Decoding Apocalyptic Parables in Matthew 25

Preparing for the Second Coming: Lessons from Apocalyptic Parables

The text below is a rough AI transcription of the audio. I hope to go over it and smooth it out soon.

One of the things that we want to make clear from the very beginning is that the Bible is our main source of information. Whether you have it, physical, digital, I invite you to open the Bible.

Follow along, and this is one of the things that I love about our church and our faith. It's not just follow the leader. It's not just follow me. Trust me, I know what's best. Just do what I tell you. No, it's follow along. And if it makes sense to you, if it's in the Bible and you agree with it, then by all means.

Put it into practice. It's so good for us to hold our spiritual leaders, religious leaders, uh, accountable. So I like to encourage you to have your Bibles follow along and just develop that habit whenever you go to a Bible study, to a church to worship. Make sure that you have the Bible and your hold your leadership accountable to that.

And this morning we're looking at Matthew 25 and we're looking at what I'm calling apocalyptic parables. Why am I calling it that? Because Matthew 24 and 25 are considered an apocalyptic portion of the gospel, and they call it that because it sounds like the book of Revelation, which in Greek is the word apocalypse.

And if you speak Spanish or some other languages, that's also the name of the book of Revelation, um, which people tend to be afraid of, but it's just a revelation of Jesus. And what I want to, to do this morning is look through chapter 25, and then I'm going to invite you to come back tonight to go through chapter 24 and you see how the two come together and how it makes sense.

I know it's a little bit backwards, but. There is a lot of people who came last night. They're not here this morning, and I want them to get it backwards, but there's something special that happens when we read the Bible. I believe that God wants to be found by us. He wants to be understood. He wants to be in an intimate relationship with us, and if we give them the opportunity.

If we just would open the Bible and prayerfully read through it, I believe that God would draw us closer to him and reveal to us the things that he wants us to learn. So usually for my sermons, I mentioned the original language and I quote from different, um, Bible commentaries and theologians. And this time I'm not gonna do any of that.

I'm gonna go through it in a way that I think you can go through it with a friend. It's great to have the extra education. If you have the opportunity for any young person here in our audience that's considering going into theology and studying, go for it. It's amazing. However, if you did not have that privilege, if you went a different route in life, but you love the Lord, it's okay.

You can read and get everything you need from the Bible. As a person who loves God and just wants to get into his word, and that's what we're going to do this morning. So I hope I, I invite you to open your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 25. We're going to be going through this, um. Together. And just for context, once again, the disciples asked Jesus on chapter 24 about the signs of the end of the world and his second coming, and he goes through all of chapter 24 talking about that, and then seamlessly goes into these parables that we're going to explore in Chapter 25.

So all of these parables are within the context of questions about the second coming of Jesus. What are the signs? When will this happen? And that's when we jump into these prophecies, into these parables, I should say, let's pray. Father in heaven, spiritual things are spiritually discerned. The words that Jesus spoke are so powerful, and Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move in our hearts and as we read these words that you would impress upon us the things you want us to learn and how we should apply them to our lives.

I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Matthew chapter 25. We begin with the parable of virgins. So let's, let's start. Matthew Chapter 25 says, then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened or compare it to 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise, five of them were foolish.

Those who were foolish, took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wises took oil in their vessels with their lamps, and while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. So I believe most of you are familiar with this parable. So let's say you don't have access to any Bible commentaries, any other books besides the Bible.

All you have is the Bible. You're looking at this parable. What are some things that you can pick up just from the plain text? All of them are referred to as virgins. All of them have lamps. All of them are waiting for the bridegroom and all of them fall asleep. So far so good. No major theological insight.

We can just look at the text and we can see this, right? There's only one thing that separates one group from the other. Five of them brought oil. Five of them did not. So far so good. Let's continue with the parable. It says verse six, at midnight, a cry was heard and the cry that came, oh, I'm sorry. Yes, the, the bridegroom was delayed and all of them slumbered.

So verse five, we find out that the bridegroom. Was delayed. And it's not that he was late. It's not that he missed the appointment. From the perspective of the virgins, it took longer than they anticipated. So he was late. He was not there when they expected. And then verse six, it says, at midnight a cry was heard.

