Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / First Glimpses of the Last Days Msg 921 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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First Glimpses of the Last Days Msg 921 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: We enter today into an interesting subject. In our study
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  Speaker 1: of Matthew's Gospel, we come to what is known as
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  Speaker 1: the Olivet discourse.
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  Speaker 2: Discourse is a.
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  Speaker 1: Teaching session, and Olivet is from the name of the
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  Speaker 1: mount on.
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  Speaker 2: Which Jesus spoke these words.
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  Speaker 1: When you travel to Israel, a big part of your
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  Speaker 1: journey is around in Jerusalem, around the Mount of Olives.
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  Speaker 1: It was there where Jesus met with his own for
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  Speaker 1: that last gathering to pray at the garden of Gethsemene,
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  Speaker 1: Garden of Gotseemone, that's at the Mount of Olives. It
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  Speaker 1: is at that same mount Jesus it's with his disciples
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  Speaker 1: and reviews things to come, things that are future to
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  Speaker 1: us as well as of course future to those who
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  Speaker 1: are living in that first century. So this is a
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  Speaker 1: prophetic section of scripture, which always attracts the attention of people,
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  Speaker 1: because we are fascinated by prophecy. Interesting, as we work
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  Speaker 1: our way through twenty four and twenty five, these two
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  Speaker 1: chapters will will see similarities to our own day, which
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  Speaker 1: causes some people to say and think we are now
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  Speaker 1: living out the things that Jesus spoke, and we are not.
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  Speaker 1: The fact is these are just a precursor. These are
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  Speaker 1: brief and rather a small examples of what will take
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  Speaker 1: the world world by storm in the future, as will
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  Speaker 1: as we'll hear today. We get into Matthew twenty four
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  Speaker 1: today and we continue in the middle of that chapter
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  Speaker 1: this next time together. But first we look at twenty
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  Speaker 1: four one to fourteen. This morning, you've brought your Bible,
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  Speaker 1: make sure you have found it. I'm reading from the
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  Speaker 1: New Living Translation because it's a little easier to understand
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  Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with your Bible, and it is
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  Speaker 1: of course based on the scholarly work of many who
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  Speaker 1: spent years preparing it. Matthew twenty four one through fourteen,
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  Speaker 1: may we stand for the reading of the scriptures. As
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was leaving the temple grounds, his disciples pointed out
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  Speaker 1: to him the various temple buildings. But he responded, do
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  Speaker 1: you see all these buildings? Tell you the truth? They
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  Speaker 1: will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left
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  Speaker 1: on top of another. Later Jesus sat on the Mount
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  Speaker 1: of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said,
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  Speaker 1: tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will
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  Speaker 1: signal your return? And the end of the world.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus told them, don't.
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  Speaker 1: Let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my
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  Speaker 1: name claiming I am the Messiah.
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  Speaker 2: They will deceive many, and you will hear of wars
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  Speaker 2: and threats. Are our rumors of wars. But don't panic.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't
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  Speaker 1: follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and
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  Speaker 1: kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in
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  Speaker 1: many parts of the world. But all this is only
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  Speaker 1: the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
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  Speaker 1: Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will
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  Speaker 1: be hated all over the world because you are my followers,
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  Speaker 1: and many will turn away from me and betray and
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  Speaker 1: hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and
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  Speaker 1: will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and
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  Speaker 1: the love of many will grow cold. But the one
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  Speaker 1: who endures to the end will be si. And the
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  Speaker 1: good news about the Kingdom will be preached.
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  Speaker 2: Throughout the whole world, so.
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  Speaker 1: That all nations will hear it, and then.
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  Speaker 2: The end will come. You may be seated.
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  Speaker 1: Those are frightening words to someone who isn't prepared to
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  Speaker 1: hear them, or to understand where he or she will
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  Speaker 1: be when they occur. They are haunting words. Jingor Hyatt
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  Speaker 1: saying earlier from the chorus of that great hymn, stayed
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  Speaker 1: upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, and then she's sang
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  Speaker 1: of that perfect peace that only God can give. That
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  Speaker 1: song is based on Isaiah twenty six, verses three and four,
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  Speaker 1: where we read the words that will keep him in
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  Speaker 1: perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee because he
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  Speaker 1: trusts in THEE. The Hebrew interestingly doesn't say perfect peace.
