Would you bow your heads and join me in a word of prayer, Lord? Everything that we have is from you, Lord. We thank you so much for how you provide and protect and watch over us, Lord. And this morning, would you prepare our hearts, Lord? Lord, would you teach us, Holy Spirit, lead us and guide us, give us a clear mind that we would be able to hear what it is, Lord, receive it, apply it to our lives today. Bless the teaching, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. And Amen. Good morning and welcome. You can be seated. Thank you. Those of you online that are joining us, we're so glad that you are. Last week I had put out a prayer plea for Johnny Baginski and his brother Xavier, who many of you know from here in the fellowship. Johnny was hospitalized after they found multiple tumors riddled throughout both his body and brain. And just as the Lord brings Johnny to mind, pray for his miraculous healing, which we still are praying for his miraculous healing. Pray specifically for supernatural strength for Xavier, his older brother, and even more specifically for their mom, Michelle. for just supernatural comfort, the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And as updates come available, I will keep you apprised. We're looking for a good report to come. Well, this is our first of two Sunday morning services, which we devote to End times, the teaching of Bible prophecy with these weekly Bible prophecy updates that we've been doing for quite some time now. And a few years ago, four years ago, we kind of changed it up a little bit. And now second service is the sermon, which is a verse by verse study through the Bible. We're currently in the book of Revelation. And today's text is going to be chapter three, verses 14 through 22, which is the letter to the church of the Laodiceans, in a sermon that I've titled, Have You Become a Lukewarm Christian? Now, how's that for starters, right? We're going to look at five questions again this week, like last week, in this regard, but not to put condemnation on Christians, rather to take our spiritual temperature as Christians. So was that better? Okay. Those of you that are watching by way of YouTube or Facebook, we would really encourage you at this time, don't wait, go directly to the website JDFarag.org so that the live stream is uninterrupted because we don't stream the last part because of censorship issues. So if you want the uncensored entirety of today's update, we'd really encourage you to go there at this time now instead of when we end the live stream. Okay, because today is our last day studying the last of the seven letters of the seven churches, I made the decision to again connect the prophecy update to the second service sermon. While the title of today's update is The Lukewarm Church is Alive and Well Today, it could really be titled or even subtitled something along the lines of The Lukewarm Church Today Proves We're Fast Approaching That Great and Final Day, because it does. And I hope that by the end of our time together in today's update, you will leave here encouraged. knowing that we were told ahead of time, Jesus said, I will tell you what's going to happen before it happens. So when it happens, you will believe. In other words, He's going to, and sometimes in great detail by way of Bible prophecy, tell us what the world is going to look like at the time of the end. And such is the case with this last church placed perfectly at the end, which is a picture of the church at the end. That's not a play on words. So let's get started. Maybe I should provide the definition of lukewarm for beginners, right? You're not beginners. For starters, so it's worse. Let me start over. In fact, I should just stick to my notes for a change. That's what they're here for, right? To keep me from going off message. Here's what I have written down. Can I just read it? Let me have it, okay? Let me explain by providing the definition of lukewarm in the context of that which is before us today. How much better is that? Why don't you just say that the first time? Because. Never mind. Okay, definition of lukewarm. This is going to be germane to our understanding. To be lukewarm is to lack interest or enthusiasm, making one indifferent, usually resulting from the neglecting of and or acclimating to the surrounding conditions. Example, let's just say that I asked someone to bring me to the pulpit a really hot cup of coffee. Don't bring it. Don't bring me coffee. I'll end up in the bathroom for the whole thing. So this is just by example. So somebody brings up to the pulpit a very piping hot, as we say, cup of coffee. And I put it right here. But if I neglect it, being too busy for it and or having no interest in it, what's going to happen to it? It will become lukewarm by the end of the update. having succumbed to and acclimated to the surrounding conditions. Some of you are looking at me going lukewarm. By the time, as long as you're going these days, that thing will have mold on it by the time you're done with the update. That's right. Well, this is what's so sad because the church's state has suffered this fate. which explains why some Christians would acclimate to the blasphemous opening ceremony of the 33rd Olympics this last week. So blasphemous was this ceremony that I won't even show a picture of one particular scene. Those of you who know what I'm talking about know just how blasphemous it is. And by the way, isn't it interesting that it's always to blaspheme Jesus Christ and Christianity and not any other religion or religious leader. Why is that, do you think? It's the same, I give it, I'll give you the answer to the test question here. You ready for it? Wait for it. It's the same reason why when somebody hurts themselves or is angry, they don't take the name of Buddha in vain, or oh Mohammed. I have yet to hear anybody do that. In fact, what the next time somebody takes the name of yours and my Jesus, The only name given among men whereby we must be saved. The name that is above all names, the name of Jesus in vain. Don't do what I would do, because you know what I would do, being the godly, humble, meek, gentle pastor that I am. You're going to be much more gracious. But just ask him a question. Say, hey, listen, I have a question for you. I'm just curious here. Why aren't we being equal opportunity blasphemers? In other words, why do you always only take the name of Jesus in that way and not the name of Buddha or Mohammed or any other religious leader? Could it be, I'll answer for you, help you out here, because it looks like you could use all the help you could get. It's because Jesus only is God. That's why. And He's the genuine, which is why there are counter. That's why you never hear of a counterfeit Buddha, a false Buddha. At the end of days, there will be many who claim to be Buddha. I haven't heard of one. Are you still with me? You get what I'm doing here, right? You understand? We talk about it all the time. I know, I hope you don't tire of me talking about it. But the counterfeit, the blasphemous counterfeit and mocking validates the authenticity of the one whom they are mocking. Because if Jesus