Good morning. Welcome to Cross-Site Bible Church. Good to see everybody here this morning. Folks are still coming in. That's a good thing. But take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter 13. Before we head and come around the Lord's table here in just a little bit. Come back into Mark 13 and we're going to continue from where we left off last week. Mark chapter 13. If you have that in your In your Bible, Mark 13, 1 says, Then as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. And Jesus answered and said to him, Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign when these things will be fulfilled? And Jesus answering began to say, take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and will deceive many. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled, for such things must happen. But the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. and there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows. But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Now, brother will betray brother to death. And a father, his child and children will rise up against his parents and cause them to be put to death. and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. but he who endures to the end shall be saved. May the Lord have his blessing upon the reading of his word. And dear Grace Assembly Father, I ask now for your blessing upon the preacher, your servant, Lord, as we look into these words, as we just take a portion of this scripture today and put it in its proper context. But even as we do that, Lord, we can't help but start by noticing how you know all things. And yes, you are sovereign, Lord. And so we come before you recognizing who you are once again, and we are grateful. Lord, I just even pray now. I pray for Bill Neal this morning. I know that as he lays in that bed, he'd rather be sitting here in church, listening to these words. I think of Bob and Diane who have been diagnosed with COVID and they're streaming the service this morning. I think of Pastor Ray as he'll be gathering under the pavilion soon, parking cars on the grass and preaching the word out in the open, Lord. Out in the open air, Lord. We lift him up to you. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they move ahead with that ministry. I thank you for the missionaries around the world that Clearfield Bible Church supports and the ones that we support here at Cross Life, Lord. And even now, Lord, as As we're in separate places, I thank you, Lord, that your presence is with them at the same time that you are with us. We thank you for your presence, we thank you for your power, we thank you once again that we can know you, love you, serve you, and thank you so much for the growth that takes place as we remain faithful. May you now honor your word, Lord, as only you can. In Jesus' precious name I pray, amen. I was reading in the Senior Living this week a story called The Beautiful Masterpiece God is Making You. It starts off with Isaiah 64 8 that says, Yet, Lord, yet you, Lord, are our father. We are the clay. You are the potter. We are all the work of your hand. Isaiah, Isaiah's the prophet. If you know anything about Isaiah the prophet, who was he prophesying to and for? Speaking on God's behalf, a message of what? Condemnation and consolation. And there in Isaiah 64, a very important passage here reminding us that God is in control. And guess what? He has a plan and he's gonna see it to the end. And here's the story they shared in their devotion. They said, a huge chunk of beautiful marble lay in the courtyard of Florence Hidley at this cathedral for almost a hundred years. What many don't know is that for a hundred years that marble lay there because a sculptor was commissioned to carve it and But he made a mistake while attempting to carve the stone, and most people thought it was beyond repair. But in 1505, another young sculptor came across the piece and thought he could do something with it. For three years, he worked steadily, carefully shaping the marble into an 18-foot tall image of the young shepherd boy, David. sculptor that would define the great artist's career. His name was Michelangelo. But much like Michelangelo, God is our sculptor. He finds us broken, lost, and desperate, in need of work. Then after putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, He chisels us, he scrapes away, he chips away our imperfections, and he's making us more and more into the image of his son Jesus. Now this sculpting that we are undergoing is not always a pleasant experience, is it? That's because sometimes we have idols, we have imperfections that need to be chipped away, done away with. But our sovereign master sculptor knows exactly what he's doing. We need to trust him as he molds us throughout our lives into the masterpiece that he's making. And he created you and me, and we need to thank him for setting us free from the imperfections that have hindered us. Of course, this story also reminds me of something that God wants us to know. Even though we've messed up, he's in the process of creating a wonderful masterpiece that includes you and me, but not only you and me, but also this world. I'm thankful that God reveals in his word, not just that we have a hopeful future, but he gives details about the future, and those details are what we call prophecy. A quarter of the Bible, 25% of the scripture is prophecy. Look into the future. In Mark chapter 13, Jesus has just revealed the desolation and the destruction of the temple, as he had in his plan from the very beginning to chisel, to take away those things that need to be taken away, to be removed. And we come to the place where the disciples ask a very important question. And just so you know, this question that's being asked in today's passage, Jesus takes more time to answer this question than any question ever asked him. That's why this is so important. And so I want us to first take