Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO210075S
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00:27 Hello, friends, and welcome to 3ABN Worship Hour.
00:30 So glad that you could join us 00:32 for this worship hour in the Word of God. 00:34 We are going to be studying Matthew Chapter 24. 00:38 There are three basic stages 00:40 of deception laid out for us in Matthew Chapter 24. 00:44 And these stages of deception help us to know 00:47 where we are in present earth's history. 00:51 So it's vital for us to be able to study the Word of God 00:54 and navigate our present time and situation 00:57 because we live in tremendous times. 00:59 And we need to be able to rely on something 01:02 to help us to recognize where we are, 01:05 where we're going 01:06 and what is coming ahead of us. 01:09 Matthew Chapter 24 gives us a tremendous insight 01:13 into the times in which we live. 01:14 And this, of course, was a special discourse 01:16 given by Jesus to His disciples 01:19 who are concerned about the times before them, 01:24 the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world 01:26 is covered in Matthew Chapter 24. 01:29 You know, when I was a young man, 01:30 I used to fill my gas tank with maybe five dollars 01:35 or 10 dollars worth of gas. 01:36 I never filled my tank up. 01:39 And that's because I didn't have a lot of money. 01:40 And it's also because back in the day, 01:43 gas was about well 65 cents a gallon and it was pink 01:48 when it came out of the nozzle. 01:50 So I could put about five dollars 01:52 worth of gas in my tank and have maybe a quarter 01:55 to a half a tank 01:56 somewhere in there is where I always used to sit. 01:58 I was always, it seemed like running on empty. 02:02 Nowadays, when I get to a half a tank, I want to fill it up. 02:04 But back then just getting to a half a tank 02:07 was almost impossible. 02:09 I was running on empty and at times I would run out of gas. 02:14 So today we want to look at this illustration 02:16 and understand how it is that we can fill our gas tank up? 02:20 How it is that we can make sure 02:22 that we are not running on empty 02:23 because according to Matthew Chapter 24, 02:26 we're going to need enduring love 02:29 to get through these last days. 02:33 We're going to start in Matthew Chapter 24. 02:35 Do a little summary 02:37 of what we've covered so far in a previous meeting 02:38 and the first deception in Matthew 24:1-10. 02:42 And then we're going to pick up in Matthew 24:11. 02:45 So I hope you can hang in there with us 02:47 as we study these important subjects. 02:49 Before we begin, we're going to pause 02:51 and ask the Holy Spirit to be here with us 02:53 to guide direct and instruct us. 02:55 Father in heaven, thank You again so much for Your Word. 02:58 Thank You for this opportunity to study together 03:00 with the viewers, those who are listening, 03:02 those who are wanting to know 03:05 and to navigate the times in which we live. 03:07 Father, we're lifting up our hearts to You right now. 03:10 We're lifting up our situations to You right now. 03:13 You know, our circumstances, the difficulties 03:15 that we're facing. 03:17 We need a word from the Lord. 03:19 We need Your direction in our lives. 03:21 We need Your Holy Spirit to throw a path before us, 03:25 a path of light and understanding 03:27 so that we can navigate the darkness 03:29 and the difficulties that we're presently facing 03:31 not only in this country, but all over the world 03:34 we are facing perilous times. 03:36 We are facing pressure. 03:38 And it seems overwhelming at times. 03:40 And, Father, we're asking that You would please help us 03:43 to understand where we are now 03:45 and where we are attending. 03:47 Do this for us we pray in Jesus' name. 03:50 Amen. 03:52 All right Matthew Chapter 24. 03:53 Let's just, if you have your Bibles with you, 03:55 let's just open up there to Matthew Chapter 24. 03:58 And just a quick summary 03:59 of what we've covered in a previous meeting. 04:01 We talked about God's prophetic alarm clock 04:03 and how God wants to wake us up 04:05 and we see that in the context of Matthew Chapter 24. 04:08 Actually, verse, Chapter 25 there are 10 versions 04:12 which represent God's people and they're all sleeping 04:14 and there's a cry made at midnight 04:16 and it causes them all to wake up. 04:19 And, of course, we look in Romans 13:11. 04:21 We're also told there that it's high time 04:24 to wake out of sleep. 04:25 Well, what is it that wakes up 04:27 the sleeping virgins in Matthew 25? 04:29 What is it is going to wake us up in this, 04:31 in this time and this urgent time 04:34 that we wake up out of sleep? 04:35 Well, according to Jesus, the things that are going 04:37 to wake us up are the signs of the times. 04:39 Matthew Chapter 24, 04:41 the signs that are fulfilling and telling us 04:44 where we are in earth's history. 04:46 I was in a meeting not long ago 04:47 and we were talking about all the things 04:49 that are happening in the world today 04:50 and in our country and a young man 04:52 that was there was interacting with us 04:54 and he said to the group, you know, 04:56 there's no way we can figure out truth from error. 05:00 There's no way that we can figure out 05:02 the fake news from the true news 05:03 because there's so many counterfeits. 05:05 There's so many conspiracy theories all over the place. 05:08 There's no way we're going to be able to sort it all out. 05:10 And he said that twice. 05:12 And then he said it a third time. 05:13 And I finally had to speak up and say to him, you know what? 05:16 I believe that we can navigate through all of these theories, 05:20 we can navigate through all of the fake news, 05:22 we can navigate all of the misinformation 05:25 and we can know exactly 05:26 where we are in earth's history. 05:29 But even more important than that, 05:31 not only is the Bible help us to navigate where we are 05:34 and where we're attending, 05:35 but the Bible also instructs us as to what we need to do. 05:39 In our previous session, we talked about 05:41 the Jesus huddle, that's what it was called 05:43 the Jesus huddle. 05:44 And that is what we see in Matthew 24:3, 05:49 it says there that "As He sat upon the Mount of Olives, 05:51 the disciples came on to Him privately saying, 05:54 'Tell us, when shall these things be 05:56 and what shall be the sign of Thy coming 05:59 and of the end of the world?'" 06:01 Now Jesus here is talking specifically to His disciples 06:05 who are really troubled, why? 06:07 Because He's just told them that the temple 06:09 that they see is the center of their worship, 06:12 the center of their religious life is going to come down 06:14 and not one stone will be left upon another 06:17 that will not be thrown down. 06:18 And so Jesus basically is telling them, 06:21 that the end of all that they cherish religiously 06:25 is going to come down. 06:27 And they are troubled by this. 06:28 And so they asked Jesus privately, they say, 06:31 "What is this going to be? 06:32 When is this destruction going to take place?" 06:34 And to them, it's the end of the world 06:35 and what is the sign of the end of the world? 06:38 And Jesus begins to declare to them, 06:41 to lay out for them a step by step outline 06:45 of the events that are going to take place, 06:47 preceding His second coming 06:49 and the destruction of Jerusalem. 06:51 So Matthew 24 is like a parallel... 06:55 A dual prophecy, we should say. 06:57 It applies to the destruction of Jerusalem, 07:00 which took place in AD 70. 07:02 All the signs in these first verses 07:04 were fulfilled and then it applies 07:06 to the end of the world, 07:08 which is just before Jesus comes the second time. 07:11 And so we're going to see here in Matthew Chapter 24, 07:13 the most important thing for us to do in the context 07:17 of the signs is to huddle with Jesus. 07:19 Before Jesus gives any signs, His disciples come to Him 07:22 and they say, privately, "Tell us about these things." 07:26 And that's what God wants us to do, friends. 