Would you join me as we pray? Well, Lord, if anything is going to get done today, we need you to have your way. So would you clear our bodies, our minds of any type of distraction, Lord? And we come before you, Lord, asking for forgiveness where we've fallen this past week, Lord. We're seeking You this morning, and we know You're going to speak, Lord. So we thank You in advance, Lord. And we praise Your name above all names. We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen. Amen. Amen. And good morning and welcome. You can be seated. Glad you're here. Those of you online, we're glad that you're joining with us as well. This is the first of two services, as you know, that we have on Sunday mornings, and we devote it to the teaching on the end times by way of these weekly prophecy updates. And then second service is actually the sermon. It's a verse by verse teaching through God's Word. We're in the Book of Revelation after all these years. I won't tell you how many years. Those of you online, it will be live streamed at 11 15 a.m. Hawaii time. And we're currently in the book of Revelation. And I don't want your heart to sink when I tell you this, because the last two weeks we've done a whole chapter at a time. We're not going to do that today. We're going to only do two verses today. You'll see why, and it's going to be okay. Verses one and two of chapter 11. And it's a sermon I've titled three truths to remember in adversity. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to look at what it is that we can do during those times in our lives when adversity strikes, and sometimes with an intensity that leaves us disoriented. And as such, we're all prone to kind of forget the truths from Scripture that we know well, because we've been so shaken by the adversity that has struck. So we're going to look at just in those first two verses, three truths that we can remember during those times of adversity. Also, just by way of a reminder Those of you that are watching by way of YouTube or Facebook, we'd encourage you to go directly to the website at JDFarag.org. All right, let's get to it. I spent some time, not that I don't, but sometimes more than usual, and this last week was one of those times, just inquiring of the Lord concerning today's update. And it just became so clear that a fool could not err thereof, that I need to address the prophecy that's in the first two verses of Revelation chapter 11, which happens to be our second service text. And the reason is, is because again, just the first two verses of Revelation chapter 11 are so packed, so full with detailed prophecy of profound significance. So much so that it could be argued everything happening today, chiefly as it relates to Israel, specific to Israel, may all be about one thing. And that one thing is the rebuilt Jewish temple, also known as the third temple. And here's why. If you were to ask Muslims what their greatest fear is in Israel, you know what their answer would be? It would be that of the Jews rebuilding their temple. Now let's flip it around. Conversely, if you were to ask the Jews there in Israel what their greatest desire is, their answer would be that of rebuilding the temple. And this creates what I'm going to call, and you'll forgive the cliche, we talked about that last week, the perfect prophetic storm. And it is a coming. In fact, I think it's just on the horizon. And to me, it explains in some way why it is that things are heating up. I don't know if you caught the news this morning. There was a ramming, killing one, injuring numerous others in Tel Aviv. I mean, it's just, it's seemingly getting worse with each passing day. And by the way, it's going to continue to. That's what my Bible says. Things are heating up. Or if you prefer, which I prefer, revving up. You know why I use that word? because Jesus used that word in the original language. Things are just heating up and revving up and coming together. And what I'm hoping to accomplish with today's update is actually twofold. First, to explain all that's happening, just to kind of update you on where it's at, and more importantly, why. It's all happening. And then secondly, and perhaps in some ways more importantly, why we as Christians should pay attention to this, even though we know the pre-tribulation rapture of the church happens before this. And this is a thing that I just kind of want to get out of the way, if you don't mind. Because here we are in Revelation and chapters six through 19 are all about the seven year tribulation. Why in the world do we need to study Revelation chapter six through 19 if it's all about the tribulation and we're not going to be here for the tribulation? At the risk of an oversimplification, here's my answer. Because by knowing what is going to happen in the tribulation, it gives you an idea of just how close we are to the tribulation. And oh, by the way, spoiler alert, we're really close, really close. And that should have the much needed effect in the life of a Christian of creating an urgency, because of the lateness of the hour. Will you allow me to just start by reading our second service text in Revelation 11 verses one and two. I'll start that way and then explain why this may explain what we are even now witnessing before our very eyes today and will continue to witness and see. So here's Revelation 11 verses one through two. John is writing by the Spirit, and he says, I was given the reed like a measuring rod and was told, go and measure the temple of God and the altar with its worshipers. But, verse two, interesting, exclude the outer court. Do not measure it. because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the Holy City for 42 months. That's 3.5 years, 1260 days. Okay. Listen to what Jesus said concerning this. Luke's Gospel chapter 21 verse 24, And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And listen, Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Hang on to that. This is going to be germane to our understanding. Look at this headline from, I mean it's almost verbatim. It's an op ed piece from the Jerusalem Post, and it reads almost what we just read. quote, there is no Temple Mount status quo. What if Palestinians trampled it? Wow, I just read something about that in Revelation 11 verses one and two, and then Luke 21 verse 24. So it would be trampled on by the Gentiles. And then here's the Jerusalem Post talking about the very same thing. You know what's interesting about this? I'm going to quote from the article in a moment, but In Arabic, when I was a little boy growing up, my dad, who was, you know, anyway, strict, angry, old school, you fill in the blanks, I could go on, I won't. He would always say to me, you know, because