Hey there! Is today your first time here? Or
maybe your first time in a while? If so, maybe
you're wondering exactly who we are and what
this church is all about. Well, we'd like you
to know that we're a group of ordinary people
who are on an amazing journey together following
Christ. Our guide is the Bible because it's the
divinely inspired Word of God and it will never
take us in the wrong direction. Along the way,
we hope you'll see that we are welcoming and
spiritually passionate. and that getting to know
you is a big deal to us. We know that the road
is rough sometimes, but we'll work really hard
to bring you practical and relevant messages
to equip and encourage you through life's ups
and downs. We want you to know that we care about
this community, and we believe that it's our
job to make it a better place. So no matter who
you are or where you've been, we're glad you're
here with us today, and we hope that you'll join
us on our journey, following Christ and living
out His plan for us. So welcome to church. We're
currently taking a break in the book of Acts.
Obviously, last week was Christmas. This week
and next week, we're going to actually take the
next couple weeks to talk a little bit about
Bible prophecy. We're going to detour from the
book of Acts and just do a little refresher,
a little reminder what the Bible says, talks
about the future, and the future matters because
it's how we live in the present. Knowing the
future, that's why we have the future. That's
why all the way from the Old Testament, And even
in the New Testament, it points to future events.
Bible prophecy. I'm not going to do it because
I got little bookmarks in my Bible. But if you
mark your Bible and take about a third of it
and hold it up, that's how much of the Bible
is prophetic. About a third of your Bible is
prophetic. Some people say if you take your Bible
and put your finger in Acts chapter 2, And then
go to Revelation chapter 19. Hold that little
thin portion up. That's the church. And everything
else you see, especially before Acts, that's
Israel. How important Israel is in the prophetic
scheme and what God's doing with Israel. The
sons of Issachar, it says, and I am going to
pray. Hopefully I remember to pray. Not that
I haven't prayed. But the sons of Issachar. In
1 Chronicles, it talks about this group of men,
small group of men, that were there when David
took the throne. And it says that these men,
these sons of Issachar, they knew the signs of
the times. And it said for this very reason that
Israel would know what to do. Why should we know
the days we're living in? I think it's very important.
Jesus pointed to these days. And why? Because
we need to know what to do, how to live in these
days, how to act, how to behave. What should
we be doing? How should we live as a church and
as a people of God? So we'll pray really quick
here. Lord, we're thankful for your word. We're
thankful, God, that we have it. We have instruction.
We know the future. We know what's coming. We
have a lot of the detail of it. And so I pray
for this morning, Lord, that distractions, confusion,
God, that this would be clear, Lord, and that
it would cause us and motivate our hearts, Lord,
to action, to know what we should do in these
last days that we're living, Lord, in your name.
Amen. When you talk about the last days, if you
would, and you don't have to turn to every scripture.
If you want to, if you want to keep your fingers
moving, you can. I'm going to reference a bunch
of scriptures. I'll read them. to keep us moving,
because I want to get us finally to Matthew chapter
24. We're going to be in Daniel. We're actually
going to be in Matthew 24 just for a second.
But if you would, turn to Acts chapter 2 with
me for a second. I want to clarify what the last
days are, that we should know that the last days
began at a certain point in history. The day
of Pentecost. As people are there celebrating
Pentecost, they hear what's taking place. The
church speaking in other tongues, in another
tongue. And Peter in verse 17 defends what's
happening and explains to them what's taking
place. In these latter days. And this marks the
beginning of the last days. It's a prophecy of
Joel. Just so you have this in your mind. Hopefully
this isn't confusing. I might jump back into
the book of Acts if this gets too confusing for
next week. But I want to take a couple weeks
and to explain some things. A reminder to some
of us. It says this in verse 16. Peter explains,
this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
And then he says this, it shall come to pass
in the last days. That's important. In the last
days, says God, I will pour out my spirit on
all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy. Your young men shall see visions. Your
old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants
and on my maidservants, I'll pour out my spirit
in those days and they shall prophesy. So that's
what's taking place in the last days. And then
he continues in verse 19. This is important in
terms of the gifts of the Spirit. Because that's
a controversy in the church. He says this. And
then he jumped fast forwards from these days,
the days of Pentecost, where the church is birthed
there. And then he begins to speak of the tribulation.
