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1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 - What Jesus's 2nd Coming Will Be Like · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Well, good morning, faith listeners, and thank you for tuning
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Speaker 1: in to the last episode of season nine. So I
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Speaker 1: lied to you guys yesterday. I told you all that
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Speaker 1: yesterday's episode was the last episode of season nine, but
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Speaker 1: technically today's because whenever I start a new season, I
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Speaker 1: always started with the Old Testament, not with the New Testament.
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Speaker 1: So because we're in the New Testament today, I technically
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Speaker 1: can't start season ten yet. So yes today is the
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Speaker 1: last episode of season nine, and tomorrow we will move
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Speaker 1: into season ten with a brand new book of the Bible, which,
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Speaker 1: by the way, if you've been listening to me through
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Speaker 1: all nine seasons, that means you will have listened to
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Speaker 1: eleven books of the Old Testament. That is fantastic. And
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Speaker 1: some of those books are considered to be the hardest
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Speaker 1: to understand in the Bible, like Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy,
1:03
Speaker 1: and you guys have listened to all of those. So
1:04
Speaker 1: that is a huge, huge achievement that a lot of
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Speaker 1: people don't meet. So pat yourself on the back. Before today,
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and read first Thessalonians five one through four.
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Speaker 1: We're going to be talking about when Jesus is coming back,
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Speaker 1: and there are three category of people that Jesus is
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Speaker 1: going to meet when he comes back again, and we
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Speaker 1: want to make sure that we are in the first category,
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Speaker 1: not in the second or third. And we're going to
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Speaker 1: talk today how we avoid the second and third category
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Speaker 1: and how we get into the first category in light
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Speaker 1: of Jesus's coming. And we'll also be discussing a bunch
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Speaker 1: of parables that Jesus tells about his second coming as well.
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Speaker 1: Everything I read today will be in the web version
1:50
Speaker 1: of scripture, but grab your favorite version because you're going
1:53
Speaker 1: to need it today. We're going to be jumping around
1:55
Speaker 1: in scripture a lot today, but let's start in first
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Speaker 1: Thessalonians five one through four. But concerning the times and
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Speaker 1: the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be
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Speaker 1: written to you, for you yourselves well know that the
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Speaker 1: day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night,
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Speaker 1: For when they are saying peace and safety, then suddenly
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Speaker 1: destruction will come on them like birth pains on a
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Speaker 1: pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape. But you, brothers,
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Speaker 1: aren't in darkness that the day should overtake you like
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Speaker 1: a thief. Last week on the podcast, we talked about
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Speaker 1: the rapture. We discussed what the rapture is, what scripture
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Speaker 1: has to say about the rapture, is the rapture real?
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Speaker 1: And also did the rapture already take place? We discussed
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Speaker 1: all of that on Thursday, and so I highly recommend
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Speaker 1: listening to that episode if you haven't yet, because I
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Speaker 1: answer all of those questions and it will make more
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Speaker 1: sense when we talk about today's topic also. But in short,
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Speaker 1: to answer all of those questions very briefly, I do
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Speaker 1: believe the rapture is real. I think there's enough scriptural
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Speaker 1: evidence to prove that the rapture, whatever it's going to
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Speaker 1: look like, is real. And lastly, based upon my own
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Speaker 1: study of scripture, I do not think the rapture already happened.
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Speaker 1: I think it's something that is going to happen in
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Speaker 1: the future. And actually we're going to talk about that
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Speaker 1: topic a little bit more today as well, but mostly
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Speaker 1: for today, we're going to be discussing the parables that
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Speaker 1: Jesus gave to the multitudes about when he is going
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Speaker 1: to come back, because it turns out there's a lot
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Speaker 1: of parables about that topic. So let's see what Jesus
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Speaker 1: has to say about when he's going to come back.
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Speaker 1: And also let's see what Paul has to say about
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Speaker 1: this topic as well, So starting in verse one for
3:34
Speaker 1: Sessonians five. But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers,
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Speaker 1: you have no need that anything be written to you.