the Christ was not God the Son, they wouldn't mock Him. Man, I didn't plan on spending that much time. But The reason I brought it up is because I was actually a little bit taken back. by how some Christians, and I know better than to go on social media just to kind of see, hey, what are, you know, what are some of the posts on this thing? Because I heard about it. I don't watch TV, so I didn't see the ceremony, but like I'm not going to hear about it. My email's blowing up, online members. Did you see? I said no. You did? I'll pray for you. Do you know what that was, by the way? Let me just say this parenthetically, get it out of the way. It was a vile, evil, satanic ritual. That's what that was. And what I was taken back by was how Christians. These are Christians today. And by the way, when we get to second service and we get more in depth into this letter to the church of the Laodiceans, they're still Christians. They're still the church. They're one of the seven churches. How do you know that? Because at the end of the letter, spoiler alert, Jesus says He chastises those whom He loves. Be zealous and repent. How do you know that you're a child of God? Hebrews answers, when you get a spanking. Because that's how you'll know your God's child, because you're not going to spank somebody else's child. Though there are times where you wish you could, but you won't because they're not your child. That's not your place. These are Children of God. These are God's people. This is God's church. These are believers. They're just lukewarm believers that have acclimated. And so they've acclimated so much so that they can watch something like that and be unmoved and unfazed by it. So when you ask them about it, or you see a post from them about it, maybe you shouldn't be surprised when they start talking about, well, did you see the lights that came out of the Eiffel Tower there? You know who the light bearer is? That's what a Lucifer means, light bearer. Oh man, wasn't that amazing when they, wait a minute, have you become so lukewarm as a Christian and so acclimated to the world and the things of the world that you no longer recognize it for what it is? Maybe the update should have been on this. I don't know, but let's move on. Two questions, may I? Is it any wonder they're rhetorical? Is it any wonder that this lukewarm Laodicean church, representative of the last church, in the end is placed at the end. We talked about this last week. All of these seven churches are in perfect order as a depiction of the church age, starting with the first church, the Church of Ephesus, who left not lost their first love. And then you go to the persecuted church, Smyrna. Then you go to the perverted church, Pergamum. And then you go to the church in Thyatira, and then the church in Philadelphia. I missed one. I miss Sardis. The church in Sardis, the church, I'm going somewhere with this, the church in Philadelphia. And then when you get to the church of the Laodiceans, it's not the church in Laodicea. No, it's the church of the Laodiceans. This is, it's their church, as we'll see here in a moment. In other words, the church placed at the end, representative of the church age at the end, will it become so lukewarm, Jesus isn't even in the church. Are they still believers? Yes, because they're still getting a spanking. So they're still children of God. But they need to repent. They need to be zealous and repent. And God's going to discipline them. And God wants to restore them. Well, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. But here's the second question, again rhetorical. Could it be that the Lord wants us to know just how bad the church becomes when the pre tribulation trumpet sounds in the rapture and Jesus comes? And by the way, this smacks in the face of many a false teaching today from many of the pulpits today, particularly here in the US of A. Because there's this Dominion Theology roommates with Kingdom Now Theology, which has been rebranded, by the way, as NAR, the New Apostolic Reformation Theology, all of which are false. all of which say that the church has to take dominion over all of the major arenas of the world, educational, governmental, financial, all of the above before Jesus can come back. That's not what my Bible says. My Bible says that at the end, right before Jesus comes back, You've basically got two churches left, two types of Christians. You got the Philadelphia Christian. Don't you find it interesting, by the way, after Thyatira and Sardis, you got Philadelphia and you got Laodicea, the antithesis one of the other, polar opposite. And by the way, with the Church of Philadelphia, there was no rebuke or correction for that church. And with the Church of the Laodiceans, there's no commendation or encouragement for them. Talk about the polar opposite. So The reason I emphasize this is because of the placement of this last church at the time of the end, because if anything, it says to us that we are at the time of the end. And if you'll hang in there with me, I will explain how I get there. And we'll begin by borrowing five verses from our Second Service text. And we'll start with the first four, which are in chapter three, verses 14 through 17. This is a, this is a stunning letter, by the way. Right out of the shoe, verse 14, And to the angel of the church, of the Laodiceans, These things says the Amen, the faithful, and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your words, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know, you do not know, Jesus says that you are, listen to this list, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Wait, what? We're talking about the same church here. This church fancied themselves as having everything, being in need of nothing. And Jesus says of them, you have need of everything because you have nothing. You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Verse 20 is the fifth verse I want to borrow from our second service text. This is a very well known verse. And it's used typically in the context of evangelism. Nothing wrong with that. We're going to talk about it more in depth second service, but it has application for our prophecy update today. Jesus speaking, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, notice the detail there. You've got to hear the voice before you hear the knock. He's not just knocking, he's speaking. Let me in. We hear, if anyone hears my voice and opens the door. Notice he didn't say if anyone hears the knock and opens the door. I will come into Him, notice not them in the plural, but Him in the singular, and dine with Him in the singular, and He with Me in the singular. Hang on to that. Please know that in my preparing for today's teachings, both first and second service, I really had to allow the Holy Spirit unfettered access to my heart. Not that I don't, but this time more so to search my heart concerning what He's put on my heart to speak. And this for three reasons, not the least of which is that the world has infiltrated the church, which in turn has acclimated to a worldly pop culture and an ungodly political culture. Go back to my hot cup of coffee example. You