Arabic was his first language, wa'af, wa'af. Now I knew what wa'af means. It means stop, hold it, hold up, hold on, stop everything. That's the name of the organization that oversees the Temple Mount. They're holding it up. They're stopping. It is believed by some that they have already removed, I mean tons, literally tons of relics to try to erase any evidence that there was a Jewish temple there. And I just want to say this parenthetically for those who may not be aware of this. Pictured here in this Jerusalem Post ed piece is a photo of what you probably know as the Dome of the Rock. Some believe it's right on the exact spot where the temple used to be. Now there's much debate. We'll talk a little bit more about that. I don't want to get muddied by that or derailed by that. I don't want to talk so much about where. I want to talk more about when, because the when is more important than the where. God's got the where figured out. I mean, there are Bible scholars that go to great lengths to figure out what was the exact location. Well, actually the Dome of the Rock is not over where the Holy of Holy was. It's over here now to the south. No, it's to the north. No, it's over here. No, it's over there. You know what? Just go to lunch because God knows exactly where it's going to be and go. And he's got to figure it out. Well, yeah, but if the Dome of the Rock is where the temple is going to be, how are they going to get rid of the Dome of the Rock? God's going to take care of it. I don't know if that's where it is. Here I'm doing the very thing I'm saying, don't do, go to lunch instead, trying to figure out where. But you know, God could do anything. There could be an earthquake. That would do it. Oh, we've got some different topography here. The real estate and the geography has changed and perfect. Well, I love it when God does that. He can do anything. So again, I don't want to get derailed by the where, but isn't it interesting that the prophets of old would talk about, and the Savior would echo how that, and John the Revelator would record about this particular area being trampled on, keyword, by the Gentiles until that has been fulfilled. And by the way, It saw a partial fulfillment back in 1967 during what we know as the miraculous, and it was miraculous in every sense of the word, six day war, when the Jews recaptured their eternal capital of Jerusalem and with it the Temple Mount. This is probably, I guess, as good of a time as any to maybe just mentioned this. It was 57 years ago, 1967, the month was June, that Israel liberated the old city of Jerusalem and they returned the Temple Mount to their control. They had it. God gave it back to them. after 1900 years, then inexplicably the then defense minister Moshe Dayan, fearful of offending the Arabs, I'm quoting actually this op-ed piece, agreed to grant the Muslim wa'if the right to administer the site, and certain understandings about its administration were put into place. The ostensible goal was to ensure that the Temple Mount's immense religious, cultural, and historical significance would be preserved, along with maintaining, listen, a delicate balance between Muslims and Jews. No, that's not why he did it. The reason why, after capturing Jerusalem and the Temple Mount with it in June of 1967, in the miraculous Six Day War, the reason Moshe Dayan gave it back to them was because it was prophesied in the Word of God that the Gentiles would have it. That's why. No, he was afraid of the Arabs. Don't be afraid of the Arabs. I'm one. Are you afraid of me? Don't be afraid of me. I'm afraid of myself sometimes, but that's a different story. Let me use a comparison, if you don't mind. You know, you'll hear people say that the reason why the U.N. by one vote on one day on May 14, 1948, voted to agreed to a Jewish state for the Jews to return to their homeland was because they felt sorry for what the Jews had gone through in the Holocaust. That's not why. That's not why in one day Israel was reborn as a nation. Do you know why in one day Israel was reborn as a nation? Because it fulfilled Bible prophecy. That's why. Can a nation be born in a day? Yeah. May 14th, 1948. Never happened before in history. Never happened again. Why did it happen? Oh, because we felt sorry. No, that's not why. The reason why is because it fulfilled Bible prophecy. Why did the Muslims, what if, have control of the Temple Mount? Oh, because of Moshe Dayan. It's his fault. No, no, that's not why. It's because it fulfilled Bible prophecy. That's why. Are you with me? Are we good so far? I'm not upset. Listen, second service is going to be more specific to the personal application, but we first need to have a better understanding of the prophetic implication. And I think we do err greatly when we get caught up, pun intended by the way, in the cares and the affairs of our stressful daily lives. And believe you me, I get it. Life is getting very stressful. And I know all of our lives are just very busy. But the problem with that is that we get caught up in that and it comes at the cost of dismissing what's happening concerning Israel, which is God's prophetic clock. Remember the illustration of Israel being the hour hand, Jerusalem being the minute hand, and the Temple Mount being the second hand. So in other words, here we are as born again Christians, if you're born again of the Spirit of God, the relevance, the importance of something like this to you is of paramount importance. Why? Because if the temple mount is the second hand on God's prophetic clock, that should be a great source of encouragement to you because of everything that's happening. That's ground zero. That's the focal point. Everything that we see happening in Israel, to Israel, against Israel is because of the Temple Mount. That's how late it is on God's prophetic clock. And that's how close we are to the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ. This stuff should really matter. And by the way, one more thing. It should really help you and encourage you to get through whatever stressful thing you're going through. knowing this. You know, when you have something to look forward to, it makes whatever you're going through easier to get through. You look at that. Okay, example. I hope this works. I'm doing my best. Just be gracious to me. You know how it is before your vacation time comes? You've already started your vacation. before your vacation, because you know that on this date you're going to get to go on vacation for two weeks. So you've already kind of, you know, but you have that to look forward to. So it makes that intolerable boss who you are convinced is the Antichrist more tolerable. Why? Because you know that you have this to