07:28 God wants us to connect with Jesus. 07:31 God wants us to come to Jesus. 07:32 God wants us to be in the huddle with Jesus. 07:36 You know, we talked about the idea 07:38 that if Jesus were here today, 07:40 He would say the kingdom of heaven 07:41 is like unto a football team. 07:43 You know, in a football team, you have the quarterback 07:45 and everyone huddles around the quarterback. 07:47 They get the play from the quarterback. 07:49 And they know the play 07:50 because when the quarterback calls it out, 07:52 they've been, they're familiar with the playbook. 07:54 The Bible is our playbook as Christians as believers. 07:57 They're familiar with the playbook. 07:58 And when the quarterback calls out the play, 08:00 they know what route to run, 08:01 they know what position occupying the line, 08:04 they know what block to make. 08:06 That's what the Bible is for. It's the playbook. 08:08 It tells us what it is we need to do, 08:11 what route we need to run 08:12 and how it is that we are going to get 08:14 to the end zone in this, 08:17 well, in this game for life, in a sense. 08:19 And so Jesus, first and foremost, 08:22 the disciples huddled with Jesus and Jesus tells them 08:24 all about these events. 08:25 And then just a quick summary, He tells us, 08:28 it's going to be wars and rumors of wars. 08:30 First of all, He tells us in verse 4, 08:31 there's going to be deception. 08:33 And that deception is going to cause a lot 08:36 of people to misunderstand what's going on. 08:39 The wars and rumors of wars, the famines, the pestilence, 08:43 which is a disease, infectious, 08:44 contagious disease and natural disasters, 08:47 earthquakes are going to be everywhere. 08:49 And it's going to lead all of the world 08:51 to unite in a hatred for God's people. 08:55 God's people are going to be afflicted 08:56 and they're going to be hated for My namesake, Jesus says. 08:59 And the name of God, of course, is love. 09:01 And love involves freedom. 09:04 It involves risk, it involves choice, 09:06 you can't force someone to love. 09:09 And therefore, love automatically denotes 09:13 the freedom to choose or not to choose. 09:16 God has given us His Son 09:18 because we chose to sin against Him. 09:20 And he's given us His Son to die on Calvary, 09:22 to preserve that freedom of choice, 09:24 even if we choose against Him, 09:26 God still gave His Son to die for us. 09:28 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. 09:31 And so we see this as a main issue, 09:33 essential issue in Matthew Chapter 24. 09:36 Stage one of deception, verses 1 through 10. 09:40 And that's where we are today. 09:42 Today we are seeing the fulfillment of Matthew 24:1-10. 09:47 Now, we've already covered this in a previous meeting, 09:48 if you'd like to review that 09:51 you can look for God's prophetic alarm clock, 09:53 the Thompsonville Church. 09:55 We're going to look to the second part of this series now. 09:58 And that is stage two of deception. 10:00 The reason why I say there are three stages of deception 10:03 is because we see this in Matthew Chapter 24. 10:06 We see Jesus warn about deception three times. 10:09 He warns about it in verse 4. 10:11 And then He warns about it again in verse 11 10:14 and He warns about it again in verses 22 10:17 and 20 or 23 and 24. 10:19 So those three warnings set up for us three basic stages 10:24 of deception. 10:26 And what I'm suggesting to you today is, 10:28 is that each stage brings us 10:30 a heightened level of deception. 10:33 Each stage builds upon the next. 10:35 We are in the first stage, 10:37 the wars and rumors of wars stage, 10:39 the famines and pestilence and disease stage, 10:41 the natural disaster stage that leads to all nations 10:44 uniting to put pressure on God's people. 10:47 We're going to be moving to the next stage, 10:50 which we're not into yet. 10:51 We're going to be moving to the next stage, 10:52 which we're going to study right now. 10:54 And that second stage is defined here, 10:57 beginning in Matthew 24:11. 11:01 It says, "And many false prophets shall arise 11:04 and deceive many. 11:06 And because iniquity shall abound, 11:09 the love of many shall wax cold." 11:12 But verse 13, "He that endures until the end, 11:16 the same shall be saved. 11:18 And this gospel of the kingdom is going to preach in all 11:20 the world for a witness unto all nations 11:23 and then shall the end come." 11:26 Now I love what Jesus is doing here. 11:28 Because in each stage of development, 11:30 He tells us what we need to focus on. 11:33 And what we need to focus on in this stage of development 11:36 is enduring love, he that endures unto the end. 11:41 Many people will have their love wax cold, 11:44 but he that endures unto the end. 11:46 And so the title of this presentation 11:48 is enduring love, because God is encouraging us 11:52 to have a love that endures unto the end. 11:54 And we can see this parallel a little bit in the parable 11:57 of the 10 Virgins because five of them 11:59 have extra measure of oil, extra measure of Holy Spirit 12:02 presence in their lives and that gives them 12:04 that enduring love. 12:06 You know that old habits die hard and even though 12:10 I like to have my gas tank filled now, 12:12 as opposed to when I was a young man, 12:14 there have been still been times when I like to, 12:16 on long trips on long journeys, I like to let my gas station, 12:20 my gas tank get all the way down 12:22 to as low as it can before I'll fill up 12:24 and I'm always looking to get as much mileage out 12:28 of the gas so that when I pull into a gas station, 12:31 I can fill it up and then go as many miles 12:33 as possible on the journey. 12:35 Now my wife gets a little bit nervous about that. 12:37 And as we journey down I-5 which we've done so many times 12:40 because we've always lived in Washington State 12:42 or Oregon State and gone down to California 12:44 where her family lives. 12:46 There are many times 12:47 when she's getting nervous she's saying, 12:49 "James, should we fill up now. 12:50 James, should we fill up now?" 12:51 And I'm always looking to get as many miles 12:54 as possible out of the tank. 12:55 And then I'm also looking for that Love's Gas Station 12:58 because that's got the best price. 13:00 So I'm looking for Love's Gas Station, 13:02 I'm looking to get as many miles as possible. 13:04 My wife's getting a little bit nervous. 13:06 Finally we see a Love's Gas Station we pull in. 13:08 We get the best price and we fill the tank 13:10 with that gasoline from Love's Gas Station. 13:14 And that's exactly what God wants us to do. 13:16 He wants to fill the tank with His love. 13:19 He wants to feel, He wants us to fill our tanks 13:21 with His love and use the Holy Spirit credit card. 13:24 He wants to fill us with a love that is enduring 13:28 that endures through the hatred, 13:29 that endures through the pressure, 13:31 that endures through the iniquity 13:33 that abounds that endures through the love 13:35 of many waxing cold, through the coldness of others. 13:39 He wants us to have a love that is so filled, 13:42 a love tank that is so filled up, 13:44 that we can endure through all of that. 13:46 And at the same time we can preach the gospel 13:49 to all nations as a witness so that He can return. 13:53 So this second stage 13:55 that we're moving into in Matthew Chapter 24 13:57 also comes with an answer. 13:59 It comes with encouragement, 14:00 it comes with directive from God. 14:02 God is directing us. 14:03 He wants us to be in the playbook. 14:05 He wants us to be in the huddle. 14:06 He wants us to know what we need to do. 14:08 And what we need to do is fill up 14:10 with that Holy Spirit credit card, 14:12 fill up the tank with a love of God. 14:13 Don't be overly anxious about what's happening in this world. 14:16 Don't be troubled, Jesus says 14:18 about what's happening in this world. 14:20 We need to stay focused on God. 14:23 We need to stay focused on the Word of God. 14:25 We need to stay filled with the Holy Spirit. 