Revelations on Revelation: Understanding the Signs of the Times - Part 1

3:56And no one is doing what Jesus is doing. There's no one who can feed the multitudes, do the things that Jesus were doing. They knew God was with him. Many things going on. But the point is, he expected the people of his generation and the leaders to recognize him. And so we want to make sure that we recognize our times and understand what we are to be doing in our times. The Bible doesn't. Want us ignorant about these things. That's why we have Revelation. I mean, Scripture, all of Scripture, to reveal, to inform, to instruct. And that's why we have the book of Revelation also looking forward to what's ahead. So the purpose of these evening series, as I already mentioned, I want other portions of Scripture to inform our understanding of Revelation. Something I won't take as much time to do in the morning because in the mornings I'm preaching Revelation, and that's a little different than trying to explain or teach Revelation. I'm preaching Revelation so that the moral impetus of and moral exhortations that come out of the text be set before us, impressed upon us, so that if we walk away with nothing else from Revelation, that we're obeying the big purpose. We don't want to understand what it says without orienting our hearts to obeying what it implies for our lives.

5:34But I'll take the time to let other portions of Scripture inform our understanding of Revelation. Revelation is the confluence of other revelations. If you think about it, Revelation is that final book, that final canon. There's a lot of scripture about end times, things that are coming, and they all take a direction. They all end up in. The new heavens and the new earth. And Revelation is that last train stop, if you will, or that last book where all the streams of these prophecies come into. And they're reiterated and they're related in a very systematic fashion, set before us. And Revelation speaks from John's time all the way to the new heavens and the new earth. So there isn't any gap left. It covers it all. And so that is why there is no more revelation that is coming. Because you cannot, John has already given us, or Jesus has already given us through John, a depiction of what's going to take place all the way to the new heavens and the new earth. And so no revelation can come without interrupting that sequence. So it is the confluence, but also I want to allow a format for questions and discussions related to our times. I recognize that there's a danger in reading your times into the text, but there is, I think it is important to discuss patterns and themes so that, and at least create that avenue and that venue where we can discuss, or if you have questions about Revelation, about our times, we can at least have a format for that. So that's Purposes for all that. And today, okay, so any White Horse Inn, probably many of you don't recognize that, or many of you do, but we had some White Horse Inn nights every once in a while. Well, I think of this as those White Horse Inn nights. White Horse Inn was a place where the Reformers would go and they would sit around and talk about Reformation theology back in Cambridge days and the days like that. So, anyways, but the White Horse Inn, I'm thinking Revelation is a great play on words. We got two white horses on the ends: we got the white horse, we got the white horse of six, we've got the white horse of 19. And so, really, much of Revelation is these chapters in between these two figures. Revelation 6 through 18 is really about the seals, and then we have the opening of the seals, and then in 19 we have the other white horse and the rider with diadems coming. So, Revelation, these are the nights in between these two white horse bookends. Anyway, I thought it was clever, but so I want to spend our evening tonight looking at some Revelations on the first seal. We looked at that this morning, the white horse. Let me just read that just so that everybody. Up to speed. Revelation chapter 6, verse 1. Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, that would be the very first seal, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a loud voice of thunder, Come. I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. This morning I looked at this and saw this as a negative force, a came to the conclusion that this is a worldwide anti-God ideological movement. It's a movement that will ultimately produce or that the Antichrist will come out of, but it is a little bit a precursor to that. And that I understand if people want to take it as the Antichrist, that's fine.

10:06But I look at it as kind of that pre-ideological movement that sets the stage for the Antichrist. Certainly, same influence is at work in the minds and hearts of men. So I want to shed some other light from other parts of Scripture on this first seal, this white horse. And the good place to go is the Olivet Discourse. The Olivet Discourse is Jesus Himself answering some questions about the end times. We should pay attention to the Olivet Discourse because Jesus is the revealer there as he is in Revelation. It is Jesus who is breaking the seals and he is showing John what is to come. There at the Olivet Discourse, just before His crucifixion, not long before His crucifixion, He was explaining the end times to His disciples. He is the revealer there. He is the revealer in Revelation. And so the Olivet Discourse is a very important text that will shine some light. And we expect unity. We expect consistency between the two teachings.