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  Speaker 1: The Hebrew reads that will keep him in shalom shalom.
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  Speaker 1: In the Hebrew language, when a word is repeated, it
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  Speaker 1: is repeated for the purpose of emphasis. It intensifies the meaning.
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  Speaker 1: We use an exclamation point to do that God keeps
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  Speaker 1: us in peace, peace, peace that is beyond understanding, because
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  Speaker 1: our hearts in Him. If you've never met Jesus, you've
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  Speaker 1: only been somewhat religious or perhaps a bit interested in
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  Speaker 1: things of this nature. But you can honestly say there's
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  Speaker 1: never been a time in your life when you have
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  Speaker 1: given Christ your life, your heart. These words will haunt you.
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  Speaker 1: You will fear the coming of this time, whereas if
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  Speaker 1: you know Christ, the good news is you'll not go
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  Speaker 1: through any of this. More on that, leader, My point
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  Speaker 1: here is that the most important decision you can make
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  Speaker 1: today is not to listen to me, but to give
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  Speaker 1: your heart to Christ. Listen to God as he taps
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  Speaker 1: you on your heart and say you says to you,
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  Speaker 1: you've never trusted me, You've never taken my son as
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  Speaker 1: your savior.
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  Speaker 2: You want my peace.
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  Speaker 1: That's how you will have it, and with him will
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  Speaker 1: come a rescue.
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  Speaker 2: From all these things.
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  Speaker 1: Now with me, as we pray, our Father, on this
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  Speaker 1: day in which we recognize the love and the faithfulness
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  Speaker 1: of one of your servants over these many years among us,
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  Speaker 1: we thank you for your faithfulness far beyond those years.
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  Speaker 1: For your goodness to us, guide us. We pray in
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  Speaker 1: our walk with you, and may we live them. May
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  Speaker 1: we live these years with our eyes open, with our
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  Speaker 1: ears attuned to what you were saying, with our hearts
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  Speaker 1: ready for what you have planned provide that sense of
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  Speaker 1: peace that only Christ can give. As we rely on you,
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  Speaker 1: not in a passive way, but in a confident manner,
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  Speaker 1: knowing that you are in sovereign control, and you do
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  Speaker 1: all things well for this reason, Lord, we find joy
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  Speaker 1: in coming together to worship, to sing great songs and
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  Speaker 1: to hear them sing, and to enter into the message
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  Speaker 1: in a personal way.
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  Speaker 2: Soften the soil of our hearts.
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  Speaker 1: Today, as we hear what you have to say to
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  Speaker 1: us from what Jesus taught his disciples, May I handle
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  Speaker 1: this passage correctly, and may we hear these words well.
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  Speaker 1: May we not soon forget them, for you always mean
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  Speaker 1: what you say. Accept our thanks for our occupation, the
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  Speaker 1: privilege of earning a living, and the way we're able
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  Speaker 1: to make that living, which includes the money we are provided.
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  Speaker 2: We give from that source.
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  Speaker 1: Today, recognizing that you are the one who has made
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  Speaker 1: it all possible, and we thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Deeply for that.
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  Speaker 1: Accept our gifts and accept these words which we offer
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  Speaker 1: in the name of Jesus and for his sake alone.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone said, Amen, there's something absolutely magnetic about prophecy. I
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  Speaker 1: can't fully explain it, but we seem to never lose
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  Speaker 1: our fascination over things to come. It's always been true,
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  Speaker 1: goes all the way back in time, and I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: will be true long after we're gone. The ability to
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  Speaker 1: think about and with some sense of intelligence sort of
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  Speaker 1: map out what lies ahead. Not setting dates, We're never
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  Speaker 1: to do that, not even Jesus did that, but to
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  Speaker 1: sort of unfold the great events that lie ahead.