14:28 That's the directive from heaven. 14:29 So if you're out there and you're wondering, 14:30 what is the future going to hold? 14:32 Maybe you've, you personally have had some losses 14:35 in the deal, the situations that are developing here 14:38 and you've been dealt some difficult blows 14:41 and you're not sure what to do? 14:42 Well, maybe this time is perfect for you 14:46 to get deeper into God's Word 14:48 and to find more of the Holy Spirit's presence 14:51 in your life and it becomes stronger 14:53 as a Christian. 14:54 You know, trials can make us stronger as Christians. 14:58 In fact, there's a verse that I want to consider now 15:00 in the context of this that is found in 1 John 4:18-19. 15:04 1 John 4:18-19. 15:06 Here's what it says. 15:07 It says, "There is no fear in love but perfect love casts 15:13 out fear because fear has torment. 15:16 He that fears is not made perfect in love. 15:19 We love Him because He first loved us." 15:22 1 John 4:18-19. 15:24 So you see what God is saying here, 15:26 love casts out fear. 15:28 God wants to fill our tank with love, 15:30 so the fear goes out. 15:32 My wife would be a little bit fearful. 15:33 And I have to be honest with you, 15:35 sometimes I'd get a little fearful too 15:37 because I was letting that gas tank get down just 15:39 a little bit too low, you know, when the lights coming on 15:41 and there's no gas station in sight. 15:43 God wants to fill our tank with His love, 15:47 so that it casts out all of that fear. 15:50 And that's exactly what we need today 15:52 because when you look at the world around us, 15:53 when you look what's happening with the wars 15:55 and rumors of wars, with the famine 15:57 and with the pestilence and disease, 15:59 when you look at the natural disasters, 16:01 the earthquakes and natural disasters and the things 16:03 that are being pushed upon us, as a nation and in the world, 16:07 it can cause you to be anxious, it can cause you to be fearful, 16:11 it can cause you to be filled with anxiety about the future. 16:14 And God says there's a remedy for that. 16:16 And the remedy for that is to allow His love 16:19 to come into our hearts, 16:21 to fill that tank at Love's Gas Station 16:24 with the Holy Spirit credit card 16:26 and allow that love to come in to saturate us 16:29 so that we can endure, so that we can have that love 16:32 that endures unto the end. 16:33 You know, Jesus even says it this way. 16:35 He says, "See to it that you be not troubled. 16:37 See to it that you be not, be not troubled." 16:40 In other words, it's something we have to set our mind to, 16:42 it's not going to be natural for us, 16:43 it may not be easy for us but we need to set our mind 16:46 to not be in trouble, which means we need 16:50 to be in the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit 16:52 to come in, God's love to come 16:54 in so that fear can be expelled, 16:57 fear can be pushed out. 16:59 We can't get rid of fear ourselves. 17:01 We are going to be naturally tend 17:03 to be filled with fear and trouble. 17:05 We can't get rid of that ourselves. 17:07 Only God's love coming in can get the fear out. 17:11 And the other thing I like about the Bible 17:13 is it's not only the playbook for God's team 17:16 but it also shows us some of the plays of the other team. 17:21 And that's what we see here in Matthew Chapter 24. 17:24 We see Jesus Christ telling us about deception, 17:26 He tells us what it's going to look like. 17:28 And you know, when football teams play other teams, 17:31 they also spend some time looking at the plays 17:33 of the other teams, looking at their games, 17:35 their previous games, to figure out 17:37 what kind of plays they run, what they like to run, 17:39 what's successful for the other team 17:41 so that they can be prepared, 17:43 their defense can be prepared for the other team's offense. 17:47 And that's exactly what the Bible does. 17:48 The Bible not only tells us 17:50 what we need to be doing offensively 17:52 but it also tells us what the plays of the enemy 17:54 is that we need to be prepared for. 17:57 And one of the biggest plays of the enemy 17:59 that works over and over again, 18:01 according to Jesus in Matthew Chapter 24, is deception. 18:06 Deception is a hugely successful play 18:09 that the devil pulls on us almost every time. 18:12 The word deception means to make someone believe 18:15 something that is not true, to practice deceit. 18:20 Now, let me just repeat that, to make someone believe 18:23 something that is not true, to practice deceit. 18:27 Now I know in this country, 18:29 and I'm talking about the United States of America, 18:31 and I think in many countries today, 18:33 there's a lot of deception going on. 18:35 There's a lot of being convinced or people trying 18:38 to convince you about something that is not true, 18:42 that is to practice deceit. 18:44 There are synonyms for this to beguile, 18:47 to buffalo, to con, to delude, to dupe, to fake, 18:51 to mislead, to snooker, to take in, to trick. 18:56 I think one of the first deceptions 18:57 I have experienced as a young man 18:59 was the idea of Santa Claus. 19:01 Yeah, I remember when I was seven or eight years old 19:04 and finally realized there was no such thing as Santa Claus 19:06 and it was devastating to me. 19:07 I had believed that lie for seven or eight years ago 19:12 and my mother was the one that told to me. 19:14 And so my confidence, my trust in her was shaken 19:18 at that young age. 19:19 And I started to learn as I got older and older that, 19:22 you know, you can't trust everything that people tell you 19:25 because sometimes they're going to tell you 19:27 what's called a noble lie. 19:29 This was what Santa Claus was in my young years. 19:32 It was a noble lie. 19:33 It was supposed to be something that was good, 19:35 you know, for kids to believe in Santa Claus 19:37 that brings these presents, et cetera, et cetera. 19:39 But I don't think my mother realized 19:41 how devastating it was for me in my relationship 19:44 with her to realize that it wasn't true. 19:47 And this is what we need to be aware of in relationship 19:50 to society today. 19:51 There's a lot of people telling noble lies 19:53 that they think are good for you 19:55 because well maybe they think you're immature, 19:57 you're not able to handle the truth or, 20:00 you know, you're like kids 20:01 and you just really aren't ready for the reality of life. 20:05 But, friends, we've got to be ready for the reality of life. 20:08 We've got to be ready for the truths of God's Word. 20:10 We cannot neglect the books of Matthew and Matthew 24 20:15 and Revelation and Daniel and the prophecies 20:16 that God has given to us. 20:18 We've got to be awake and aware 20:21 of what's going on in our world today. 20:23 We don't want to be children in this sense, 20:24 we want to be mature, we want to be adults, 20:26 we want to be preparing ourselves for the things 20:29 that are coming upon this earth. 20:30 God wants us to wake up. Why? 20:32 Well, in Matthew 24:11, 20:35 let's just get back to our verse here, 20:37 "Many false prophets shall arise and deceive many." 20:41 That's why there's going to be deception everywhere. 20:45 Now, what's really interesting about this verse 20:47 is that the word many is actually translated a great, 20:51 singular, a great over 30 times in the New Testament. 20:55 In other words, this word many can actually be referring 20:58 to one that is great, many or one that is great. 21:03 And the word prophet is actually in the singular 21:05 in the Greek. 21:06 So a great is probably a better translation 21:09 for the word prophet. 21:10 You could actually read this verse 21:12 that in the end of time, 21:15 a great prophet shall arise and deceive many. 21:19 A great prophet rather than many prophets. 21:21 So I think this is really powerful 21:23 because here we see Matthew Chapter 24, 21:26 connecting us directly with Revelation Chapter 13. 