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Speaker 1: You know, the Thessalonians, they were very concerned about when
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Speaker 1: Jesus was going to come again, as well as I'd
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Speaker 1: say pretty much every Christian has been concerned about the
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Speaker 1: same thing. We're all wondering when is Jesus going to
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Speaker 1: come back? And you can see that so many people,
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Speaker 1: you know, especially today's day, are so excited about this.
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Speaker 1: Two weeks ago. For any of you who are on
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Speaker 1: social media, I'm sure you probably saw something about the
4:10
Speaker 1: rapture because there was a huge craze surrounding it. A
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Speaker 1: whole bunch of people believed that the rapture was going
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Speaker 1: to happen this year on September twenty third. And it
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Speaker 1: turns out, of course, that Jesus did not come back
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Speaker 1: September twenty third, So all the people promoting this lie
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Speaker 1: moved the date. They were like, oh oops, we miscalculated.
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Speaker 1: Jesus isn't coming back September twenty third. He's actually coming
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Speaker 1: back today October sixth and seventh, those are the days
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Speaker 1: he is coming back. And what's really sad about all
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Speaker 1: of this was a lot of people bought in to
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Speaker 1: that lie. There are a lot of people so excited
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Speaker 1: about Jesus's return, like genuinely, genuinely excited about it. Some
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Speaker 1: people went even so far as to sell their homes
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Speaker 1: and quit their jobs, and even deplete their entire bank
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Speaker 1: account and give all of the money that they had
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Speaker 1: to some stranger on the street. There were a lot
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Speaker 1: of lives completely ruined because of this deception. And I
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Speaker 1: am not blaming the people who fell for the deception.
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Speaker 1: I actually feel really sad for them. I'm sad that
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Speaker 1: their lives are ruined because of a stupid lie. But
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Speaker 1: who I am angry at are the people who promoted
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Speaker 1: this lie, saying like, yeah, we know when Jesus is
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Speaker 1: going to come back. Here's all the quote unquote evidence
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Speaker 1: I have for this. But they didn't have any evidence.
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Speaker 1: They weren't even reading their Bibles, because if they read
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Speaker 1: the Bible, they would know that no one knows when
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Speaker 1: Jesus is going to come back. And this is repeated
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Speaker 1: tons of times, like dozens of times, and we're going
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Speaker 1: to go through all of those parables and the times
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Speaker 1: that those are repeated today on the podcast. So let's
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Speaker 1: start in Acts chapter one, seven and eight. Here's what
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Speaker 1: Jesus says to his disciples, literally right before he ascends
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Speaker 1: up into heaven. Jesus said to them, it isn't for
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Speaker 1: you to know times or seasons which the Father has
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Speaker 1: set within his authority, but you will receive power when
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be
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Speaker 1: witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
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Speaker 1: and to the uttermost parts of the earth. When he
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Speaker 1: said these things, as they were looking, he was taken
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Speaker 1: up and a cloud received him out of their sight.
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Speaker 1: So that was like the last thing that Jesus said
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Speaker 1: to his disciples before he has sent it up into heaven.
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Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, you're not gonna know when I come back,
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Speaker 1: see you later. And yet all these people are like, oh,
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Speaker 1: we know when Jesus is gonna come back. But then
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Speaker 1: that's the last thing that Jesus actually says before he's ascended.
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Speaker 1: Crazy crazy stuff. And actually that versus kind of what
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Speaker 1: Paul is alluding to. I believe when he is writing
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Speaker 1: to the Thessalonians because he's like, we don't know. I'm
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Speaker 1: sorry to break that to you. What we just don't know.
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Speaker 1: But here's what we do know in verse two of
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Speaker 1: first Sessonians five, for you yourselves know well that the
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Speaker 1: day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
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Speaker 1: Now that, of course is alluding to the parable that
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Speaker 1: Jesus gives in Luke twelve thirty nine and forty. And
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Speaker 1: this is Jesus himself again teaching his disciples. But know
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Speaker 1: this that if the master of the house had known
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Speaker 1: in what hour the thief was coming, he would have
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Speaker 1: watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
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Speaker 1: Therefore be ready also, for the son of Man is
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Speaker 1: coming in an hour that you don't expect him. So
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Speaker 1: just like how thieves typically break in at night when
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Speaker 1: people are asleep, and they are shocked in the morning
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Speaker 1: when they wake up and they don't have any of
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Speaker 1: their stuff, it's gonna be very similar when Jesus comes back,
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Speaker 1: and is he going to catch us sleeping or is
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Speaker 1: he going to catch us wide awake waiting for him.