Behold the bride room is coming, go out to meet him. Then all. Those virgins arose and trimmed their lips. Question. How many of them arose? All of them. All of them were asleep. All of them arose. Everybody's together. There's no big difference. Verse eight in the foolish said to the wise, what did they say?

Give us some of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying no, lest there should not be enough for us in you. But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went out to buy, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding and the door was shut.

Pretty straightforward parable Now. Now here's when it gets tricky. You find yourself in a Bible study. You're, you're trying to share this with somebody, and then you open up your Bible and, and you want to describe what each thing is, right? Well, you know, this means this and this means that. And then it can get a little bit tricky to go along.

How, how can you teach, go over this, get something out of this without getting caught up and tangled in things and questions that you can't answer. Here's how I would do it. The virgins are mostly the same except for one thing. When you look out at people, believers, the church, everybody is pretty much the same.

What is the difference? What is the one thing in this fable that sets them apart? Having the extra oil. People ask, what is the oil? This parable does not tell us what the oil is. But it tells us the function of the oil. The oil was necessary for their lamps to be on, for them to be able to go in with the bridegroom.

What else do we learn about the oil? The oil was not transferable. So Indis parable. I am learning that most of us can look the same. Be the same, and it's all fine and dandy until. This time of the midnight cry when the bridegroom arrives and suddenly there's two groups, suddenly these slight differences make a big difference.

In one group, it says, well, you are prepared. You are ready. You have the extra oil. Can you share some with me? And they say, we can't go out and get some. So as the bride room is arriving, as the midnight cry goes out, they say, Ooh, time to get ready. And what happens? They miss it. So just looking at the text without jumping anywhere else, we can see that you should not wait until the midnight cry goes out, until the break room is there to try to go and get ready.

Does that make sense? Pretty straightforward right there in the text. Don't wait until the last minute to get ready. It will not work well. But what if I'm really good friends with somebody who is ready? Does that work? No, I have to be ready. My friend can be ready. He can go into the wedding party if I'm not ready and I'm trying to get ready.

Once the bridegroom arrives, it's too late. And then there is this principle, this part of the story that says that once they went in, what happened to the door? The door was shut. And after this. It becomes a problem. Verse 11, afterward the other virgins came also saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, assuredly, I say to you what?

I do not know you. Please let us in. We weren't ready, but we're ready now. I, I, I just got the things that I needed. Now he says, no, I, I, I don't know you. You can't wait until the last minute. This may seem a little bit odd, but I think this, I believe this ties in with chapter 24 when Jesus says, no one knows the day or the hour.

Well, why would Jesus say that? A a few points. One of them when we study prophecy, if you come tonight, and I really hope you come, I, I think you should. If you come tonight, you're gonna find out we're not studying prophecy to set date. Because we would be tempted to into the last minute and then go get the oil and then do the equivalent of getting ready for Jesus to come again as we're gonna see through these parables.

That's not the point. Even if you fall asleep, the point is you fall asleep ready. It doesn't matter when he's going to come. What matters is that you are ready. Anybody here ever have a pop quiz when you're in school? Man, I had a math teacher and I struggled with math. I got okay grades. I just had to work a lot harder than the other classes.

And this teacher would, every now and then, too often in my case, he would say, okay, put your books away. Bring other piece of paper. It was like, no, not a pop quiz. But he would do that. And what happened was I was always doing my homework. I was always asking questions, making sure I understood, because whenever that pop quiz came.

I wanted to be ready. So some of the virgins were not ready. And then Jesus gives you the point of the story. In verse 13, he says, watch, therefore for you know, neither what the day nor. The hour in which the son of man is coming. Very clear parable, very simple understanding. Be ready because you don't know when Some people try to solve the problem of the parable by figuring out the date.

If I had a penny for every time someone came to me because they figured out the date that Jesus is coming, I remember as a student of theology. There was this one church that sometimes we would go there, they had a good potluck and as a starving college student that made me wanna worship with them. And then afterwards there was this member at that church that would figure out who the theology majors were, and he figured out I was one, he would come and sit next to me and he had charts and he had these things about the, the original, um.

You know, Hebrew and then if you count the letters and you count the dots and you multiply and divide and do this thing, and you look at the Jewish calendar and the moon and, and then you, he figured out the date and then the date came and went and Jesus didn't come by, didn't come back. And then he would come to me now with a different paper and a different math, and now I got it figured out.

