Good morning. Good to see everybody here today. Take your Bibles with me and turn to Mark chapter 13, Mark chapter 13. Mark 13, and today we're gonna be looking Mark 13, starting at verse 14. Mark 13, 14. Dear Lord, I just want to ask now for your blessing upon the reading of your word, the preaching of your word. Even now, Lord, as we look into this prophecy, this proclamation from you, Lord, just not too many hours before you died on the cross, Lord. Lord, thank you so much for even before the foundations of the world, you had a plan. Thank you for the doctrine of predestination. Thank you for your doctrine of election. Thank you, Lord, that as the gospel goes forth today, that these things that will be taught have been predetermined. And I'm so thankful, Lord, for your grace that's been bestowed upon your elect. I pray now, Lord, that you would be honored, you'd be glorified as we read your word, and then look into Daniel and the Gospel of Mark today, in Jesus' name, amen. If you could stand with me as I read. I'm only gonna focus on actually part of a verse today. But you need to, for the context. you'll see where this fits into the teaching of Jesus, because we have been in Mark, we have seen a question from the disciples, Jesus has shared with them what's characteristic of the church age, but also how it culminates in what's called the tribulation. there will be the rapture of the church, and then there will be seven years of tribulation. And we just focused on, in my last message, the first seven years of the tribulation. When you get to verse 14 that I'm gonna start reading from, this is the midpoint of the tribulation, and this is a specific sign, a specific thing that's gonna happen that when people see this, They're gonna say, start the countdown. They are even told, we are told even how many days it will be from this event to Christ coming back. Now notice this, it's a very important text today. Look at verse 14 of Mark chapter 13. And when you see, and that's literal, folks, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, Standing where it, some of you in your translation have he there, where he ought not, where it ought not. Let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountain. Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house nor enter to take anything out of the house. and that him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes, but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days, and pray that your flight may not be in winter. For in those days there will be a tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor shall ever be. And unless the Lord has shortened those days, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, he is there, do not believe. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed. See, I have told you all things beforehand. May the Lord add his blessing upon the reading of his word. You may be seated. You may be seated. Now, if you remember, if you remember when I started this chapter 13, my first message was entitled, wait, what? Wait, what? Because we learned that the disciples were expecting Jesus. They knew, he told them three times, I'm gonna die, be buried, and rise again. They didn't quite get that, but they still, in their mind, you know how someone tells you something, you've got something on your mind, and what they said just went over your head, because hey, I'm so fixed on this. They were still fixed on him setting up the kingdom. And so when he just told Israel, he says, you know what, okay, now you are desolate. And I am not coming back until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And by the way, guys, as you're fascinated with the temple, this is all gonna be destroyed. And they said, wait, wait, wait, what? When's this gonna take place? These things that you're talking about, when's this gonna take place? So we saw the next, Message was, hey, listen, I'm gonna tell you what to look for, but also you watch out for yourselves. You watch out. Don't be deceived. Hard times are coming. And that's why you have to be careful with this passage, because this passage, when you get into it, you will see things connected to the tribulation, but it's also connected to the church age, because yes, we have experienced things that Jesus described, the persecution that came when the disciples stood before kings and those in authority, and the Holy Spirit gave them the words to say at that time. But you watch out, you take heed, and that's why that word is used. So today we are looking at When you see this, matter of fact, we're gonna get into the fleeing later. Today we'll just say when you see. I'm gonna show you what's going to be seen in the future and what has been seen in the past. And what we're gonna focus on today is mainly this one. If you look at verse 14, you'll see when Jesus says, when you see the abomination, of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet. Standing where it ought not, let the reader understand. When you see the abomination of desolation. And I was thinking about that word desolation. Back in, I think it was in July of 1969, when you remember, that's Buzz Aldrin. Buzz Aldrin had the opportunity to do what? What's he known for? The second man. He wasn't the first guy, he was the second guy. that stepped off on the, what did he step on? Was it the moon? He went somewhere. And my first words as he was in space and he stepped out of the craft, and actually there was a conversation recorded, who was the first guy? Neil Armstrong. And he and Neil had this kind of, you know, there was an exchange taking place. And this is actually what he's saying to Neil Armstrong. He said, my first words of my impressions of being on the surface of the moon that just came