So this is going to happen right up until the
tribulation. He says, and I will show wonders
in heaven above and signs in earth beneath. Blood,
fire, vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned
into darkness, the moon into blood, before the
coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
That's the second coming, Revelation chapter
19. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So
when you look at the book of Revelation, chapter
1, those are the things, you know, Jesus gives
John an outline. He says, write down the things
that you see, the things that are, and the things
that are gonna be, that will come to pass, right?
And the things that he saw was chapter one of
Revelation, this vision and view of heaven and
Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three are the
things that are. That's the church age. That's
the seven letters to the churches. And the things
that shall be, and then, Chapters 4 and 5, it
says that John was caught up in the heaven. And
the church isn't mentioned anymore from chapters
6 to chapter 19. Why? John's in heaven with the
church, and he has this vision of the throne
room where the saints are. And he sees the lamb
slain from before the foundations of the world.
So chapters 2 and 3, it's the church age. The
last church age is Laodicea, this church that's
lukewarm. Like they come to church, they don't
care. Church gets raptured. Chapter 4, John is
caught up into heaven. And then chapters 6 through
19, the church is not mentioned. That's the tribulation
period. It's the tribulation and the great tribulation.
That seven -year period, it's... Daniel's 70th
week. It's the time of Jacob's trouble. We're
going to actually look at the book of Daniel
today, explain some of that. And then, you know,
chapters 20, the millennial reign, judgment comes,
Revelation 20, new heaven and new earth, 21.
And so the book of Revelation, very important.
And why do we need to know this? Why do we know
the end days? Because it says in the last days,
in the end, the final days, those last days that
I believe we're living in, and because something
very special happened, Israel becomes a nation
again, and that's God's super sign. That's the
super sign to the world, that God's still on
the throne. He's not done with this nation. It's
something that... that many, many scholars thought
it can't happen. And they replaced, you hear
of it, replacement theology, that the church
has replaced Israel because what they didn't
believe and couldn't believe is that Israel would
become a nation again. So for a long time, part
of the church, some of the church, respected
men in the church and teachers, some of the forefathers
thought, There's no way Israel can become a nation
again, but it's the super sign of the last days
of the end times. And we have that on us. Matthew
chapter 24 says this as a warning. Jesus inserts
this as a warning as he tells the disciples.
He answers a question, what will be the sign
of your coming and the end of the age? What's
it going to be? And Jesus, he doesn't say, don't
worry about it. You don't need to know that.
It's unimportant. You just got to learn how to
behave well and have faith. And he says, no,
you need to know this. And then he begins to
tell them what these signs will be of his coming,
the end of the age, the age of man, the destruction
specifically of the temple. But he says this
in verse 45 of Matthew 24. Who then is a faithful
and wise servant whom his master made ruler over
his household to give them food in due season?
And blessed is that servant whom his master,
when he comes back, will find doing so. What?
Taking care of his master's good. Assuredly,
I say to you that he will make him ruler over
all his goods. But if that evil servant says
in his heart, My master's delaying his coming
and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat
and drink with the drunkards. The master of that
servant will come on a day when he's not looking
for him. And at an hour when he's not aware of,
and he will cut him in two and appoint his portion
with the hypocrites. And there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. Kind of important to be
watchful. Why? Because our hearts slip away from
God. We drift. Peter says this. You can write
this down. You don't have to turn there. 2 Peter
chapter 3. He says, Beloved, I now write to you
this second epistle, in both of which I stir
up your minds by way of a reminder. that you
might be mindful of the words which were spoken
by the holy prophets and of the commandment of
us and the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing
this first, that scoffers will come in the last
days, walking according to their own lusts. And
this is what they're going to say, because it's
being said for 2 ,000 years. And this will be
an earmark of something going on that infiltrates
the church and infiltrates people. They're going
to say, where is the promise of his coming? They
heard of it. They knew it. They were taught it.
But they couldn't hold on. Where is the promise
of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning
of creation. And for this, they're willingly
forget that by the word of God, the heavens were
of old and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water by which the world then existed,
perished, being flooded with water. And he talks
about a global flood, which was God's judgment
on the world. Because of what? Because their
hearts grew cold. And we're going to look at
those days. That's one of the signs of the end
that Jesus gives. In Matthew 24, Luke 21, or
Luke 19, I think. The days of Noah and the days
of Lot. A time when God judged globally the earth.