And Jesus is saying, you don't know the time, the point of the prophecies, the point of understanding the words of Jesus is not to figure out the time. Well, if that's not the point, then what is the point of this parable? It's important to be ready all the time. Does that make sense? And I'm not saying this to put fear into your heart and like just a constant state of anxiety.

Oh no. Am I ready? And what if, you know, I remember as a little kid. Growing up, as you know, I grew up in, in the Adventist church. I grew up knowing a lot more about prophecy than the regular person. And I remember one time sitting at church thinking, what if Jesus just came back now and just like the sky open and there's a big earthquake, and what would that be like?

You know, am I saved? You know, I have these questions and especially if I was doing something that my mom told me not to do, and I'm sneaking around with my friends and I know that I'm not supposed to be doing the thing that I'm doing. And then I'm like, well, what if Jesus came back right now? Right.

There was always this thing, but it was connected to anxiety. Next, next Sabbath. So a week from today, we're gonna be talking how to have confidence in judgment. And, and, and this is something that, that I want to share with you because now my, my view has changed this. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus would come back right now?

I'm not afraid of whether or not I am saved. I am saved because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. I am saved because I accept His sacrifice for me. His righteousness covers mine. I love him. I can't wait to see him again. It's not about fear. It's about the excited anticipation and hope and peace in the middle of the storm.

But the idea also is I can't mess around with sin saying, oh, it's gonna take a long time to come. Well, with that in mind, let's, let's go on to the next parable and let's allow the Bible to speak for us. The next parable is the one about the talents. So once again, same context in light of the second coming of Jesus in prophecy and all the things he said in Matthew chapter 24, which we'll study tonight.

Um, listen to this parable for the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling where. To a far country. This seems to be a, a, um, a theme here, right? So in, in the first parable, the bridegroom is not present. He's away, he's coming. But there was a delay. This time the man goes to a far country and call his own servants and delivered what to them.

Delivered what to them whose goods Ah.

As we read the prophecy of the parable, let's pay attention to, to these words. These are important. He is giving his servants his goods to watch over. I think this is easy enough to apply for all of us. What we have does not belong to us. It was given to us by God to care for and steward and, and use wisely until he comes again.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. So he gave each one his goods and verse 15 into one. He gave how many? Five. Five to another. He gave two into another. He gave. One, what was the difference from one to the next to the next? He gave to each one according to what his own ability, and I have met people in school, especially when I, when I went to college, I met people that had like 15 talents.

They could do everything. They were good at sports and they were great musicians, and they got the good grades and they just had everything going for them. I was like, man. That must be amazing to be somebody like that. And then there is a, a tendency for us to look at ourselves and be like, well, I have my one talent.

What can I possibly do? I'm not as good as this other person or this other person, and that person and that person, but, but it's okay. Jesus gave to each one of us according to what we can handle, the same way that he does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we're able to bear. He also does not give us more talents than what we're able to use.

So I would say to all of us, instead of looking and complaining and wishing for what you don't have, how about we focus on what we do have and say, what can I do with this? So let's continue the story and tell me if that makes sense. So he gave to each one according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey.

Then he who had received five talents, did what? Traded with them and made what? Another five talents. So the person who had five talents really was able to handle that. And not only that, they multiplied, it got even more talents. Likewise, he had received two. Did what? Got two more. Everybody who received something from the master, when they put it to work, it multiplied.

It didn't multiply because they were so good, because they were willing to put it into work. Verse 18, however, but there is a shift here. Something changes. But he who had received one did what? Went and dug in the ground and did what? Did he hide his money? Did he hide his talent? The text says he, he hid what?

The Lord's talent. The Lord gave him something to do and he said, nah, it's just one. It doesn't even make a difference. I mean, if he really wanted me to do something, he would've given me five. He just gave me one. I can't do anything with this. So he dug the whole, which takes effort, right? Buried it says there not gonna do anything with that.

It's just one. And then the very next verse, verse 19, it says, what? After a long time do you see a pattern here? The brag room took. A long time to come. Showed up at midnight when they were not expecting. Now, the, the, the servant, the the lord of the servants after a long time came and did what? Settled the accounts.