notice here. Think about the disciples. Think about the disciples. Last week we learned of the desolation of the temple, the display, as Jesus told the disciples to step back and look at all these things that they were looking at from his perspective. He says, guys, all this stuff's gonna be destroyed because they were looking at it from the standpoint how beautiful it was, and it was beautiful. But Jesus says, guys, step back. There's coming a day when all this is gonna be gone. It's gonna be destroyed. Now, if you were with Jesus, what would you be thinking? Three years earlier, John the Baptist preached the need for repentance and baptism as he prepared the way for whom? And who was Jesus to John the baptizer? Behold the Listen guys, from the very beginning it was no secret that Jesus came to die for our sins. That wasn't something that He revealed just before the cross. From the very beginning He came as a sacrificial lamb and it was proclaimed to all of Israel. And that's why they had the multitudes come to hear John, even the leaders in the church were pointing to John and his message, and they started undermining that message from the very beginning, but it was not a secret. Three years later, after hearing Jesus preach that the kingdom was at hand, they witnessed the healing of the sick, the healing of the lame, their ears heard the teaching of the truth. They saw and even experienced the discipline of Jesus as they would go astray and say things, and they were corrected by Jesus the Messiah. Luke tells us, but now Luke tells us just what the disciples were thinking as they arrived with Jesus at Jerusalem. Because think about it, if it was you, what would you be thinking? You know what? But in Luke 19, this is what they were thinking. Now, as they heard these things, he spoke another parable because he was near Jerusalem and because, what were they thinking? They thought the kingdom of God would appear when? I know that Jesus just said, we're going to Jerusalem. I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to be handed over. I'm going to be condemned. I'm going to die. I'm going to be buried, but I'm going to rise again. They knew all that. Jesus had told them that on three separate occasions that's recorded in the word. They were told that, but this is what they're thinking. No matter what happens, the kingdom of God is coming and it's here, and we get to be part of it. That's what's on their minds. So that's why in verse three of chapter 13, they ask. Now, as he said on the Mount of Olives, as he just told Israel, remember, he left the temple, major deal. The glory of God has now left the temple. The last day and a half, Jesus has been in a temple proclaiming truth for the first time in hundreds of years. The truth has been proclaimed within the temple, and it was through Jesus, the Messiah. He leaves because he's rejected. And he goes out on the Mount of Olives. Peter, James, and John, they pull him aside and privately ask him, tell us when these things will be, and what will be the sign when these things will be fulfilled? But here's what I want you to notice as we break this down. First of all, notice the place, the Mount of Olives. What do you know about the Mount of Olives? I went and did some research this week and just traced the Mount of Olives through scripture. Do you know the first place it's mentioned is actually 2 Samuel 1530? And here's what 2 Samuel 15 30 says. So David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives and wept as he went up, as he had his head covered and went barefoot. And all the people who were with him covered their heads and went up weeping as they went out." There David is going up the Mount of Olives as he leaves Jerusalem because his son Absalom has betrayed him and taken over the throne, and now dad is departing. with his head down, barefoot, mourning, and people were literally crying as they ascended the Mount of Olives, departing Jerusalem. Luke 19.37 says this, then as he was now drawing near the descent of Mount of Olives. Now this is Jesus, the one who's going to sit on the throne of David forever and ever. We see King David leaving, but now we see Jesus descending the Mount, and this is the day that he enters Jerusalem on a donkey, coming down the Mount of Olives. Luke 22, 39, we find Jesus back at the Mount of Olives there in this garden of Gethsemane, praying before he died on the cross. Do you know in Luke 24, we find Jesus again on the Mount of Olives, and that's where he ascends and goes to heaven, and says, guys, I'm gonna come back, but that's where he ascended from. by LoveZachariah14.4 It says, in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split to two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And there's a picture of Jerusalem there, and you'll see there, that green, I know you can't see it very well, because it's so small, but you see the Temple Mountain to the right, you'll see the Mount of Olives. And if you see the geography, how there's a hill going down, the Kidron Valley and then you have the Mount of Olives going up in the mountain. As you go over the Mount of Olives there you have Bethany where his friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived right over the peak of Mount of Olives. Jesus spent a lot of time. on the Mount of Olives. That's where he ascended, and that's where he's coming back, folks, when he comes again. That mountain, it's gonna split in two. Now here's what's interesting, if you know anything about the city of Jerusalem, there's a gate, the Eastern Gate is there, right, on the east side, and what did the Muslims do to the Eastern Gate? They blocked it up. And then what'd they do in front of it? They buried themselves. Why'd they do that, Peter? Now, that's a very good point. Pinar, listen to me very close. In this text, Jesus says there's coming a day when people will come and claim to be the Messiah. The Muslims believe in a