21:30 Revelation Chapter 13, 21:32 also talks about deception in the end of time. 21:35 Revelation Chapter 13 21:37 and I love this because Matthew 24, 21:39 is Jesus Christ huddling with His disciples 21:42 or them huddling with Him, 21:44 telling them about the end time deceptions 21:46 and what's going to take place in the end of time, 21:48 what they can expect. 21:49 And Revelation, the Book of Revelation 21:51 is also the revelation of Jesus Christ 21:54 which God gave unto Him to show His servants things 21:58 which must shortly come to pass. 22:00 Blessed are they that read and hear and keep the things 22:03 that are written therein for the time is at hand. 22:05 Revelation 1:1-3. 22:08 So Matthew 24 and Revelation connect together 22:12 in more ways than one. 22:14 And this is one of the ways they connect together. 22:17 This great false prophet is going to arise. 22:20 Matthew 24:11, connects us with Revelation Chapter... 22:25 Well, I'm going to just say Chapters 13, 16, 19 and 20. 22:30 Now in Revelation 13:11, we read about a beast 22:35 that comes out of the earth. 22:37 It has two horns like a lamb and it speaks like a dragon. 22:42 And Revelation Chapter 13 22:45 is what we first see this beast identified. 22:48 Its lamb-like horns represent Christian principles. 22:53 Principles that are lamb-like or Christ-like 22:57 because the lamb refers to symbolically Jesus Christ. 23:00 And so this beast, 23:01 which is an earthly power kingdom, 23:03 according to Daniel 7:17 and 23. 23:07 This earthly power kingdom has lamb-like principles, 23:10 two of them. 23:12 These lamb-like principles represent civil liberty 23:17 and religious liberty. 23:19 That's what we see in this earthly power 23:21 that rises up here with these lamb-like principles 23:23 but then it says it's going to speak like a dragon. 23:27 There's going to be a transition that takes place 23:30 from the lamb-like principles of civil and religious liberty, 23:34 to the dragon like voice 23:36 that according to Revelation 12:3, deceives. 23:40 According to Revelation 12:11 or 10, accuses. 23:45 According to Revelation 12:17, makes war with God's people. 23:50 According to Revelation Chapter 13, seeks to coerce, 23:54 to control, to force worship. 23:58 So we're seeing a transition 23:59 that's indicated here in Revelation 13:11. 24:02 I believe that we are presently in Matthew 24:1-10 24:08 and in Revelation 13:11, prophetically. 24:11 I believe that we're just seeing the transition 24:14 that's taking place in this lamb-like power 24:18 here in the United States of America. 24:20 We're seeing a transition that's taking place 24:22 from the principles, 24:23 the lamb-like principles of civil and religious liberty 24:26 to the dragon-like principles of deception, 24:30 of accusation and control. 24:33 And that is where we are in Bible prophecy right now. 24:36 Once that transition is made, 24:39 this earthly power in Revelation 13, 24:41 has two lamb-like horns and speaks like a dragon, 24:45 once the transition of the dragon is made, 24:47 this earthly power is never identified as lamb-like again. 24:52 It is mentioned in the Book of Revelation. 24:54 It's mentioned three other times but it's never identified 24:57 as lamb-like because the dragon-like 24:59 speaking causes it to lose those lamb-like principles. 25:03 And I believe that it's a prophetic prediction 25:06 of what is taking place in our country right now. 25:08 We're seeing that transition take place. 25:11 Let me just share with you a couple of the verses. 25:13 The first one is found 25:15 in Revelation 16:12. 25:19 And then the next one is Revelation 19:20. 25:23 And the final one is Revelation 20:10. 25:27 And what we find here is that the beast with lamb-like horns, 25:30 once it speaks like a dragon 25:32 is identified as the false prophet. 25:35 Whoa, there's a direct connection now 25:38 between Matthew 24:11 and Revelation 13, 16, 19 25:43 and 20 because the lamb-like power, 25:46 once it speaks like a dragon, is never again identified 25:50 as lamb-like, it is identified as a false prophet. 25:54 So the beast with lamb-like horns makes this transition 25:58 to the false prophet when it speaks like the dragon 26:01 and once that transition is made, 26:03 the beast with lamb-like horns is always identified 26:06 as the false prophet according to Revelation Chapter 16, 19 26:10 and 20. 26:11 And this is what we see in relationship to Matthew 24 26:15 and this great prophet rising up in stage two 26:19 of Matthew Chapter 24. 26:20 And stage two of the deception in Matthew 24. 26:23 Okay, now here's the evidence, 26:25 I'll just share with you a few verses 26:26 so that you can look them up 26:27 and have them in relationship to understanding 26:30 this transition that takes place. 26:32 Matthew 16:13, here's what it says, 26:35 three powers lineup. 26:36 They're the same powers that are described 26:38 in Revelation 13:12-13. 26:41 The dragon, the sea beast and the land beast. 26:43 So the same three powers are identified 26:45 in Revelation 16:13 26:47 as in Revelation 13:11-12, but in Revelation 16:13, 26:50 you have the dragon, you have the leopard-like beast 26:54 or the sea beast and then you have the false prophet. 26:58 No longer lamb-like horns. 27:00 Now it's identified as a false prophet. 27:02 Revelation 19:20, the false prophet there is described 27:06 as working miracles before the beast 27:08 and deceiving the world by those miracles. 27:10 And this is the same beast with the lamb-like horns, 27:14 that speaks like a dragon, 27:15 according to Revelation 13:13-14, 27:18 because in Revelation 13:13-14, 27:20 this same lamb-like beast deceives the world, 27:24 the nations with miracles. 27:26 Revelation 20:10 says the beast and the false prophet 27:30 work with the dragon to deceive the whole world. 27:33 And that's what we see in Revelation 13:11-14, 27:36 it was the beast with the lamb-like horns 27:38 that helps to deceive the world 27:40 so therefore it must be the same power 27:42 as the false prophet. 27:44 So Revelation 16:13, Revelation 19:20, 27:48 Revelation 20:10, all identifying the beast 27:52 with the lamb-like horns as the false prophet, 27:55 once it transitions to speaking like a dragon. 28:00 That's when it fully embodies this prophetic destiny 28:02 of the great false prophet in Matthew 24:11, 28:08 that deceives many. 28:10 And that leads us into Matthew 24:12 and onwards. 28:16 Now we want to look at this in the context of Revelation, 28:19 the Book of Revelation because the Book of Revelation 28:21 talks about this great false prophet that's going out 28:24 to gather the world on the wrong side of a battle 28:28 called the Battle of Armageddon, right? 28:30 He's working with the dragon and with the first beast 28:33 to gather the world to the Battle of Armageddon. 28:36 And we need to understand what this gathering is, 28:39 what that word means and how that gathering 28:41 is taking place. 28:42 And one of the ways we're going to be able to understand this 28:44 is by going back now to Matthew Chapter 24. 28:47 So let's just go back there to Matthew Chapter 24. 28:50 And let's look at a couple more verses here 28:51 that we need to cover in more detail. 28:53 Matthew 24:12, 28:55 "And because iniquity shall abound, 28:58 the love of many shall wax cold, 29:01 but he that endures unto the end, 29:03 the same shall be saved." 29:06 Now this is where we want to land for just a minute here, 29:09 abound in iniquity. 29:10 Where does iniquity abound in our world today? 29:15 And I want to suggest that iniquity abounds 29:18 in the entertainment world today. 29:21 The iniquity that is abounding in our world today 29:24 is abounding in entertainment 29:27 and that is how we are being gathered 29:31 in the Battle of Armageddon, on the wrong side. 29:34 God wants us to understand the principles 29:38 of beholding and becoming changed. 29:42 In 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says, 29:45 "We all, as in a glass, beholding the glory 29:48 of the Lord are changed into the same image 29:50 from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 29:54 This is a principle that holds true not only for good 29:58 but also for bad. 29:59 It's the law of our nature that by beholding, 30:03 we become changed. 