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Speaker 1: Because you can imagine that somebody who owns a house,
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Speaker 1: if they knew that a thief was coming very soon.
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Speaker 1: Would that person not be up and awake, waiting for
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Speaker 1: that thief with one hand on his phone ready to
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Speaker 1: dial nine to one one, and the other hand, I guess,
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Speaker 1: on a shotgun, ready to protect his family and himself
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Speaker 1: and all of his stuff from being stolen. Yes, of course,
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Speaker 1: if somebody truly knew that his house was going to
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Speaker 1: be broken into, you would take steps to protect yourself
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Speaker 1: and all of your things and everybody in your house.
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Speaker 1: The same way, we should be ready for Jesus. We
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Speaker 1: should be watching and waiting for his return. He might
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Speaker 1: be like, well, Jen, how can we possibly do that
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Speaker 1: if we don't know the times, if we don't know
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Speaker 1: when Jesus is coming back. Well, the point is to
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Speaker 1: always be ready and waiting, because even if Jesus doesn't
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Speaker 1: come back in our lifetime, let's just say that our
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Speaker 1: next breath is not guaranteed to us. We don't know
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Speaker 1: the day of our death, we don't know when we're
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Speaker 1: gonna die. We could see Jesus at this very moment,
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Speaker 1: you know, as I'm recording this podcast, I guess like
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Speaker 1: an asteroid could come down and hit my house. Like theoretically,
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Speaker 1: that could happen, and I would meet my maker immediately.
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Speaker 1: So the point is is to always be ready, always
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Speaker 1: be watching out for him. So let's go through some
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Speaker 1: of the other parables that Jesus talks about regarding us
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Speaker 1: waiting for him. Remaining in Luke chapter twelve, reading verses
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Speaker 1: thirty five through forty eight, here's what Jesus says about
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Speaker 1: his second coming. Let your waiste be dressed and your
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Speaker 1: lamps burning, Be like men watching for their lord when
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Speaker 1: he returns from the wedding feast, that when he comes
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Speaker 1: and knocks, they may immediately open up to him. Blessed
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Speaker 1: are those servants whom the Lord will find watching when
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Speaker 1: he comes most certainly. I tell you that he will
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Speaker 1: dress himself, make them recline, and will come and serve them.
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Speaker 1: They will be blessed if he comes in the second
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Speaker 1: or third watch and he finds them. So. But know
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Speaker 1: this that if the master of the house had known
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Speaker 1: in what hour the thief was coming, he would have
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Speaker 1: watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: be ready also for the sun. A man is coming
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Speaker 1: in an hour that you don't expect him, said to him, Lord,
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Speaker 1: are you telling this parable to us or to everybody
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Speaker 1: the Lord said, Who then is the faithful and wise steward,
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Speaker 1: whom his lord will set over his household to give
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Speaker 1: them their portion of food at the right times. Blessed
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Speaker 1: is that servant whom his lord will find doing so
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Speaker 1: when he comes. Truly, I tell you that he will
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Speaker 1: set him over all that he has. But if that
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Speaker 1: servant says in his heart, my Lord delays his coming
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Speaker 1: and begins to beat the men servants and the maid servants,
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Speaker 1: and to eat and drink and to be drunken, then
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Speaker 1: the lord of that servant will come in the day
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Speaker 1: when he isn't expecting him, and in an hour that
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Speaker 1: he doesn't know, and will cut him in two and
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Speaker 1: place his portion with the unfaithful. That servant, who knew
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Speaker 1: his lord's will and didn't prepare nor do what he wanted,
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Speaker 1: will be beaten with many stripes. But he who didn't
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Speaker 1: know and did things worthy of stripes will be beaten
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Speaker 1: with few stripes. To whomever much is given of him,
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Speaker 1: much will be required. And to whom much was entrusted
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Speaker 1: of him, more will be asked, so that entiere they
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Speaker 1: are parable. Is about people being ready for Jesus's return,
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Speaker 1: and Jesus says there's a couple categories of people. And
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Speaker 1: Jesus basically said that there's three categories of people. The
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Speaker 1: first category are the people who are watching and waiting
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Speaker 1: for Jesus, you know, diligently doing God's will while we
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Speaker 1: have this time on earth, while we're waiting for Jesus,
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Speaker 1: diligently doing what we're supposed to be doing. When Jesus
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Speaker 1: comes back and he finds those people doing his will
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Speaker 1: and waiting for him, they're actually going to be blessed.