put the church in the world and it should influence the world, not the world influence the church. The church has acclimated itself to the world and as such become lukewarm like the world. A little bit warm and cozy with the world. I think about Peter when he denied Jesus three times, exactly as Jesus said he would. You know where he was? He was warming himself by the enemy's fire. What's he doing there in the first place? You know you're in trouble when you're getting too warm and comfortable around the fire of the world. when we find ourselves in places that become a little bit more comfortable for us, when at one time they used to be very uncomfortable for us. But now as time has gone on, we've acclimated to it, acquiesced to it. This is why, by the way, that the people's popular and political opinion culturally superseded that of the Lord's in its rule, making all the decisions spiritually. Again, the name is the nature, Laodicea. Two English words, laity diocese. The laity, the people decide, the people rule. They were calling the shots. They were making all the decisions, and the decisions they were making were based on pop culture and political opinion. You might say it like this, that the political climate of the day and the popular culture of the day had come into the church, and the church was all too happy to accommodate it and acclimate to it. It's important to understand that Laodicea was thriving. I mean, this was a going, growing, glowing, I ran out of rhyming words, church and city. And like other cities, it had a worship center for this Asclepius, the god of medicine. We talked about him before in prior letters. The city was known for their Temple of Asclepius and were famous for a medical school, which was actually a part of that temple. And it was from this medical school that Laodicea would be known throughout the region for their eye salve, their eye medicine and eye ointment, which was a cutting edge pharmaceutical, making them very rich. Oh wow, you mean Jesus wasn't just randomly writing about ISAV and Rich? No, like with all the other churches, He is speaking in writing, having John write in such a way that it would have struck them between the eyes and hopefully pierced through to their heart. It's because they were so rich. And how did they get so rich? There's a lot of money in pharmaceuticals, by the way. It's because they were so rich that they were considered the financial trade center of the region, the banking center of that region, which also afforded them the luxury of becoming famous for this clothing line. It was the fashion runway of the known world at the time. known especially for this black, shiny, silky wool. And they made a whole clothing line out of it, and they made a lot of money on it. But this wealthy, banking center, cutting edge, pharmaceutical city has some serious problems. Chief of which is that the city was situated in such a way that made it vulnerable militarily. And it's for this reason that they had to, listen, acquiesce to political compromise to ensure that they wouldn't be attacked or destroyed because they were vulnerable. And to make matters even worse, Laodicea had a very serious problem with their water supply, which also made them vulnerable to attack. See, in that day, military strategy was to cut off the water supply, and you could just take the city. You just got to find out how they're getting water inside the walls of the city. And all you would have to do is cut off the water supply and you've got the city. You just got to wait, be patient, cut off the water supply, because you can only live a certain number of days without water. And then if they have a reserve, maybe a little bit longer, but you cut off the water source, you got them. That's what the enemy does with us. He cuts off the water supply of God's Word, the water of God's Word. And it's not long before He's got us. That's our supply. That's our water supply. That's our lifeline, the bread of life, the water of life. That's why the enemy will do everything and stop at nothing to cut that off. That's why when you try to read your Bible, a drowsiness like you've never known descends upon you. It wasn't there before. In fact, the opening ceremony, you were wide awake. That was unnecessary. But you know what I mean? And I remember many years ago when I was on the mainland, you know, I got my Bible, same Bible. I've had this since 1984. I'll never get rid of it. And you can't have it. So don't ever try to take it from me. It's very sentimental. 1984. It's anyway. So I had the Bible here and the remote here. I just, I watched all of a sudden the spiritual warfare. You know, picture the cute cartoon character. By the way, just the devil is not, does not own a pair of red tights and have a pitchfork with horns. Okay. But he pops up. Hey, you know, you've had a long day. Why don't you just relax? And that remote looks so attractive. Then here's the Holy Spirit going, no. You're dying, you're starving, you need nourishment. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Just put your, try this at home. They say don't try this at home. No, try this at home. Take your Bible, put it next to the remote control, stand back and watch the show. You're in for quite a surprise in the spiritual realm, the war that's going on. You reach for the Bible, the phone rings. You reach for the Bible, the kids start fighting. You reach for the Bible, you get into a conflict with your wife or husband. Pastors don't get into fights with our wives. We call it intense fellowship with our wives. So they've got a serious water problem. So what are they going to do? Well, they were situated next to Colossae. This is the, we know it as the letter to the Colossians that the Apostle Paul wrote close in proximity to Laodicea. And there was a river running between both Colossae and Laodicea. But the problem is, is that it would dry up and they would have no fresh water supply. So now what are they going to do? Well, they got a lot of money and they're so rich they can try to figure something else out. Well, they figured out something else. There's another city six miles away by the name of Hierapolis. And Hierapolis, you can see this online if you want to search. It's really quite breathtaking, these natural hot springs. So they built this elaborate and expensive aqueduct. And they ran the water from the natural pure hot springs of Hierapolis six miles away. That's a six mile long aqueduct. But by the time that water reached Laodicea, it was lukewarm. Hmm. You think they caught that? And that wasn't even the worst of the problem. it actually created even more of a problem acquiring this water this way from this city. And this problem was twofold. First, it got lukewarm by the time it got there. But if this weren't bad enough, it was polluted by the time it got there. It was so polluted that the people in the city got so sick from this lukewarm, polluted water that they would vomit it up. Are we, are we good? Do you think this is why Jesus used the wording He used? There's a takeaway in that. just in and of itself. The Lord will always speak to us right where we're at, in such