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  Speaker 2: We all want to know about it.
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  Speaker 1: When I got out of seminary, I was twenty seven
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  Speaker 1: years young and had the privilege of my life to
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  Speaker 1: assist doctor J. Dwight Pentecost, who was not only the
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  Speaker 1: chair of the Bible Exposition department and had taught me
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  Speaker 1: during my four years at school, but also was the
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  Speaker 1: senior pastor of Grace Bible Church. The church was not
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  Speaker 1: an imposing large structure, but rather small, and even though
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  Speaker 1: doctor Pentecost was an outstanding.
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  Speaker 2: Preacher, it was not usually full.
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  Speaker 1: But this man, who was known even at that time
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  Speaker 1: as a prophetic scholar. He never liked that title, but
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  Speaker 1: it was true. He had made a lifetime study of
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  Speaker 1: the prophetic scriptures. He announced on one occasion that coming
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  Speaker 1: up he would be doing a series of Biblical messages
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  Speaker 1: on the major themes of the future, the themes of prophecy.
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  Speaker 1: He would be bringing them on Sunday evening. Now I
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  Speaker 1: understand that's not everyone's favorite time to be a church,
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  Speaker 1: and the building itself was never anywhere near full. On
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  Speaker 1: Sunday evenings until he made that announcement, and that evening,
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  Speaker 1: that first evening a couple of weeks later, long the
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  Speaker 1: service began.
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  Speaker 2: It was packed. There was standing room only.
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  Speaker 1: I know because I was among the standing group in
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  Speaker 1: the back watching all of this occur as he unfolded
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of sixteen messages, which were later put into
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  Speaker 1: a book titled Prophecy for Today, excellent book on the
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  Speaker 1: future things.
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  Speaker 2: I talked to.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Pentecost about that later and I said to him,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it's amazing. I think you could have announced
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  Speaker 1: that for Tuesday evening and that has still been the
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  Speaker 1: place would still have been full. He said, actually, Chuck,
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  Speaker 1: I think you're probably right. And he said, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: thrilled with that. When I travel and I speak, and
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  Speaker 1: he said, I choose a subject like loving and serving Christ, well,
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  Speaker 1: that may be a moderate group of people who will come,
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  Speaker 1: or I'll talk about the importance of the church when
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  Speaker 1: I'm on the road, that there won't be that many.
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  Speaker 1: But he said, believe me, when I'm announced that I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to talk about the next event of the future,
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  Speaker 1: or the Antichrist, the coming world dictator, or the Armageddon
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  Speaker 1: campaign or the great white throne, judgment places packed, illustrating
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  Speaker 1: again how we are fascinated by such subjects. Something deep
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  Speaker 1: within us longs to know what lies beyond us, What
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  Speaker 1: will it be like on this earth in the future,
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  Speaker 1: what will remain as it is, what will change? Those
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  Speaker 1: kind of thoughts and those questions not only run through
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  Speaker 1: our minds, but they were in the minds.
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  Speaker 2: Of the disciples of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: And no better teacher ever lived than the Son of
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  Speaker 1: God himself, so they had the choice of their lives
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  Speaker 1: to talk to him about that. In fact, we read
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  Speaker 1: in verse one of chapter twenty four of Matthew.
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  Speaker 2: As Jesus is leaving the temple.
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  Speaker 1: Grounds, so we know right away he's in the city
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  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem. The temple is Herod's Temple, a magnificent structure
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  Speaker 1: made of massive stones that were hand chiseled and fitted
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  Speaker 1: into place by the slaves of that day when it
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  Speaker 1: was built, and it stood multi stories high with great columns,
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  Speaker 1: a very impressive building that even at that time the
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  Speaker 1: disciples were caught up with, and they referred to the
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  Speaker 1: buildings and no doubt the beauty of them, and mentioning
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  Speaker 1: various buildings as they had appeared as they walked by,
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  Speaker 1: and that prompted Jesus to say verse two. You see
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  Speaker 1: all these buildings, I tell you the truth, they will become.