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Speaker 1: Jesus is as is going to serve them. In verse
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Speaker 1: thirty seven, He's gonna make them recline and come and
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Speaker 1: serve them. And that's a really beautiful picture because it
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Speaker 1: denotes that our work here on earth is done. Like forever,
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Speaker 1: we're gonna have eternal peace and rest where we have
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Speaker 1: this communion and fellowship with Jesus forever. And I don't
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Speaker 1: think that that means that when we're up in heaven,
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Speaker 1: Jesus is going to be our servant and we can
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Speaker 1: just order him around it and do whatever we want. No,
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Speaker 1: I don't believe that at all. I think we're going
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Speaker 1: to still serve Jesus when we get to heaven. But
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Speaker 1: I think the idea is that our work on earth
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Speaker 1: and all of our toil, all the tribulations, all of
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Speaker 1: the persecution is going to be done and over with.
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Speaker 1: We have eternal comfort and rest where we can just
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Speaker 1: sit back and recline and have our needs completely taken
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Speaker 1: care of by Jesus's provision. So that's the first category
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Speaker 1: of person, and obviously, as Christians, we want to be
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Speaker 1: in that category. But there's another category of Christians that
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Speaker 1: Jesus talks about here that aren't going to be as successful.
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Speaker 1: That category are the people who give up. They get
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Speaker 1: overwhelmed and irritated with Jesus not coming back. They think
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Speaker 1: it's never going to happen, and they just kind of
12:53
Speaker 1: start doing whatever they want to do. That's talked about
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Speaker 1: in verse forty seven. The servant who knew his Lord's
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Speaker 1: will and didn't prepare nor do what he wanted will
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Speaker 1: be beaten with many stripes. So that means there's going
13:08
Speaker 1: to be judgment for people who know God's will but
13:12
Speaker 1: refuse to do it. These are people, quite honestly, who
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Speaker 1: abuse and mistreat other people, who only live for themselves.
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Speaker 1: They may cause church hurt, or, in the case of
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Speaker 1: this whole rapture craze, lie to people and cause people
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Speaker 1: actually suffer because of their lives. They may claim to
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Speaker 1: be Christians, they might actually be Christians. They might have
13:36
Speaker 1: a belief in Jesus but not live it out correctly.
13:39
Speaker 1: But more likely they're claiming Jesus causing suffering and hardships
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Speaker 1: for other people, all while saying, yes, I'm living under
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Speaker 1: God's will. I am doing this all in Jesus's name.
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Speaker 1: These are the people that Jesus is talking about right here,
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Speaker 1: the ones that refuse to do what God wants them
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Speaker 1: to do and just kind of live out mistreating and
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Speaker 1: abusing other people for their own selfish endeavors. Those Christians,
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Speaker 1: it says, are going to be judged very harshly because
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Speaker 1: they knew the Lord's will and refused to do it.
