WEBVTT

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This is your daily reminder. God has not run

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out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome

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to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome back, Tuesday,

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March the 3rd, and we are in the book of Luke

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today, specifically chapter 21 in our journals

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together, in our time together, in our reading

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plan. I'm very excited about Luke 21 because

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this is going to be a... A crazy week. We've

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just gone from reading Haggai about building

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the temple, rebuilding Solomon's temple that

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was destroyed, then Zerubbabel, and that remnant

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that came back rebuilt the temple. Well, we're

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going to see today, Jesus is going to talk about

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the temple getting destroyed. Why are we on the

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temple so much? I don't know. I think it will

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help us to maybe see this in light of what all

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we've kind of gone through and where we're going

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next. We are toward the end of Jesus's earthly

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ministry in Luke 21. This week, we will also

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look into Matthew 24, which is a bit of a mirror

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here. In Matthew 23, it kind of gets us set up

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to where we actually are. I want to give you

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a little background to Luke 21. Before Jesus

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gives this talk, this address to the disciples

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and to the people around him, he has just exposed

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the religious system for what they are. Prideful,

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arrogant, overwhelmingly hypocritical, and...

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All of those elements, right? It's not the system

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that is humility and care and love of the Lord.

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It's pride. It's hypocrisy of the whole religious

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establishment. That's what's just taken place.

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He's just exposed all that. You can find that

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text in Matthew 23 if you want to go into extra

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Bible study today. But in Luke 21, now after

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he's exposed all that, He goes into the temple.

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This temple, by the way, it is the second temple,

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but it has been renovated. A guy named Herod,

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an Edomite tyrant. This is not the guy that is

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a friend of the Jewish people. He is an Edomite,

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which we can go into history and talk about that.

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But ultimately, we know today he was a tyrant.

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He was despised by the Jewish people. He took

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the temple and renovated it. and made it and

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expanded it and made it this glorious splendor

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of a building and architecture. He has built

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upon it and made it bigger and golder, and if

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golder is a word, I don't even know, but made

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it a very big spectacle. Now, Jesus, the setting

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is Jesus is in this temple. This is one of the

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last weeks in the just days from now. He is going

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to be taken and And his life will be put on display

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for everyone to see. But in these moments, he

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is in the temple and he's walking in. And right

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here, we're going to pick up the story in Luke

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21. I encourage you, read the whole thing today.

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I'm going to talk about the first part, summarize

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the middle, and talk about the last part for

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us today, for our purposes today. Now, we're

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looking at it again on Friday this week. So tune

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back in on Friday. We're going to talk about

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Luke 21 again. But today, for our purposes, I

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want to read the first couple of verses in Luke

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21. We'll go down through about verse 6 or so.

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Here's what it says. says in Luke 21, beginning

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at verse 1, Jesus looked up and saw the rich

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putting their gifts into the offering box, and

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he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.

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He said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has

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put in more than all of them. For they all contributed

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out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty,

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put in all she had to live on. And while some

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were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned

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with noble stones and offerings, he said, As

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for these things that you see, the days will

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come when there will not be left here one stone

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upon another that will not be thrown down. Now,

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what has just happened here is absolutely mind

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-blowing to me. These are Jesus' followers. Around

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him, he's standing in the court of women, which

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is where the offerings took place right there

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in the temple. There are 13 trumpet -shaped boxes,

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okay? Now, the reason they were trumpet -shaped

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boxes is because you would throw your money in,

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and they were metal coins or copper coins or

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silver coins. They would throw them into these

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trumpet -shaped boxes, and it would be a loud

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sound. The more you gave, the louder the sound.

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The heavier the coin, the louder the sound. The

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bigger the coin, the louder the sound. You get

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the idea. And more than likely, the way you poured

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it in would make the sound ring even louder.

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So in this court of women, it was the area that

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women were allowed to go. They could go and give

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an offering. And so in this court, Jesus is looking

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around, and there are people giving tons of money.

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Tons of money. pennies or her two small coins.

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And Jesus, he's trying to teach us something

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beautiful here. I love Luke 21. It starts with

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a widow and her silent small gift. It ends with

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the world completely chaotic. And in the middle

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of it, it's Jesus trying to teach us something.

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He says, look at this woman. She's given all

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she has. She's given more than everybody else.

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Now, people looking around saying, well, she's

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not given near as much as everybody else. Because

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I heard a sermon on this one time that was very

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convicting. It says, we judge on what we give,

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and God judges on what we keep. And that one

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kind of struck me, right? Did I give more to

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the Lord than I kept this week? My dad used to

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tell me he was very convicted at one point, and

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he said, you know, I feel so terrible about my

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giving. I said, why is that? And he said, because

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I kept more than I gave. And I said, well, are

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you talking about like 50 %? And he says, I want

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to give at least 51 % to the Lord in any way

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possible so that I can give more than I have

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kept. And I thought, that's crazy. Who lives

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like that? But then I look and see like the faithful

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people that live that way are the ones that whenever

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they see Jesus face to face, get a really big

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reward and a really... Big introduction into

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the heaven, I'm sure. The rest of us who are

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selfish people who try to keep so much, Jesus

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is not talking about us in a good light. He talks

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about this widow in a good light. What does he

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mean whenever he says she's given everything?

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She's given out of her livelihood. She's given

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everything she had to live on. What that word

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means, that's the bios word, to live on. It means

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she gave out of absolute dependency. She gave

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what she depended on. What does that say about

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her relationship with the Lord? I'm not going

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to depend on my coins. I'm going to depend on

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you. These others gave out of their abundance.

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She gave out of her dependency. Powerful, powerful

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thing. We look at the big gift of the big givers,

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and Jesus looks at the big surrender of those

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who surrender to him and to what God is doing.