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  Speaker 1: They will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be
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  Speaker 1: left on top of another. When you travel in Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: and you see the stones, as the temple has been
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  Speaker 1: rebuilt and much of that stonework has been put back
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  Speaker 1: into place, you see the size, some of them weighing
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  Speaker 1: well over one hundred tons each.
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  Speaker 2: And to think that those stones would be.
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  Speaker 1: Broken, demolished, moved aside, so that one now standing on
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  Speaker 1: another will no longer be there, you can it boggles
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  Speaker 1: the mind to think of such destruction. Now, just to
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  Speaker 1: set the record straight, that statement doesn't refer to the
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  Speaker 1: distant future, but it certainly did refer to things future.
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  Speaker 1: From the Disciples in seventy AD, that is eighty seventy
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  Speaker 1: when the Romans invaded Jerusalem, they destroyed the temple, and
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  Speaker 1: in fact, that's exactly what happened to their beloved temple.
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  Speaker 1: He they destroyed Jerusalem, they tore up the temple, and
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  Speaker 1: they plundered the area and took many.
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  Speaker 2: Of the people captive.
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  Speaker 1: But that's eighty seventy that's not the distant future, as
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the chapter refers to, because Jesus has
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  Speaker 1: much more to say about the future. He reserves that
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  Speaker 1: for a little later on in the conversation. As a
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  Speaker 1: matter of fact, no doubt, what he says to them
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  Speaker 1: here in versus one and two he now amplifies when
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  Speaker 1: he gets to verse four. But look first and verse
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  Speaker 1: three later. Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. When
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  Speaker 1: you travel to Israel, you are in Jerusalem, and you
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  Speaker 1: will see and will often be on the mound itself.
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  Speaker 1: It is a low sloping western side that goes up
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  Speaker 1: to its peak and then drops over to the eastern slope.
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  Speaker 1: The little town or village of Bethany is on the
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  Speaker 1: eastern slope, about two miles from the city of Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: But the mound stands between Jerusalem and what was then
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  Speaker 1: the little village of Bethany. Where he's going, we know
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  Speaker 1: that according to what Matthew twenty six tells us, well,
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  Speaker 1: it will not go there. But that's he's on his
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  Speaker 1: way there, and they're going to walk up the slope
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  Speaker 1: and then down.
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  Speaker 2: But on the way up that slope he realizes, there are.
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  Speaker 1: Some things I need to teach these men whose curiosity
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  Speaker 1: is peaked by the question regarding the temple itself. So
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  Speaker 1: we read in verse three, he sat on the Mount
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  Speaker 1: of Olives. In those days, all teachers sat to teach.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't stand as we do today when we teach.
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  Speaker 1: He sat down on the slope, no doubt, the western
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  Speaker 1: slope of the mount. His disciples came to him, and
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  Speaker 1: they privately asked two questions. These two questions prompt the
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  Speaker 1: rest of this chapter and all of Chapter twenty five call,
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  Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, the Olivent discourse. In fact, the
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  Speaker 1: answer to these questions is the longest answer given in
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  Speaker 1: all the New Testament to any question.
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  Speaker 2: Look at what they ask. One is a question regarding time.
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  Speaker 1: The other is a question regarding events, the time question
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  Speaker 1: verse three. His disciples came to him privately, and they ask,
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  Speaker 1: tell us when will all this happen? The word when
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  Speaker 1: is a time question. I'm sure they would have left
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  Speaker 1: to know even dates, but they wanted to know the
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  Speaker 1: general time in which it would occur, referring to things
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  Speaker 1: of the future. And now they ask, even beyond that,
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  Speaker 1: about the events, what will be the sign that will signal.
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  Speaker 2: Your return? And the end of the world.
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  Speaker 1: When that question ends, his answer begins, if you carry
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  Speaker 1: a red letter edition of the Bible. The rest of
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  Speaker 1: chapter twenty four is read. All of Chapter twenty five
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  Speaker 1: is read except for one little comment that Matthew adds,
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  Speaker 1: until all the way through to the end, So twenty
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  Speaker 1: four to twenty five the Olivet discourse.