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Speaker 1: And that's why Jesus says, be very watchful because you
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Speaker 1: don't know when I'm going to come back. Don't be
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Speaker 1: like this second category of person, because it's not going
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Speaker 1: to be pretty when Jesus comes back. Now, the last
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Speaker 1: category of person is the one who doesn't know Jesus's
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Speaker 1: will and does not do good things. Jesus actually says
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Speaker 1: it's going to be easier for those people than for
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Speaker 1: the person in the second category, the person who does
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Speaker 1: not know Jesus's will, who's never heard the gospel or
14:47
Speaker 1: barely heard the gospel, doesn't understand it. Those people are
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Speaker 1: going to have an easier time when Jesus comes back
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Speaker 1: than the person who knew God's will and refused to
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Speaker 1: do it. So now in Luke twelve, jumping down to
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Speaker 1: verses fifty four through fifty six, Jesus actually kind of
15:05
Speaker 1: yells at the multitude he's preaching to. He says, to
15:09
Speaker 1: the multitudes, when you see a cloud rising from the west,
15:12
Speaker 1: immediately you say a shower is coming, and so it happens.
15:16
Speaker 1: When a south wind blows, you say there's going to
15:19
Speaker 1: be a scorching heat, and it happens. You hypocrites, You
15:23
Speaker 1: know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and
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Speaker 1: the sky, But how is it that you don't interpret
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Speaker 1: this time? And this little parable might actually be very
15:32
Speaker 1: confusing to you because you're like, wait, Jesus just said
15:35
Speaker 1: we don't know when he's coming back. But now right
15:38
Speaker 1: here he's saying that we can decipher the times. So
15:42
Speaker 1: what is it? Can we decipher the times or not
15:44
Speaker 1: decipher the times? I think the answer lies in Matthew
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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four Matthew twenty four, thirty two through thirty five,
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Speaker 1: Jesus gives another parable about his coming now from the
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Speaker 1: fig tree. Learn this terrible. When the branch has now
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Speaker 1: become tender and produces its leaves, you know that summer
16:04
Speaker 1: is near. Even so you also, when you see all
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Speaker 1: these things, know that He is near, even at the doors.
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Speaker 1: Most certainly, I tell you this generation will not pass
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Speaker 1: away until all these things are accomplished. Heaven and earth
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Speaker 1: will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
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Speaker 1: So that's the answer. Just like right now, you know,
16:21
Speaker 1: I'm looking out my window. Most of the leaves on
16:24
Speaker 1: the trees are still green, but they're certainly starting to
16:28
Speaker 1: turn some colors, you know, like the poison ivy going
16:31
Speaker 1: up all the trees. That is the first thing to
16:34
Speaker 1: turn when fall approaches. So the poison ivy leaves are
16:38
Speaker 1: bright red. And then you know, the tulip trees are
16:41
Speaker 1: starting to change, and some of the leaves are turning
16:44
Speaker 1: bright yellow. So I can tell. Even though it is
16:48
Speaker 1: very warm outside today, it is like eighty degrees where
16:51
Speaker 1: I'm at, which is absolutely wonderful. Thank God for summer
16:55
Speaker 1: continuing a little bit longer, even though it is very
16:58
Speaker 1: warm right now. Just based upon what I am seeing outside,
17:03
Speaker 1: I know that fall is just around the corner. I
17:08
Speaker 1: know that winter weather is coming soon, that colder weather
17:11
Speaker 1: is coming, so I have to make preparations for my
17:14
Speaker 1: home right now. One of the things my husband and
17:16
Speaker 1: I are doing is we are preparing wood for the
17:19
Speaker 1: winter months because pretty soon, in just a couple of months,
17:22
Speaker 1: it's going to be twenty degrees or lower in my area,
17:27
Speaker 1: so we have to prepare a whole bunch of wood
17:29
Speaker 1: in order to heat our home for the upcoming winter months.
17:35
Speaker 1: And the dead giveaway is the fact that the leaves
17:38
Speaker 1: are changing. I know that winter is coming, so you
17:42
Speaker 1: can imagine if I'm like ignoring all of these these
17:45
Speaker 1: signs that winter is coming, and my husband and I
17:48
Speaker 1: prepared no wood whatsoever, we'd be screwed when the winter
17:52
Speaker 1: weather came. We'd have nothing to heat our house. We'd
17:55
Speaker 1: be freezing. We'd have to go spend a ton of
17:57
Speaker 1: money for someone else to give us wood when we
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Speaker 1: could have spent no money and chop down our own
18:05
Speaker 1: trees and prepared the wood that we have in our backyard.