11:30There is harmony. There is not discord between the texts. And so Jesus is the same revealer in both. And it's important, even as you bring another scripture to bear on Revelation, you want to make sure you're taking careful steps and getting to those texts that really do connect. You can really open up any scripture and kind of make it connect. But this is a very sure foundation. Jesus is the revealer in both cases. The patterns are very much the same, and they both address the same topics: the end of the age and the second coming of Christ. So, if there is a passage that you can, with confidence, bring to bear or shed light on Revelation, it would be the contents of the Olivet Discourse.

12:33And in the Olivet Discourse, there are birth pangs. There are this section called Birth Pangs Before the Tribulation, this birth pangs. And there is the very first birth pang, is this deception that Jesus warns about: deception, and it results in many being misled. Many, many, many being misled. There's a second birth pang. Now, when you think about this for just a second, the world's going to go through tribulation. Let's talk about Jesus uses this idea of birth pangs. He has labor, labor, and delivery in mind. He's using the concept of giving birth to a child. The world is going to go through a labor.

13:31Now, birth pangs, where do you put that? Just where would you put birth pangs? As part of labor and delivery or prior to labor and delivery? I don't know, talk to me. I know we've got some experts in the room. Anybody have an opinion? Birth pangs? Does that come before, during, after? Is that part of labor? It can be all of it. Yeah, I mean, it's a good question because that's the analogy. There seems to be birth pains, that which is indicating labor is coming. And I think that's how Jesus uses it: that there is these birth pangs. And certainly, as birth pains get more and more sharp and closer and closer together, you know it's time to go to the hospital. And I've been through it six times. I've got a little bit of the routine down.

14:40And right in the middle of labor and delivery is when my hand gets crushed every time. Nice, sweet little Nancy all of a sudden gets an iron grip that can crush things. Well, you think about in these, I'm sorry, I don't mean to embarrass. That's what happens when I get off script. Birth pangs, the very beginning. It is leading up to, but it's really not labor and delivery. It's that it's the indications that it's coming and it's about time for it to go into full travail. But the Olivet discourse, Jesus uses this analogy: birth pangs. These things are going to take place before the world goes into labor and delivery.

15:37One of the birth pangs, second birth pang, is wars and rumors of wars. Does that sound anything like what we talked about this morning? We talked about four horses. Which one of the horses would you think this might be a reflection of? Yeah, the red one. The red one, who named discord. But war and rumors of wars. Another, the third birth pang in that Olivet discourse, or another one shortly after that, famines in various places, plagues and famines. What does that sound like from the four horsemen?

16:27The black one. Yes. And what is the result of wars and famines? What typically follows that? Death. And so you have these horsemen, and the very first birth pain is what I want to talk about: that deception, which results in many being misled. And that comes back to the first horse, the white horse. There is a pattern here in the Olivet discourse that parallels very closely with Revelation 6. And it is Jesus doing the revealing in both. So I want to talk about this white horse and the very first of the birth pangs that Jesus mentions. And I'll show you this as we go through the Olivet discourse. It's a basic question that's being asked by the disciples: what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? It's asked a little differently in the different Gospels, but I will show them to you here in just a moment. But basically, that's what it's getting at. And Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus' answer.

17:42Matthew 24 of verse 3. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? He has just mentioned that the The temple is going to be torn down. They're marveling at the stones, and he is saying, This is all going to be torn down. And then they come, okay, we want to talk about these. When are these things going to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming? Well, he's there with them. They know he's coming again, and they've been informed: what will be the sign of your coming and the end of this age?