a way that we know it's Him because, well first, as His sheep, we know our shepherd's voice. This is the thing. When the shepherd isn't there and somebody comes in to fill in for him that day, the sheep don't recognize that voice. It's a different voice and they don't respond. This is what people who breed sheep will tell you, that their ears are tuned to the voice of that particular shepherd. That's why Jesus said, My sheep know My voice. So we know it's the voice because we know our shepherd's voice. But not only that, we know it's Him because only He knows that about us. You know what I'm talking about? Only, you're reading God's Word. God's Word is really reading you. You're searching the Scriptures. No, the Scriptures are really searching you. And you come across the passage of Scripture that you have read a jillion times before, And it just leaps out off the page, and it's kind of like, wow, God, only You know that about me. And that's why the Word of God is alive and active. Okay, how you doing so far? You're probably wondering where I'm going with all of this. Well, There are no less than three eerily similar parallels with this church in that day and today's church in this final day. Here are the three, the political parallel, the financial parallel, and last but certainly not least, the medical parallel. If you'll kindly allow me to, I'll begin with the political parallel specific to being infiltrated and having acclimated by way of compromise. Do you know the pressure that pastors are under today to keep everybody happy? Man, I don't want to, you know, get too political because man, then, you know, they won't come. And then if I, you know, kind of lean this direction, then they won't come. So I can't be hot or cold for that matter, left or right, blue or red, conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. So I'll be in the middle, lukewarm. You see how that works? And so they do. I can't do that, even if I wanted to. Well, first of all, God would never let me get away with it. But even if He would let me get away with it, I just, I couldn't. I would, first of all, that would kill me. Talk about my notes. I would have to go over my notes and delete, which might make some of you very excited. I would have to delete probably three fourths of my updates. Because if I say, well, I can't say that. That's not politically correct. Oh, I can't bring up that because, well, that's going to alienate them. Or if I say this, that's going to alienate them. And see the pastor wants, and I'm not above this, and I'll confess to this. I want you guys to like me. Do you like me? I mean, I'm just like anybody else. I mean, oh, thank you. Notice I didn't ask, do you love me? You have to love me. I asked, do you like me? And like actually packs more punch than love these days, I would say. But I want you to like me. I don't want you to, you know, hate me. I'm not going to take it personally if the world hates me, because Jesus said the world's going to hate you. But don't take it personally because it's not about you. It's about me and your association with me. That's why the world is going to hate you. In fact, beware when all men speak well of you. Hey, listen, when the world is so friendly with you, the world sends you a thank you card or a birthday card, you in trouble. To be friends with the world is to be at enmity with God. James goes as far as calling anyone who's friends with the world an adulterer and adulteress. We talked about that spiritual adultery. So here's what's happened. The political parallel and the compromise that comes with it in acclimating to it, not wanting to, don't want to rock the boat, Don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers. Listen, if you've been coming to this church for any length of period of time, you don't have any feathers left to ruffle. Am I right? Can I just say, maybe better said ask, if you agree with me, concerning the political drama within just the last couple of weeks. Would you agree that it's just getting weirder and weirder and weirder seemingly with each passing day? I mean, what in the world is going on? Who's running the country? No, I know you're going to go, yeah, you Biden, you voted for Biden, didn't you? I did not vote for Biden. I don't even know which Biden I would vote for if I did. Or even if that is him, because I've seen some older pictures. That don't look like him. Looks like a guy with a Biden mask that they got cheap after Halloween. I don't know, but that's not him. And even if it is him, I don't think he's human anymore fully. No, for real. So now that we got that out of the way, It's just getting weird. Here's the problem. I mean, it would be, I mean, the world, it's the world. We can't expect the world to not be weird because the world is not regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We can't expect the non believer to act like a believer if they've never been born again of the Holy Spirit. That is, that is unfair. So I don't expect the world to behave in any other way than the weird way that the world, I will give them this though, they've taken weird to a whole new level, especially in the political arena. So what's your problem, Pastor? Well, you got a minute? I got a lot of problems, but The problem I have, and I'll just speak for myself, I suppose, is that the spiritual church has acclimated to the political world, certainly here in the US, but infinitely more importantly in Israel, which is the naval, as we talked about on Thursday night, the center of the world according to God's Word. You know, in America, America is always at the center of the map. I was sharing the story again about when I was in Russia teaching at the Bible College, and they showed me their Russian map of the world, and Russia is at the center of their map. That's another lesson. We're all at the center of our own world. And the lukewarm Laodicean Christians were at the center of their own world, because Jesus wasn't at the center where He belonged. So Israel is God's prophetic clock, and it's the center of the world. And if you want to know what time it is in Bible prophecy, you need look no further than to what's happening in Israel. Now I'm about to quote an article that a couple of online members sent me. When I first got it, I thought, well, this is interesting. But then I got another one. And you've heard that Turkish proverb, when one man calls you a donkey, pay no attention. When two men call you a donkey, get a saddle. You should see how many saddles I have. It's quite an impressive collection. Well, let everything be established in the presence of two or more witnesses. This is actually a biblical principle. And I had more than two people send me the same exact article. It's from Israel 365 News. It was published on Wednesday, and you probably already read the title, but let me just read it. Rabbi, election will be choice between Kamala Harris as Daniel's fourth kingdom or Trump as second non Jewish Messiah. I made the decision after inquiring of the Lord to just quote. I'm not going to comment. I'm just going to quote because I know this is a very touchy topic. Below the title, they