Messiah. They believe in Jesus, but they do not believe the same Jesus that we believe. Don't you let your co-workers and those that you know, and I have some that I love dearly, And they will use terminology and phrases, and if you don't understand where they're coming from, you will think they're talking about the same God that we worship. He is not. When they talk about the Messiah, he is not the same Messiah. When they talk about Jesus, their Jesus is not our Jesus. And so they do these things, because in their mind, the Jesus that they're thinking of, he's not going to cross through a graveyard. But we find in Zachariah, he's gonna come, and he's gonna show his power and his might, and that old mountain's gonna split in two. And them stones is blocking up that gate. Ain't gonna be nothing. Right? Now look at this. There's also some people there, Peter, James, and John, and Andrew. I love how Scripture reminds us of things. This is a reminder. Do you remember who were the first four disciples of Jesus? Right there. Peter, James, John, and Andrew. Of the four, who was the first one that went to Jesus out of that four? The guy last on the list. You don't hear much of Andrew. Andrew was the one. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. They're in John chapter one. And John the Baptist said, behold, the lamb. Andrew heard his teacher, John, point to Jesus. So he went to Jesus, says, where are you standing? And he says, well, come and see, Andrew. He went and spent the afternoon with Jesus. And he was so impressed and so convinced that he ran and got his brother, Peter. Peter, you've got to come. I found the Messiah. Then later, do you have Jesus walking along the shore, and there was Peter and Andrew, his brother. He says, follow me, guys, and I'll make you fishers of men. And then there was James and John, they were fishermen also. Hey, James and John, follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. And guess what they did? They left what? They left all, and they followed Jesus. It even says they even left their fathers. with the hired servants to follow Jesus. So we have the place, we have the people that's mentioned, but you know, here's a detail that's, you just don't skip over this, look at this. The privacy, he says, they asked him privately. Folks, and we pointed this out on Wednesday night, and Ken shared something with us that he does privately as he prays, and I asked him to do that. Because the reality is, you ever struggle in your prayer life? Don't raise your hand. Everyone here should have their hand up right now, right? I know we all do, right? We all struggle with our prayer life. But let me tell you, don't wait to come to church and think this is where it takes place. This is a house of prayer. Actually, the temple was a house of prayer. This is the temple today, right here. This is not the temple. So therefore, where is the house of prayer today? Is it the church or is it this? It's this. This is the house of prayer. And that's why Jesus even told us, go into your closet and pray. Go to a private place. And I will tell you this, I am so thankful, guys and gals, that even this week, I had some private time with the Creator. I had private time. You ever try to get an appointment with someone and it took forever, even just with a doctor? You ever try to make a doctor's appointment in this area? Someone just told me this week, they moved to this area and they're trying to get a doctor. Do you have any doctors that's accepting patients? And when you finally get one, even I had to just cancel an appointment, well, not cancel, I had to reschedule my annual physical Three months from now is my next appointment, right? Just trying to get some private time with the doctors, one thing, but we're the creator of the universe. I think he's pretty busy, isn't he? And every time I go, guess what? Come on, Quint, what you got? I know that, I know that. Remember this, folks, the prayer is more for you than him, because he already knows. It's your declaration of dependence on Him. And I could go more and more about that, but I'm gonna go ahead, because I want you to see the probing, asking the questions, the questions they asked. They said, when and what? Tell us, when will these things be? Now, what did Jesus just say? I am leaving this house desolate, number one. Number two is the temple is going to be destroyed. Jesus, when will these things be and what will be the sign of these things when they'll be fulfilled? Now, when I look at this, I can see, I would want to know this also, but there's another question that they didn't ask that first comes to my mind. I'd want to know why. Wait a minute, what's on their mind? The kingdom's coming when? Immediately. Wait a minute, this isn't immediate. I mean, this is like, we weren't expecting this. And that's why the title of this message is, Wait, what? Wait, what's going on here? When will these things be? And what will be the sign? Now, you know the Jews are always looking for what? The Bible says. A sign, always. Did you know that even the tongues in Acts chapter 2 was a sign given? And some of you Bible scholars, you already know the answer. Tongues were, it was a sign given to whom? Unbelieving Israel. Did you know that? If you don't know that, and you look at our world today, the way that people abuse that, you would not get that. It was a sign for unbelieving Israel, because they are always seeking a sign. And here we see evidence of it. But you've got to remember this about Cross Lake Bible Church. Now, there's a chart there, and I know you can't see everything, but on that chart, there are different views when it comes to end time events. And if you do not have this in your thinking, whenever you study eschatology or end time events, you can become very confused. And if you look at this chart, I will tell you this. There's four views here. But there's some people believe that the church is