to my mind was, he called it what? Now, have you ever seen pictures that were taken of when this took place? It was magnificent, what? What is desolation? When I say the word desolation, what comes to your mind? When something's desolate, what is it? It's barren, it's empty. There's nothing there. So how magnificent could this be? Those two words normally don't go together, is what I'm pointing out, because biblically, what we're going to look at today is not a magnificent desolation. It's a very sad state of affairs. But when you go someplace for the first time, and I did this out West when I was out in Utah, you go out in the desert and some of those places you look around, it's like, it's magnificent because you've never seen, this is so different than what you're used to. But when you really step back and think about it and look at a place that's empty, and I don't even tell you this, I was in my studies this week and I was reading about some folks have struggled with believing in God because as they study space, Because they would say, why would God, if there's a God, and there's so much empty, they consider it empty space, why would you have all this and it be desolate? But they missed a point. Is it really desolate? Even when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was in space, is it really desolate? No, it's not. But what did David say? No matter where I go, who's there? In essence, God is there. And it's a picture of God's creation because the heavens declare what? The glory of God. Now, that's why when you study the Psalms, the Psalmist even said, or even in the Hebrews, who are we? What is man that you're mindful of us? That's what I think of. You look at space, right, time and space, the enormity of it, and then you say, what are we? Who are we that you would die for us? Now let's come here to Mark. And I want us to notice something. I want us to focus today on the indignation. He says, so when you see this, he just shared some things, and you can even look back at some of those things that Jesus just shared to his disciples. There's gonna be persecution, there's gonna be division in families, brother's gonna betray brother, parents against their own children. You're gonna be hated by all for my name's sake, it says in verse 13. But keep this in your mind, but in the end, there's good in the end. You're gonna go through it, but in the end, I promise you, it'll be worth it. So therefore, now here, we're always looking for signs. This is a specific sign that people will be able to see, and the people living in this day, they will be able to mark their calendar on and say, this is the sign that we've been waiting for. the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel in the prophet. In this message today and next week, we're going to see the indignation. We're going to see the imminent danger. We're going to see some immense tribulation. We're going to see the imposters. And finally, we're going to see the informant. But today, we want to look at the indignation, or you can say the insult, the infringement. And I want us to notice how Jesus points out something very specific. for his followers to recognize as a sign that his return is very near. In this passage, I want you to first notice, let's see here, I want us to notice the scene. And you see where it says, so when you see this, and then notice the sign. the abomination of desolation. And then I want us to notice the scriptures. It says, spoken of by whom? By whom? Daniel the prophet. So if Jesus is saying this and you're sitting on the Mount of Olives with Jesus, what would this do in your mind and in your heart? Where would you be looking? Wait a minute, what did Daniel say? Because they've been fixated on this question, when? When you see this, and by the way, Daniel spoke about this. He wrote about this. So what we're gonna do this morning, we're gonna go back and study this abomination of desolation. And really, this can be translated the abomination that desolates. You can think of it that way. There's an abomination that desolates in the book of Daniel. And he mentions it three different times. as Daniel shared the future. In Daniel 7.24, we find Daniel saying this, he says, during the end times, first of all, this is what this verse is teaching, during the end times, there will be an Antichrist. Who is the Antichrist? I don't have time to go all into the Antichrist, but some of you, if you've been at Cross Life, we've studied before, and you know that in the end times, the world is going to get to a point where we become together as what? Globally. And then they're going to vote in a one world leader. And he will take charge of things. But during the end times, the Antichrist will head a confederacy, and it's first gonna be 10 nations. And he's gonna rise to the top in these 10 nations. And here we can read that, the 10 horns are 10 kings. Now, this is all Daniel as he interprets, or God interprets these visions to Daniel. And he says, these 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from the kingdom. and another shall rise after them, and he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak," and here's the Antichrist, he's gonna use pompous words, against whom? against the Most High." Now, this is written to Daniel. Daniel was in captivity. Israel has already been taken to captivity under Babylonians. And Daniel here, he recognizes that according to Jeremiah, the days are running short where they're going to be in captivity for seven years. But look at this. This Antichrist, he's going to speak against God Almighty, the Most High. He shall persecute the saints of the Most High. and shall intend to change times and law, and the saints shall be given unto his hand for a time and