18:27And Jesus answered them. The very first thing he says, see to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. So the very first thing he tells them, and later is going to refer back to this as the very first birth pain, is deception. There are many that are going to come in his name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. Now, in saying that, I am the Christ, they're not necessarily saying, I am Jesus, but saying, I am the Christ. I am the way. I am the one who should be followed. I know more than Christ. I am the one. I have the mind. I am the way, the truth, the life. Follow me, so to speak, and will mislead many. Many are going. So the very first thing he says is, There's coming a time of deception. See to it that no one misleads you. There are many voices out there that are going to be antagonistic to Christ, but not just antagonistic, but claiming they know what's best. They know the right way, that kind of thing.

19:46Matthew then goes on and says, Many false prophets will arise and mislead many. So it's a time of false prophets and a time that many will be misled. Then he says in verse 12, because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. I'll come back to the lawless concept a little bit later, but lawlessness is going to increase greatly to the degree that people's love is going to grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. It's Matthew. Mark records this Olivet discourse, its first birth pain, like this.

20:31Tell us, verse 4, Jesus, when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? And Jesus began to say to them, See to it that no one misleads you. You see a pattern? Matthew and Mark very much agree. This is the exhortation, don't get carried away. Don't be misled. Many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and will mislead many. Many people will be taken into a false way of thinking, a false way of living, and espouse things they should not.

21:13Luke, verse 21, 7. They questioned him, saying, Teacher, when therefore will these things happen, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place? And he said, See to it that you are not misled. For many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and the time is near. Do not go after them. See a pattern here. The very first birth pang in all of the Olivet discourse, when the disciples asked about the end time, there is coming a time of deception, and the thing I want for my people during that time is, don't be taken in. You don't have to be taken in. If you stay close to Scripture, you know the Christ of Scripture, you're not going to be taken in by these false Christs, these false systems of thinking that promise salvation, promise the solution, but are void of it.

22:20So if you summarize the Gospels on this verse, the very first birth pang is the rise of great deceivers asserting themselves. And their ways over Jesus and his ways. That's what it means to be, I am the Christ. Notice how they don't say, I am Jesus. They're saying, I am the Christ. I am the one who has the answers. And they certainly assert themselves, act like they assert their ways over Christ. It's a time of sharp rise in deception. It's a notable time on the global scene. Jesus' teaching clearly informed the apostles' teaching on this subject. And I will take you through a few verses on that. This whole concept. They are expecting, the disciples from this day forward, and from being after the all, are expecting a time of lawlessness. They're expecting a time of deception, delusion, to come upon the earth in a very significant manner, more so than at their present time.

23:382 Peter 3:3 says, This, know this, first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts. It's going to be descriptive. John says, This, children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared from this. We know that it is the last hour. John the Apostles saying, Look, Antichrist of the Spirit has already gone out. And we know that they had already started appearing in John's time and expect them to ultimately manifest in one final Antichrist later. That's John's thinking. But what John is seeing in his day is the demonic deception is already at work. John is saying, we're already seeing this demonic deception at work, and it will culminate in the future. The great, great intensity.

24:49Paul says it like this: 1 Timothy 4:1, but the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. This is going to be characteristic. People led astray. And the Scripture, and the Spirit is emphatic that this is going to happen. 2 Timothy 3:1, but realize this: that in the last days, difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable. Malicious gossip, without self-control, brutal haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and it continues. This is the environment that is going to characterize the last days.

25:54Paul sees that. Paul goes into great detail about the man of lawlessness, individual, a man who will rise on the world scene, who he refers to as the man of lawlessness. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the church is dealing with this thought that, well, we may have missed the day of the Lord. We missed the rapture, and now we're experiencing God's judgment. And Paul is saying, No, you're not in the day of the Lord right now. And he says, This, believe me, you're not in the day of the Lord. And he goes on and he explains in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come, the day of the Lord, unless the apostasy comes first.

26:48Till the great falling away, till the great defection. That's what the until the apostasy comes first. A period of great falling away, great defection. Deception. And, so the apostasy must come first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. So, there is an apostasy, and there is a man who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object or worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God, an arrogant man, the embodiment of Satan himself, the man of lawlessness.