30:04 What we focus on, what we watch, 30:07 what we take in, impacts our nature, 30:10 our character, our personality, 30:13 who we are. 30:14 That's why and I'm suggesting that you might 30:16 want to consider this, 30:17 that's why I have shut down media, shut off the TV, 30:21 gotten rid of a lot of my media because there's so much garbage 30:25 coming in that I'm beholding that it's transforming me 30:28 into the wrong image, into the image of the world. 30:31 It's filling me with fear. 30:33 Even the news is filling us with fear 30:36 and apprehension and anxiety. 30:37 And so God is telling us, you know, 30:39 you've got to take a break from all of that, 30:41 you've got to stop beholding all of that 30:42 because that's just filled with iniquity and filled 30:45 with anxiety and filled with fear, 30:48 you need to behold Me. 30:49 We need to behold the Lord, Jesus Christ, 30:52 and the contents, by the way, of 2 Corinthians 3:18 30:55 and verse 17, you know what it says there? 30:57 It says, "Where the spirit of the Lord is, 31:00 there is liberty. 31:02 There is freedom." 31:04 God wants to free us from addiction, 31:06 to free us from bondage, to free us from sin 31:09 and He also wants to free us from deception 31:11 and fake news and misinformation. 31:14 And the only information, the only news 31:16 that we can actually trust is the news 31:20 that is found in the Word of God. 31:21 The Word of God is our only source 31:24 of truth in these last days because God doesn't lie. 31:27 He can't lie. It's impossible for Him to lie. 31:30 And His Word is true and it's to the point. 31:32 And God is all powerful, omniscient. 31:34 He has seen the past, the present and the future 31:36 with clarity that is greater than 2020 vision. 31:39 He knows what's coming around the corner, 31:41 He knows what we're going to face, 31:43 He knows what we are facing, 31:45 and we can trust Him and we can trust His Word. 31:48 It's right on target. 31:50 The visions of the Word of God are true and they are certain. 31:54 And so God is telling us to be aware of beholding 31:58 the wrong things. 32:00 Why? 32:01 Because when we behold the wrong things, 32:02 we become filled with those things. 32:04 And one of the most powerful ways 32:06 that we're being influenced and affected 32:09 is through the media, is through entertainment. 32:12 And, by the way, that word, gather, 32:15 in Revelation 16:16, that word, gather, 32:18 it says that these three powers are like frogs, 32:21 that means they're everywhere. 32:22 The frogs is a direct connection to the 10 plagues 32:27 that fell in Egypt and one of them 32:29 was the plague of the frogs. 32:30 They were everywhere, they were in the bedchambers, 32:31 they were in the kneading dough, they were everywhere. 32:34 That use of the symbol, frogs, 32:37 is telling us that these powers are gathering, 32:39 they're everywhere and they're gathering that word, 32:41 gather, means to entertain. 32:44 That's what the actual Hebrew word means to entertain. 32:48 In other words, God is telling us 32:50 that the devil is working through all of these different 32:54 channels and avenues to entertain us, 32:57 to pull us into the Battle of Armageddon on his side 33:00 rather than on God's side. 33:01 And we can talk more about that, 33:03 as we study in more detail but let's move on 33:05 with our study right now, in Matthew Chapter 24. 33:09 We want to keep our minds according to Philippians 4:8 33:11 and what is true, what is pure, what is holy, what is good, 33:15 what is right, what is just. 33:17 We want to keep focused on that and not on this entertainment 33:21 of the world. 33:23 So we have here in Matthew 24:12-13, 33:27 the iniquity abounding 33:29 and then it says we need to endure unto the end. 33:31 And the way we endure unto the end is by filling up 33:34 at Love's Gas Tank with the Holy Spirit credit card. 33:37 And it says in verse 14, 33:38 "And this gospel shall be preached in all the world 33:41 for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come." 33:45 Now, here's another connection between the Book of Revelation 33:48 and Matthew Chapter 24 33:50 because in Revelation Chapter 14, 33:52 we're told about the everlasting gospel. 33:54 Revelation 14:6 then, it says, 33:56 "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 33:59 having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them 34:01 that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, 34:03 tongue and people saying with a loud voice, 34:06 fear God and give glory to Him, 34:08 for the hour of His judgment has come. 34:10 And worship Him that made heaven and earth, 34:12 and the seas and the fountains of water." 34:14 We are called to worship God as our Creator. 34:17 God created us and He redeemed us. 34:19 We belong to Him. 34:21 We are made in His image. 34:22 We bear His superscription even though we have sinned 34:27 and turned away, God has come through Jesus Christ 34:29 to completely redeem us from that sin. 34:32 And He is calling us to acknowledge 34:34 in the everlasting gospel, what He's done for us 34:36 to respond to the great gift 34:38 of His love in the plan of salvation. 34:41 Well, this is the very thing that Jesus is saying 34:43 in Matthew 24:14, 34:45 "And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached 34:47 in all the world as a witness unto all nations 34:51 and then shall the end come." 34:53 It's so powerful when you think about this 34:55 because what it's saying basically is, 34:57 is the gospel is going to be preached, 34:59 but it's not just going to be preached with words, 35:01 it's going to be preached as a witness. 35:03 We're going to testify, we're going to live 35:05 the gospel in our lives. 35:07 And, of course, we're nearing this time. 35:09 Right now, we're nearing this time 35:11 when the gospel is not just being preached, 35:13 you know, through radio and through television 35:15 and through literature. 35:16 But the gospel is going to be preached as a witness 35:18 that is there are going to be people who live the words 35:22 that are the everlasting gospel. 35:25 They actually take in and are representatives 35:29 of those words that they preach, 35:31 those words that you hear. 35:32 And Jesus is saying, when that happens, 35:34 when that witness is proclaimed, 35:36 not just when the gospel is preached, 35:37 but when the witness is proclaimed, 35:39 the witness of the gospel, then the end is going to come. 35:42 And the parallel to Revelation is so clear 35:44 because in Revelation Chapter 14, 35:47 it talks about the three angels' messages. 35:48 Revelation 14:6-7, the first angel's message 35:52 and Revelation 14:8 the second angel's message, 35:55 and Revelation Chapter 14: 9, 10, 11, 12, 35:57 the third angel's message and right after those messages 36:00 are given, the everlasting gospel is preached to the world 36:02 warning against the mark of the beast, 36:05 warning against receiving the mark of the beast, 36:07 identifying the fall of Babylon. 36:09 Right after that happens, we see Jesus Christ returning. 36:12 We see the end coming. 36:14 So you have a perfect parallel here with Matthew Chapter 24 36:18 and Revelation Chapter 14. 36:20 But Revelation Chapter 14 calls us to worship God 36:23 in relationship to His creatorship and that, 36:26 of course, directs us to the Sabbath. 36:27 In fact, the call to worship God in Revelation 14:7 36:30 is almost a direct quotation from the fourth commandment 36:35 of the Decalogue in Exodus 20:8-11, 36:39 "Worship Him that made heaven and earth, 36:40 and the seas and the fountains of waters. 36:42 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 36:43 Six days thou shall labor, do all the work, 36:45 but the seventh day is the Sabbath 36:46 of the Lord thy God. 36:48 For in six days, He made heaven and earth, 36:49 and the seas and the fountains of waters 36:51 and rested on the seventh day." 36:52 Revelation 14:7 is quoting from the fourth commandment, 36:56 reminding us to worship God and not to worship man 37:00 and earthly powers and earthly governments. 