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  Speaker 2: What Jesus lays out.
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  Speaker 1: Before them is a survey of the events that will
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  Speaker 1: take place that lead to the end of the earth
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  Speaker 1: as we know it today. I need to insert something
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  Speaker 1: here because I know as soon as I get into
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  Speaker 1: this some of you are going to be concerned about
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  Speaker 1: how you will endure such things as this. Let me
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  Speaker 1: reassure you that if you come to know Christ, you
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  Speaker 1: will not go through any of this. It is all
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  Speaker 1: future to our day, but it is.
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  Speaker 2: All beyond the rapture of the Church. I'm convinced.
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  Speaker 1: Scripture teaches that the next event of the future for us.
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  Speaker 2: Will be fulfilled in the words of Paul.
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  Speaker 1: To the Thessalonians, the Lord himself will descend from heaven
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  Speaker 1: with a shout with the voice of the archangel and
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  Speaker 1: the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall
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  Speaker 1: rise first.
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  Speaker 2: Then we who are alive. That's the believers will be
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  Speaker 2: caught up.
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  Speaker 1: Together with them, those who have been believers who have died,
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  Speaker 1: My mother and dad, no doubt, your mother and dad,
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  Speaker 1: loved ones who love Christ who have died.
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  Speaker 2: They will rise first.
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  Speaker 1: We will rise with them, if we're alive at the time.
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  Speaker 1: With them, there will be a great family reunion in
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  Speaker 1: the air, and we will be forever with the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Now think, obviously, there will be the majority of people
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  Speaker 1: remaining on this earth who will not be taken up.
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  Speaker 1: They are unbelievers, because He takes up all of the believers.
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  Speaker 1: That's when the Holy Spirit removes his restraining power. That's
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  Speaker 1: when the emphasis of the church and the influence of
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  Speaker 1: good from churches all over the world will be taken away,
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  Speaker 1: and the earth will turn into the words of a
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  Speaker 1: mentor of mine, a hell on earth. It will be
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  Speaker 1: such devastation, such misery as the mind can hardly imagine.
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  Speaker 1: I will not exaggerate, and I will not pull on
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  Speaker 1: any kind of imagination. I will go on the words
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  Speaker 1: of what Jesus teaches. I will not set any dates,
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  Speaker 1: because no dates are ever provided. I will simply say
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  Speaker 1: you and I are rescued from it. Taken off the earth,
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  Speaker 1: and those who remain will go through this period of
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  Speaker 1: tribulation and ultimately great tribulation devastating time. So not only
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  Speaker 1: will the disciples not go through these things, we will
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  Speaker 1: not either.
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  Speaker 2: Nevertheless, they will occur.
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  Speaker 1: Now back to the discourse itself, which begins in verse four,
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  Speaker 1: he gives six specific signs in answer to their question.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, you wonder about the when question. The
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  Speaker 1: only time he answers that is later on in the
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  Speaker 1: discourse he says, no one knows the time when this
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  Speaker 1: will occur.
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  Speaker 2: No one knows the date.
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  Speaker 1: That's in the fathers control, that's under his sovereign care.
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  Speaker 2: So he doesn't set a date. And let me warn you,
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  Speaker 2: steer clear of any teacher who sets dates.
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  Speaker 1: Stay away from those who get a crowd by naming
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  Speaker 1: dates and giving you specific eras in which it will occur.
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  Speaker 1: I've seen people do that and leave the meeting with
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  Speaker 1: egg on their face when it didn't happen as a
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  Speaker 1: result of that time arriving. And then they will do
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  Speaker 1: a little semantique footwork and say, actually, it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be five years from now. I didn't figure it quite right.
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  Speaker 1: Five years later, it still didn't happen, So don't set dates.
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  Speaker 2: Don't go there.
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  Speaker 1: But the events we can count on because they are
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  Speaker 1: specifically described, even described by Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: So what will be the signs? I want to.