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Speaker 1: That's what Jesus is talking about here. He's like, just
18:12
Speaker 1: like you guys can discern the weather that's coming up
18:16
Speaker 1: based upon how a tree looks, can you not discern
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Speaker 1: when I Am going to come again? You may not
18:22
Speaker 1: know the exact time, day, hour, year, week, whatever month.
18:29
Speaker 1: You may not know that, but you do know based
18:32
Speaker 1: upon the signs that I've already given you that the
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Speaker 1: time is drawing nearer. So watch and be alert and
18:40
Speaker 1: be awake. You do not know, but you can kind
18:44
Speaker 1: of know. And the one thing I said on the
18:47
Speaker 1: episode last week when we talked about the rapture, one
18:49
Speaker 1: of the ways you can tell that Jesus's return is
18:52
Speaker 1: getting closer is when the prophecies start to make more sense. Yeah,
18:58
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of prophecies in Revelation where we
19:00
Speaker 1: look at them we're just like, huh, like, what the
19:03
Speaker 1: heck does that mean? But as things happen in the
19:08
Speaker 1: world and they start to make a little bit more sense,
19:11
Speaker 1: we can be like, hmm, Jesus might be getting a
19:15
Speaker 1: little bit closer. So that's one way we can tell
19:19
Speaker 1: that Jesus's return is growing closer and closer. So let's
19:24
Speaker 1: move into one last parable that Jesus gives in Mark
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Speaker 1: chapter thirteen, twenty eight through thirty seven. And I really
19:32
Speaker 1: like this particular parable. I wanted to make sure I
19:34
Speaker 1: included this one in today's episode. Actually, Jesus repeats the
19:39
Speaker 1: whole parable of the fig tree in verses twenty eight
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Speaker 1: through thirty one. Now from the fig tree, learn this parable.
19:45
Speaker 1: When the branch has become tender and produces its leaves,
19:48
Speaker 1: you know that summer is near. Even so you also,
19:51
Speaker 1: when you see these things coming to pass, know that
19:52
Speaker 1: it is near at the doors. Most certainly, I tell
19:55
Speaker 1: you this generation will not pass away until all these
19:58
Speaker 1: things happen, and earth will pass away, But my words
20:01
Speaker 1: will not pass away. Now. On Thursday, we talked about
20:04
Speaker 1: how the word generation, which is genea in Greek, could
20:08
Speaker 1: also mean race or family or people, and not necessarily
20:13
Speaker 1: Jesus's own generation. There is a niche group of people
20:16
Speaker 1: that believe that the rapture already happen based upon this
20:20
Speaker 1: verse and also a similar verse in Matthew twenty four,
20:24
Speaker 1: continuing in verse thirty two of the day or the hour,
20:27
Speaker 1: no one knows not even the angels in heaven, nor
20:30
Speaker 1: the son, but only the Father. Watch, keep alert and pray,
20:34
Speaker 1: for you don't know when the time is. It's like
20:37
Speaker 1: a man traveling to another country, having left his house
20:40
Speaker 1: and given authority to his servants and to each one
20:43
Speaker 1: his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.
20:46
Speaker 1: Watch therefore, for you don't know when the lord of
20:48
Speaker 1: the house is coming, whether at evening or at midnight,
20:51
Speaker 1: or when the rooster crows, or in the morning, lest
20:54
Speaker 1: coming suddenly he might find you sleeping. What I tell you,
20:57
Speaker 1: I tell all watch. And that last verse there is
21:03
Speaker 1: why I like this parable so much. Jesus pretty much
21:06
Speaker 1: declares that his words are not just for the disciples,
21:11
Speaker 1: but for every single person who is going to read
21:15
Speaker 1: the scriptures. So, in my personal opinion, that means that
21:19
Speaker 1: the rapture has not happened yet, that Jesus is still
21:23
Speaker 1: yet to come. Because why would Jesus specifically say he
21:27
Speaker 1: is warning everybody, every single person? Because the Greek word
21:33
Speaker 1: for all, which is pass, means all everything, everyone, every whole, anyone, anything, full,
21:45
Speaker 1: continually and absolute. Jesus himself says that his words regarding
21:51
Speaker 1: his second coming are for all every single person who
21:57
Speaker 1: is going to read what he says in the future,
22:00
Speaker 1: in the past, his disciples, everybody to come after us.
