But we're going to begin, go ahead and begin or continue, I guess we're going to continue with the series that was started on the end of the world. And especially how it pertains to the child of God. To us. Here. And how do we cope with it? For the unbeliever, it's not a pleasant thought at all. To the believer, in many ways, it's not a pleasant thought. First and foremost, because to the believer, it's not a pleasant thought to think as he looks around him, especially at his own flesh and blood in many cases, to know that unless something happens to those loved ones, they're going to hell. And the heart of the child of God in that case is the same one as the Apostle Paul had in Romans chapter nine. I can wish myself a curse for their sake. But of course that cannot happen. God is the only one that can curse you. Nobody else can do it. all these witches and warlocks and all that kind of nonsense, they can't curse anybody. I can't quote it verbatim, I guess, but there is a scripture that talks about the fact that the curse, what is the term, unjustified, It's just not gonna happen. Doesn't it mention a bird in there? I don't remember exactly, like I can't quote it verbatim, but it could very well be. But anyway, the end of the world, in either case is not a thing that anyone likes to think about. And in fact, as we find both in Amos and Zephaniah, woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. For what is it unto you? It's as though a man was being chased by a bear and he goes into his house and leans his hand on the wall and starts to bite him. But in another sense, it's a wonderful time for the people of God to lift up your heads for your redemption, draw up nigh, and even so come And yes, the fact that the Lord is going to shake not only the earth, but the heavens also. Terrible things are going to happen. Terrible things are going to happen. So, we as the people of God need to understand a lot about this because otherwise we're going to be shaken. Now not to the extent that the unbelievable is, but if we do not know, we're going to be shaken. But if we know when these things come upon us and we're given every opportunity to know because there's so much written in the Word of God concerning these last days and the end of the world. Of course, this all started over in Matthew 24 where the disciples are shown, or show the Lord the temple and what a wonderful, what a beautiful thing this is and how Proud they were of it? I think they were. But Jesus burst their little bubble, didn't he? He said, not one stone will be left for another. And so the disciples were provoked to ask the question, when shall these things be? And again, somehow they knew that it went further than just the tearing down of the temple or the destruction of the temple. And maybe it's because to them, the temple was the world, wasn't it? I mean, it was the center of everything. And if it was destroyed, then it had to mean maybe the end of the world, okay? And so they asked, not only when shall these things be, but what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? So if you really want to rejoice in this, you have to be a Christian, don't you? And that is our hope, of course, for everyone. But for the people of God especially, Again, we need to know something about these times. Now, we're going to start with two scriptures this morning. One of them is in Rome. Luke, I'm sorry, I don't know. JT, my mind's kind of dull, isn't it? But in Luke, chapter 18, and we're familiar with these verses of Scripture to some degree, but once again, the more I meditate upon them, the more I believe I begin to understand them. And one question that is asked in the eighth verse of this 18th chapter of Luke that we're going to look at particularly, but I want us to start in verse one. He says, and he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to think. there's something a little bit ominous about that statement because evidently there's going to be a lot of prayer in these last days that's going to go unanswered at least for a long period of time. saying there was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him saying, avenge me of mine adversary. Now, again, this is one of the principle things that we have upon our hearts and minds today, not out of vengeance or a vengeful spirit, but we desire that God be glorified in himself. He is the one that vengeance is mine. I will repay, thus says, but there is a measure in us that we desire for the world to know that we are the children of the living God. And one of these days, they're going to know that. Not because we tell them, but because that God avenges us upon them. And we'll not turn over there, but in the sixth chapter of the Revelation, we find these souls under the altar, and they're crying out unto God, how long, Lord, how long? And that's the gist of it. How long is it going to be? before you offend us. And God says, well, wait just a little while. It's going to happen, and when it does happen, by the way, it will happen, how soon? Quickly. It will come, be quickly, and so, even so come quickly, right? So here we are, and he would not for a while, verse four, But afterward he said unto her within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge said, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? though he bear it long with them. Now again, the analogy here is not that God is going to be moved because of our much speaking or much praying. That's not the idea. The idea is if an unjust judge will eventually avenge this widow, then surely God, who is the just judge, whom Abraham proclaimed, shall not the judge of all the earth do what? Right. Surely he will do right. No question about it, is it? And that's the message that Luke is putting across here. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them, and what's the next word? Speedily. When it happens, it's going to happen quickly, isn't it? But here's the question. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? And again, the implication is our prayers have not Our prayers have gone unanswered all this long time. Are we going to keep on believing? In Psalm 116, and here's the second part then, Psalm 116. The psalmist says, I love the Lord. But there is a cause for that love. And we could go over again to 1 John and we can read that we love him, why? Because he first loved us. But you know, It's a hard thing to believe that someone loves you if they have acted toward you in love in the beginning, but if that love does not continually show itself. But it says, I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Here is one of the great assurances that we have that God loves us and that He continues to love us. is because he hears our voice and our supplication. Now, let me say this right here. There are many ways, I believe, in which God does, even today, continue to hear our prayers and answer our prayers, but it has to do with our spirits. But I wonder sometimes, if what we call God hearing and answering our prayers is not any more than what the worldly person experiences. You say, well, what are you talking about? I'm talking about we pray that God will heal someone, so and so. And sure enough, he gets healed. But how many in the world that don't have any care about God. How many of those contract these diseases, or have these problems, these maladies, these abilities, and they never pray to God at all, and yet they get healed. What's the difference? Shines on who? Everyone. Both the just and the unjust and who does the wrong fall on? Falls on the just and the unjust. Now don't misunderstand me. I believe we ought to always give thanks if one of our loved ones is healed from anything. I believe we ought to give thanks unto God and be grateful. that that person was healed all right now. Even the unbeliever, you see, is still healed by God. Isn't it? I mean, there were 10 of those lepers and nine of them were unbelievers and they were healed. But there was one that came back and worshiped the Lord. But I believe there's also going to be a lot of our spiritual prayers that seemingly go unanswered for a long time. And sometimes we die. And those prayers that we have prayed have gone unanswered. I believe that is so for most of our forefathers. I know in JT and my instance, I know that there were those that cared about our salvation that never saw it. We're not answered in their lifetime, we're not answered. It may happen to some of us too. There are those that we are praying for right now, that God may not answer our prayers in our lifetime. Doesn't mean that they never will be saved, but nevertheless, it does mean that we have not seen our prayers answered. One of my poems that I've collected over the years In that poem, it talks about prayer. That's what the whole poem really is about, is prayer. And the encouragement of it is just keep praying that your prayers will be answered. Well, frankly, sometimes our prayers are not ever answered and never will be answered because it's not God's will. Now, there may not be anything wrong with our prayers. In other words, like David, who desired greatly to build that temple, but it wasn't God's will. There wasn't anything wrong with his desires. But it just was not God's will. Moses looking over into the promised land. You know how heartbroken he was that he was not going into the promised land. So it's going to be more and more difficult. This is my point. As we get nearer to the day of the Lord, the end of this world, it is going to be more and more difficult to believe. Now someone's going to say, yeah, but it's God. that causes us to believe in God that sustains us, yes, but a lot of it is by prayer, isn't it? Is it through prayer that you get much of your assurance of your salvation? Sure it is. It's going to become more and more difficult because God is going to favor the world over people. That beast is gonna overcome the saints. That's all part of it. And it's happening right now. It's happening right now. We are seeing that Satan has made war with the saints. We can no longer, the scripture is He will make war with the saints and overcome them, but now Satan has made war with the saints and has overcome them. That's hard, isn't it? For the Christian, that's hard. And no wonder that nobody wants to touch it with a thin-footed pole. Yeah, they can, they can, they're that way because they are dispensationalists, yes. But for us, it is hard because we just don't want to believe that God would allow such a thing to take place. But there's love, not only is God allowing it, but He is bringing it to pass. And you know, when I brought it out to some people, the one I was talking to you this morning about, look at all the prophets that got martyred. And look at all the apostles. All the apostles. And the ones who didn't, they tried. God brought that on His people. of his people, his right. And it's been going on from the very beginning, hasn't it? I mean, Cain did slay Abel, didn't he? Right in the very beginning, and it's always been so. And as Paul writes in Galatians concerning Isaac, And Ishmael, the son of the bond woman, persecuted who? The son of a free woman. It's always been that way. But not only that, it's like Job writes in the 21st chapter, or it's written in the 21st chapter of Job, Job answered and said, hear diligently my speech and let this be your consolation. Suffer me that I may speak, and after that I have spoken. Walk on. As for me, is my complaint to man, and if it were so, why should not my spirit be troubled? Mark me and be astonished and lay your hand upon your mouth. Even when I remember, I'm afraid and trembling, taking hold on my flesh. Wherefore do the wicked live, right? Become old, gay, or mighty in power. Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring frame before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bulge injureth and faileth not, their cow caveth and casteth not her calf. In other words, again, everything just goes along merrily, doesn't it? We have expressions such as they've got the world by the tail of a downhill bull. He goes on, they send forth their little ones like a clock and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they say unto God, depart from us for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have if we pray unto him? And so it goes on here in Job. It just continues on and on and on. So, and we'll not turn it over there, but the psalmist had the same problem, didn't he? When I considered the of the ways of the unjust, he said, my feet well, I slipped. In other words, I hope you want to go over there with them. Of course, he said, but then entered I into the sanctuary of the Lord and understood their last end. And that's what we have to consider today, because again, it's going to get, harder and harder and harder because it's going to seem more and more and more just like us here today. How few of us are there? And how many of you have prayed for the salvation of your loved ones? How many of you prayed for the salvation of your neighbor? And yet, what's happened? No change. No change. Tires are still in the wheel. Yeah. Still there. Well, if you give one fella MC, he must work his crop. Yeah. Except that. We have seen, again, that God has, for the most part, among groups like us, He has weeded out many of those patterns. How is He done? By the pure preaching of the Word. It's going to get harder and harder for anyone to believe and it's going to affect us. First Timothy We could read a whole lot of this, but we want to read the last two verses. It's Old Timothy. Old Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust. Avoid profane and vain babblings. That in itself is a problem, isn't it? Aren't you attacked nearly every day with these, what does he call them? Profane and vain dabblings? Sure you are. But then he says, and oppositions of science. Now, the apostle calls them falsely so called, and so they are. But nevertheless, I mean, we've just seen a a first-hand example of that in all of this COVID-19 thing, right? Follow the science, right? Follow the science. And then we get down to this point and we find out that it wasn't science at all. It was falsely so-called. But how many people believed it? world was coming to an end with the COVID-19, right? Well, that whole six foot thing, there was no science behind that at all, no, nothing. 10 foot, six foot, whatever it was, it was all propaganda. Went to Warner Burger in the last 24 hours and they were all wearing masks in there still. And they're doing that in lots and lots of businesses still. Folks riding around in their car by themselves with a mask on. Or walking down the road with a mask on. But I mean this is just one example, but what about evolution? How has the teaching of evolution affected our children, and how has it affected multitudes of people that call themselves Christians? Some of them have reconciled the two together. Yes, they do. And they have to, to keep their sanity, don't they? And then they wonder about, was a day in Genesis a day, or what? And was there a... a great space between verses one and two. And where did all the people come from? Yeah, and where did the dinosaurs come from? And, uh, uh, the Neanderthal people. On and on and on it goes. And what about all the stars and the planets? Where did they come from? Well, they come from a big bang. or they come from gravity, they were formed by gravity, and on and on and on it goes, but they put forth all of these facts. But most of us here, have lived long enough now, and these children have not lived as long as we have, and they have not seen all the changes that have been made in all of the theories which they call facts over the years. Yeah, when we was coming up, we was all gonna freeze to death. Now we're gonna have us all burned. Now we're gonna burn up and tomorrow we'll freeze to death again and so forth and so on and on and on it goes. But it all attacks even Christian people. I mean true Christian people sometimes in our weakest moments we begin to doubt just a little bit or wonder at least a little bit. Now thankfully as we live and grow in the grace and knowledge of But people here, listen one more time to what Jesus says in that 24th chapter. Then, if any man shall succumb to you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. Now, there are worlds of evangelists out there today that's doing all kinds of stuff to say, that essentially says, here's Christ. Here's where he is, come and join us. Because here, here's where Christ is. Well some of them even go in as far as to say they are a Christian. Well that happens too. Proclaiming themselves to be Christ, there's a man in the Philippines that has a huge following over there. I've heard Benny and a few others like him. They don't say they're Christ, but they'll say they're God's. Yeah. Yeah. And they're claiming it, right? We were amongst that group in Colorado that, well, here comes a father, and there's a son, and there's a Holy Ghost, and three men that were in there, bombed, ready to get out of there. But we stayed and we did kind of come out on top at the end. But it goes further than that, doesn't it? Yeah, it goes further. For there shall arise false christs and false prophets and shall show what? Great signs. Great signs and wonders. insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. In other words, there is going to be such a strong delusion. delusion, and why is it going to be so strong? Well, God said it that way. Because God is going to send you. And the purpose of it. I love the passage of back over 1 Kings, the last chapter You all know the story, how Jehoshaphat goes over to King Ahab and Ahab says, come go to war with me. And Jehoshaphat says, well, let's inquire first with the Lord. And so Ahab drops out all these prophets. Boy, they just start prophesying victory, absolute victory. Well, of course, Jehoshaphat was wise enough. He said, well, is not there one more that we can inquire of? And Ahab said, yes, there's one man, but he never speaks any good of me. So they go and they bring Micaiah. And Micaiah prophesies just the opposite of what all the other prophets are going to prophesy. And so we pick the story up, verse and he said, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who shall proclaim, Ahab, that he may go up and fall at the brim of Gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, where are you? And he said, I will go forth and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, this is the Lord, said, thou shalt persuade him and prevail also. Go forth and do so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets. The Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee, but Zedekiah, the son of Sinai, and I, went near and smoked Lycaon on