going to go through the tribulation. Do you think we will? Let me share with you what I believe that's gonna happen. And again, if I blew this chart up, you would be able to see it. But I want you to see something here. I laid out in my notes here the proper order. You have Jesus coming, dying on the cross. and then you have the church age that we're in, and the next thing on God's calendar is what we call the rapture, which is Jesus coming for his saints, and then you have a seven-year tribulation, and then you have this great tribulation, which is part of the seven-year tribulation, and at the end of that, we have what's called the second coming with the saints, not for the saints, but with the saints, And then we have the millennium, and then we have the eternal kingdom. If you don't have that outline in your head, whenever you're reading texts like we're reading today, you may get confused and say, where does this fit into the calendar? Now, here's what you have to understand. This is in the context, this is before the cross, and Jesus has just talked about the temple and the desolation of Israel. So this is in the context of Israel. Israel, not the church. So therefore, when he talks about these things, him coming back and things are gonna happen, he is pointing to what we would call the second coming. Do you understand that? The church is looking forward to what we call the rapture. But you have the rapture, the tribulation, and then you have the second coming, where we come with Jesus. First he comes for us, and then we come with him as he sets up the kingdom. So the big question that many conservative scholars debate about are the timing of these events. Not the events, but the timing of the events. The Olivet Discourse is from a Jewish perspective. It covers the beginning, middle, and end of what's called the Great Tribulation, although we see some things that's happening in here that he's gonna point out specifically to his disciples, and I'll touch on that here in just a minute. So we see this, and I wanna kinda get that in your mind first, but here's the answer. And I'm not going to finish this today. I'm not gonna finish this today. I'm just gonna show you some of the things that Jesus said, because the first thing he does in this passage, as he answers Peter, James, and John, and Andrew, he says, guys, I want you to look at the world right now. We're gonna look at the big picture, and then when we get to verse nine, next time I share this, we're gonna look within. He's gonna do a closeup of the disciples, but first he says this. Let's take the big picture here. And Jesus answered them and said, take heed that what? Nobody deceives you. Now isn't that interesting how Jesus starts this answer, how he first shares the deception. Guys listen, you be very careful that no one deceives you. I'm gonna tell you what to look for because many will come in my name saying what? I am the Messiah. And they are going to deceive how many? A lot. If you study church history, has that already happened in the world? Many times. People have claimed to be the Messiah. Today, there are people on this planet claiming to be the Messiah. But I even believe that even includes Islam and the Muslims as they look at their Messiah in their minds and what to expect of Jesus and even their Messiah. I believe it includes folks like that because people will come say, I know I'm the answer. I'm the Messiah, I'm the promised one. And they will deceive many. Even Matthew, when he shares this, Matthew even says, this deception will be so strong that if it was even possible, the elect would follow him. But he said, that's not possible. That's not going to happen. So then we move on to the breakdown of diplomacy and that division. But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Wait a minute. Did you watch any news this week? Were you troubled? Did it kind of stir your soul a little bit? It did me. And I was reminded, Quint, listen, Don't be troubled. For such things, what? Look what it says next. Must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Now what's interesting there, there's gonna be wars and rumors of wars, and there have always been wars and rumors of wars, but that word for nation is an interesting word. The Greek word is ethnos, where we get ethnicity. It's really, you could put even people against people. Now something else against that, do you notice that it's singular? It's not plural. It's not nations against nations. It's people. It's ethnos against ethnos. People against people. And if you watched the news last night, did you again over in Britain, what's happening? There's riots in the street. Well, there's folks that are calling themselves patriots. They're standing up against all the Muslim activity. They're like, okay, we've had enough. It's bad. But you see the breakdown of diplomacy because it's nation against nation, and it's also singular, kingdom against kingdom. We step back and look at the world, we see not just kingdoms against kingdoms, Well, you even have, now here's why this is very important when it comes to prophecy. We know that in the end, all nations, plural, are gonna rise up against one little nation. This is not it. As we lead up to that, you're gonna have kingdom against kingdom. One ethnic group against another ethnic group. And that's why Satan loves it when we, how he divides us. He loves using politicians to divide us. He loves it when we talk about race. He loves it. Taking things out of context. I'm just gonna get a little side note right now. As a Christian, as a pastor, I hope you're like me. I get frustrated when someone wants to throw me and to, you know, use a general, you know, generalize humanity and look at a white man and try to put me in that group with all white men. I hate that. Because I've already discovered I'm not like most white men. What makes me different? The Bible tells me that I'm kind of peculiar. Matter of