37:02 And, of course, there's a lot of pressure 37:04 that's going to come against God's people. 37:06 Economic coercion, economic pressure, 37:09 we're already feeling it. 37:10 We're already feeling the pressure. 37:12 The issue right now is not necessarily worship, 37:14 but we need to remember that in the Book of Daniel, 37:16 we have this insight, this amazing, 37:19 incredible history that will be repeated 37:22 because there's nothing that has been 37:23 that won't be again and everything 37:25 that is has been once before. 37:27 Daniel was pressured or his friends were pressured 37:30 to worship an image. 37:32 But before they were pressured to worship an image, 37:34 they were pressured in the area of health, 37:37 in the area of their personal health. 37:38 In other words, they were told 37:40 that they needed to eat the food, 37:42 the wine and the food of Babylon, 37:44 and they didn't, in their own convictions, 37:46 they didn't believe that that was going 37:48 to be the best for them, that was going 37:49 to be healthy for them. 37:50 Their conscience said, "I can't do this." 37:53 And they sought for an exemption 37:56 from the wine from the food of Babylon. 37:58 Now, males are the head of Daniel 38:00 and his friends demonstrated with him, 38:04 he said, "Hey, you know, you got to eat this food. 38:07 This food is going to make you healthy, this, 38:09 if you don't eat this food, you're going get sick, right?" 38:11 And he also said to him, "Besides that, 38:14 if you don't eat this food, you're going to risk my head, 38:16 you're going to risk my life." 38:18 Some of the same arguments that he made today 38:20 that we face today in relationship 38:22 to our personal health choices. 38:24 And God is calling us to stand for Him 38:27 in our personal health choices 38:29 and not to take in the food and the wine of Babylon 38:31 if we know that it's not going to do us good. 38:33 If that's our conscientious conviction, 38:36 God is calling us to follow that conviction, 38:37 as Daniel did. 38:39 And God blessed Daniel as he followed that conviction. 38:40 That's where we are in the Book of Daniel. 38:43 This is where we are in Revelation. 38:45 We're in 13:11. 38:46 And this is where we are in Matthew Chapter 24. 38:49 We are seeing the pressure, we're seeing the hatred, 38:53 we're seeing the nations uniting together, 38:56 to restrict liberty of conscience, 38:58 to restrict freedom of choice. 39:00 And that's preparing us for the next stage, 39:03 for the next level of deception, 39:05 for the next level of intense pressure 39:08 and that's going to come in relationship to worship. 39:10 How do we know that? 39:12 Let's read a little bit further in Matthew 24:15, 39:15 "And when ye therefore shall see the abomination 39:18 of desolation, spoken by Daniel the prophet, 39:21 stand in the holy place, whoso read let him understand, 39:24 then let them which be into Judaea flee 39:26 to the mountains, and let him which is on the housetop 39:28 come not down to take anything out of his house, 39:30 neither let him which is in the field return 39:32 back to take his clothes. 39:34 And woe unto them that are with child, 39:36 to them that give suck in those days! 39:38 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, 39:41 neither on the Sabbath day." 39:44 Now here we have the exact same conflict 39:48 that's been described in Revelation Chapters 13 and 14. 39:51 We have the abomination of desolation 39:53 and we have the Sabbath in conflict with each other. 39:56 The abomination of desolation simply put 39:59 is putting man where God should be. 40:02 Man's laws where God's law should be. 40:04 Man's mediation where God's mediation should be. 40:06 Man's counsel where God's counsel should be. 40:09 Anything that puts man in the place of God 40:12 is an abomination that makes us desolate. 40:16 And we're going to see this primarily 40:17 in relationship to worship. 40:19 Man's laws, man's institutions of worship, 40:23 put in the place of God's instituted day of worship. 40:26 God's instituted day of worship, of course, 40:28 is the seventh day Sabbath. 40:30 Now I was raised as a Christian in a Christian home, 40:33 I was raised going to a Catholic Church, 40:35 Roman Catholic, on my mom's side, Irish, 40:38 and I went to church and actually was an altar boy. 40:40 And I believe that Sunday was the day 40:44 that everyone was to go to church. 40:46 And I believe that was what the Bible taught, 40:47 of course, I'd never read the Bible. 40:49 I knew the Lord's Prayer. 40:50 I knew the Hail Mary but I never read the Bible. 40:53 And I remember when I was challenged on that 40:54 I was challenged by a family member, my own sister, 40:56 and she said, "You know what, James?" 40:57 She said, "Sunday is not actually the Bible Sabbath, 41:01 Saturday is the Bible Sabbath." 41:02 And I thought she is nuts. 41:04 That's crazy. 41:05 Why would millions of people all over the world 41:07 actually over a billion people or two be going 41:11 to church on Sunday, 41:12 if Saturday is the biblical Sabbath? 41:14 That can't be true. 41:15 But sure enough, as I began to study this out, 41:17 as I looked at the history, as I studied the Bible, 41:19 as I looked at the various commentaries, 41:21 as I asked different church people, 41:23 as I looked up the history of the transference 41:26 of the day from Sabbath from the seventh day, 41:28 Saturday Sabbath, the biblical Sabbath to Sunday, 41:31 I realized my sister was right. 41:33 I realized I was wrong. 41:34 I realized that I really didn't understand the Bible, 41:36 understand Bible truth when I made that statement. 41:40 And that reality is what we're going 41:42 to be facing here in Matthew Chapter 24, 41:44 when we step into the second stage of deception, 41:47 the reality is going to be a conflict between 41:49 the biblical Sabbath and God's seventh day Sabbath, 41:53 the Lord's Day, we're told in Revelation 1:10, 41:56 and Jesus says, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath." 41:58 In fact, in Exodus 20:8-11, 42:02 God says that He is the Lord of the seven days, 42:05 the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 42:07 So we see here a conflict that is preparing. 42:11 The setup is taking place right now. 42:15 It's behind the scenes, so to speak, 42:17 a conflict that is preparing between the worship of God 42:21 and the worship or the compliance 42:26 of human beings with the powers of this earth. 42:29 And that's the conflict that involves 42:31 the Battle of Armageddon and the mark of the beast. 42:34 And coercion is at the center of that conflict. 42:37 And we see the principles centering around that conflict 42:40 being established right now, 42:42 the stage is being set, if you will. 42:45 And once that stage is set, 42:46 the transition from the health test, 42:49 which we're now in to the worship test 42:52 is going to be very quick. 42:53 Most people are going to be caught by surprise. 42:56 In fact, Jesus talks about that later on in Matthew Chapter 24. 43:00 And we're going to spend more time talking about that 43:02 when we get into the third stage of deception. 43:05 The third stage of deception talks about the next level 43:08 that is going to be brought against us 43:10 that is still future. 43:12 And then again, what God wants us to do. 43:14 How God wants us to relate to that level of deception 43:18 that we are going to be facing in the end of time. 43:21 So the abomination of desolation. 43:23 Now, I mentioned to you what that is. 43:25 The abomination of desolation 43:26 is basically putting man in the place of God, 43:29 man's law in the place of God's law. 43:32 It's putting man's rules and regulations, 43:35 man's mandates and coercion in the place 43:37 of the truth of God's Word. 43:39 But I want to share with you why I believe that. 43:42 First of all, if you look up the word abomination 43:45 of desolation, you're going to find Jesus even tells us 43:48 that this is a word that comes from the Old Testament, 43:51 comes specifically from the Book of Daniel. 