the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee? And Lycaon said, Behold, thou shalt see it that day, when thou shalt go into the inner chamber to hide thyself. And the king of Israel said, take Micaiah and carry him back unto Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son, and say, thus said the king, put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, if thou return him all at peace, the Lord is not spoken by me. And he said, hearken, O people, every one of you. But see, there's that strong delusion again. And this is what God is going to send forth in this day and age. And what is it designed to do? It's designed to separate, JT, the wheat from the chaff, the wheat from the tares. It is designed to take the precious from the vile. Because only, only those that are the elect of God this day and time, that just declares, oh, I fall for any of that. Be careful. That's back to that song, the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not of what they stumble upon at all. In fact, they think it's life. They think it's life. The Supreme Court Justice, that's exactly it. And all the rest of that is? Right. So, you understand what I'm saying here? That's the reason that Jesus asked that question. Y'all always pray not to think. because the time is coming when it's going to seem like that God is favoring It seems he's answering the prayers of all these unbelievers. And I'm not talking about out-and-out heathens. I'm talking about mainly those that are religious, right? And prayer warriors. Yes, prayer warriors. And chain warriors and, you know, look, prayers and all these ways that, well, you know, just call everybody and contact everybody. Again, as though, if great numbers, pray to God, it's going to affect, you know. And join in. I'm just thinking about that. Let's rest about that. they shall not go unpunished. Well, if hand goeth hand, yes, they shall not go, no hand going in hand, they shall not go unpunished, but once again, it's the prayer of a righteous man, a righteous man. Now, again, for time's sake, we'll not turn over there, that third chapter of the Revelation, the Laodicean church. Well, how does that end? If any man, if any man, not the whole church, but if any man, Hear my voice and open unto me, I will come in and sup with Him. And He will come in. Because there's going to be a spirit of Luke 1. All of these things are told to us, and Jesus said, I tell you before. And so we can prepare, and the other people aren't gonna be able to prepare. That's right. And that's one of the things that bothers me today about most of what's going on. Sovereign grace churches is that they're not being prepared. One reason is because many of them think, oh well, we're going to be raptured out. You poor people are going to have to endure the great tribulation And that doctrine, that dispensational theology, pretty much came out of the little season. That's where it had it's beginning. Just like Chrismania, that kind of came out at the same time. And they're usually about as much Chrismatics as dispensational. Same time, same species. So is there a victory for the people of God? Yes. Of course there's a victory for the people of God. He raised from the grave. But there still is going to be that temptation. There is going to be that trial. And we need to know what's going on. I hate to invoke the Boy Scouts into this, but what's the life total of the four Boy Scouts? Be prepared. Well, I think that's kind of a biblical charitable too, isn't it? Why did Jesus tell us all of these things if it were not that we be prepared? He tells us to do what? Watch. How are you going to watch for something that you know nothing about? Right. And so, this is one of, I believe it's one of the most important things that we understand. Again, just understanding how God has worked with his elect down through the ages. I'm talking about first, with the patriarchs, second, with Abraham and Israel, thirdly, with the Gentiles, and then fourthly, and what danger there is. That's the thing that I keep trying to get across when I preach these things, but the danger that lies in not knowing these things, if you don't know them, first of all, you're gonna be discouraged when God It's not saving people and adding to the church. Secondly, then, you're going to go against the very ordained ways of God, and you're going to get people saved, quote, unquote, And you're going to fill the churches with unbelievers, which is exactly what has happened in the last century, or maybe it began again back in the little season when the little season began. It's all tied together. It all is connected. When did the little season begin? Well, Charles Finney's day, early 1900s, I think. Evolution got started back in that time. The downgrade controversy was going on and the Industrial Revolution began where men became more and more covetous all of the time. and women's liberation. It all began back in the mid to early to mid 1800s. That's when the oil industry became so important. You needed oil for all this modernization. And all these things brought forth something where the world is never going backwards. The binary system, all these major sports, they all start at the same time. And so then they take the people from that to stay home and watch or go to the football game on the Lord's Day. And he has something to say about that. Even the sports begin. to be proliferated back in that same time. And worshiping all those things and forgiving God. But on the times of the season, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves on the perpetual day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travails upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, Brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as noonthee. We are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken, are drunken in the night. who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for in heaven the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him. Therefore comfort yourselves, together, and edify one another, even as also you do. And then we could add forsaking not what? Assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and all the more as what? There's a dynamic approach. Any question about what David's talking about?