quote a version of Daniel 7 13 from the Israel Bible, which reads, quote, Dominion, glory and kingship were given to him. All peoples and nations of every language must serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship one that shall not be destroyed. In this article, they both quote from and provide a link to a YouTube video by a Rabbi Isser Z. Weisberg titled, quote, My Messiah, Donald. What follows are some excerpts from the article, as I quote the transcript of the video that was in the article. Here's the quote from the description of this video, Weisberg, quoting Weisberg. On Saturday, July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania, God Almighty anointed President Donald Trump as the second and final non Jewish Messiah in the history of mankind. If this sounds odd to you, please listen to this video. While I did, it was painful. He then goes on to say, and I quote, The term Messiah is used in the books of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, as an idiom for someone who is anointed by God for a godly mission connected to the ultimate redemption. There's only one non Jew in the history of mankind who has been given this title. It was given to Cyrus the Great, who freed the Jews from their exile. By the way, this is where we're at in Daniel. Cyrus issued a decree allowing and even encouraging the Jews to leave Babylon and return to their holy land and rebuild their holy temple. The, listen very carefully to this, the absolute deadline for the redemption is by the end of the Jewish year 5787, which corresponds to October 2nd, 2027. Note that 2027 from now is a little more than three years from now. redemption, still quoting, will surely occur during Donald Trump's tenure. And I have good reason to believe Donald Trump was chosen to be the one to redeem the sins of Esau through offering his assistance in rebuilding the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount and establishing the Jewish kingdom over all of mankind in Jerusalem. Perhaps, still quoting, it is no accident that the numeric value of Donald Trump in Hebrew is the same as Messiah, son of David, Mashiach ben David. Here's one last quote. A new United Nations will replace the current cesspool that goes by that fraudulent name. A real United Nations, united to serve God, led by the Messiah, and based in Jerusalem. And my feeling is that the United States, under President Trump, will be the first nation to join the meaning of the MAGA movement. Close quote. Let's get to the second parallel because this is all going to tie together here shortly. It's the parallel in the financial arena, such that this lukewarm church in that day speaks to how many have already acclimated to the reality of a cashless society in this, the final day. Again, I'm I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I don't mean this to be condemning of any anyone who's a Christian or professing Christian. But I do have considerable difficulty wrapping my mind around how quickly the Christian is embracing what the Bible says will be used by the Antichrist during the seven year tribulation. Do they plan to be here for that? They give no thought to it. Maybe they're, maybe they're just too caught up, pun intended by the way, they're just too caught up in the cares and the affairs of this life and too grounded with their roots down too deep in the temporal soil of this world and the things of this world. So that when I read an article like I just read and quoted from, the average Christian is, they're not just going to... Actually, it's even worse than that. You know what's going to happen? It's a badge of honor. They're going to send me the most vicious and vile emails because I did it again this week. I have been accused and called some very vile names because all I'm doing is pointing out and connecting the dots with Bible prophecy to one man whose name keeps coming up as it relates to that specific Bible prophecy. And I mean, I'm sorry you can call me silly and call me whatever you want. Just don't call me late for dinner. But when you've got people in Israel calling Donald Trump the Messiah, come on. And you dare, just the mere mention of Donald Trump's name to a fellow Christian, How many friends have you lost over Donald Trump? How many vicious and vile responses or posts or emails or even calls have you been on the receiving end of because of Donald Trump? What does that tell you? When a pastor cannot stand behind the pulpit as he's privileged to every week, and speak the truth in love because of love. The hard truth, the hard reality under the banner of, well, people might get offended. Well, I would rather offend you into heaven than flatter you and deceive you into hell. Donald Trump is a deceiver. push send, bring it. Same thing is true with the financial. What in the world? Are things getting bizarre in the financial world? I mean, you understand what's happening here, right? It's, readying and steadying the world for this cashless society prophesied in the Bible, particularly in Revelation chapter 13, where you have all three together, the image of the beast, the worship of the beast, and the mark of the beast, without which no one will be able to buy or sell. It's right there. My wife said she didn't notice it before. It was probably there. But when she went to Whole Foods, she saw the palm scanner. I'm like, honey, you didn't do it, did you? No. You taught me better than that. Good girl. Get out of that store, by the way. I heard about this. I talked about it a couple years ago. I forget the name of it. Let me get my card. No need. Wait, let me get my phone. No need. Just give me your forehand. Oh, you don't have one? We'll just use a facial recognition and get the out of the forehead. It's Revelation 13, man. Are you kidding me? And people call me crazy. Wednesday, just two days prior to the Israel 365 News article, the Cato Institute posted a most interesting publication asking the question of, are CBDCs getting a rebrand as digital cash? I want you to pay particular attention to this article as I quote from it. More people are taking notice each day of the risks of central bank digital currencies, CBDC. These concerns have been voiced in the media, in testimony before Congress, and elsewhere. However, the officials driving the charge for CBDCs appear undeterred. Instead, some of these officials have taken up a marketing effort to, listen, rebrand CBDCs as digital cash. They are not. Despite the claims, a CBDC is not cash for a digitalized world. Yes, like cash, a CBDC would be a liability of the central bank. However, unlike cash, A CBDC would offer neither the privacy protections nor the finality that cash provides. Let me explain this. I pay you cash. The only people who know about it are you and me and whatever surveillance cameras caught. No. It's untraceable. It's untrackable. You don't know the amount. You don't know what the transaction was for. You don't know what my name is. You don't know what my Social Security number is. You don't know what their name is. You don't know nothing. And here's the other thing about cash. Once you've paid in cash, it's final. In