look forward to. That's just, you know, that wasn't in my notes. Maybe I should just stick to my notes. Thank you so much. You're being very nice to me. Let's get back to the matter at hand. While we don't know how or exactly where, what we do know is that Bible prophecy tells us this temple has to be rebuilt. And not only does this temple have to be rebuilt, but it has to be rebuilt at some point early into the seven year tribulation. Why? Because of Daniel 9 27. That's just one. Now we've talked about this. I want to draw your attention to one particular aspect of this. It's the Antichrist, we're told, that will confirm or make sweeter a deal. It could be in Arabic, in Hebrew, stronger. You know, let's sweeten the deal to get him to sign. How are we going to do that? Well, we want the two state solution, right? Well, what do they want? A temple? Deal. He will confirm a covenant with the many. That's an idiom speaking of Israel. For one seven, that's a seven year period of time, number of completion. And then here comes the prophetic time stamp, as I like to call them. In the middle of the seven, three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days. He's speaking of the Antichrist, will put an end to sacrifice and offering. Stop. That means the sacrificial system must already be in place in order for him to stop it. He's not going to stop something that's not there. And if this is at the 3.5 year point that he puts an end to the sacrifice in the temple, that means there has to be a sacrifice in a temple to put an end to. I hope I'm not repeating myself and insulting your intelligence by doing so. I just want you to understand just how specific and detailed this prophecy is. Daniel goes on to say, and on a wing of the temple, he, speaking of the Antichrist, will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. Did you catch that? In other words, we've got a seven year period of time known as the time of Jacob's trouble. That's Israel, the 70th week of Daniel, the seven year tribulation, whatever you want to call it. is that final seven years of human history before the second coming and after the pre tribulation rapture. And that temple better be ready at the 3.5 year mark, because the Antichrist needs to commit an abomination that causes desolation and put an end to the sacrifice, the sacrificial system there in the rebuilt temple. I truly believe with all my heart that this allowing of Israel who is at the ready, waiting only for the green light, they have everything they need. They have the DNA, ancestry and lineage of the Levites to perform the priestly duties within the rebuilt temple. That's already, they've already got them. They're training them. They have all the articles at the Temple Institute. $3,000,000 something menorah made of gold, ready for the new temple. All the articles were there. We've talked about the red heifer. You could check all the boxes off. There's nothing that needs to, they're not waiting for anything except the green light. And I think that green light is Daniel 9.27. When the Antichrist says, we know that you want your temple. Well, we want a two state solution. Jews and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security. So I'll tell you what, we'll sweeten the deal. We'll make it better, stronger, greater, Ekbir, this seven year covenant. You let us have a two state solution, we'll let you have your temple. Where do I sign? You see how I get there? So I've heard statistics. I have no way of really vetting this. Maybe you're someone that has researched this, but it is my understanding, and this was many years ago, that once the Jews had the green light to rebuild the temple, they could have it up in 90 days. I was going to say 30, not 30. That's too fast. They could have it built in 90 days. That's three months. They've already got the materials all ready to go. They have everybody trained, the Levites. They have all the articles, all the furnishings, all the plans. They're just waiting. And as soon as they get that green light, three months, that thing's up. The sacrificial system is in place, and the Antichrist is the one who gives them the green light. Jesus in Matthew 24. Don't you find it interesting, verses 15 and 16, that He would specifically refer to this prophecy of Daniel and mention Daniel by name? Verse 15, Matthew 24, So when you see standing in the holy place, that's the rebuilt temple, during the seven year tribulation, which the purpose of the tribulation is for the salvation of the Jewish nation. He's speaking about the Jews in Jerusalem. When you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel. Let the reader understand and let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Run for your life. He goes on to say, don't even go back to get your iPhone and charger. That's bringing in the modern day terms. And they're going to flee to the place that's prepared for them in the wilderness, modern day Jordan, a place called Petra. That's where it's believed that Job lived. Some of you have been there. I was there one time. Wish I would have spent more time. My cousin who lives in Amman, Jordan took us there. My wife and I, this is B.C., not before Christ, before children, when we could travel. Oh, give me a moment. It's an awesome place. It's an amazing place. And this is where, for the last 3.5 years, God is going to protect His people from the Antichrist. See, at the 3.5 year mark, when the what they thought was their Christ, does, commits this abomination. They're going to have their eyes open because they've been blinded. They're going to realize this is not our Messiah. And they're going to come to the realization that Jesus is our true Messiah, and they're going to flee, and God is going to protect them for the last 3.5 years. Do you know that Paul even references this? And we're going to talk more about some of the details in this second service. But this is Second Thessalonians two, arguably one of the most prophetic chapters in all of God's Word. I'll just read verses three and four. Verse three, let, let. I could preach the whole sermon on the first word. Let no one deceive you. Inference, we let people deceive us. We fully cooperate with the deception. Let no one deceive you. You're letting them deceive you. Just that one word let. Let no one deceive you by any means for that day. What's that day? not the rapture, the Day of the Lord. We just found that in Joel, five times. The Day of the Lord is the tribulation, goes on into the millennium, up until the new heavens and the new earth. It's kind of like, and we saw this in Joel, the Day of the Lord is mentioned 75 times in the Bible, five times in the Book of Joel. And Joel only has three chapters. The