Sounds like judgment day, right? He says, Hey, I gave you some stuff. He went on his trip, took a long time to come back. Came back and says, okay. What did you do with what I gave you? Let's find out what happened. So he verse 20, who had received five talents, came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents and I have gained five more talents besides them.

And his Lord said to him, well done. What? Good and faithful servants you are faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler of many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. There was joy when the servant put the talents to work. Verse 22, he also had received two talents, came and said, Lord, you delivered to me two talents.

Look, I have gained two more talents besides them. His Lord said to him, why didn't you get 10? The other guy got me 10. How come you're only coming back with four? Is that what happened? No. He said to them, well done. What? Good and faithful servants. You have been faithful over a few things. I will make a ruler over many things Enter into the joy of your Lord.

Let me ask you, this was the reward of the servant based on the results that he got with his talent. No, both of them get the same reward. The one who had the five in got 10, the one who had two in got four. Both of them hear the same word. Both of them go into the joy of the Lord, meaning from the parable as we read the text without any extra commentary.

They're being rewarded for being faithful for working with what they have. It's not about the results you're going to get, comparing your results to somebody else's looking at what somebody else is doing. No. What has God given you? Are you putting that into work? If so, he will multiply it and you'll get to hear well done, good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy of your Lord. It's not a competition. It's about personal faithfulness to the Lord using what he has given us that ultimately belongs to him. Does that make sense? Does this give you a sense of. Okay, I can do this. This is not okay. So I just take what I have, even if it's just one or two or five or, and then just put that into work.

That's, that's all there is. Oh, that's, that's doable. It doesn't matter how well people around me are doing. As a matter of fact, all of us can do really well, and it's great. It's not a competition. It's about faithfulness to what God has given us and what he asks us to do. Now let's continue the story and see what else happened.

Verse 24, then he who had received the one talent came and said, now listen to his words. Lord, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you have not sewn gathering, where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and I went and I hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have, what is yours? The person who had one talent view the Lord as someone harsh and exact thing.

Do you know people who have this view of God? There is people who may try to impose that view on your life. Well, careful. You don't wanna be too full of joy, even though God is watching, you know? But so some people have that view of God. The danger with this view of God is that it paralyzes us. I'm afraid of messing up.

I'm afraid of doing something wrong. I'm afraid of not being good enough. I better just hide my talent because somebody else is better. Somebody else will do it. The church is full of talented people. Surely he doesn't need my talent. Let me change the perspective on that. It's not so much that God needs your talent as you need to put your talent to work to properly understand who God is.

When you bury your talent, you're missing out on who God really is. You have a warped understanding of who he is, and you don't understand God's love for you and his desire for you to partner with him in the process of blessing and saving others. As you get involved in ministry, as you begin to help somebody else, as you look for ways to bless those around you, you begin to understand the heart of God.

Your salvation is made secure, not because of your performance. You said finally, you get it. You understand what God is all about and what following him is all about. It's not a bunch of rules to get you in trouble. It's about living life to the fullest. It's not easy. It's worthwhile. So this is right here, indis Parable.

Straightforward as we continue to read. The Lord looked and insert verse 26 and said to him, you wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sewn and gather where I have not scattered seed. You ought to have deposited my money with the bankers and that my coming, I would've received back my own with interest.

So take the talent from him and give it to him. Who has 10 talents? You know what's interesting? As I was reading this parable, and, and by the way, ah, okay, I'm gonna go a little parenthesis and I promise I'll come back. The smartest I've ever been in my life was when I graduated high school. Oh, I knew everything.

I was the best driver. I knew the answers to all the questions. I was so good at everything. And you know, fast forward to now, I'm 41, the father of two and married, and there's so much for me to learn. So much. It's, it's so humbling. Some of us, many of us, and I have friends like this, when it comes to our journey with God, our theological growth, our Bible study, we're like my teenage right, like version of me.

We have just enough Bible to think that we know everything. We have just enough of a walk with God to think we have all the answers. And that's dangerous because it, it we settle like, wow, I'm good enough. I, I don't need to read the Bible anymore. I already know what it says. I don't need to go to church.