times and half a time." A time and times and a half a time. Now the tribulation is seven years, the Bible teaches. and Daniel even reveals these specific numbers and days. So you have Daniel 7.24, talking about this Antichrist, he's gonna rise on the scene, right? He's gonna speak with pompous words. Now this is Daniel 7.24, I'm giving you the context of 7.27. Well in verse 26, as the Antichrist comes on the scene, Between the introduction of the inner Christ and then verse 27, we're going to see the abomination of desolation, we have this verse tucked in there. It says, and after the 62 weeks, Messiah shall be cut off. Well, who's the Messiah? Jesus. And being cut off, referring to his crucifixion. But he didn't die for himself, he died for you and me. Now who's the prince who is to come? That's the Antichrist. He shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Interesting. The end of it shall be with a flood. Until the end of the war, desolations are determined. And say, let's look at verse 27. Now we lead into this. At first, the Antichrist seems to be Israel's greatest supporter. He assists them in delivering her from her enemies. And then she makes an alliance with him. Look, this is verse 27. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week, he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. Now listen, folks, this is what's gonna happen. The temple is going to be rebuilt, and there will be sacrifices reinstituted during the tribulation. The Antichrist, when he comes on the scene, he is actually gonna be a friend to Israel. And he's going to help them even in their battling with other people. And he's going to make a covenant. Now, listen to me. How many treaties and covenants have been made in the Middle East regarding Israel and the surrounding countries? How many? It's been quite a few. But this one is going to be, it's going to look like the real deal. Because every time that someone signs a piece of paper over in the Middle East, how serious do we take it? Right? And every leader of this country, for how many years, have been trying to bring about peace in the Middle East. Because if you can do that, man, you can do anything. The Antichrist is going to make it happen. They're going to sign it. There will be peace. But in the middle of those seven years, look at this. He's going to bring an end to the worship in the sanctuary. And on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes, what? Desolate, this is the abomination of desolation. Even unto the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate. So there, at the middle of the tribulation, what's going to happen is, here comes the Antichrist, he's gonna go into the temple, he's gonna desecrate the temple, he's gonna set himself up as God. That's what he's gonna do. He's gonna be the leader and forget the most high. Hey, I'm the one in charge here. And look how devious and deceitful this man is. Just like the politicians we look at. When you watch a debate or you listen to anyone, in your mind, even though they're saying some things that you want to hear, what's in the back of your mind? What do they want? They want me to cast a vote for them. I'm not gonna get into politics too much this morning, I promise. I want to. But then here's Daniel 11, 40 to 45. After the Antichrist is victorious over the nations from the south, the north, the east, who have come against Israel, he will reveal his true evil character and his hatred for Israel and for Jehovah. See, in Daniel 11.31, the abomination of desolation is mentioned, but this describes what happened under the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes. God even allowed Antiochus IV to do what he did, even, he lived between 175 and 165 BC, and he set up in a temple when he was part of the Greek empire, and when he went to Israel, and the Greeks ruled and reigned over Israel, and he was in charge of it, he went into the temple, And you know the story, he set up an idol to Zeus, an image of Zeus to worship Zeus, and he sacrificed a sow, a pig, above the altar, the Jewish altar, and he forbid them to actually, Judaism, the Jews, to worship. what they were used to. But he was a surrogate of the Greek Empire, and that was Daniel 11.31. Now, look, this is what it says. And the forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress, and they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place the abomination of desolation. The abomination that desolates. Another word that you can put in a place of abomination is sin. The sin that desolates. The sin that, you know, you think of this emptiness. Now look at this. Antiochus IV took to himself the title Theos Epiphanes. He really believed that he was a god, manifest. That's what that means. But his enemies nicknamed him Epimenes, which means madman. The insane one, and ironically, when he died in 163 BC, he was totally insane. He was outraged to the point of madness because, at the heart of it, he was angry because of his defeat in Israel by the Maccabean family. And you can actually read about that in the Apocrypha. They tell the story. But when you get to Daniel 12.11, this is the third mention of the abomination of desolation. Here we see that Daniel's prophetic book ends by reminding God's people of the abomination of desolation and how this specific event indicates that the three and a half year countdown to Jesus' return has begun. And here's what it says, look at the numbers here. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. From the time that you see this, you're gonna see it with your eyes. There's gonna be something physical that's gonna take place. The Antichrist is gonna go ahead and do just what Antichrist Epiphanes did. He's gonna make himself, not Zeus, he's making himself as supreme leader. No more of this worshiping Jehovah. That's all, you know, that's all, you know, that's all fairy tales. You know, and we know that the Antichrist is part of the evil trinity, you know, with Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. They're all working together in the end times to bring, you know, Satan's kingdom to fruition. That's really at the heart of this. You have the kingdom of God and you have the kingdom of Satan. And here he is declaring the kingdom of Satan wanting to rule and reign on the earth and forget the Jews and the Christians Now, here's what's interesting. Here's what's interesting when it comes to scripture. Even when Jesus pointed to this specific event, and that's why he says in here, let the reader understand. That's why making sure people have the Bibles in their hands is very important. Let the reader understand, because when that time comes, they will be able to look into the word of God and know the truth. But do you understand that in scripture there's five periods of abomination that makes us desolate? And here's what I mean by that. At the heart of the, I've been focused on the abomination, but the desolation really points to one thing. What is the desolation? When we talk about emptiness, what are we really talking about? Something that's barren, something that's empty. It's talking about the glory of God not being there. The presence of God. That's the desolation that's taking place. And I'm gonna take you through a couple scriptures, and I'll put the scriptures here for you, because I knew we'd have to turn a lot today. But if you even want to look at the context, and I'll share the context of 1 Samuel 4, this is actually the first stage, the first phase that you will see of desolation taking place in scripture, when God's glory, other than the garden, and sin entered the world, and then even after all that, what did God promise Abraham? I'm gonna make a great nation of you, and then when Moses comes on the scene, God's the one who had Moses, showed him a blueprint, and what did Moses build? A tabernacle in the wilderness. What was the purpose of this tabernacle? Do you know? God says, I love you enough and by my grace I am now going to dwell in the midst of you. And so they built this tabernacle. This tabernacle on one end was the Holy of Holies. On the other end was this gate where people entered with their sacrifices, which indicated their need for salvation. Because those innocent animals would die, just like way back in the garden, because we're sinners. And they would take something innocent, and it would die on your behalf. And they would sacrifice these animals. And the priest would go into the holy place. And in this holy place, first after they cleansed themselves and went through the the laver or water there, then they go through this curtain, and they go to this holy place, and there you have the lamp stand over here, you have the table of showbread over here, you have the altar of incense right in front of you, and you would take the coals off the altar out in the courtyard where the animals were sacrificed. You would take the coals from there, and you'd put on the altar inside with this incense, and the smoke would rise and go over top of this curtain called this veil that hung between the holy place and the most holy place, because on the other side of that curtain there was an Ark of the Covenant, and in the Ark of the Covenant there were the Ten Commandments. And there was a lid to this box that was called the Mercy Seat, and on that Mercy Seat there were two cherubim facing each other. And above that was the Shekinah glory of God. The glory of God was there. And when you get to 1 Samuel chapter four, this is what happens, I'm gonna break it down for you. You have the priest, Eli, you have his two sons, the Philistines have attacked, and Israel has lost the battle. And so Israel said this, I've got an idea, we're going back to fight, but this time we're taking the Ark of the Covenant with us. Now the Ark at this time, hey, the capital was not in Jerusalem, it was in Shiloh. So they take the Ark of the Covenant, And they go before them, and guess what? They still lose the battle. They lose the battle, because God was not in it. They were living in sin. Matter of fact, in this one battle, Eli, his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, they have died in battle. And then you have this servant comes back and tells Eli the priest, hey, Your two boys are dead and the Ark of the Covenant has been captured by the Philistines. Eli gets so upset he falls off the stump that he's sitting on, breaks his neck and dies. and now the Philistines have the ark. And after this happens, it says in verse 21, then she, this is the daughter-in-law of Eli, then she named her child Ichabod, saying, the glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured, and because of her father-in-law and her husband, and she said, the glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured. We see the emptiness, the barrenness, the glory of God has left. And then Jeremiah 7, we'll see where Jeremiah's warning about the Babylonians coming in and taking over Jerusalem and the temple. He says, do not trust in these lying words saying, and here's what happened. Before, you know, you have Ezekiel, you have Jeremiah, and they are crying out for people to repent God has already brought the Babylonians. They're going to come down. The Assyrians have already conquered the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom says, hey look, they're not going to conquer us because in the midst of our place is the temple. We have Jerusalem. And Jeremiah says, no, don't trust in your lying words, saying