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It sets this entire chapter up, right? Appearance

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versus reality. What happens next blows my mind.

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How in the world are the disciples, as Jesus

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is teaching this lesson, going to say, look at

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how great the temple is. Look at how adorned

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it is. Look at how beautiful the stones are.

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And Jesus says, every stone is going to be upside

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down. This temple will be destroyed. Here's what

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takes place in the coming verses. I encourage

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you, read it all. He begins to dismantle every

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thought that this is the glory days. He begins

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to take them all down. The disciples start freaking

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out. They're like, well, explain to us. When

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is this going to happen? When is this going to

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happen? And Jesus begins this dissertation. He

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begins this whole declaration by saying, first

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off, deception comes first. Deception. He says,

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there's going to be people that are going to

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act like me, talk like me, look like me that

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aren't me. There's going to be people that are

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going to try to deceive you and say they're me

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and they're not. There's going to be false Christs

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that come, false messiahs that will show up and

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try to deceive you. Why? Because here's what

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Satan does. He deceives you, then destroys you.

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Destruction is never the first step. It's always

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deception. Always. There is a lie that creeps

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in. You start believing that lie, and guess what?

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You end up being destroyed. That's how it works.

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Jesus says it begins with deception, so do not

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be deceived. Here's what he's saying in the first

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part of this whole lesson that he is teaching,

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this whole understanding, this revealing of the

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truth. He says, I want you to know who I am and

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the purposes and the plans. God is not improvising

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the future here. He is setting a plan in place,

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and it is happening. That's what's going on.

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As Jesus teaches this, he says, I need you to

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know this is the plan. I need you to know who

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I am and what the truth is so that you don't

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get deceived. So know this. Put it in your brain.

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Put it in your heart. Tie it to everything in

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your life. Do not be deceived. What that means

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is I want you to know the truth. That's what

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I want you to do. Then the end of the chapter.

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There's a lot that happens in the chapter, and

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I know some of you are going to run to Revelation

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6, and I know some of you are going to run to

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Matthew 24. We're doing that in a couple days.

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But I know that you're going to say, well, the

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end times, end times, end times, end times. Yeah,

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we can do all that, but here's what I want you

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to be reminded of today. It starts with the faithfulness

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of a widow that cares for what God's doing. She

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gives what she depends on so that she can show

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where her heart and her emotions and everything

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she is is where it's located. It's located in

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him. Then the disciples are overwhelmed by the

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building. The building is so beautiful. What's

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crazy? Herod, the builder of this temple, is

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a tyrant that they despise. They despise him

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and they idolize what he's built. That's crazy

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to me. We do that every day. Let your mind run

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wherever it wants to run in that. Just know we

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despise this builder, but what he's built is

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magnificent, and I love it, and I want to be

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there where he has built it. We get fascinated

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by these things. And Jesus says, be careful.

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Don't be deceived in the shiny, flashy stuff.

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Don't be deceived in those that are going to

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come and try to trick you. Know who I am. Know

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what the plan is. Here we go. He then explains

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everything that's going to happen. Wars, pestilence.

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He says, first off, I want you to know this.

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Don't be deceived. Then, don't be afraid. Don't

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be afraid. There's going to be wars. There's

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going to be persecution. There's going to be

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problems. Don't be afraid. You're on my side.

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You're on my team. We're good. Then, at the end

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of the chapter, I'm going to read a couple more

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verses, and then we'll be done. The Bible says

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in Luke, 21 down in verse 34. But watch yourselves,

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lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation

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and drunkenness and the cares of this life. And

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that day come upon you suddenly like a trap,

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for it will come upon all who dwell on the face

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of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times,

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praying that you may have strength to escape

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all these things that are going to take place

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and to stand before the Son of Man. This text

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is a challenge for us. I want you to know and

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understand what's going on. I want you to watch

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and be mindful. I want you to watch. That word

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watch is not just sit back and watch. That word

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is an active word. So it means be alert or wake

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up. Don't be asleep. While all this is going

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on, I want you to be active, and I want you to

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be awake, and I want you to be a part of it,

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and I want you to see it and know that, and it

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even ends it with the phrase, the Son of Man.

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The Son of Man is the King of Kings. When He

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returns in glory, it is going to be unlike anything

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we've ever seen. He came the first time, humble,

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the Son of Man. The second time, He comes in

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all glory and splendor to reign as King. Watchfulness

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is proof of life. It means you are awake. You

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are alert. So when you watch, you are alive.

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That's the concept. Now, let's go back to the

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first of Luke 21, right? What does he say about

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the widow? She gave out of her livelihood. Now

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he ends the chapter, ends this piece, and there's

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more that happens in the next couple of chapters.

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We'll read those in the coming weeks as we're

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in this new series. But here's what he says.

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Watch. Be alive. Be alert. That means focus your

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attention where it needs to be focused. For the

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sinner, this is terrifying. For the saint, this

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is a relief because we know who our king is.

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Listen, the temple may fall, but the king will

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not. The temple can't stand, but our king can't

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fall. I want to be encouraging to you today.

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I want you to read this text today. Read it with

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fresh eyes, fresh ears, and read it with some

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encouragement today, knowing that our king wins.

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He reigns. We're going to look again a couple

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of times this week into some end times pieces,

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so you'll get more of that from the podcast later.

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But I just want to encourage you today. Be mindful.

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Know where you stand. Know where your faith is

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placed. Don't be overwhelmed. Don't be distracted

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or deceived by the shininess of things in this

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world. Be content with who you are in Christ

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and watch. Be alert. Do not be a lazy person.

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Be a Christian that is active and sharing his

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faith because the end will come at some point.

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And when Jesus returns, we're going to celebrate

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with him forever. Our King reigns.