I already know what the pastor is gonna say. I don't need to worship God. He knows how I feel about him. And we're missing out on the experience, right, because we think we have enough, because, eh, it's good enough. You know, it's, we miss out. I'm not saying it's gonna be bad for you. I'm not saying to scare you.

I'm just saying your walk with God could be so much more if you stay hungry. And if you stay curious and if you're looking for more things, God wants to reveal himself to you. But it takes this interaction, right? It takes showing up and opening the Bible and reading and praying. God does not correct this men's view of who he is.

He says, you are right. I am that heart and exacting master. Shouldn't you have done something differently? Meanwhile, the other two servants who put the money to work. That's not the view they had at all of the master, and that's not how the master presented himself to them. Something to think about. So now we go, uh, sorry, verse 29.

I almost skipped that one. For everyone who has more will be given and he will have an abundance, but from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away and cast that unprofitable servant. I. Into the outer darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In both parables, we have a judgment scenario.

One of M, the door is shut. Those who were not ready are left outside. In the other one, those who did not put to work, the gifts that God has given them were left outside and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth, and there was darkness. There is a judgment. I would love to tell you that there wasn't.

But it wouldn't be faithful to the Bible. It's very clear in both of these parables, there is a judgment. Jesus talks about the signs and the things and don't, don't set the dates, but then he's also very clear. There will be a judgment. We will be held accountable for the decisions that we make. We have the freedom to make any decision we want, and God even says, by the way, make this type of decisions.

I will guide you. I will help you. I'll protect you going this way. We don't have to. The things that we don't get to do away with is judgment. Yes. One day we will have to answer for our choices. Spoiler alert, I'm gonna give you an insider tip If you choose Jesus, he hides and erases all of your bad choices.

They're all hidden behind them, hidden by the cross covered in his blood. God looks at you and he sees Jesus' behavior. That's imputed righteousness, right? Fancy theological words, meaning Jesus covers you with his robe. God looks at you saying, you look like Jesus. Come on in. So we're not saved by our actions.

We're not saved by our behavior, but we are gonna have to face judgment. If you turn away from Jesus, you're gonna have to stand there with your own actions, which is not a great thing. So we're almost done here. Now we come to verse 31. Jesus' last parable. In this context of the second coming, when the son of men comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

In verse 32, all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another. As a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he will set the sheep on his right hand. The goats on his left hand. Did the king will say to those in his right hand, come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for whom, for you from when you guys are not following along from the foundation of the world.

Now, if the story was to stop there, it sounds a lot like God chose a few people ahead of time. Prepare the kingdom for them and they get to enjoy the kingdom, and we have no idea how that selection was made. Now, God knows our heart, right? We, we've read enough of the Bible to understand that God knows what's going on inside.

He knows my thoughts, my intentions, my heart. I can't hide that from him. The problem is nobody else knows that. Even my wife that I love so much that we've been together for 17 years, she doesn't know. Always my intentions. And even though sometimes it does seem like she's reading my mind, it's kinda scary.

My mom does the same thing, right? She look at me, she's like, I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. But so God knows, but the rest of us, we don't know. So Jesus says to this group, by the way, in light of judgment in other people witnessing, I'll let them know why you are a part of this group. Verse 35.

For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer. Lord, I'm so glad you're keeping track. You know, there's a couple of times there I felt like nobody was watching, but I'm so glad you noticed all the good things that I did.

And finally, I have earned my salvation. It almost sounds like salvation by works except for the reply of the righteous. Verse 37, the righteous will answer to him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you as stranger and take you in or naked and clothed you?

Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you and the king will answer. And say to them, assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. This interaction points out to me without reading any Bible commentary, any other books or anything.

This interaction shows me that when the righteous were doing their right behavior, their good deeds, they weren't even aware that they were doing it. They were not doing it expecting a reward. They were just living their life. They just loved God and loved their neighbor as themselves. They were just going through life doing what felt like the right thing to do.

I couldn't possibly not help this person, let me help this person. Oh, that person's in need. Hey, can we get together and help this person or somebody else? Okay. What can we do as a church, as a community to help? And as they're doing this, little did they know this is evidence. That their heart was with Jesus and they're saved and they will get to hear.