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  Speaker 1: Suggest the six that appear in verses four through fourteen.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: Here we go.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: I've given you an hour line. If you wish to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: write them down, that's fine. If you don't, that's okay too.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: But I'll give them to you one by one as
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: we work our way through. By the way, he uses
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: an interesting word picture for all of this, he uses
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: it in verse eight. In all, this is only the
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: first of the birth pains, with more to come.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: See those words birth pains.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: There isn't a mother reading those words who doesn't understand
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: what that is. We call them labor pains. They don't
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: come at the beginning of a pregnancy. They don't come
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: in the middle. They come toward the end, when the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: birth of the child is about to occur, the labor intensifies.
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: So he's describing the events that will occur when we
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: get near the end of that time. So these are
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: birth pain signs that will be going over number one
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Versus four and five. Don't let anyone mislead you, for
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: many will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: They will deceive many. So if you're writing them down,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: the first sign you can write is widespread deception by
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: a growing number of false Christs, widespread deception by a
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: growing number of people who claim to be Messiah. The
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: deception in those days yet future will intensify and will
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: escalate as never before, since the Holy Spirit will have
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: withdrawn his presence, and the restraining power that he had
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: provided will be removed. This earth will break into horrendous
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: difficulties of all manner and of all sizes. One reliable
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: scholar writes, as the number of deceivers grows, so will
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: the number ulnerable people who desperately look for answers to
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: the overwhelming calamities that torment them. He continues, the world
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: will begin to disintegrate, Suffering will become unbearable, and sin
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: will reach its maximum potential. The moral and spiritual influence
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: of the Church will be gone. Remember we're taken up,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: We're removed. Will be gone. Even more significantly, the restraining
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: power of the Holy Spirit will be removed. So when
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: these false messiahs show up with their the phony messages
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: they'll be believed by many, because many going through this
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: will be longing for someone who has answers, there'll be
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: widespread deception. Second Versus six and the early part of
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: verse seven. You will hear of wars and rumors or
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: threats of wars, but don't panic. Yes, these things must
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. In
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: the future before Christ returns to the earth as the judge,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: there will be and this is second, international disputes and warfare,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: which will intensify among nations and king vidoms. From the
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: way this reads, no group of people will be spared
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: from war or the threat of war. Like birth pangs,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: international hostilities will intensify. Real aggration, along with rumored conflicts,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: will interrupt the peace of every nation worldwide. The future
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: clash will be warfare of mind boggling magnitude, according to
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: what Jesus is teaching now the third. If that isn't enough,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: look at this third characteristic or sign of his return
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Versus seven.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: The end of verse seven.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: And eight, there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts.
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: Of the world.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: But all this is only the first of the birth pangs,
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: with more to come. Third, there will be famines, earthquakes,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: and other natural disasters that will proliferate. They will occur
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: not in.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: One part of the world, but the world over.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: Geological disturbances will coincide with the current religious deception and error,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: adding further confusion and wide range panic. If you've never
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: been through an earthquake, you can only imagine.