27:46And then, Paul goes on, Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things, and you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. So, in Paul's time, he's looking ahead, thinking this man is going to be revealed, and he's saying to the church, Look, we've been talking about this. You already know what restrains him now. Many of us wish that Paul had taken a sentence and said, and you know he is, or what that is. He doesn't. He just says, You know. So, that has left many people wondering: well, who is this restrainer? A lot of different ideas. Who is he? Church, some people think the church, maybe the church. Taken out.

28:33It says this: for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. So there is a restraining force. Certainly, whoever this restrainer is, by the time that the living being says in Revelation 6:2, you come to that white horse, whatever restraint has been in place are now removed. And he goes out conquering and to conquer. And so you have the restrainer, and then lawlessness will ramp up.

29:25Then he goes on, then, after that restrainer is taken out, after he is given, boy, what a blessing. The restrainer, God's restraining activity. You think about just in our own lives, just look, if God let us go, that restraining work of the Spirit of God, and just so thankful. And you just see a mercy there. Well, there's coming a time when he just lets go. That restrainer is taken out of the way, and then the world becomes.

30:00As evil. Let's evil run its course. Then, 2 Those, that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth, Revelation 19, and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming. That is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan with all power, signs, and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. So there are people who, here's what happens: people do not love the truth, they turn away from the truth, and because of that, God gives them over to the lie.

30:52We'll look at what Paul says next: For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. So you think about this. Think about what's happening. Paul is anticipating a time of deception prior to the revealing of the man of lawlessness. A profound deluding spirit, because people do not want the truth, they will not receive the truth. So, God gives them over to a lie. You see this pattern in judgment throughout. Okay, if you will not have God, you will have yourself. And so, but the deluding influence, you look across what's going to happen in the world, is that people are going to believe what is absolutely absurd because they have been deluded.

32:02And this is what is coming. In fact, you look across our world today, and you can see vestiges, you can see a deluding influence. I'm not, like I said, I'm going to be careful to say you would be careful of reading your times into the text. And this thing may go on for another thousand years. But there are some things that people believe, and roads that they go down, and things that they affirm that have no real explanation other than delusion on a spiritual level.

32:44We can maybe talk about some of those in a little while. But let me real quickly just go through Jesus' views on lawlessness quick on this. In Matthew 7, 23. I just want you to want you to get a sense of how Jesus sees lawlessness. And I want you to catch a sense of his heart towards this. In Matthew 7:23, he says, This, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And he's talking at the Sermon on the Mount. He's getting to the very end of the Sermon on the Mount. He's called out these impostors who said, We did all these things in your name. We went to church. We did all these things. And he's going to say, Depart from me. And these are strong words. I will declare to them Jesus, saying, Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

33:46He wants them gone. Like, you are a practice, practitioner of lawlessness. You are a law to yourself. And this is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. When you get to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, he makes this stinging statement. It's one of judgment. And then he goes in, therefore, let me, in light of all this, say, let me tell you who's a wise person. Not the one who builds upon the sand, but the one who builds upon the rock, the one who takes my words and builds upon them. The one who is not lawless, but the one who comes under. My teaching. That's the wise man. But the whole conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount is an exhortation to build upon the rock and an exhortation to not be lawless.

34:46Do not live as if you were God. Do not live constantly bringing God down to your level, but coming under God's ways, God's morality, God's thinking, God's word, all of that, God's way of forgiveness, all of that. Jesus later says this: The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness. Who does he want out, those who commit lawlessness, and what is he going to do with them? And will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You get a sense of the passion in Christ's heart and his hatred for lawlessness. He loves his father. He was one who was under law, who always conformed his life to the holiness and character law of God.

36:01And then he concludes, coming back to the Olivet discourse, this is what Jesus says. I read it earlier, but in Matthew 24, many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. You see, what Jesus wants from his people, he wants his people to resist the lawless currents of their times. That's what he wants from you. Whether we're in the very last days or not, I can assure you what he wants from you, from me, is not to conform our thinking and our ways to the lawless currents of our times.

36:57Independent of whether we're in the very last days or not. So, Revelations on the first seal. I've got a few discussion questions that I can lead us with in just a moment, but I want to take a time and see if anybody has any questions or thoughts they want to add. Yes, sir. So, if you address this, and I apologize, but looking at comparing verse 6. In the matter 24, we found verse 9. Uh in verse 6, but that could not be at the beginning and verse 9 and using the word tribulation. We will, in my mind, usually ring the tribulation as the pain.

37:49So we're comparing the birth pangs to the first four seals. Do you formally place those as the initiation and tribulation formal or the system before the tribulation? You know, it's officially in the tribulation? Okay, so is the first birth pang part of the tribulation or is it leading up to well that was the qu yeah, when a woman goes into labor, are the birth pangs part of the tribula the labor and delivery, or is it leading up to it? That's a question. And depending on how you see that, there are some who end up on both sides. They would say, no, the tribulation starts with the first birth pang. But I think the language, personally, I think the birth pangs are prior to tribulation. I think birth pangs are prior to labor and delivery. Yeah, at some point the labor pains are so the birth pangs are so Sharp, so together that you're all of a sudden you're in labor. I haven't had a baby. I'm just hearing about it from. But the birth would be tribulation. Yeah, so the labor, the world in travail would be labor. So that's where I would see tribulation starts. But, okay, you bring up a very good question because think about the scroll with seven seals. If it is, and it's certainly trying, I'm trying to stay within the custom of the day and understand. There wasn't a codex.

39:43It would have been a scroll, like a parchment, like what Paul, if it was a scroll and you had seven seals, when you break the first seal, what happens? You can open and read. In a scroll, if you use that analogy, can you open up and read if you break the first scroll? You really can't. You've got to break all seven and then unroll the scroll. One commentator who I greatly esteem said the seals are on the end of the scroll. And so that when you undo one seal, you can read a portion of it.

40:30The problem with that is there isn't a historical analogy. So the custom seems to be how you vision this scroll from history would have been a scroll with seven seals. And so when you're looking at Revelation and Jesus having to get through all seven seals, I could easily be, and I'm inclined to think that you get to the tribulation after the seven seals are open. And then the seventh seal turns into what? Seven trumpets. And so at the time the seventh seal is opened, then the scroll, the contents of the scroll, are being revealed. So I could see the birth pangs in the Olivet discourse tracking very nicely. There's a clear pattern with the seals and that they are signs leading up to the Great Tribulation that we should be able, that those believers could see, could see the trends leading up to this time. But there's a difference of opinion on it. I personally see.

42:01From my studies right now, that the birth pangs are not part of, but indicators that it's coming and that the church would be very much still here during the birth pangs because God has a purpose for the church being here in those birth pangs, and one of them being testimony when you get into that phase where they're handing people over and the gospel is being proclaimed. Very good question. But I would, as you've seen on my graphics, I see it as a scroll with seven seals, not the seals on the ends.

42:44I see it going down the side, and that the contents of the scroll cannot be revealed until all seven seals are broken. But I haven't. I know great men, great that I esteem, that say no, the tribulation starts with the opening of the first seal. And I'm not quite there yet. Any other questions? Yes, ma'am. I wanted to ask about the restrainer. You were saying that a restrainer, a total restrainer, is Removed or take it away. So that is there's a delusion still, and the restrainer is still here to red.

43:40Okay, so when the restrainer is taken away, then the tribulation begins. Yeah, or certainly the first birth pain. You certainly starting to see this restrainer being taken out of the way, and I don't know who the restrainer is. I have some suspicions, but certainly it's God restraining. And certainly, when that living being calls forth that white horse, that restrainer is removed. And now he, the white horse, the rider, is given the ability to conquer, and he is going to use deception as his means. He's going to and a worldwide movement. It's a worldwide movement that prefers lies to truth. And then out of that is going to come the one who embodies satanic opposition personally.

44:45Well, let me throw up a few questions and then we'll what are some as we just think about this, if we think about our times, what are some large-scale deceptive movements that have happened in the last couple of hundred years? Think about, and I'm not talking about, I'm talking something global. What's unique to our times? Or do we see some things that are unique to our times? And what are some and really, do you see any worldwide deception movements picking up stream?