22:04
Speaker 1: Jesus is talking to every single person about this. And
22:08
Speaker 1: so that's my main reason why I believe that Jesus's
22:12
Speaker 1: second coming is yet to come. It has not happened yet,
22:17
Speaker 1: because why would Jesus say that his words are for
22:20
Speaker 1: every single person if they were only for his disciples
22:23
Speaker 1: and his generation. But even the entire letter of First Thessalonians,
22:28
Speaker 1: going back to our actual reading for today, the book
22:32
Speaker 1: of First Thessalonians kind of proves Jesus's words are for
22:36
Speaker 1: everyone because the Thessalonians were gentiles who were converts to Christianity.
22:44
Speaker 1: If Jesus's words were only for his disciples, only for
22:48
Speaker 1: the Jews, the Thessalonians wouldn't have even had these questions,
22:52
Speaker 1: wouldn't have needed to know anything about the rapture whatsoever.
22:56
Speaker 1: Here's what Paul says in First Thessalonians five three and four.
23:01
Speaker 1: When they are saying peace and safety, then sudden destruction
23:04
Speaker 1: will come on them like birth pains on a pregnant woman.
23:07
Speaker 1: Then they will in no way escape. But you brothers
23:10
Speaker 1: aren't in darkness, that the day should overtake you like
23:13
Speaker 1: a thief. Now, when Paul talks about that, he's saying
23:18
Speaker 1: that those who don't believe in Jesus's return, they're going
23:21
Speaker 1: to say, oh, everything is perfect. We are totally fine
23:25
Speaker 1: to do whatever we want to do. Jesus is not
23:27
Speaker 1: going to come back. There is no issue whatsoever. We
23:31
Speaker 1: are completely safe to do whatever we want to do.
23:34
Speaker 1: But here's what Jesus says about that, Luke seventeen twenty
23:39
Speaker 1: two through thirty seven. Jesus said to the disciples, the
23:43
Speaker 1: days will come when you will desire to see one
23:46
Speaker 1: of the days of the Sun of Man, and you
23:48
Speaker 1: will not see it. They will tell you look here
23:51
Speaker 1: or look there. Don't go away or follow after them.
23:55
Speaker 1: For as the lightning when it flashes out from one
23:58
Speaker 1: part under the sky and shine to another part under
24:01
Speaker 1: the sky, so will the Sun of Man be in
24:03
Speaker 1: his day. But first he must suffer many things and
24:07
Speaker 1: be rejected by this generation, as it was in the
24:10
Speaker 1: days of Noah, even so it will be also in
24:13
Speaker 1: the days of the Sun of Man. They ate, they drank,
24:16
Speaker 1: they married, and they were given in marriage, until the
24:18
Speaker 1: day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood
24:21
Speaker 1: came and destroyed them all. Likewise, even as it was
24:24
Speaker 1: in the days a lot they ate, they drank, they bought,
24:27
Speaker 1: they sold, they planted, they built. But in the day
24:29
Speaker 1: that lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and
24:32
Speaker 1: sulfur from the sky and destroyed them all. It will
24:34
Speaker 1: be the same way on the day that the Son
24:36
Speaker 1: of Man is revealed. This entire parable I just read
24:40
Speaker 1: is Jesus summarizing his second coming perfectly. First and foremost,
24:44
Speaker 1: you're not going to know the day when I come back.
24:47
Speaker 1: You're not going to know, he says. But a bunch
24:50
Speaker 1: of people are going to claim I know exactly when
24:54
Speaker 1: Jesus is coming back. Jesus says, don't go away or
24:58
Speaker 1: follow after them. For as the lightning when it flashes
25:02
Speaker 1: across the sky, that is how my second coming is
25:06
Speaker 1: going to be. Like one moment life is as normal.