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: You can only imagine.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: If you've ever been through a f never been through
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: a famine, you can only imagine. Starvation will spread, Disease
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: and plagues will be.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: Added to the misery.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: Crops and other vegetations will be devastated since the streams
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: and the rivers, and the wells and the reservoirs will
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: dry up. Un Lest anyone think it will soon be over,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: don't miss that last comment. This is only the first
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: of the birth pains. There will be more to come
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: in the dreadful natural disasters that will create.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Enormous feelings of panic.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: The world over. Number four, there will be severe persecution
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: of believers by those who hate Christ verse nine. Then
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed, who will be
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: hated all over the world world because you are my followers.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Those who are left on this earth that the rapture
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: will suddenly realize what they have missed. Some will believe
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: at that moment, some shortly thereafter will believe in Christ.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Most will not.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: But there will be those who will trust in Christ,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: and they will become the targets of persecution and prejudice.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Because those believers will be identified with Jesus, the hatred
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: of the unsaved world will rise up against them, resulting
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: in their being hunted down, pointed out, tortured, arrested, tried
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and killed. Martyrdom will intensify during this time. We've only
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: seen a little of it, though there are countries where
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: there has been much in our estimation. In the future
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: it will be wholesale. It will be all over. I
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: want to show you a scene out of Revelation seven,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: which is the other side of a martyrdom. Revelation chapter seven,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: please look ahead, last book of the Bible. We move
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: quickly now into the scene beyond Earth. Now that these
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: believers have been killed while on earth, the saints had
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: been taken to heaven, and John, who writes the Revelation,
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: picks up the story in chapter seven, beginning at verse nine,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Are you with me? Revelation seven and verse nine. After this,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: every nation and tribe and people and language. That's a
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: reference to the whole world, of course, standing in front
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: of the throne and before the Lamb, that would be
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: the throne of God, the Lamb being the risen Christ
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: who is seated in the heavens. They were clothed in
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: white robs and held palm branches in their hands, and
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: they were shouting with great roar, salvation comes from our
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: You see, they were taken in full belief, and they
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: still believe after they are taken to heaven, and they
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: make their testimony known right here in the words of
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: verse ten.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: Look at verse thirteen. It's a very moving scene.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: One of the twenty four elders asked me, who were
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: these who were clothed in white? Where did they come from?
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Here's the answer I said to him, Sir, you're the
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: one who knows. He said to me, these are the
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: ones who died in the Great Tribulation. They have washed
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: them white. Those are words that refer symbolically to coming
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: to know Christ. That is why they stand in front
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: of God's throne and serve him day and night in
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: his temple. He who sits on the throne will give
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: They will never be scorched by the heat of the sun,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: for the lamb on the throne will be their shepherd.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: He will lead them to springs of life giving water,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. It's
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: the very familiar scene of heaven. These who are martyred
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: on this earth will be taken from the earth, and
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: they will appear before the Lord, completely refreshed and renewed
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: in their glorified state. Now fifth will go back to
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Matthew twenty four. As we move verses ten through thirteen.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: Here's the fifth sign. Many will turn away from Me
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: and betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: appear and will deceive many people. So this sign will
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: be many supposed Christians will defect, the.
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: Masks will come off.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Persecution has a way of bringing out the truth. As
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: a consequence of persecution, those who acted as if they
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: were believers.
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: Followers of Jesus will.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Quickly show that they are not as they unmask and
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: fall away. Look at the vivid description in verse ten.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Many will turn away, betray and hate each other. So
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: it will be a free for all among humanity, a
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: miserable time because persecution weeds out the phony followers. They
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: will be on display, and they will turn against one
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: another as pain brings out the truth. I want to
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: measure something in verse thirteen, Lest you be misled, it
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: says the one who endures to the end will be saved.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: It sounds like salvation by works. If you endure to
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: the end, then you have earned your salvation. That is
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: one way to take it. But I think rather it
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: means that the endurance will be proof of their salvation.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Endurance will be a spirit empowered product of their salvation,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: proving that the person is already born again.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: That's what I believe that statement means.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: Sixth and last, there will be worldwide declaration of the Gospel.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: Most people don't know this.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: They've not read far enough along to remember that Jesus
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: promise is a magnificent evangelistic effort at the very end
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: of time. Look at that fourteenth verse. The good news
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: about the kingdom will be preached throughout.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: The whole world, so.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: That all nations will hear it, and then the end
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: will come. It doesn't say all nations will believe it.