Day of the Lord, it's kind of like You've had your day. Now the Lord is going to have His day and His judgment day. That's the day. For that day will not come unless the rapture departure, catching away, not falling away, comes first. the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. By the way, this is why and where we have booklets by Dr. Andy Woods out front, free of charge, along with the Calvary Chapel distinctives, free of charge. Avail yourself of them. Andy Woods's book, it's an easy read, it's a booklet. You can read it in one setting. It takes, 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and I think irrefutably, explains why this is the rapture of the church in verse three, meaning that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until the church of Jesus Christ is removed and raptured. And that fits perfectly. Now verse four, still speaking of the Antichrist, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Wait, when is this going to happen? During the seven year tribulation. Well, is this the same thing Daniel was talking about? Yeah. That's in the middle, right? Yeah. Sounds to me like they better build it at the beginning to have it ready. They will. Okay, I think you got the point, right? Can you just say, I got it. Can you just stop repeating yourself? Okay, I'll try. Okay, question. How close are they really to rebuilding this third temple. Now again, there's much debate as to the exact location. I don't want to go there. I think it will take away from the importance of not where, but when. Are you with me? So go ahead and debate it as long as you want. But the exact location of where it will be rebuilt is not really the issue. Here's the issue. There's little doubt about now being the time it will be rebuilt. Let me say the same thing in a different way. Forget where. Let's talk about when, because we don't know the answer to where. Only God knows where. Some in Israel might know where, but the question is when. And I think the answer is now. I want to share with you, in the interest of time, three interesting articles, all of which point to how it could be built now. Look at the first word on this one, now, now. It's from Haaretz. The title is rather provocative. Now in power. Israel's messianic far right is, I love this wording, dead serious about rebuilding the temple. That's serious. When you say dead serious, that means serious. Below the title, there's an even more provocative subtitle of sorts in which they state, and I quote, Recruitment of Kohanim, this is the priests, the Levites. Breeding red heifers, we talked about that. Architectural plans, already have that. Anyone who thinks that Ben Gavir and his cohorts want only to prey on the Temple Mount should look again. Listen to this, quoting, the big project is already underway. Oh, You mean it's already underway now? Yeah. I guess we have our when question answered. Now. Cool. This coincides with this Israel 365 news article about an Israeli politician already carving stones for the building of the third temple. You think they're ready? You think they're excited? You think they've already started? Now they have. Here's the third and final one. It comes from Jordan News, and just the title alone says it all. Quote, Countdown for the construction of the third temple is accelerating, revving up, happening now. They're counting it down. The countdown has already begun now. They're already counting down. They're already cutting stones. Now, did I say now? Pictured here's a screenshot of a short two minute and 32 second YouTube video from a Baruch Gordon. He's a practicing Jew. I don't see that he's an Orthodox Jew, but the title of his video on his channel is When Does Temple Construction Begin? I'm including it because he explains how they'll know when it's time to rebuild the temple. And in it, he reveals just how close the Jews believe they are to their, now listen carefully what I'm going to say, to their coming Messiah. See, they're still waiting for their Messiah, because they rejected the true Messiah. So their Messiah still has to come. And because they have blinders, they're the hardest ones to share Jesus with. Because when you tell them that Jesus is the Messiah, they look at you with a look that only a Jew can give you. No, we're still waiting for Him. No, He came already. That was Him. You missed Him. Jesus wept off. He only knew. Their Messiah is the Antichrist. Now, please know that Antichrist does not just mean against Christ. It actually can also mean in the place of Christ. So they're going to accept Him and embrace Him as their Messiah. And it is believed that they'll know He's their Messiah because He will be the one to allow them to build their temple. See, the thought was we need to build the temple so our Messiah can come. And then others say, no, we need the Messiah to come to build our temple. Now it's like we're going to have our Messiah come and the temple rebuilt anytime now. Listen to this quick quote from this video, and I hope it'll kind of make it clearer for you. Quoting, Once we anoint a king, the Antichrist, From the Davidic dynasty, we will have actualized our full force as a nation. Only then can we proceed to the second stage of eliminating our enemies, the final wars, and the third stage of reaching that lofty spirit height of building the Holy Temple. Translated, once we anoint our Messiah when He comes from the line of David and rebuild our temple, it's finally going to happen. And we're there. The countdown has begun. Well, this brings me to the matter of why Christians should pay attention to this, even though the pre-tribulation rapture happens before this. You better ask, Pastor, why is this important to us or have anything to do with us? Because it's an indicator of how soon Jesus is coming for us. I don't know how else to say it, but when I see that the Jews are really counting down to the coming of what they believe to be the Messiah, who is the Antichrist. Well, I'm going to start my countdown clock too, to the coming of Jesus Christ. In other words, if the Jews are this close to the building of their temple at the coming of the Antichrist, Wouldn't it stand to reason that we're even closer to the pre-tribulation rapture and the coming of Jesus Christ? We are. We are. You know, this faith we call our Christian faith, it's not a blind faith. It's intelligent faith. I don't know where we got this idea that when you come to Christ, you have to assassinate your intellect. We have an intellectual faith. This is not a blind faith. Remember when we were in Peter, and Peter brings up the Mount of Transfiguration, and he contrasts it with what he refers to as the more sure word of prophecy. Now the