25:09
Speaker 1: The next moment Jesus is back, that is how quick
25:13
Speaker 1: it's going to be. And when Jesus comes back, he says,
25:18
Speaker 1: everybody who was just living for themselves that day of
25:21
Speaker 1: my second Coming is going to completely overtake them, and
25:26
Speaker 1: things will be like they were in the days of
25:28
Speaker 1: Noah and also in the Days of Lot, where suddenly
25:32
Speaker 1: disaster struck because they weren't paying attention to the warning signs.
25:38
Speaker 1: You know, in both cases, In the case of Lot
25:40
Speaker 1: and also the case of Noah, both Lot and Noah
25:44
Speaker 1: were telling the people you got to stop sinning. You
25:47
Speaker 1: gotta stop because destruction is going to happen if you
25:50
Speaker 1: don't stop. But the people laughed and refused to listen,
25:54
Speaker 1: and then suddenly disaster did actually strike them. But you know,
25:57
Speaker 1: for the Christian this is nothing to fear because Jesus's
26:01
Speaker 1: second coming is going to be a very very exciting
26:04
Speaker 1: thing for us. We don't have to fear about it.
26:06
Speaker 1: We can be excited about it. We can watch and
26:09
Speaker 1: wait and be like yay when Jesus comes back. But
26:12
Speaker 1: the thing that is very scary about it is how
26:15
Speaker 1: final it is. When Jesus comes back. There is no
26:19
Speaker 1: turning back. So that's why Jesus tells us to be
26:23
Speaker 1: prepared ahead of time and to wait for him. But
26:26
Speaker 1: how do we wait for Jesus. Well, Jesus gave us
26:29
Speaker 1: the answer. We live in his will. That is what
26:32
Speaker 1: we do. That does not mean that we live in
26:34
Speaker 1: sinless perfection, that if we sin once, when Jesus comes back,
26:37
Speaker 1: he's going to be like, oh, nope, I'm not taking him.
26:40
Speaker 1: He sinned, so nope, he doesn't get to come up
26:42
Speaker 1: to heaven with me, because if that were the case, literally,
26:46
Speaker 1: none of us would be raptured. It does not mean
26:48
Speaker 1: sinless perfection. But what it does mean is that we
26:51
Speaker 1: do our best to live in God's will. That means
26:56
Speaker 1: submitting to him. That means not rebelling against him and
27:00
Speaker 1: the things that he wants for us, but doing our
27:03
Speaker 1: best to live out the purpose that he gave us
27:06
Speaker 1: and seeking a relationship with him. Those are the two
27:09
Speaker 1: ways we wait for Jesus's second coming so that we're
27:13
Speaker 1: not surprised when one moment we're living out our day
27:16
Speaker 1: is normal and the next moment Jesus is here. Well,
27:23
Speaker 1: faithful listeners, we are almost done with First Thessalonians. I
27:27
Speaker 1: think I'm only going to have two more episodes in
27:29
Speaker 1: this book and then we will move into Second Thessalonians
27:33
Speaker 1: next Thursday. So that is something exciting to look forward
27:36
Speaker 1: to because that will mean that you have another book
27:39
Speaker 1: of the Bible that you have read and listened to
27:42
Speaker 1: in its entirety, and that is such an exciting accomplishment. Well,
27:47
Speaker 1: faithful listeners, I hope you enjoyed the end of season
27:49
Speaker 1: nine of this podcast. Tomorrow we start season ten, and
27:54
Speaker 1: it's going to be good. We're going to be in
27:55
Speaker 1: second chronicles tomorrow because on Mondays and Wednesdays I go
27:59
Speaker 1: through the Old Testament, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go through
28:03
Speaker 1: the New Testament. So tomorrow we'll be back in the
28:05
Speaker 1: Old Testament, starting season ten of the podcast with a
28:08
Speaker 1: brand new book of the Bible. So I'll see all
28:12
Speaker 1: of you guys tomorrow six am or whenever you choose
28:15
Speaker 1: to wake up and listen. Happy listening, and God bless