fact, you know, they used to. This is probably, I need to update my examples, but all sales are final, no cash refunds. I'm pretty sure they replaced the palm scanners with those, those signs with the palm scanners. What does that mean? See, when you pay cash, that's it. You can't reverse it. But if it's digital, you can. See, if I use my CBDC digital account to make a purchase, it has to go through this verification process. And once it's verified and authenticated, it's added to the block, which is added to the blockchain, and it's finalized. But it can be reversed. Your money can be taken back. whether you like it or not. Your money can be taken away. Your account can be suspended. They can't do that with cash. They have no control. But if it's digital, they have control. So you can't buy or sell unless they allow it. And even if you're allowed to buy and sell and complete a transaction, The finality of it is uncertain, and the jury is still out. Because if you go and post something on social media that that pastor on the windward side of Oahu talked about in his prophecy update, we're going to dock and lower your social credit score, and we're going to debit your account. That was a very bad example, but that's the best I got. Continuing the quote, central bankers and other policymakers are likely to continue their efforts to rebrand CBDCs as digital cash. They have to. But the public shouldn't be fooled by these marketing efforts. We're being lied to. Ah, it's just digital cash. Given governments have consistently chipped away at financial privacy, and CBDCs are positioned to be the capstone in financial surveillance, it's unlikely that promises made to tamp down concerns are going to hold true in practice. It's just lip service. Hey, this is centralized. We still want decentralized. No, but Satan's not omnipresent, so it has to be centralized. Otherwise, he can't control it. So everything has to be central, a centralized economy, a centralized government and a centralized religion. Again, Revelation 13. Okay, this brings me to the third prophetic parallel having to do with the medical arena, which, as we'll see shortly, ties everything together with both the political and the financial arena. You understand that everything intersects. It's all intertwined. One is predicated upon the other. They need each other in order to be implemented, even executed. So, actually, you know what? I need to share this just by way of a preface. And it's also by way of a reminder. I hope you know that I greatly struggle with quoting news articles and reports, given that for the most part, it's all propaganda and predictive programming. It didn't always used to be that way, by the way. Why do I mention this? Because I make every effort to exercise spiritual discernment in what I quote, or even if I quote from any of these sources. And if and when I do, it's with the understanding that the sources are actually telegraphing Satan's agenda. Please listen. They utilize the world's media, medium, with its channels channeling its programs programming. You're being programmed, brainwashed, and they're channeling using this medium, the satanic programming. So have a nice afternoon. It's evidenced by this stunning quote I've shared it before. It's from some 43 years ago, now back in, well, this was 1981, by then CIA Director William Casey, who stated, and I quote, listen, we'll know our disinformation program is complete, successful when everything the American public believes is false. Oh my goodness. Rewind back to 2020. That's exactly what's happening. It worked. It's been met with a smashing success. And one need look no further than to the successful completion of this disinformation program as it relates to the deception in the medical arena, or if you prefer the pharmaceutical arena, Revelation 18, 23 prophecy, very specific about all the nations were deceived. Not most, all the nations were deceived by your pharmakaia, sorceries, pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, big pharma. It is a deception. and deception is the number one sign of the time of the end. And here we are at the church of the Laodiceans at the end. And I submit to you, we are at the end, period. Okay, we'll end the live stream now. Bye. I'm not going to take long. Famous last words, right? I'll be brief. I want to share with you this publication that was sent to me by David Indy, who is a longtime online member. It's a PubMed paper that comes from none other than the National Library of Medicine, NIH. Listen to the title. An intelligent and energy efficient wireless body area network to control Coronavirus outbreak. Now, for those who are interested, we'll provide a link to this once our amazing team completes. Man, they do a lot of work. It takes a lot of time, but they provide the transcripts verbatim, word for word, and we include in there all of the links to everything that I share. So be patient with them, please. And be encouraging to them, please, and pray for them, because they're doing a work all over the world, translating into all these different languages from the main transcript. But you can have the link, and if you want, you can read through this thing. But I've got to warn you, it is very lengthy. It's also very technical. But thankfully, with the help of the eye salve of the Holy Spirit, who opens our eyes, not the one that Laodicea had. The eye salve of the Holy Spirit who gives us eyes to see. What one can see is that this is basically as prophesied in the Bible particularly in the Book of Revelation, a wireless, listen now, a wireless tracking, monitoring, and controlling AI blockchain verification of one's vaccination status in order to determine whether or not one is able to buy or sell their CBDCs vis-a-vis their UBI, universal basic income. Because, oh, remember, Klaus Schwab, you will own nothing and be happy. I don't do a very good, maybe that's a good thing that I don't do a very good impression of him. You'll own nothing and be happy. Why would they promote that? Because you're not going to own anything. They're going to own everything. You will not control anything. They will control everything. They're going to control how much you get and how much you spend, and they're going to control whether or not you can even spend it based on your social credit score and your carbon credit score. This whole universal basic income thing, by the way, this is, I mean, I want to close, but let me just, mention this because it's very important. We can go to bed tonight, and if that trumpet hasn't sounded yet, which God please sound the trumpet, we can wake up tomorrow morning only to learn that we have a deadline with which to convert our cash that we have under our mattress or freezer or wherever we have it into CBDCs. Otherwise it's worthless. Oh yeah, but I bought gold. Okay, take that into the store. I'm sorry, we have no way, method of payment to receive this payment method. I'm sorry, you'll have to use the chip that's embedded in your palm, your right hand, your forehand. So, they're going to, overnight, you'll wake up and that dollar amount you had in the bank is no longer a