question was, why would he bring up the Mount of Transfiguration where only he and James and John were there? Peter, James, and John were the only ones that got to see Moses and Elijah transfigured with Jesus at what we affectionately refer to as the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter was there. He, listen to this word, experienced that. But he says that meant nothing in comparison to the Word of God when it comes to Bible prophecy. In other words, I'm not hanging my hat on my experience. I would have written a book, gone on a speaking tour. I was at the Mount of Transfiguration, not Peter. No, no prophecies of man's interpretation. In other words, he's contrasting that. What an experience. Would you have liked to have been there? I would have loved to have been there. The Lord would not have allowed me to be there for the aforementioned reasons, because I would have gotten heady, like You know, and then like with Paul who got caught up to the third heaven, kept it to himself for 14 years. And when he finally reluctantly talks about it, he does so in the third person. I wouldn't have waited 14 years. I would have waited 14 minutes. I would have got a book, a publisher. I would have been on that thing. I got caught up to the third heaven. I saw a glimpse of heaven. Peter, I was at the Mount of Transfiguration. But he says, you know what, that's nothing. Let me tell you what, and the reason why he contrasts it with that, he's hanging his hat on God's Word and Bible prophecy. Yeah, but Peter, dude, man, you experienced the Mount of Transfiguration. Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's the Word of God, the more sure Word of God. In other words, that experience, it was wonderful. It was glorious. But in comparison to the more sure word of Bible prophecy, I'm sorry if I spit on the front row. Again, free baptisms, I guess, if you want. I'm going to turn a corner and I think it's incumbent upon me, if you'll kindly allow me to, to address another temple. Oh, you just got done yelling at us about this temple. There's another temple? Yeah. And I want to expound on it for the remainder of our time together today, because it is of even more profound prophetic significance. So we'll go ahead and end the live stream on YouTube and Facebook at this time, and hopefully you're already at the website. Okay, pastor, what temple are you talking about? Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Born again Christians have the Holy Spirit, God, the Holy Spirit. Please, how do I say this without sounding mean. I don't mean to be mean. Don't refer to the Holy Spirit as an it. It is the third person of the Trinity. It is God, the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was telling His disciples, I'm not going to be with you much longer. And then of course Peter has a meltdown, you know, over my dead body. Actually get thee behind me Peter. They're an accessory of Philippi. In other words, no, don't go. To which, this is a very loose paraphrase, Jesus responds with, no, you want Me to go? Because if I don't go, I can't send the Holy Spirit until I do go. Yeah, but we've been with you for the better part of three years. Don't go. No, you've had God with you. Now you're going to have God in you. Oh, that's more better. But I have to go first. In order to send you the Holy Spirit, so that instead of having God with you, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, now you're going to have God the Holy Spirit inside of you, indwelling you. There's actually three Greek pronouns. I don't want to take too much time, but you would do well to understand the delineation between them. The first one Greek pronoun is en, n, where we get in, the Holy Spirit in, in us. The other one is para, alongside of us. This is where we get English words like paralegal, parachute, parallel. So before we get saved, the Holy Spirit is alongside of us, wooing us to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And then once we give our lives to Jesus Christ and are born again in the Spirit of God, then the Holy Spirit indwells us, resides in us, and our bodies become the temple of God, the Holy Spirit. Here's a third one, which is a sermon unto itself. And we have talked about it over the years. Very important. It's the Greek preposition epi, E P I, where we get our English word upon, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And that's the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, You are baptized in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the litmus test to know whether or not you have the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the speaking of tongues contrary to what our well-intentioned Pentecostal brothers and sisters say. In the Book of Acts there are five recorded accounts of the Holy Spirit coming upon a pea, someone, and only, I think, two times it was accompanied by the tongues. The other three, and actually all of them were identified by boldness. boldness. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, the power in the Greek, it's dunamis, where we get our English word dynamite. I like that. Remember that sitcom? Dynamite. That wasn't the title. Sorry, had a flashback. Dynamite, the power of the Holy Spirit. overflowing, your life will become like torrents of living water. Have you ever seen how powerful floodwaters are? They carry houses like toothpicks down the stream. That's the Holy Spirit. Quick illustration, best what I ever heard. You know it's good because I didn't come up with it. It goes like this. You'll appreciate this here in Hawaii. You've got a canoe on the beach in the sand. You want it in the water. And it's a distance away. So you try to push, push harder. Get the brother, come help, push harder. How am I doing? Am I not good? Should I stop? I should. So you're pushing and striving in the energy of your own strength. And then all of a sudden, here comes this wave and this tide. And it reaches that canoe. and effortlessly just takes it out into the water. You use your pinky to guide it. That's the Holy Spirit. That's the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. The Christian I feel the most sorry for, and I speak from experience, by the way. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm talking at you or down to you or being condescending with you. I'm not, please. I hope you know that. I speak from my own experience. Much of my Christian life, before I was baptized with the Holy Spirit, I was living in my own strength. And the Christian I pity the most is the Christian that is not living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Watch this, Holy Spirit, holy life. Stop trying to live a holy life apart from the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, apart from Me, you can do nothing. You need the Holy Spirit to empower you, enable you to live a holy life. It's not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord, Zechariah 4, 6. Once the power of the Holy Spirit comes in, man, all I need is my pinky. You don't even need the pinky, actually. You might think you're playing a part in it, you know. And God's cool with it. It's adorable. Look, he's using his pinky. He doesn't need the pinky because he's got the Holy Spirit that empowers us. Man, can we talk? Real talk? Overcoming temptation. You know what I'm talking about? Especially in the sexual arena. Power of the Holy Spirit. Stop fighting and trying and struggling and striving. No, you need the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome, to get that canoe in the water. I'll end, I'll quit while I was ahead, which was a while ago, if I ever was. This is the temple I want to talk about. Hang in there with me. because, and think this through with me, and see if you agree with me when I say this. The enemy is as hell bent, quite literally, actually, on defiling the physical temple of the Jews as he is the Holy Spirit's temple of the Christian. Did you get that? Wait, so the Antichrist is going to desecrate, defile the physical temple of the Jews. Wouldn't it stand to reason that he would also want to defile the spiritual temple of the Christian? How so? I'm glad you asked, because I think you already know what my answer is going to be. Most of you, by way of these so-called vaccines, which contaminate and worse in some cases decimate the human body as the temple of God. Hang in there with me. I want to share an excerpt from our new religious exemption letter. I've mentioned this before, been working on this for quite some time. We very much appreciate your patience and we very much covet your prayers. After several months of consulting with our attorney, just a tireless effort to ensure both the biblical and legal accuracy, we finally completed the updated letter after numerous, and I mean numerous revisions going back and forth. However, if you go to our website, the old one is still there and will be until we replace it. And again, we appreciate your patience. We're still working on that. By the way, that letter is still valid. But the new one will be up, Lord willing, please pray soon. We've already got the template there, but it's still kind of involved. And it couldn't have come at a better time because we've changed our name, our logo, our letterhead. That's what's pictured here. Maybe the guys want to put it back up for the online people. So why am I announcing it today if it's not on the website yet? Because it centers on the body of a Christian being the temple of the Holy Spirit. And I wanted to let you know, and today was the day, because it ties in, it fits in together. And by the way, we are going to do everything and stop at nothing to get this thing online as soon as possible. I want to just share with you an excerpt from the new revised letter, quote, This is the second paragraph. We don't want to come off antagonistic or combative, but this is what we say. Please know that we do not in any way wish to be labeled as anti-science as we serve the God of science. who in Scripture has made it very clear in no uncertain terms that our bodies are the temple of God, the Holy Spirit. And then we list three Scriptures out of 1st and 2nd Corinthians respectively. 1st Corinthians 3, 16 and 17. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. First Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. 2nd Corinthians 7.1. Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates, contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. The letter goes on to cite specific federal and state law, which we didn't have in the previous letter, which covers any and all vaccines, as well as tests associated with said vaccines. And this under the banner of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applies to employment and educational institutions. Further, the letter includes the statement that we as a church are retaining an attorney, which we have, He's a brother in the Lord, as our general counsel who has litigated successfully and continues to litigate these types of cases. He shares with me when we talk, which is often when we have our meetings about the cases he's already won. And so we want to come in, you know, not with all guns a blazing. I got to be careful metaphors, but we just want to let him know. We just want to let them know. Yeah. We've also addressed the matter of legal jurisdiction. This was an issue that had come up, such that federal and state law does not require the individual prove any attendance in any particular church, regardless of their geographic region. I remember spending over an hour, in fact, It was a witnessing opportunity with the head of an HR department because she thought that her employee was gaming the system when she submitted the letter. Oh, anybody can get that printed off a line, you know, off the website. How do you go to a church in Hawaii? This was Nebraska. Nebraska. Did you hear what Stata just said? Nebraska. So, I said, give me her number. I spent over an hour on the phone with her. And by the time we got off the phone, I know she granted the religious exemption, but I just shared the Lord with her. And it was a game changer. So regardless of geographic region, we've addressed that. We wanted to get ahead of everything ahead of time. The new revised letter also states that should this be challenged, Our general counsel has access to a network of attorneys in other jurisdictions who can we can refer our online member to in the case of a quote denial of a request for reasonable accommodation. In other words, don't even think about it. Again, we very much appreciate your patience. We covet your prayers. We are working tirelessly to get this online. We have amazing people. I tell you, and I know I've shared this with you. I think God just looked at me when I first started this church, and He took pity on me, and He felt sorry for me, and He called an emergency meeting in heaven. You guys, that guy needs all the help he can get. Get down there and surround him with the most amazing people in the world. the most amazing church that's you in the world. I mean, just look at the guy, will you? I think he just took pity on me and felt sorry for me. We have amazing people behind the scenes. I couldn't be up here doing what God's called me to do were it not for them. I just want to give a shout out to them. They spend countless hours behind the scenes. One more thing. We are keenly aware of how the goalposts have been moved