What did it look like? Why did he come and judge
the earth? Well, Jesus said, you need to know
the days of Noah. And we're going to look at
that next week. But you need to know the days
of Noah so you know the time of the end, the
last days, the last of the last days, the end,
as Jesus says he's going to return. And the days
of Lot, why did Sodom and Gomorrah get judged?
You need to know those times and know those days.
It's important, right? So the Bible says this.
Ignorance, we use that word, we throw the word
around, they're ignorant, they're ignorant, they're
ignorant. And it can be used in place of other
words. But ignorance just means a lack of information.
You guys understand that, right? Ignorance means
to not know, to not have the full knowledge.
People are ignorant. It's not... The worst thing
in the world to not know you don't know what
you don't know, right? Until you get that information.
In the Bible, the New Testament is clear specifically
about four things that the church is most ignorant
of, that it is most controversial in the church.
The Bible, the New Testament is clear on four
things I'm going to talk about, two things we're
going to discuss here today and next week. The
first thing is Paul says, I don't want you to
be ignorant. This is 2 Corinthians chapter 12
concerning spiritual gifts. And one of the most
controversial things in the church today and
for years is spiritual gifts. And the Corinthian
church was misusing gifts, spiritual gifts in
church service and at different times. So Paul
comes and corrects them. He doesn't say they're
not important. What he says is, I don't want
you to be ignorant of spiritual gifts. And then
Paul gives this dissertation, chapters 12, 13,
14 of 1 Corinthians, Romans chapter 12. He expounds
on gifts of the Spirit, Ephesians chapter 4.
Paul talks about gifts of the Spirit, why they're
important. But we're called not to be ignorant.
You need the information. You need the information.
The second thing is, and I'll turn there and
read it to you. You don't have to. It's Romans
10, which rolls into another area that the church
is ignorant and controversial in. But Romans
chapter 10 says this in verse 1. Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is
that they might be saved. They rejected their
Messiah. For I bear them witness that they have
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
They're zealous. And it says this, for they being
ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to
establish their own righteousness have not submitted
to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the
end of the law. for righteousness to everyone
who believes. And if you follow that pattern,
you see that it talks about the righteousness
that is by faith, by believing, by confessing,
believing in your heart, confessing with your
mouth. It's different than the law that Moses
gave. You obey these commands or else. And Paul
says that they were ignorant. They're ignorant
concerning what God was going to do. This new
testament, this new covenant that we have in
the New Testament that's in the blood of Jesus
Christ. It's different, right? The third thing
is Romans chapter 11, verse 25. And these two
things are so important. The spiritual gifts,
the law versus grace. In number three, Romans
chapter 11, it says, verse 25, For I do not desire,
brethren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own
opinion, that blindness in part has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
has come in. Fullness of the Gentiles comes in.
Jesus will say that Jerusalem, Will be trodden
underfoot of the Gentiles. That they're going
to be scattered. But once the regathering takes
place. Once Israel becomes a nation again. That's
the super sign. Of the last days. Then the church
age. This age of grace is coming to a close.
When Israel becomes a nation again. It's crazy.
They were out of their land. For almost 2 ,000
years. So Israel, there's ignorance there. Doesn't
mean you're dumb or I'm dumb. It means you don't
know. And the last thing is 1 Thessalonians chapter
4. And these are the greatest controversies in
the church. Some of the greatest controversies
in the church. It specifically says, don't be
ignorant of this. Don't be unknowing. Paul says
this in chapter 4, and this is concerning the
rapture of the church. This is an event that
takes place, I believe. And before the tribulation,
God takes, because the Bible says that Paul teaches
that we're not appointed to wrath. We're not
appointed to God's wrath. And the tribulation
is God's judgment. That's one part of it. The
second part is God is going to deal with the
nation and their unbelief. So he says, I don't
want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
those who have fallen asleep. They've died. Lest
you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if
we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so God will bring with him those who sleep in
Jesus. For this we say to you, that by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord will by no means
precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of an archangel. and with the trumpet of
God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
And then we who are alive and remain shall be
caught up. That word is harpazo in the Latin
Vulgate. That's where you get the word rapture.