43:54 And you look in the Book of Daniel, 43:56 you're going to find that when the abomination 43:58 of desolation is set up. 44:00 It's set up by first of all, the taking away of the daily. 44:05 The taking away of the daily leads 44:07 to the abomination of desolation. 44:08 And we find that in verses like Daniel 11:31, 44:13 where it says they're going to take away the daily 44:15 and they're going to set up the abomination of desolation. 44:18 So there's a connection here between the daily 44:21 and the abomination of desolation. 44:23 What is that connection? 44:24 Well, when we rightly understand the abomination 44:26 of desolation, we understand 44:28 that its connection with the daily is telling us 44:31 the very same thing that we talked 44:33 about in Revelation Chapter 14. 44:35 And it's implied here in Matthew 24 44:37 second stage of deception and that is that God's law 44:41 is going to be superseded by man's law. 44:43 God's law is going to be replaced by man's law 44:46 and the world is going to be compelled, 44:48 forced, if you will, to comply with man's law 44:52 over God's law, to comply with 44:54 what man mandates in the place of the liberty 44:58 that God calls us to embrace in the everlasting gospel 45:01 that calls us to worship God as our Creator 45:03 and our Redeemer. 45:04 Couple of verses here that I want you to consider. 45:07 When you go to the Old Testament, 45:08 you're going to find that the word daily, 45:10 that's taken away in order to put the abomination 45:13 of desolation in its place, 45:14 the word daily is always identified 45:18 with the earthly sanctuary services. 45:21 That's not the only thing that's identified with 45:22 but it's identified with the earthly sanctuary services. 45:25 For example, the incense, the lamps of light, 45:29 the showbread, 45:31 the ministry of the priest are all identified as daily 45:35 or the word actually means the continual. 45:38 The showbread was continual. 45:39 The light was continual. 45:41 The ministration of priest was continual. 45:43 The animal sacrifices for sin were continual, 45:45 they were offered daily or continually in behalf 45:49 of human beings. 45:50 Now, this old sanctuary service and its divine ordinations, 45:55 its divine ordinances, all pointed to Jesus. 45:59 They all pointed to the Lamb. 46:00 He was the sacrifice. 46:02 He is the priest. 46:03 He is the light of the world. 46:05 He is the bread of life. 46:07 All of that. 46:08 All of that sanctuary service pointed to Jesus Christ. 46:11 And we see this in the Book of Hebrews, 46:13 we see this in Ephesians. 46:15 We see this in John. 46:16 John 1:9, "He is the light that lightens every man 46:18 that comes into the world." 46:19 John 6:51, "He's the bread of life." 46:22 Hebrews 7:24, "He ever lives to make intercession for us." 46:25 And so we see basically that Jesus Christ's ministry 46:29 is represented in the symbols 46:31 and in the types of the sanctuary. 46:33 They all pointed to Christ. 46:35 So all these verses are typifying Christ. 46:38 Now, in that context, 46:40 we can understand better the daily, 46:42 it's the taking away of Jesus, 46:44 it's the taking away the ministry of Christ, 46:46 it's the taking away of the intercession of Christ, 46:50 it's the taking away of the bread of life, 46:52 the Word of God, it's taking away the light of life, 46:55 which is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, 46:58 the truth of God's Word, taking that away, 47:00 removing that from people 47:02 and putting in its place man's laws, 47:05 man's mandates, man's authority, man's worship, 47:09 man's mediation, man's counsel. 47:12 This is exactly what Jesus is warning us about 47:14 in Matthew Chapter 24. 47:16 And it's the same thing that we see taking place 47:18 in Revelation Chapters 13 and 14. 47:21 We have a conflict between worshiping an earthly power, 47:24 Revelation Chapter 13, and worshiping God, 47:27 Revelation 14:7. 47:29 And so these earthly powers are seeking 47:32 to set up their authority in the place 47:34 of the authority of Jesus. 47:37 So the Hebrew word for daily is found throughout 47:39 the Bible describing how we should worship God, 47:42 how we should follow God. 47:44 The Bible directs us to say, for example, 47:46 continually let the Lord be magnified. 47:49 And that word magnified or continue, 47:52 I should say in Psalm 40:16, is the same word, 47:55 tamid is the same word for the word daily. 47:57 Let God continually be magnified. 48:00 In 1 Chronicles 16:11, 48:02 the Bible says we should seek God's face continually. 48:06 That word continually is the same word, tamid, 48:09 it's the same word for the daily. 48:12 His praise shall continually, Psalm 34:1, be in our mouths. 48:17 Same word, tamid, continually let God's loving kindness 48:21 and truth preserve us, Psalm 40:11. 48:24 God alone is to be our strong habitation 48:26 wherein we can continually resort. 48:28 Psalm 71:3. 48:30 We will keep His law continually in our hearts. 48:34 Psalm 119:44 and Proverbs 6:21. 48:38 So this word, tamid, this word, daily, this word, 48:40 continual is not just used in the sanctuary service. 48:44 This word is used throughout the Bible to describe 48:48 a close relationship between us and God. 48:51 Our continual dependence on Him, 48:53 our continually focusing on Him, 48:55 meditating on Him, following Him, 48:58 continually following the principles of His law 49:01 versus the laws 49:03 that are in contradiction to His law. 49:05 So this is the conflict that Jesus Christ is pointing 49:08 out to us in Matthew Chapter 24, 49:11 the abomination of desolation is going to be set up, 49:13 man's laws are going to be set up, 49:15 man's mediation, man's council, 49:16 man's authority is going to be set up 49:18 and they're going to take away the daily 49:20 and you're going to be praying 49:21 that your flight isn't on the Sabbath 49:23 nor in the winter because the Sabbath 49:25 is the one issue around 49:27 which this great controversy centers. 49:30 It is the one issue of worship in relationship to God versus 49:34 worshipping these earthly powers that they are seeking 49:37 to coerce or force you into, 49:40 manipulate you into through you're not, 49:43 an inability to buy or sell. 49:45 And we're just right on the borders of that right now. 49:48 We see people being inhibited, 49:49 we see people being restricted in their freedom 49:52 to buy and sell, and their freedom to have jobs, 49:54 and their freedom to go to public to get public access. 49:58 A lot of people are being affected by this right now. 50:01 So we see the stage being set. 50:04 And it's the devil's goal to take from us 50:06 all that is promised in these scriptures. 50:08 And what's promised in these scriptures 50:10 is dependence on God and not on man. 50:12 And a lot of us are struggling right now 50:14 because we're facing a liberty of conscience issue. 50:18 And we're trying to decide should I follow my conscience, 50:21 my conscientious convictions 50:23 or should I follow the Word of God? 50:25 I had a friend who's a nurse, anesthetist, 50:27 and he was being told that he was going to have 50:31 to comply with vaccine mandates 50:33 because he was a health worker. 50:35 And, but his conscience told that he didn't want to do that. 50:37 And I asked him the question, I said, "Listen." 50:38 I said, "If you were a multimillionaire, 50:41 would you, you know, do this?" 50:43 And he said, "No, I wouldn't." 50:44 He said, "My conscience tells me that I shouldn't do this. 50:48 So I don't want to do this. 50:49 This isn't good for me." 50:51 Now, I want to just emphasize right now, 50:53 the issue we're facing right now, 50:54 it's not about being vaccinated and not being vaccinated. 50:57 I have a lot of friends that are vaccinated 50:59 and I have a lot of friends that aren't vaccinated. 51:01 That's not the issue. 51:02 We need to support people who want to be vaccinated 51:05 and we need support people 51:06 who don't want to be vaccinated. 51:08 The issue is mandates, coercion, force. 51:11 We need to stand for liberty of conscience, 51:14 for the freedom to choose to make a choice. 51:18 And if my friend says, 51:19 "I don't want to be vaccinated." 51:20 I'm going to say, "Well, I support that." 51:22 If my other friend says, "I do want to be vaccinated." 51:23 I'm going to say, "I support that." 51:25 But I don't want anyone to be forced 51:27 to do something that's against their own conscience, 51:29 against their conscientious convictions. 51:32 And so that says in verse 16 of Matthew Chapter 24, 51:36 "Then him which is in Judea flee to the mountains." 51:39 Now, God is telling me 51:40 something very significant here, I believe. 51:43 The fleeing to the mountains is to go to a place 51:47 that is away from the cities, to get out of the cities, 51:51 they were to get out of Jerusalem, out of the city. 51:53 Why? 51:55 Because the city was going to be destroyed 51:56 when the Romans came. 51:57 The city was going to go down, as Jesus said, 51:59 "Not one stone would be left upon another." 52:01 And I think this applies to us in these last days. 52:03 I think God is telling us right now, 52:05 the cities are not the safe place to be, 52:08 they're not the best place to be for God's people, 52:11 it's time to get out of the cities. 52:13 And we know when this was finally passed, 52:15 when this worship issue comes down, 52:18 it's definitely time to get out of the cities. 52:21 But I would like to encourage those of you 52:23 who have an ear to hear, now is the time. 52:25 Rocks are crying now. 52:27 I live in the country, I've lived in the country forever, 52:30 it seems, you know, for the whole time 52:31 that I've been married plus some and I was a city boy, 52:33 I was raised in London and my wife is a city girl, 52:36 you know, she was raised in Loma Linda, California, 52:39 both of us have been living in the country, 52:40 all of our married life. 52:41 And we love living in a country 52:43 because we see the reason why God lay this out for us. 52:49 We see the reason why it's important 52:51 to be in an environment where we're not going 52:53 to be forced by neighbors and others around us 52:57 to comply with things that maybe we don't believe. 52:59 And the country is going to be a place 53:02 where we can raise our own food, 53:03 where we can have the freedoms and liberties 53:05 a little bit longer, of course, eventually, 53:07 I think we're just going to have to flee to the mountains 53:09 where we're just to camp and flee out there. 53:10 And, of course, we see this in the verse 53:12 also very clearly fleeing to the mountains. 53:14 But right now the country is the place to be. 53:17 And you know what? People know that. 53:19 Like I said, the rocks are crying out. 53:20 I bought a house not long ago in the country and now, 53:26 not even a year later, that house has gone up 53:28 in value 26% whereas houses in the cities 53:33 like San Francisco and LA are just barely going up 53:37 by 2 or 3% marks. 53:39 That's because people are moving out of the cities 53:42 and moving into the country. 53:43 And I'm not just talking about believers, 53:45 I'm just talking about people in general. 53:46 They are seeing what is coming. 53:48 They understand and God is speaking to them, 53:50 the Holy Spirit is speaking to them. 53:52 And they understand what is taking place 53:54 in the world today. 53:55 And God wants us to understand 53:57 what is taking place in the world today. 53:59 It's time for us to really think about where we focus, 54:03 it's time for us to really think about our future, 54:06 it's time for us to really think about 54:08 what's taking place on planet earth right now 54:10 because we're told and we'll study this further 54:11 in our next segment, we're told 54:14 that for a lot of people 54:16 who profess to believe in Jesus, 54:17 His return is going to come in a time 54:19 that they don't expect it. 54:21 They're not aware of it. 54:22 Well, they could have been aware of it if they would have 54:24 opened their ears and opened their eyes 54:26 to discern the spiritual truths that God is showing us 54:29 right now in a time in which we live. 54:31 They could have discerned it, 54:33 but they weren't willing to discern it. 54:34 So it says here, we need to, if we're on the housetop, 54:38 verse 17, if you're on the housetop 54:39 don't come down to take anything out of your house. 54:41 If you're in the field, 54:43 don't go back to get your clothes. 54:45 And then in the context of this, 54:47 we need to recognize that we need to be willing to let go 54:50 of earthly possessions 54:51 basically that's the principle. 54:53 We need to hold earthly possessions with loose hands. 54:56 We need to be willing to let go of these earthly possessions. 55:00 I still remember a video of tsunami in Japan 55:02 some years ago. 55:03 And they had video footage of people 55:05 that were fleeing in their cars and vehicles. 55:06 And then they showed this one man 55:08 that was had this heavy suitcase 55:10 and they were trying to drag. 55:11 He was trying to drag it up a hill, 55:12 he was going up and up in the water's rising rise, 55:14 he's trying to drag the suitcase up. 55:16 And finally the water gets to him 55:17 and takes a suitcase and him. 55:19 And if he would have just let go of that suitcase, 55:21 let go of that stuff and just himself tried to get 55:25 to that higher elevation, he would have been saved. 55:28 That was a really sad video, friends, and Jesus Christ 55:31 doesn't want that video to represent us. 55:33 He is pleading with us right now through His Word. 55:37 Don't go back for your stuff, just leave it and flee. 55:41 It's time for us to be focused on what is coming 55:45 upon this earth as an overwhelming surprise. 55:48 And my appeal to you right now is that you will consider 55:50 the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew Chapter 24, 55:53 that you would huddle with Jesus Christ 55:55 that is make Him a priority. 55:57 Spend more time in the Word of God 55:59 than you spend in anything else in your life. 56:02 Don't just spend a few moments in the Bible. 56:04 Don't just spend a few moments in prayer. 56:06 But really get into God's Word, 56:09 seek to understand the Word of God. 56:12 Pray earnestly for God to guide you. 56:14 Ask Him day and night even fast and prayer, 56:16 God where do You want me to be? 56:18 What position do You want me to occupy on the offensive line? 56:22 What position or what route do You want me to run? 56:25 Remember, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a football team, 56:27 Jesus is the quarterback. 56:29 We need to know the playbook. 56:31 What route do You want me to run? 56:33 What position You want me to occupy? 56:34 What block do You want me to make? 56:36 Friends, it is time for us to assess our spiritual life 56:41 with Jesus Christ. 56:42 It's time for us to examine ourselves 56:44 to see if we're in the faith, to prove our own selves, 56:48 lest we be reprobates. 56:50 It's time for us to grow in faith. 56:52 Romans 10:17 says, 56:54 "Faith comes by hearing and hearing 56:57 by the Word of God." 56:58 You've got extra time, perhaps you've been laid off, 57:00 perhaps you're not able to work, 57:02 perhaps you've been down with COVID, 57:03 who knows what you're facing. 57:05 You got that extra time, invest it in the Word of God. 57:08 Spend time in the Word of God. 57:10 Give your heart to Jesus. 57:11 Get in the huddle. 57:13 Let the tank be filled with His love 57:15 so that you can endure through the end. 57:17 So you can endure through the coldness. 57:19 So you can endure through a time 57:22 when the love of many waxes cold. 57:23 That's my plea. That's my prayer. 57:25 That's my appeal to you friends right now in Jesus' name. |
Revised 2022-01-20