45:23Just a discussion. Communism, Marxism, you know, very godless movement. Godless movement, a feminist movement, and yes, sir? Overpopulation. Overpopulation, and what is that? Is that like a explain what you mean? There's too many people on the planet, and were the people are there going to be the demise to the planet. That the people are going to destroy, that that's a delusion. Yeah, okay, yeah, so overpopulation, climate control. What's that? Godless science. Godless science, yeah, godless science. You think about, I read a little bit of an excerpt from the Scopes trial. And by the way, if you ever get a chance in time to go back and study that, and I don't mean just watch the movie Inherit the Wind. That is a spoof. It is a joke, and it's intended is to make mockery. Of biblical thinking. There is another video called Inherit the Truth that was put out by, and I have it, but it's the group there in Tennessee that put it together and said, all we're going to do is let you hear what was actually said on the courtroom floor.

46:55But the whole idea, this whole idea of evolution, and this is going on 100 years ago, and there was a sharp break in our institutions, in the world, and in the churches, in our great, huge buying into evolution. It became the modernist movement. But it is a defection that the God of the Bible did not create man. And that's where ultimately it undermines. That's a, as I said this morning, that was the trial that made a monkey out of all of us. And that's the idea that we all descended from apes and the whole evolution thing. But that cuts man off from God. Yeah, so you can see these movements that very much are part of a large-scale suppression. Of truth. And just like what happens on an individual level, this can happen on a global level.

48:09Yes, sir. It was really fascinating in a kind of a frightening way, a very eye-opening way, with the whole COVID thing. I mean, not to get in the weeds with debating about the right things and all that, but the fact that because the church was meeting together, churches that met together were portrayed as public enemies. You are a danger to society because you are meeting together. A public threat. Yeah. And that's going to be the next phase, as the next seal is open up. It is the voice of the martyrs. And somehow, in the chaos of all that's going on in the world, there is a sharp aggression against the followers of Christ. And there is a hatred, and they are seen as enemies. And so, yeah, so there's, you see, a lot of delusional, but all that, all I just want to lay out today is globally, you know, you can see the pattern. We're not looking for anything new under the sun, but an intense Of a handing over and a world that becomes more and more godless and more and more committed to the absurd and committed to against God and the one who sits upon the throne. And out of that, and that that's that first horse, and out of that is going to cascade several other things. Man will be given over to himself, society.

50:06But through all that, God intends for his people to remain of good courage. Like I said, we're not called to stop humanity from going off a cliff, but we are called to stand upon truth. We are called to believe truth, proclaim truth, and that's what the world's going to need. We're not called to stop the Antichrist from coming, but to remain faithful to the true Christ as the Antichrist world keeps maturing. That's what the world needs to hear. That's what the world needs to see, is true worshipers. And so, this battle that takes place large scale in politics and on the global scene is something that takes Place in our hearts every day. Who will you serve? And even down to the very thoughts you think, which way are you going to go? Are you going to yield that thought over to God? Or are you going to go your own way? So we're very much part of this, whether or not we are in or approaching the last days in our times.

51:30Well, thank you. I think I'll close this and I'll be up here. There's a lot more to say. I've cut out several pages of notes, but there's hopefully give you an idea of what's happening, what to expect, and not to be alarmed. And that's what Jesus is saying. Don't be alarmed in all of this. This is where lost man goes. You keep your head engaged. You do what I've called you to do. And so let's pray. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your goodness for this time together, and thank you for your revelation. Father, you've told us what to expect ahead of time.

52:16And you have given us these days, Father, that we may grow in your likeness and rejoice as your people together on this side of heaven. Soon we know we will all be gathered on the Other side. So, Father, as we look forward to this week, Father, we want to ask for you to bring to mind anything in our hearts, in our minds, on our tongues, in our activities, what our hands do, where our feet go. Father, bring to mind anything that isn't in compliance with the character of your Son and forgive us and lead us in the way that is everlasting. We delightfully love following you. So, Father, guide us in Jesus' name. Amen.