U.S. dollar amount that you have in the bank. It is now a digital number that has been indexed. And so instead of having X number of dollars in the bank, you now have Y number of CBDCs in the bank. Let's talk just real quick about this universal basic income. No man, I got a good paying job. I own my own company. Okay. I make pretty good money. God's blessed me. Praise the Lord. You're a good steward of God's money, and God's blessed you, and you honor the Lord with your wealth. And so God has blessed you. and blessed your finances. It's His money anyway. We talk about owning nothing. We own nothing, but God owns everything. We're the owner of nothing and the steward of everything. It's just so interesting how Satan just, I mean, you'd think he would have original material, but he can't. He just counterfeits the original. So back to this UBI. So here's what's going to happen. We basically killed your business. We completely stopped your inventory supply. By the way, try to get some parts right now. You're probably experiencing the same thing I am, right? I won't take too long on this. But one month, if, and that's a miracle. And that's even if you can get it. And then even if you can get the part, try to get somebody to come out. Well, the next available time slot will be April of 2025. Oh. Well, I think I'll go buy a new dryer then. Because the part for it isn't available by design. So then I go try buy a new dryer. I sound pretty local, didn't I? No can. Why no can? No have. Why no have? Out of stock. Oh, so deceptive. Try to shop online. Yeah. Oh, in stock, in warehouse. Yeah. In Zimbabwe or China. Okay, I buy it. When are you going to get it? April of 2025. This is all deliberate. You see where I'm going with this? I'm not going there with this. This is where it's going, exactly as we were told it would be going. So now I've got, I got nothing. Like you said, I would have nothing. I can't repair what I've got. I can't buy something new to replace what I got that needs a repair. And by the way, some of these, I shouldn't have gone down this road, but I already did. It's too late. A new car. You know, they're delivering new cars, if you can get it. They're delivering them without parts. I asked the guy the other day about, you know, refrigerators. He said, don't replace your refrigerator. I said, yeah, but the thing's like 15 years old. I said, I like you. He's my appliance repairman. We're so close, you and I. I said, I like you. I don't like you that much. I don't want to see you out here that much. But he said, you know, you know what? You go try buy one now. And they don't have the ice maker yet. So you have to take delivery of that refrigerator. And then if they get one, they'll send it to you and they'll put it in. I think I'll fix the one I got. They're destroying the complete supply. Medication, how's this one? There's a worldwide shortage of medication. Come on. Why? Why? So, so basically you will be forced into, now you've got no job, you got no business. They destroyed your business. They destroyed your job. They destroyed your livelihood. So now you've lost everything. You have nothing and you're happy. And now you're dependent upon them to provide you with a universal basic income every month that they control. You think I'm talking about pie in the sky? You think I'm talking about down the road at some point in the future, far beyond? Nah, this is present. This is now. This is any time now. One last thing, and we're going to expound on this more second service. But you know this, famous verse that's used in evangelism, Behold I stand at the door and knock. It is very possible, and I am convinced actually, that it seems to fit a reference in the Song of Solomon with the bridegroom knocking on his bride's door. Does that change the whole complexion of that or what? Again, we'll talk about this more second service, and I really was looking forward to it because I want to end on this note, especially after that. That still didn't work because that was really heavy, man. Yeah, but if that, behold, I stand at the door and knock, because remember these are his Children, because he only disciplines his Children. That's how we know we're his Children. So these are born again Christians. This is his church, and he's knocking saying, I'm standing at the door, and if anyone will hear my voice, that's the voice of the bridegroom to his bride. and open up the door, I will come in and eat with Him and Him with Me. One last thing on this, and again we'll expand more on second service. You know it has more to do with the eating than the door? No, for real. That's how the marriage covenant was sealed, by eating from the bread and drinking from the same cup. We do it the first Thursday of every night. That's the bridegroom to the bride. That's what that's saying. And if that's what that's saying, and that's what that's saying, well then let's talk about this. That's good news. Exactly. Jesus Christ died. He was buried. He rose again on the third day, and He's coming back again one day to take His bride away to that place that He prepared for her in His Father's house. Give me a couple minutes. I want to go through the ABCs of salvation. Again, just a simple childlike explanation of salvation. The A is for admit or acknowledge, and this is so crucial because you're not going to get anywhere with anybody. I mean, you would, I'll borrow Jesus's words to the church of the Laodiceans, if you don't mind. When I'm sharing the gospel with somebody, and I do share the gospel with people, When I'm sharing the gospel with somebody, I would much rather that they get agitated, irritated, frustrated, all the hated's with me. Except the hated part, because that means the Holy Spirit's working. That's when Jesus said, I wish that you were either hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm, yeah, I believe in God. Where are you going to go? How are you going to lead somebody to Christ who believes they're already a Christian? They're lukewarm. They're in the middle. Yeah, I believe in God. No, I want you to either be on fire for the Lord, or I want you to be cold, indifferent. I want you, you know, I heard Howard Henry, he's with the Lord now, a long time ago, many years ago. Everybody read one of his books. He said, you know, when I go out and socialize, I don't like this surfacy talk. How you doing? Fine. How you doing? Fine. Good. Praise the Lord. He says, you know, I like to get into an argument with somebody, just to keep things, that's how I know I'm alive. Let's, hey, let's talk about, let's work through, let's roll up our arm sleeves and let's get at this. Let's do this. Because you know, it's surfacy, you know, please don't lie. Yeah, no, huh? Let's talk real talk. He said, rather get into an argument with somebody than just have a surfacing conversation with somebody. You know the kind where you walk away from it. You're going, wow, that was three minutes of my life that I could never get back again. Anyway, back to our ABCs. You have to get to the place where you acknowledge that you're a sinner. Otherwise, why would you want to talk about the Savior? I'm a good person. No, Romans 3 23 says there's no one good, not even one, save one, Jesus the Christ. And Romans 3 23 tells us why. It's because all, which means all, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We've all missed the mark, even if we've hit the bullseye nine out of 10 times. kept nine out of the 10 commandments, but broke one, missed the mark one time, which is, by the way, what the word sin means. It's an archery term. You missed the mark. You fell short. You broke it one time. You missed the bullseye one time. It's like breaking the whole law. Well, now I'm in big trouble. Yes, you are. And you've got to show up for court and enter a plea. And that's Romans 6 23, because You are guilty as charged, and now the sentence is the death sentence, for the wages of sin is death. But here's the good news. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. the B, very central, comes as a result of admitting, acknowledging. Because see, now that I've seen myself, this is another thing about Laodicea, how's that? How they saw themselves as compared to how Jesus saw them? So now that I've seen myself as God sees me in the perfect mirror of His law, I'm a lawbreaker. I've transgressed His law. I'm in trouble. I need a Savior. And so the Holy Spirit takes me by the hand like a tutor, the schoolmaster to the cross where the Savior paid in full who was the only one to perfectly fulfill the law for me instead of me. And the Holy Spirit takes me to him, says, yeah, yeah, you broke the law. Let me take you to somebody who didn't. Yeah, but I've been sentenced to death. Yeah, well, that's even more bad news, because not only is he the only one that kept the law, but he's going to carry out your death sentence for you for breaking the law. And all you need to do is believe in your heart. Romans 10 9, that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Jesus from the dead. And if you do, you will be saved. And lastly, the C quickly, is for call upon the name of the Lord. Just as the B comes as a result of the A, so too does the C come as a result of the B. Did I just complicate something very simple? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And I say this every week. If in my heart I believe Jesus Christ is Lord, what is going to come out of my big mouth? You know, we're all different parts of the body of Christ. You know this, right? I'm the mouth. That's the part of the body that I am in the body of Christ. I'm the mouth. Well, if I've got Jesus Christ in my heart, then Jesus Christ is going to come out of my mouth, and I'm going to confess Him with my mouth. Jesus Christ is Lord. And Romans 10, 13, All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. I believe in my heart Jesus Christ is Lord. I'm going to confess with my mouth because out of my, the abundance of my heart, the mouth speaks, and I'm going to call upon Him. Why wouldn't I? And this word will, it's a strong word. And in the original even, it's not, it's not just like, you know, you will be saved. This is a done deal. It is finished. The jury is not out. The verdict is in. You will be saved. And nobody can take that away. It's irrevocable. It's irreversible. You can't be unsaved. I just wanted to get some more emails from angry people. Today's but God testimony, thanks for your patience, comes from Abby Norris, who writes, Good morning, Pastor JD. First off, thank you for the powerful, encouraging prophecy update. This was last Sunday, July 21st. My parents and I appreciate the boldness of your updates, and each Sunday they just keep getting better and better. I love you. Thank you for that. We laughed so hard when you said that in that Tucker Carlson interview, Darby had ties with the Rothschilds. Hilarious. My heart sank when you opened the update with the prayer request for Johnny whose body was full of tumors. I feel for people who have tragic experiences such as this, but I have never felt the sorrow and pain I felt yesterday for him, his family, and you and your family. I was debating whether or not to email you, but did after my time with the Lord this morning in the Book of Job. That'll do it. If you're in your devotions and you're in the Book of Job. She goes on, I'm very aware that you confidently know how much God cares and loves each one of us, believer or nonbeliever. But it just hit me so hard. I just had to share with you what I felt the Spirit was saying through His Word. I wish I could convey to you how appreciative I am that God made you uncomfortable in point A to bring you to point B. Because of God's great love and your obedience to His calling, you have changed my life forever with your sermons. I can't thank God enough for leading me to your YouTube channel last year. By God's grace and power, your messages about joy in the midst of fiery trials delivered me from my 30-year addiction of worry and anxiety. It's been a daily battle since. I was only seven years old. The two words, but God, have changed my life forever. The temptation to entertain the worrisome thoughts that enter my mind are still a daily battle I have to fight. But God has given me joy, hope, and peace in the absolute assurance that it's for my good and His glory. I literally have nothing to fear. I've heard that preached all my life, but it never truly sank in until I heard your Bible teachings. That's the Holy Spirit, not me. Thank you again for your love of Jesus, your love of others, and your boldness. God bless you greatly, Pastor JD. I'll be seeing you soon and very soon. Can't wait. Abby Norris. Thank you, Abby. We'll see you soon. Come on up. Go ahead and stand up. Once again, I very much appreciate your patience. Father in heaven, we're in awe of You. Who is like unto You, O God. Only You, O God, know the end from the beginning and can tell us with such precision what the world is going to be like at the time of the end. And for us to be that chosen generation, that final generation, alive at the time when that trumpet sounds, wow. So be it Lord. Lord for anybody that maybe is here in this service, or perhaps they're watching online, this was for them today, because today is the day of their salvation. And so Lord, I pray they would not delay the most important decision of their life for eternal life. Please, Jesus, I beg of You for their salvation, that they would surrender to You, believe in You, and call upon You and be saved today. Thank you for the gift of eternal life that You paid for. And Lord, lastly, for those of us that are watching all of this stuff, which is just off the charts, weird and crazy and bizarre. Would You just as you're always so gentle to, and gracious to, and faithful to do, just remind us, I told you, I told you so, I told you. What did you expect the world to be like at the time of the end? All this crazy, bizarre, blasphemous stuff that's going on? I told you that's exactly what would happen before I came to get you and take you out of the world. So Lord, I pray for anyone us discourage that they will leave here encouraged with these words, because they're Your words in Your Word. And for that, we thank You in Jesus' name. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen.