures to say,
I wanna be ready for when Jesus returns.
655
:And if you don't do it, you have to feel
the weight of the fact that if, if I'm not
656
:being faithful in these areas, it means
that I'm probably not right with God.
657
:I don't have a faithful
relationship with him.
658
:Now all of us sin in a variety of ways.
659
:And so you should not expect perfection,
but you should expect, I see direction
660
:that's I'm going the right way.
661
:In this last section that we're gonna
look at, Matthew 25, uh, verses 31
662
:through 46, take a look at it with me.
663
:I'm not gonna read the whole thing,
but I'm gonna summarize for you a few
664
:important passages in the final judgment.
665
:When Jesus comes back in his glory,
he's gonna, he's gonna judge the
666
:nations, he's gonna judge people.
667
:And here's what's interesting
is for the people on his right,
668
:Christians, believers, he's gonna
say, look, uh, go on my right side.
669
:And enter into the joy of your master
and says, he says here in verse 34, the
670
:king will say to those on his right,
come, you who are blessed by my father,
671
:inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.
672
:And then he is gonna say, look,
you saw me and you fed me.
673
:You saw that I was thirsty.
674
:You gave me something to drink.
675
:You saw that I was naked,
you gave me clothing.
676
:And those people are gonna say,
Jesus, when do we ever see that?
677
:And he's gonna say, well, as
whenever you, he's gonna say this.
678
:Um, verse 39.
679
:When did we see it this way?
680
:Verse 40.
681
:The king will answer.
682
:Truly I say to you, uh, you, as
you did it to one of the least of
683
:these my brothers, you did it to me.
684
:So he's looking at their works and
he's saying, oh, because of the way
685
:that you treated other believers,
the way that you treated them
686
:showed me that you cared about me.
687
:Conversely, he's gonna look at the goats,
the people on his left hand side, and,
688
:and he is gonna say, depart from me.
689
:Depart from me, you
workers of lawlessness.
690
:He says, depart from me.
691
:You curse it into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.
692
:Jesus is talking about serious judgment
and he's saying, when I was hungry,
693
:you didn't feed me when I was thirsty,
you didn't gimme anything to drink.
694
:When I was a stranger,
you didn't welcome me.
695
:I was naked.
696
:You didn't clothe me.
697
:And then they're gonna say,
well, Jesus, when did we even
698
:have the opportunity to do that?
699
:Well, when did you, when
did that ever happen?
700
:Then he will answer them.
701
:Truly, I say to you, as you did
not do it to one of the least of
702
:these, you did not do it to me.
703
:Here's the punchline, verse 46, and these
will go away into eternal punishment,
704
:but the righteous and into eternal life.
705
:When Jesus is judging people,
at least in this occasion,
706
:he's looking at their works.
707
:He's not saying that
their works save them.
708
:No one can do enough Good works
to be right with God, but he is
709
:saying their works demonstrate
whether or not their faith is real.
710
:The consequences of your faith
will be shown by your works.
711
:If you love somebody,
you can say, I love you.
712
:I love you, I love you.
713
:You could say that all you want,
but if you love somebody, how do
714
:you actually know if you love them?
715
:Answering your brain.
716
:How do you know that you love somebody?
717
:Well, by the way that I treat them,
the words that I say to them, the the
718
:things that I do for them, I, I show my
love in tangible expressions of love.
719
:Jesus is saying something very simple.
720
:If you love him, there will be
tangible expressions of that
721
:love for him, tangible, real
expressions that you love Jesus.
722
:And so he's saying it is not that your
works save you, but that your works
723
:reveal whether or not you are saved.
724
:For those on his right, he says,
come into the joy of the master.
725
:Again, notice the stakes though.
726
:Verse 46.
727
:Pay close attention to what he
says is the duration of life
728
:and the duration of punishment.
729
:I know this is heavy, guys, and
I'm so sorry, but I'm grateful that
730
:I get to talk to you about this.
731
:It's such a heavy subject.
732
:I I, I'm grateful I get to say it,
but it's heavy and I, I, I know it is.
733
:It's awful.
734
:It's painful, but we
need to know what it is.
735
:Notice a duration.
736
:I wish the Bible didn't say this.
737
:Let's just be real about that.
738
:I wish the Bible didn't say what
it says, but here's what it says.
739
:For those who are not right with
him, how long is the punishment?
740
:It says eternal, right?
741
:And that's, it's not a translation issue.
742
:It's not like, oh, there's
a Greek word that means it's
743
:actually only a couple weeks.
744
:We have good reason to believe
that that's what it means.
745
:It's eternal.
746
:And it makes sense because the righteous,
those who are saved by grace through
747
:faith, enter into eternal life.
748
:There's eternal life and there's
eternal punishment the way
749
:that you respond to Jesus'.
750
:Sobering words will either show that
you are being prepared for eternal
751
:punishment or prepared for eternal life.
752
:I need you to know how difficult
this is, but I also want you to
753
:feel how high the stakes are.
754
:Everything that we're talking about
through all the gospel of Matthew
755
:really is culminating to this point.
756
:Jesus, after, after this section of
teaching, Jesus is gonna go to the cross.
757
:You're gonna see his betrayal.
758
:You're gonna see his resurrection
and everything else after that.
759
:This is the stakes that are at,
uh, these are the stakes, the, the
760
:consequences that are on the line for us.
761
:All
762
:the stakes are very, very high.
763
:A couple years ago, 2012, actually,
a guy by the name of Felix
764
:Baumgartner did something incredible.
765
:He went up in this balloon right here.
766
:Lemme see if I, do.
767
:I have it.
768
:I do.
769
:He went up in this balloon
right here, up to space.
770
:Um, and from this balloon, he
jumped out from space to the ground.
771
:Pretty impressive.
772
:He did this with Red Bull and he jumped
in:
773
:The video's only like a
minute and some, some change.
774
:Long.
775
:He jumps out of this thing.
776
:It's incredible.
777
:Now, here's what's more incredible.
778
:The jump itself really
didn't last very long.
779
:There's the launch.
780
:They're stoked about it.
781
:Here's what's most
incredible about this launch.
782
:They planned it for seven years.
783
:His jump lasted a minute.
784
:The planning of it lasted seven years.
785
:And here's what's super interesting.
786
:During this whole ordeal, the
most important part of the
787
:jump was the first 10 seconds.
788
:If he got the first 10 seconds
wrong, the whole thing ends up
789
:in destruction, he would've died.
790
:This really is a jump of life or death.
791
:And so for the fir, for seven years
leading up into this, he spent
792
:practicing that jump over and over again.
793
:Ensuring that he was stable and
that he was jumping exactly as he
794
:needed to because entering in the
Earth's atmosphere, if he came
795
:in the wrong way, he burns up.
796
:He dies.
797
:Gnarly, right?
798
:Just incredibly crazy.
799
:But you see the chute successfully opens.
800
:This guy makes it all the way down.
801
:Did I just mention from space?
802
:Like this guy was just, he's super high
in the, and he makes it all the way down.
803
:It's a moment where it's celebrating.
804
:He doesn't last very long, but
he spent seven years planning.
805
:Planning this jump.
806
:Crazy, crazy.
807
:Someday you and I are gonna jump.
808
:We're not jumping from space to the earth.
809
:We're jumping from life to death,
and that jump is the most important
810
:jump of your life for Felix.
811
:The result for him.
812
:If he gets it wrong, maybe he dies.
813
:Kinda a bummer for you and for I,
the jump is not just a matter of
814
:life and death, it's a matter of
eternal life and eternal death.
815
:And so it really matters
that you get it right.
816
:The stakes are high because when that
moment comes, your parachute isn't
817
:just this, this, this piece of this,
this piece of fabric on his back.
818
:Your parachute has got to be Jesus Christ.
819
:And here's the thing, your
parachute isn't church attendance.
820
:It isn't coming to student
ministry on Wednesday nights.
821
:It's not good in good grades or
giving out good vibes to people and
822
:being kind, even though that is good.
823
:It's not your family's faith.
824
:It's not, oh, my dad's a
pastor, or My sister has a dog.
825
:My family owns a cat.
826
:Isn't that worth something?
827
:Jesus.
828
:It's not.
829
:What really matters is that your
parachute is Jesus Christ because he's
830
:the only one that can successfully
get you from this life to the next.
831
:Free from his judgment.
832
:One, because he himself takes
on the judgment, everything
833
:that we're talking about.
834
:Super scary.
835
:Super scary because I realize if
what we're saying is true, that
836
:means, again, tonight could be our
last night before Jesus comes back.
837
:Or something else happens and we,
something, some part of our body fails.
838
:You need to ensure that
you're ready for his return.
839
:And of course, what that really means
for us is that you're right with him.
840
:That you've turned from your
sins and put your faith, your
841
:full weight into Jesus Christ.
842
:And if that's true, if that, if that
is you, if you've turned to him in
843
:faith, man, now's the time to get busy.
844
:Now's the time to get to work and
say, what do I do in the meantime?
845
:How do I prepare for Jesus' return?
846
:'cause it could be at any moment.
847
:Hebrews chapter three.
848
:The preacher says this today.
849
:If you hear his voice,
don't harden your heart.
850
:It's possible that God's been
working on you for a long time now.
851
:And scripture says, if you hear his
voice, don't harden your hearts.
852
:It's possible to hear God's
voice and say, no thank you.
853
:I don't want that.
854
:It's possible to feel conviction
and say, oh no, I won't do that.
855
:I don't wanna do that.
856
:And either the conviction for you
tonight is, oh man, I should get saved.
857
:I need to be right with God.
858
:Or the conviction is I need to do.
859
:I need to do something about it.
860
:I need my faith to show that it's real.
861
:That's a good thing.
862
:Conviction doesn't feel
good, but it produces good.
863
:And so I'm gonna ask you tonight
not to try to put that away.
864
:One of the things that we do after
a sermon like this is like we go and
865
:we start making jokes and talking
about the video that I saw and, oh,
866
:this really cool thing that I saw
I was watching and it was funny.
867
:We try to laugh things off
and get rid of the discomfort.
868
:I get that nobody likes feeling conviction
869
:unless, unless we know that we
want to be right with God, in which
870
:case we welcome the conviction.
871
:'cause it means, man, uh uh, God,
thank you that you're opening
872
:my eyes to the truth, and the
truth is Jesus is coming back.
873
:We don't know when and because he's
coming back, we need to be ready.
874
:He tells us to warn us, to prepare us.
875
:So I wanna know, are
you ready to meet Jesus?
876
:If tonight he called your ticket,
called your number and said,
877
:Hey, it's time to come on up.
878
:Come see me.
879
:Are you ready?
880
:And if not, let's fix that tonight.
881
:Okay?
882
:Let's pray.
883
:God, thank you for the night to go through
Matthew 24 and 25, or at least part of it.
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:Please help us now to spend.
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:Helpful, productive, useful
time in our small groups.
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:Help us to be focused and attentive.
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:We ask all this in Jesus name.
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:Amen.