the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. You're fooling yourself. You're saying, well, I've got this. No way they're going to touch me. The United States of America better wake up when you say, look what we got. We can't be touched. You better guard yourself against that thinking. Because if God allowed his special place and his special people for this to happen, who's going to protect us? Because we are doing the same thing they did. But he says, but go down now to my place, which was in Shiloh. God says, Jeremiah, you remind them of Shiloh, where I set my name at first and see what I did because of the wickedness of my people, Israel. And now, because you have done the same things, The same thing's gonna happen. And he left that place desolate. Because before Nebuchadnezzar could come and destroy the temple, God had to get out of the house. If God was in the house, Nebuchadnezzar could not have destroyed it. And so we see phase two. Phase three, Daniel 1131, and this is referring back to Antiochus Epiphanes, when there, again, in the temple, he sets up an idol and he desecrates the temple, but could Antichrist epiphanies have done what he did if God was in the house. No, God was not. His glory had left them desolate. Now, phase four, Matthew 23 and Luke 21. Jesus has just said, see your house is left to you what? Stage four is when Jesus left the temple that day, he never went back. He never went back, because he says, today's the day. You are now desolate. You are now barren. You are now empty. You will see me no more till you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captives into the nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And we saw that in AD 70 with Titus. But in 2 Thessalonians 2, folks, there's a coming day where there will be another time of desolation. And here's what Paul told the church in Thessalonica. Let no one deceive you by any means, for the day will not come unless there's a falling away first. There's an apostasy, a falling away. And the man of sin, the Antichrist, will be revealed. He's the son of destruction, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or what is worship, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, allowing himself, showing himself to be even God. That's the Antichrist. That is coming. That's what Jesus is talking about here in Mark 13, verse 14. But don't forget Matthew 27, 51. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. Now, in 2 Thessalonians, did you notice where did the Antichrist go to set himself up as God? In the temple. Now I'm gonna say something that may shock some of you right now. In the tribulation, there will be a temple But I want you to notice in Matthew 27, how come God allowed the temple to be totally destroyed and annihilated and every stone turned over by Titus? Do you understand that according to Matthew 27 and Hebrews 10, for it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. This is the promise, this is the covenant I make with them. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into what? their hearts and in their minds, I will right them." Do you understand the sin is not just the desolation. The abomination is not just done by the Antichrist. The abomination is also done by the Jews. They're living in sin. Do you know the temple that's going to be rebuilt should not be rebuilt? What's the use of building the temple in Jerusalem? Why do you think God has allowed that mosque to remain there and not allow a temple to be rebuilt? Because when he destroyed that temple, he said there's a reason why I ripped that veil in two. Because I gave every single believer access to me. You don't need to go through the tabernacle. So therefore, did you notice that when you started the end times, they're gonna be offering sacrifices. What's the purpose of these sacrifices? Because they're still in their head, they've gotta do something to come to God. And he says, no. No. In Ephesians 3, I want you to think about three illustrations here in my closing. In the book of Joshua, we have Achan. They finally, when you think of Joshua, think of victory. The book of Joshua in the Old Testament is also a picture to Christians as victory, victorious living. Here you become a Christian and the first thing that happens, you have the walls of Jericho right before you. Now what's gonna happen? Man, I thought this was gonna be, no, it's not gonna be easy. You trust me. You trust me and you take every step filled by my spirit. You listen to me." And so, what did God do? He destroyed the city of Jericho. He says, and he gave them some rules, and you leave all that debris on the ground. Well, Achan was part of that victory. But when he goes back home that day, he took and saw a couple things on the ground, he stuffed it in his pockets, and he goes and buries these things in his tent. And the very next battle that they faced, they lost. Because you know what he did? He came back with his hands full. There was a battle to be fought. The walls were knocked down. And guess what, brother and sister, sometimes we come back with our hands full. We didn't leave it there. And we take it back home and we kind of bury it and we hide it. We don't let no one else know about it, but he knows about it. And so therefore, the next battle that comes into your life, you're defeated. And then you're defeated. Because deep in your life, in your heart, there's something that you've got hidden. You've got your hands on. You won't let go of it. And then you have Ananias and Sapphira. They come to the church. This is the New Testament. What do they have in their hands? We've sold our property and here it is. Use it for God's honor and God's glory. Is that all of it? Yep, this is all we have. We're giving to God. But guess what they did? They held back. Brothers and sisters, we hold back all the time. They held back. You know, they both died that day because the Holy Spirit said, why are you lying to me for? We go to church all the time and we're holding back. If what happened to Ananias and Sapphira happens in the church today, how many people would be leaving the building under their own power? I love Barnabas. You see the reason why Ananias and Sapphira did what they did, because they witnessed Barnabas, who did sell everything, and joined the ministry. And God was blessing his ministry. And along comes this guy named Paul, and Paul, he's honest, man. He let you know what he believed. He didn't believe in the way, the Christian, this Christ. He was persecuting the church, and all of a sudden, God got hold of him. God, by his grace, he got hold of him. He starts preaching Christ. He went from persecuting the Christians to preaching Christ. Now he's being persecuted. He runs off for three years, and he studies the scriptures, and he finds every place in the Old Testament where Jesus is taught. Wow, look at this. How did I miss this? Three years later, Barnabas is in Antioch, and he's teaching. He says, the church is exploding with growth. I need help. Who can I get to help me? I remember this guy three years ago, this guy named Paul. And he runs off and brings him back, brings him into his ministry and disciples him and just equips him in the ministry. and the rest is history. But I say all that because I want you to know that Ephesians is the book for you and me today. As you think, I want to ask you a question. Has your sin, whether you're unsaved or you are saved, do you feel empty today? Do you feel barren? Do you keep facing one battle after the next and finding defeat after defeat after defeat? Are you desolate today? Are you empty? Are you barren? Are you miserable? You keep coming to God with something in your hand and you won't let go of it, but you want to be blessed anyway. You see, God is a God of fullness. And here's what he says. Paul says this, I'm praying for you, church. I bow my knees and here's what I'm praying. I'm praying that God would grant you according to the riches of his glory. to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell where? In your hearts, through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, the depth, and the height, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with what? Half the fullness, a quarter of the fullness, a fraction of the fullness, all the fullness of God. And folks, that's why you keep waking up, falling into the same trap every day, because you are yet, you are yet to be full. Do you see what I'm saying? Don't be the fool. But you'd be full of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, don't be drunk with wine, which is excess. Be filled with the Spirit, overflown with the Spirit. Let Him direct every step. So every time you make an excuse, there's something wrong with me. I'm broke. You're calling God a liar. He has no power over you. He has power to divide the oceans. The Red Sea has power to even resurrect from the dead, but He doesn't have power over this. You're fooling yourself. You're lying to yourself. You're calling God a liar. Because I have to wake up and make that same decision in my life every day as pastor of this church. I'm tempted like you are. I choose every day to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him, His perfect will. And I still fall, I still falter. Thank God for 1 John 9. Dear Gracious Heavenly Father, I love you so much, Lord. My heart breaks as I see what's happening all around. Even this news I got this morning from hostages being murdered, being killed as the IDF was coming to their rescue, Lord. Hurts my heart. Same thing's happening all around as we take the gospel, we see folks dying on the left and on the right. We can't go back, but we can keep moving forward by your grace, through faith. Lord, help our unbelief. Thank you so much. We know it all is by your grace. And Lord, we even see from this passage, those people that you have elected, that you have chose before the foundations of the world, it's by your grace that you've even shortened the days. Otherwise we'd all fall into extinction, Lord. Lord, maybe there's someone today and your Holy Spirit is tugging on their heart, on their mind, and maybe you have brought them to the point where they realize that they are empty, they are barren, they need a Savior, and that Savior is Jesus. And if that's where you are today, you can call out to him. The Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you hear the voice of God calling you right now, that little voice in your mind, convicting you, convincing you that now's the time to confess. Now's the time to commit. Go to him right now and say, dear God, I admit that I am a sinner. And I have fallen short of your glory, I admit that. But I believe with all of my heart that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again for me, I believe that. So this morning, I put my trust I put my faith in Jesus alone for my salvation. I repent of my sin, I turn to you. Save me, redeem me as only you can. In Jesus' name. Oh Lord, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, we come across these passages and again they are just a reminder of your holiness and the sin that is abomination to you, Lord. It's an abomination. It leaves us desolate. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for the commission we can be part of sharing this good news. This fullness that comes from you, Lord's good news, magnificent news. So instead of a magnificent desolation, we have a magnificent indwelling. magnificent presence. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.