again and that people's livelihoods and even lives are on the line again. You know what they're doing now? They're combining the flu and covid shot together and making it mandatory. We need to get this letter out real fast because we nip, I hope this is right, we nip it in the bud. Is that right? It's not the other one, right? It's bud, B-U-D, right? Okay, good. Now, once this new letter is available online, I will formally, Lord willing soon, announce it from the pulpit. I'll also include simple instructions on how to download it as a printable PDF file. and also how you can get it emailed as a PDF file. So you can have both. We have sent out, our current letter, we've sent out over 150,000 of these exemption letters all over the world. And from what I'm hearing, the majority, a large percentage of those exemption letters were accepted And it saves, saved people's jobs. But we didn't know what we know now about testing. And we also didn't know what we know now about everything else. So we now we know and we want them to know that we know. All right, I'll bring it to an end with the gospel and a simple explanation of salvation by way of the ABCs of salvation. But can I ask you a question first? Has what I've shared today in any way created an urgency for those who are believers to share your faith and or non believers to come to faith? Let me rephrase it. Has what I shared with you, in any way lit a fire concerning the lateness of the hour in getting Jesus to people and people to Jesus as many as we can and as fast as we can. I know for me it has. Look, I won't take long. I'll walk you through the ABC's of salvation, because if God should Put somebody in your path who doesn't believe. You have a tool. You have something. I'm going to equip you with this. It's very simple. It's childlike simple. It's not a formula. It's just something simple that you can use. Because isn't the number one fear on the part of a Christian when it comes to sharing our faith? It's like, what do I do? What do I do? What do I say? What do I say? Look, the Holy Spirit is going to take care of it. You're just a vessel. And maybe you're just there to plant or water. If He lets you harvest, even way more better. I'll never forget the first time I shared my faith. And then the response was, wow, I need to get saved. And I'm like, okay, what do I do now? You know, what must I do to get saved? God, what is there? I, what, what? Okay, repeat after me. This poor person, the Holy Spirit, they got saved despite me, not because of me. I prayed, you know, repeat after me, because that's all I knew. Repeat after me. You know, and I made the sentences so long, you know, and then they said, what was that part again? The last part, you know. So But they still got to save. So I just, I always share that because you're just the vessel. God's going to, nobody comes to the Lord unless the Holy Spirit leads them. The Holy Spirit is going to get them regardless of how bad you botch it. Okay, so don't let that stop you. And by the way, one last thing, when it comes to sharing your faith, what are you afraid of? I'm afraid they're going to say no. That's it? So I'm afraid they're going to reject me. Wow. Get over yourself. Like my wife always tells me, build a bridge and get over it. Anyway, the A, simply admit, acknowledge. You sinned. You're a sinner. Otherwise, Why would you be interested in a Savior if you don't acknowledge that you're a sinner? Yeah, but I'm a good person. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, Romans 3 10, you're not good. There's no one that's good or righteous, not even one. And Romans 3 23 tells us why, because all have sinned. We're all born, all born sinners. Which is why we must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus said. We've all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We missed God's perfect sin of righteousness. Yeah, I might have murdered you, but it doesn't matter. Did you hate somebody in your heart? You sinned. That's murder. Jesus didn't just raise the bar. He got rid of the bar. Romans 6 23 is the bad news first, then the good news, which I think there's merit to, by the way. Because this can help in getting that person to the place where they realize, when they see themselves in the mirror of God's perfect law, that they've broken God's law. They fell short. That's a sin is an archery term. You missed the bullseye. Yeah, but I hit it nine times out of 10. It doesn't matter. You break one, you broke the whole thing. So now what are you going to do? Well, that's where the Holy Spirit comes and grabs you by the hand as a tutor or schoolmaster, takes you to the Savior. The only one who was perfectly righteous and fulfilled the law, takes you to Him. And that's the good news. But maybe you need to know the bad news first. What's the bad news? The bad news is you've been sentenced to death because the wages of sin is death. Well, that's really bad. I know. You ready for the good news? I am. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. How does that work? Notice the contrast between wages and gift. You know, we're coming up close. I hate when people say you've got, you know, X number of days till, you know, for Christmas shopping. It's October. Stop. Just stop. Besides, I like Thanksgiving, and that comes before Christmas, like the rapture comes. Anyway, so you get a gift, right? Did you pay for it? No. You're probably going to regift it. You can't regift this one, just so you know. But if you pay for it, then it's a purchase, not a gift. Well, I just got done reading Paul's letter to the Corinthians. You are not your own. You were purchased with a price. He paid the price in full for you to give to you this gift that he paid for. He bought it for you. He purchased it for you. And it's the gift of eternal life. And it cost him everything. And that's the good news. That's the gospel. Good news. Your debt has been paid. You're free to go. That's what the word gospel means. Now, this is the first... I almost used the word. I won't use that word. This has to happen first. Otherwise you're wasting your time. Go find somebody else. Because if they still think deep down in their heart that they're a good person, you will not get them to the bee, because the bee is for believing your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead, as Romans 10 9 says. See, they're still Lord of their own lives. And when you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, what you're saying is, I'm going to remove myself from the throne of my own life and put Jesus Christ in His rightful place on the throne of my life, because He's the Lord of my life. I'm putting my trust in Him. I believe in Him. I'm not going to lean on my own righteousness, which Isaiah says is as filthy rags. And lastly, the C is for call upon the name of the Lord or confess. And this is really, it's not like a, okay, step one, step two, step three, right? This is what happens when you believe in your heart, because Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if I've got Jesus Christ in my heart, guess what's coming out of my mouth? Jesus Christ, Jesus is Lord. And this is what Romans 10, 9 also says. But Romans 10, 13 is what seals the deal. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. It is so childlike simple. And I think that's a problem. I think that works against us when it comes to sharing our faith. You know why? We've complicated the gospel. And we fully cooperated with Satan, who has got us to complicate the gospel. Like there's something we have to do. Don't do that. It's already been done. It is finished. When Jesus said it is finished, He said it is, I know this is deep and profound, it is finished. There wasn't a comma. He didn't say it is finished if. It is finished however, It is finished, but we'll see. It is finished, paid for in full in His blood shed in our stead. There for the receiving. That's the simplicity of the Gospel. Okay. Today's book, God Testimony. You'll see why I picked this one. comes from Bev Norris in Johannesburg, South Africa, who writes, Hi, Pastor JD. Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine. No, three times. Like your last week's but God testimony, I too am grateful and happy to hear you mention this all the time. If it wasn't for the clot shot that was manufactured for Convid, I too would have remained a backsliding Christian. I made the comment that this whole thing that hit in 2020, you can call it COVID-19 or whatever you want, whatever it is, whatever it was, was the best thing that ever happened, because it brought a lot of people to Christ and a lot of people back to Christ. And here's one example. I gave my life to Jesus when I was 13. Then when I was 17, I got baptized. Once I started my tertiary education, things went pear shaped. That must be a South Africa thing. But God had plans for me to get right back on track. I thank God daily for putting you and your church along my path, as God knew that I wouldn't easily find a pastor in church that I knew I could call my tribe. And she capitalized, I like that, she capitalized tribe. Some of my South African family also follow you weekly, and I've shared you with a few of my friends who are also Christians. Others mock me and call me crazy, but that's okay. I'm crazy for God. and the word that you bring us. Not sure about other countries, but the whole lockdown, COVID and vaccine thing just isn't spoken about freely here. And God knew that I needed to find JDFarag.org online. You'll find nothing negative about any of this in the media, newspaper articles, or from our government. Surprise, surprise. I do my homework daily and I read a lot. When it gets mentioned that we will live in difficult times, be mocked as Christians, etc., I often think to myself, I have a good. Little did I know that my difficult times might not be financial, lack of food on the shelves, rent, etc., all the things you often mention. But my difficult times are within my own household. I married into an atheist family as a backsliding Christian and never realized how this would affect me 10 years down the line. When the lockdowns hit, that's when God entered my life again. Looking back now, God was always there. My husband's not a believer, but he doesn't stop me from praying or listening to you. He does, however, ask me when he sees me listening to an online service, is that the man from Hawaii again? To which I reply, yep. genie frog. God protects me, and He leaves me alone. But it's not easy. I do sometimes feel alone, in that it would be nice to connect with other like-minded Christian folk on the same page as I am. But when I feel this way, I go back to your website, listen to you, and chat with God as I water my garden, knowing that I am not alone, and that the end is near. Your prophecy updates are the highlight of my week. My husband gave me a ring for my birthday, so I could put whatever message I wanted to have engraved on it. I chose Saved by the Blood of Jesus. It's for my company and my reminder of how blessed I am to have this second chance. I hope she doesn't mind if you're watching. I'm so sorry. I went to your website, Norris & Norris Interior Solutions. And I, please forgive me, but this is a photo that I wanted to share of her with her husband and son. She concludes by saying, I thank God for people like you, and so does some of my family. Keep preaching the truth and keep mentioning the vaccine, because that's when I know that my life changed for God, when it was released. It was meant for evil, but God meant it for good. Bev Norris, Johannesburg, South Africa. Praise the Lord. Kapodo, come on up. Yeah, praise the Lord. Stand up for applause. Thank you for your patience again. Father in heaven, we're so, so grateful to You. Oh Lord, how is it even that It's possible to begin to express just how grateful we are for the gift of salvation, for eternal life that You paid for, for us, because of Your love for us. In other words, this is as bad as it gets for us. And we have that to look forward to. And here You tell us in Your Word what the world's going to look like at the time of the end. And we're looking at the world here at the time of the end, and we're connecting the dots with Your Word. And we're coming to the conclusion, rightfully so, that our redemption draws very nigh. So Lord, if there's someone here or maybe watching online, that's not right with you and ready for you. I pray that today they would call upon You, believe in You, make the most important decision of their life for eternal life. And Lord, lastly, for those of us that do know You, so coming back to You after backsliding, oh, You're the God of endless chances. And You welcome us back with open arms. And then You throw a big feast, like in the parable. So Lord, I would just ask that, especially for those that are battle weary and discouraged and downcast, which we're going to talk about, second service. Lord, would You just strengthen their hearts, encourage their hearts, lift, lift up their heads so they can look up. As you said, because our redemption does draw nigh, Lord, You're the lifter of our heads, as the sweet psalmist of Israel, David, would pen those magnificent words. You're the lifter of our heads. Oh, for any downcast God, lift him up, lift him up. And come quickly, please, please. It's getting a little bit scary. So come quickly, Lord Jesus, we pray, Maranatha, in Jesus' name, Amen.