fact, it says I am peculiar. You could put it another way, I'm a strange guy. And even right now, in this political world, they're using terms to call each other names like little kids, you know, in the playground. You're weird, right? That's a word, now they're talking about this word weird. I'm like, I am weird. I embrace weird, right? And here's why. Here's why. I am so different. And a long time ago, I settled in my mind, I'm okay with being different, but I'm only different as I believe this and obey this. That's what makes me, that's what makes me weird and different. And that's okay. And I'm gonna tell you something else. This may make some of you upset and that's okay. We better be very careful. of what mountain or what hill you stand on and you want to become king of. Right now, as you look at the landscape politically, you have one side of the spectrum that are, you know, they were looking at the other side and saying because of where they stand on the abortion issue, No, we're gonna win these battles because now the things are shifting. And so since we're pro-choice and they're pro-life, we think the pro-choice people are in our camp and we are gonna win all these elections as we keep pointing out that they're pro-life. Have you noticed that? And there are people who have been pro-life who are now stepping back off that issue. and becoming, now here's the word, neutral, and it's dangerous. I would rather have a man stand on the mountain and say, here's where we stand because this is the right thing, than to have a yellow stripe down his back just to win an election. I'd rather lose the election and be right than win an election just because I desire the power. Now you take that and run with it, do whatever you want with it. But therefore, when you have the chance to influence, you point that I'd rather be right. It's not about winning this. It's about standing on the truth of God's word. You see what I'm saying? I remember years ago, George Bush was debating Al Gore, and they were talking about this one tax. And I remember Al Gore talking about the inheritance tax, and he said, and George Bush said, he said, no, we need to do away with this. And Al Gore said, well, where are we going to come up with the money to make up the deficit? And I'll never forget what George Bush said. You know what he said? He says, I don't know, but I know it's the right thing to do. He didn't know, it was just the right thing to do. And as Christians, that's what we are constantly doing. We don't know it all, but we do know a lot. And sometimes we say, this is just the right thing to do. Now look at the devastation here, and there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. There's worldwide devastation, right? It's happening all around. And then these are just the beginning of sorrows. There's an escalation. of distress. That word for sorrows in this text is actually the word birth pangs. It's a picture of a woman delivering a baby. These are just the beginning of birth pangs. This is just the beginning of the contractions. It's going to escalate. It's going to escalate. going to escalate. Every time I think of that, I think of when my two boys were born, especially the first one. Bless her heart, Kathy was in, started her birth pangs in the middle of the night. We were out and, and man, we started, you know, her water broke. You know, and you were just a very young couple. We didn't know what to, you know, do at first. But we did remember this. We called the hospital. She was up at St. Agnes Hospital. And when my son Matthew, when we were expecting, we had no health insurance. I can still tell you what Matthew cost me, okay, because we had no health insurance. I used to tell him, I'm making payments on you, you better behave, right? But the hospital, St. Agnes, they were so good to us. And they said, look, we've got this program you can come into. But part of that program was they invited us to a Lamaze class. You ever been to a Lamaze class years ago? You sit down with your wife, and you would pinch her and give her a little bit of pain. And you encourage her to breathe to get rid of the pain. That's what they would do, right? And I remember when Kathy was in the hospital, I remember her starting to, the pain was getting escalating, getting stronger and stronger. And all I said was this. This is all I said. Kathy, remember to breathe. That's all I said. You know what Kathy said? Shut up. That's what happens when you're going through birth pangs, right? I listened. I listened. It was just the beginning of sorrows and after 22 hours she had a C-section. Something that we weren't expecting. I'll never forget that. But as we, before we gather around the table, I just want you to know, even this week, when I was preparing this, I just went and copied the headlines of what's happening in the world this week. CNN, this was the headline. Biden weighs more U.S. defenses for Israel as the region prepares for what? Escalation, retaliation, which is an escalation. The AP said, what to know about the escalating conflict in Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks after two assassinations. Again, escalation. Fox, Iran reportedly convenes terror proxies to plot assassination responses. Israel strongly prepared in defense. Why? Because of escalation. Newsmax, Iranians attack on Israel could be worse. then the April assault, again, what's it pointing to? An escalation. Folks, if you're not paying attention to what's happening over in Israel, and I share that because when we study prophecy, we have to go to Israel and look out from there, not from Washington, D.C. And what Jesus said was this, same thing Paul said, as we move through the church age, evil men and imposters will grow, what? It's going to escalate. It's always been, but it's going to get worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But here's what the Bible says. 