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

Alright, so I want you to imagine that you work all four

2

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

125

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

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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.

315

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

320

rebellion in uprising against Jesus.

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Crazy, right?

322

Who would do that?

323

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

331

happen at any moment even now.

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Who gets raptured?

333

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

335

raptured and taken to heaven with Jesus.

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Okay?

337

This is a very simplified

overview of what's to come in.

338

Matthew 24, we're talking about

this period of time right here,

339

the seven year tribulation.

340

This is.

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After Christians are taken

away to go with Christ.

342

This time now is what we're

looking at right here.

343

We're looking at what people are

doing during the tribulation, and

344

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.

346

Lemme show you more what's to happen in

the tribulation that Jesus describes.

347

Verse nine.

348

Then they will deliver

you up to tribulation.

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There's that word, and put you to death.

350

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

352

Christians is that they're going to

be hated because they are Christians.

353

Now, if you're a Christian, now there's

some of this that we can expect.

354

Even today, you should be experiencing

at least some, some, some level

355

of persecution as a Christian.

356

Verse 10, he says, and then many

will fall away and betray one

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another and hate one another.

358

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.

361

Again, you have influences that are

trying to steal your attention away

362

from Jesus and put it on themselves.

363

Verse 12.

364

And because lawlessness will be increased,

the love of many will go, will grow cold,

365

but the one who endures to the end will

be saved, and this gospel of the kingdom

366

will be proclaimed throughout the whole

world as a testimony to all nations.

367

And then the end will come.

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So everything Jesus just talked

about, this is the tribulation period.

369

Now in verses 15 and onward, we're not

gonna be able to cover these verses,

370

but 15 through 20 through 28, 15

through 28, this is Jesus talking about

371

the second half of the tribulation.

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It's called the great tribulation.

373

This is where the rise of the antichrist

comes and he's going to say, I am God.

374

You should worship me.

375

This guy is powerful and

he's effective in his work.

376

You don't wanna be here

during the tribulation.

377

There's a lot of bad things

that are gonna happen.

378

It's gonna be really hard to be

on the earth at this time because

379

the tribulation effectively is

God's judgment upon the earth.

380

He's judging all the unbelievers.

381

He's judging everyone who

ever stood against him.

382

And even though judgment is coming,

there are gonna be Christians here,

383

there are gonna be Christians.

384

That's why there's, there's gonna

be people that are gonna be saved.

385

They're gonna put them to death, but you

don't want to be here during this time.

386

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.

389

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.

392

Matthew 24, rapture is next

on the on the time clock.

393

And that could happen when, anytime,

once the rapture happens, that initiates

394

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.

398

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.

408

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

411

will give you if you want them.

412

Okay.

413

I, I need to keep going

'cause there's so much more.

414

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.

418

You learn something so that

you can regurgitate it on a

419

test, and then what happens?

420

What do you do with it?

421

Forget it.

422

Jesus doesn't want you to do that.

423

He doesn't want you to

play the school game.

424

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.

429

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

433

that stand next to you, and those

women are called bridesmaids.

434

They're ladies that stand next

to you and give, uh, the, the,

435

the witnesses to your wedding.

436

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

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.

884

Please help us now to spend.

885

Helpful, productive, useful

time in our small groups.

886

Help us to be focused and attentive.

887

We ask all this in Jesus name.

888

Amen.