And he says, and that's a violent snatching away.
We who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. Thus shall we always be with
the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with
these words. 1 Corinthians 15 says it's going
to take place in the twinkling of an eye. But
Revelation 19 says that every eye shall see him.
It's two different events. Two different events.
The same way Israel was looking for this conquering
king in the Old Testament. They're waiting for
Messiah, this conquering king. They didn't know
they were going to get a suffering servant first.
They were unaware of that. They were blind to
that fact. And so they missed it. And we're going
to look at that in a minute. The same way there
was two comings in a way, for Israel, it's the
same way for the church. There's a rapture of
the church that precedes the tribulation period.
And then we, if you read Revelation 19, we come
back to earth. With Jesus Christ. Okay? That's
the second coming where every eye is going to
see him. Every knee is going to bow. Right? It's
the final part of the battle of Armageddon. Okay?
Everyone looks confused. Hopefully I'm not confusing
everyone. Too bad. This is a refresher. Listen,
this, you know. We need to not be ignorant of
these things. So we're going to talk a little
bit about Israel. If you turn with me to Daniel
chapter 9, important, the book of Daniel, very
important in terms of Bible prophecy, the future.
Israel. Daniel chapter 9. And if you remember,
we don't have to start, begin there, but Daniel
starts out by saying that he understood by reading
the book of Jeremiah that the 70 year captivity
of Babylon is over. It's coming to an end. And
he began to pray, confess the sins of the nation,
his own sins. As he's praying, Gabriel shows
up to give him a message, to give him. Not only
what's taking place in the days they're living
in, but future events. Gabriel shows up and says
this. In verse 24 of Daniel chapter 9, it says
70 weeks, 70 heptads, 70 sevens. They're weeks
of years. Not to confuse you. Hopefully that's
not confusing. The 70 weeks are 77s. They're
weeks of years. They're determined for your people
and for your holy city. That's Israel. It's very
Jewish. To do what? To finish the transgression,
to make an end of sin, and to make a reconciliation
for iniquity. That's what happened when Jesus
came. Then he says this. To bring in, this hasn't
happened yet. This happens at the end of the
tribulation. To bring in everlasting righteousness,
actually the end of the millennial reign, to
bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up
the vision and the prophecy, like you don't need
the Bible anymore. And to anoint the most holy,
that's where Jesus Messiah is going to sit on
the throne of his father David. To anoint the
most holy. It's important to know that, that
you are aware of that, to know what's going to
happen in the future. And then he says this,
know therefore and understand. I'll just read
25 through 27, then we'll go back and go over
it a little bit. He says, know therefore and
understand. Don't be ignorant. Know therefore
and understand that from the going forth, Of
the command to restore and build Jerusalem. Unto
the Messiah the Prince. There shall be seven
weeks and 62 weeks. Of years. And the street
shall be built again. Even the wall. Even in
troublous times. And after 62 weeks Messiah shall
be cut off. Not for himself. Cut off for us.
That's his death. And the people. of the prince
who is to come, that's important, shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary and the end of it
shall be with a flood to the end of the war of
desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm
a covenant with the many for one week. That's
the final week. That's the 70th week of Daniel.
There's one week left. We're living in a pause
right now. Then he, ooh, that's the prince that
shall come from this people. That people are
the people that destroy the temple, and it's
Rome. And we'll look at that in just a minute.
A covenant with the many for one week, and the
many, that's Israel. But in the middle of the
week, he shall bring an end to the sacrifice
and offering. And on the wing of abomination
shall be one who makes desolate, even until the
consummation, which is determined, is poured
out on the desolate. So that can be confusing,
right? You look at that like, what the heck is
happening there? Are you for real? How do you
sort that out? It's not terrible to sort out.
It's not terrible. It says this, know therefore
and understand. And then he marks a time. He
says from the command to restore and build Jerusalem
unto the Messiah, the Prince, there'll be 69
weeks, 483 years. There are weeks of years, 483
years. And there's a beginning and an end. There's
something that marks the beginning of this time.