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 through 4. Listen to this. This is news in the Bible. So I want you to be encouraged. Do you know what 1 Thessalonians 4, if you go back to the previous chapter, what Paul just said, He taught the rapture. The church is gonna be taken out of the way, therefore comfort one another with these words because we're gonna be taken out of the way. When we get to chapter five, he says, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. That is not the rapture. We're already taken out of the way. The day of the Lord is a day of judgment. But when they say peace and safety, and that's gonna happen in the middle of the tribulation, hey, Christians are gone, there was this chaos, this Antichrist comes on the scene, now there's peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, now you gotta watch the pronouns in this passage, but you, brethren, You're not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. It's not going to happen to you, Quint. You are the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night, and we're not of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be," what? That's why this morning we're studying this. We need to watch, we need to be alert, we need to be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. And look at this. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith. I'm trusting you, Lord. I love you, Lord. In a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint Cross Life Bible Church to what? We are not going through the tribulation, folks, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And what did he do for us? he died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Therefore, here he says it again, comfort each other and build up, edify one another, just as you are doing. So you keep going, Crosslight Bible Church, you keep going, you keep pointing to the rapture, understanding what's coming, be like the days of Noah, just like Noah, I'm sure he warned the folks in his day, we're warning folks because we know what's coming. We're not going through it, but we can lead people to Jesus, so they can also join us when he comes back for us. Last night, and as I share this, man, if you're, whoever's gonna be passing out the communion, can you come up at this time? I was sitting on my front porch last night. I was listening to the thunderstorm and seeing the lightning out in the west. Finally, the rain stopped for a little bit. There was a break in the sky. I looked out, that was on my front porch last night. Old storm came. Sun came out for a little bit. The storm came back after this, by the way. This is a little break in the storm. I took that picture and I sent it to my granddaughter, because we share pictures. She's a photographer. I'm a photographer, so we're just looking at that. But it reminded me of this message this morning. Folks, don't be so naive when people say, hey, people have been talking about that stuff for years. That's a sign of the end, by the way, when they do talk like that. I want us at Cross-Life to live like today is the day. Work like today's the day. We need to watch and we need to keep working. Don't give up. Because he's coming. The clouds will pass. The old son's going to come back and he's going to take us with him. But I know there's even people that come to Cross-Life Bible Church. I know that I have relationships right now. I'm witnessing to folks right now. They do not know Christ as their Savior. I'm praying. I know God's long suffered, not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. Even today, there's someone coming to church today that Kathy and I have invested in for years. They'll be here in the second service, going through a hard time in life, been rejected by many. And we go our way, even yesterday, we were out going to yard sales buying things for this young lady and her little baby. It's not just about us. Look around you this week. And if you really believe like I believe that this could happen at any moment, don't you want to take as many of those people with you as you can, right? Don't you want to include them and share the gospel even more? If it's waxing worse and worse, our urgency should be getting stronger and stronger. Dear gracious heavenly Father, I love you so much. Even as we gather around your table, I want to thank you even for the privilege that we have to even take the bread and the juice this morning and even remember, remember you, understanding, Lord, that there's no way we would even be able to come into God's presence without the precious blood of Jesus. We thank you for the body. We thank you so much for the blood that was shed for us. Without the shedding of blood, we know there's no remission of sin, but maybe there's someone here today You say, Pastor, I've never received Christ as my Savior. I have never even taken communion because I've never received Christ as my Savior. Right there where you are, you can cry out to him this morning. You can pray with me. Dear God, I admit that I have sinned and I have fallen short of your glory, but I believe with all my heart that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. I believe that. Therefore, this morning, I call on you. I call on you for my salvation. Forgive me, Lord. Cleanse me. Come into my life. Redeem me, make me new. Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for all that you do for us. Thank you again for your body. Thank you so much for your blood. Maybe you're here and say, Pastor, I've never, I've received Christ as my Savior, but I've been far from Him. I've been involved in things I shouldn't be involved in, and I've been refusing to get things right. Right there with you, you can pray with me. Dear God, I confess my sin. I agree with you that I have been wrong. The Bible says we confess our sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So even now, I just beg you, to get things right. In Jesus Christ's name I pray, amen.