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: Who will be doing the proclamation If so many are
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: unmasked unbelievers, I think it could very well be the angels.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: The angelic host.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: Has the ability to become as humans, or their voices
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: can be heard as human voices around the world that
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: know all the languages in all the cultures, and I
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: suggest that they are dispatched worldwide to make a final
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: public procuct relation of the good news of Christ, announcing
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: all who will turn their lives over to Christ will
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: be born into God's family and ultimately preserved for eternity.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: The proclamation will be made known, and all the nations
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: will hear, though they will not all believe. Ultimately, we
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: will read later and elsewhere. Christ will return to this
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: earth and will judge this earth as he separates the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: sheep from the goats, as those are words for believers
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: from unbelievers, and then will begin the ultimate millennial kingdom
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: that has been promised the Jews since the Jews' history began.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: The promises he had made to.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: The Jews will be fulfilled as he takes them into
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: a time of earthly peace, a thousand year reign when
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: Christ serves as King over all. Who would call themselves
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: king and Lord above all? Who would call themselves lord?
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: After this, when you go back to the end of
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: verse fourteen, then the end will come.
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: Period.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: I pause so that it will make an impact life
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: as it has been known.
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: All of these centuries on Earth will end.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Earth will change from the way it has been for centuries.
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: All of that ends with the arrival of Christ, the
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Armageddon campaign, and the setting up of his kingdom on
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: this earth.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: It's not a falsehood.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: It's not folklore. This is not an imagination or exaggeration.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: I don't deal in those things. This is neither a
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: lie nor a scare tactic. I've read you the words
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: of Jesus and explain them just probably pretty much as
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: you would explain them if you had given time to
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: think through them.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: There will be no second chance.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: There is no purgatory taught in the New Testament or
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: the Old.
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: There will be no.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Opportunity later when one realizes what one has missed, anymore
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: than there will be when you breathe your last and
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: your time on this earth, and brain wave is flat,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: heart stops beating, and you are, at that moment a corpse.
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: Life doesn't end, because life continues, since the soul within
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: us is eternal. The body ends its functioning, and the
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: organs of the body end. But there is a future
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: of judgment, and there is a dreadful future for those
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: without Christ. I end on that rather heartbreaking note because
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: I would love to be able to tell you that
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: there's a verse that will provide you away out of that.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: There isn't. There isn't an escape clause from the end
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: will come.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: Any more than.
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Your last breath will offer you another last breath later on.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: It's over. It's the end.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: It is appointed unto humanity wants to die, and after
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: death the judgment according to God's word. My responsibility is
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: to tell you the truth and to leave the decision
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: with you, the most important decision you could ever make,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: which will rescue you not only from such times as this,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: but so many other things we've not even mentioned. You
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: will know a joy that is impossible to describe and
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: a peace that passes understanding. If you will give your heart,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: your life to Christ. Will you bow with me? Please,
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: I'll not linger. I'll just ask you to bout with me.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: If there has never been a time in your life
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: right where your sitting there, you look back over your
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: life and you cannot remember a time when you gave
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: your heart to Christ, when you said yes to the
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, and you told him you wanted him
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: to live in your life, to forgive your sins and
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: to provide you with a clean sleep for eternity.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: Now was the time to take care of that.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be rescued,
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: You will be delivered. You will be saved now and forever,
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: you will be secured in Christ.
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: That's your decision today.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: For the very first time, we would love to talk
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: with you and to help you in your journey as
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: you make your way into the Christian life, to learn
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: what's involved in it. My only reason in hoping that
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: these things have disturbed you is to move you toward
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: that decision. For if you are in Christ, there's nothing
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: to worry about. These are things that will not touch you.
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: But if you are without Christ, you're among those who
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: will be left when He comes to receive his own
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: trust him now, Dear Father, thank you for the privilege
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: of declaring your word. May it have its full impact
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: as you would desire when you wrote it, and having
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: preserved it, maybe not leave as we entered this building.
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: But may we be reminded.
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: There is hope, there is a future.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: There is the privilege of knowing you on earth and
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: walking with you.
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: May not one soul leave.
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: Unprepared for what may lie ahead, and we trust you
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: with that decision in their lives. In the name of Christ,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: we pray everyone said Amen.
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 47:34
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, First Glimpses of the Last Days, was
• 47:38
  Speaker 3: copyrighted in twenty seventeen and twenty twenty one, and the
• 47:42
  Speaker 3: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty one by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
• 47:48
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 47:52
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.