He says, the street shall be built again and
the wall. Well, when did the street and the wall
in Israel begin to be rebuilt? Artaxerxes, the
Persian king, comes on the throne in 465 BC.
And if you read Nehemiah, that's where the command,
he gives the command to Nehemiah, and that marks
this time. In Nehemiah chapter 2, in the 20th
year of his reign, that's 445. That's March 14th,
445 BC. It marks this time. It's not hard to
understand this if you just know a couple things.
But that's the beginning of this period. That
starts the clock of this 483 years. Nehemiah
does. Because what does Nehemiah do? He gets
the command from Artaxerxes to go back to Israel,
go to Jerusalem, and rebuild the walls. That
was his job. That was his position. You remember?
And if you read Nehemiah, he goes to all the
gates, and different people were appointed. But
he got the command from Artaxerxes. March 14th,
445 BC. So until Messiah the Prince, there'll
be 69 weeks. The Babylonian calendar is not what
we have. It's not 365. It was 360 days. Multiply
that by 483 years. I'm already losing you guys,
but don't let me lose you. This is important.
Nehemiah marks it off. 483 years, 69 weeks of
years, 483. You do the multiplication, it's 173
,880 days to the Messiah, the Prince. And Jesus
rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, April 6th,
32 AD. That very day, that Gabriel told Daniel
he would come. That very day, he comes lowly,
riding on a donkey, right? Humble. He rides into
Jerusalem that very day that Daniel predicted,
right? It says this, if you turn to Luke 19 with
me for a second. says this, as Jesus rides into
Jerusalem, they're saying, Hosanna, blessed is
he who comes in the name of the Lord, right?
And he rides in, verse 41 says this, now as he
drew near, he saw the city and he wept over it.
And he says this, if you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, what day was it?
It was the day that Daniel predicted that Gabriel
gave Daniel that. One of the most amazing prophecies
in the Bible. It's important. You can research
this. You can probably look it up online. I'm
sure you can get it. The days, the year, Artaxerxes.
He came on the throne. 20 years later, he gives
Nehemiah this command. 173 ,880 days later, Jesus
rides in the exact day. If you had known, even
you, especially in your day, the things that
make for your peace, but now they're hidden from
your eyes. For the days will come upon you when
your enemies will build an embankment around
you, surround you and close you in on every side
and level you and your children within you to
the ground. And they will not leave in you one
stone upon another because you did not know the
time of your visitation. They didn't know. They
lost sight of the fact that Messiah was coming.
A prophecy that was given to Daniel. They lost
sight of it. And what did they do? You lose heart.
You lose direction. You lose purpose. What am
I living for? What are we here for? How do I
move forward? How do we live this life? What
is my goal? What's my aim? Right? They lost direction.
They lost purpose. And they lost sight. of Messiah.
And so, briefly, listen, I feel like I am losing
you guys. And after 62 weeks, Messiah will be
cut off, not for himself, that's Messiah, Jesus
dies. And it says, the people of the prince who
is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
That's what Jesus says. In Matthew 24, when the
disciples said, you know, they leave the temple
area and they look back at the temple and they
show Jesus the buildings of the temple, how amazing
this is. And Jesus says, listen, there won't
be one stone left upon another here. And they're
blown away by that. Like, the temple's going
to get destroyed? That's crazy. And we know Titus
Vespasian, 70 AD, he does that. Destroys the
temple, throws down every stone. It says, the
people of the prince who is to come shall destroy
the sanctuary. That's Titus, 70 AD. It gets destroyed.
The end of it shall be in a flood to the end
of the war of desolations. It's important to
know who that is because it was Rome. It was
a Roman general, Titus, destroyed that. It's
important to know that for the fact that verse
27 says, then he, who? He's the prince that's
going to come. Where's he going to come from?
It's Antichrist. Verse 27 is speaking of Antichrist.
He's coming. From who? From a people? From Rome,
right? We don't have time to look at it. But
Daniel chapter 2, Daniel chapter 7, Nebuchadnezzar's
dream, this head of gold, arms and chest of silver,
the waist and thighs of brass, legs of iron.
That was Nebuchadnezzar, Medo -Persia. Greece,
Alexander the Great, and then Rome and all the
Caesars. And then he describes the last final
kingdom of the last days where Jesus comes as
this rock cut without hands and he comes down
and he smashes the image in its feet of this
new kingdom that has 10 toes and it's iron mixed
with clay. It's the revived Roman Empire. that
is revived in the last days, led by Antichrist.
It says that he shall confirm a covenant with
the many for a week. You read Revelation chapter
6, the first rider on the white horse brings
the covenant. That kicks off the tribulation
period. That starts the clock for seven years.
The seven -year period, led by Antichrist, it
says he comes with a bow. That's the covenant.
Right? He'll confirm a covenant with the many
for one week. That's the final week, Daniel's
70th week, the days of Jacob's trouble. I lost
you guys, didn't I? It's important because Israel
becomes a nation again. So anyways, it says this,
but in the middle of the week, he shall bring
an end to sacrifice and an offering. And on the
wings of abomination shall be one who makes desolate.
Daniel chapter 12 talks about the abomination
of desolation that takes place right in the middle
of the tribulation period. Antiochus Epiphanes,
the Seleucid king, was a dress rehearsal. That
happens in between the 400 -year span between
the Old Testament and the New Testament. This
Seleucid king comes after Alexander the Great.
This guy from Greece, he has four generals. One
of those generals becomes a ruler from Seleucia.
The Seleucian king, he goes in, kills 100 ,000
Jews, desecrates the temple. He brings this idol
into the temple of Zeus, kills a pig on the altar,
and it makes Judas Maccabeus. You know, this
Maccabean revolt that happens that 400 year period
between the Old Testament and New Testament.
That's why they celebrate Hanukkah. The Jews
have a holiday that they created because of this.
Judas Maccabeus comes and, you know, wipes or
pushes them out, wins this battle. But it was
a picture of what was going to take place. It
was the desecration of the temple. It's coming
again. In the tribulation period, halfway through,
if you read Revelation 12, 11, 12, and 13. Okay?
It's way too much information, probably. For
you guys, I was not intending. Why did I think
this was going to come out so simply? I thought,
this is just going to be information that they'll
have. It's future. Antiochus Epiphanes, that
was a dress rehearsal for what was going to take
place during the tribulation. That was not because
Jesus speaks of it as a future event when he
warns them in Matthew 24 that the temple is going
to be desecrated. And it's not. It's not. Some
people confuse what Titus did in 70 AD. They
think that all this happened in 70 AD. Everything
Jesus predicted has already taken place. Well,
listen. The revelation from John hadn't even
been written yet. Not for another 25 years after
the temple was destroyed. So this stuff is all
future. Titus, he burned the temple, took the
gold, never desecrated it. It wasn't the abomination
of desolation. If you want to know more about
that, Daniel chapter 12, it gives you numbers
and dates. You can follow that along. It actually
gives you... 30 days more than the midway point
of the tribulation. And then 75 days more. Interesting.
If you know what that means, someone can tell
me. I don't know. Why? It goes over that three
and a half year period. Where there's tribulation
and then great tribulation. Right? And if you
look up Daniel chapter 7, it talks about the
beast. They correlate with the image of Daniel.
The first beast is a lion, and then a bear, and
then a leopard. They correlate with exactly the
same kingdoms, Babylon, Medo -Persia, and Greece.
And then this final king, he describes as this
dragon that comes back to life. And he has heads
and horns. And it's the revived Roman Empire.
So that's Daniel chapter 7. Read it. It maybe
will make a little more sense to you. It maybe
will make no sense to you. That could happen
too. So listen, it's 11 -12. Next week is going
to be much simpler. Next week we're just going
to go through Matthew, what Jesus said. I'm not
going to go through all these prophecies. I'm
going to go through Matthew 24 and remind you
of some things. You won't have to remember any
numbers or dates or things like that. that are
confusing. Next week will be fun. More fun, hopefully.
So, Lord, we're thankful, God. We want to know
these things. We want to walk in these things,
Lord, and understand them, Lord. We don't want
to be ignorant of the things that are coming,
Lord, knowing that your word tells us in the
last days there's going to be a falling away,
a departure from the faith. The people will be
lovers of themselves. You've called us to be
watching and waiting, Lord, praying always that
we might escape these things, Lord. Luke's gospel
tells us to be careful that we're not overtaken,
that we lose sight and lose track.