Well done, good and faithful servant inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. They were not trying to earn that salvation. They were just living their lives. They were just putting their talents to work. It just felt like life. Now, by contrast, there is another group. Yes. Then he will also say to those on the left, the part for me, you cursed into the Everlasting Fire Prepared For whom question?

Were any people supposed to go into that fire? No. It was not made for them. So if somebody asks me, do I believe in predestination? I do. I believe that every single person was predestined to salvation. The kingdom was made for us, but there will be people who will freely choose to follow the devil and his angels, and they will end up on the fire prepared for the devil and his angels not part of God's original plan.

We were not supposed to be there. God does not want us to be there, but he gives us the freedom to choose to be there. Does that make sense? Yes. One was made for us. The other made for the devil and his angels, but people will join them there and we'll see here why for I was hungry and you gave me no food.

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison you did not visit me. They will also answer him saying, Lord, when. Did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

Then he will answer them saying, assuredly I say to you, in as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous to everlasting life. Does this parable make sense when I read this parable? It's not that the behavior saved them, the behavior only showed the contents of the inner heart.

Does that make sense? Because neither group was aware that their behavior was specific, you know? Oh, if I had known, I would've done the things like, no, it's not about doing the things 'cause it's required of you. It is about the content of your heart. Jesus points to the actions, to the behavior so that all who are witnessing the judgment can understand, oh, okay, this is what's happened.

We reveal the contents of our heart by the way that we interact with others. So we can lie to ourselves. We can. I remember one guy that I knew, and I promise I'm, I'm, I'll end it right here. That he would tell you that his top priority was his wife and kids, and we were about the same age we are. He's still alive, but the practice of it, he was always absent.

He was always gone because he had this drive to make a whole lot of money, and that was his thing. If you asked him, he would say, no, no, no family, my wife and God, top priority in the practice. Not really. He was always gone, always missing. It's something that we tried to work with. So we can fool ourselves into thinking, no, no, no.

These are my values. I think this parable says, okay, let's look at your behavior. Let's look at this past week. Let's look at the last 30 days. Where did you spend the bulk of your time? Where was the bulk of your effort? And how much of that you know is in the pursuit of what, and then we get to reflect on our own lives and make better decisions moving forward.

It's not salvation by works, but rather what do your works reveal about the contents of your heart? Does that make sense? It's not do good things and you will be saved, but it's rather, what does your behavior say about the state of your soul? Same thing, a better understanding, a healthier understanding.

You can try faking it. It doesn't really work. It's the content of your heart. Now, maybe after going through this, you're really curious about Matthew 24 and the signs of the end. I invite you to join us tonight at seven o'clock, but there's one thing I want you to take away from these parables. It is not about setting dates and studying prophecy.

It's not about knowing what's gonna happen in the future. The point, as Jesus made very clear through these parables is that our life right now represents our walk with Christ. In that case, it doesn't matter the date. It doesn't matter. If it's next week, it's gonna be a thousand years. I don't think it's gonna last a thousand years.

It doesn't matter right now. Are you living an authentic life of love for God and love for others? Think about this. Come and join us as we study prophecy. I think there is a value in learning, but just know that it's gonna be a lot like it was this morning. I'm gonna be pointing out practical things, simple things, things that you can learn from studying the Bible for yourself.

And I think the school's all clear now. The school's all clear now. Okay. And I think, David, stay here. Let's, let's have a special prayer as we talk about prophecy as as we are being praying for revival, as we open up the Bible and share with the community and invite all of you to come. I know God is doing something special and the devil is not just gonna sit back and let it happen.

Please join me in prayer. Father in heaven, Lord, thank you for the good news that we have in the Bible. Thank you for the assurance, Lord, that the future is in your hands. Lord, there is challenges and there is distractions, and I pray, Lord, that we would not be distracted, that you would keep us focused on you, Lord, please.

We were just talking about doing the things, moving our hearts. What are our gifts? What are our talents, Lord, how can we help? And please Lord. Also, I pray for a hedge of protection around our church, the Hub 365 Building our school. Lord, please be with our campus that this would be a light in our community, a place where people can come and receive a blessing and have their felt needs met.

And Lord, as we move forward with the preaching of the gospel, be with each one of us that we would know from you. What is our role in this. That we would put our gifts to work, that we would volunteer and show up, that we would be a blessing for others as we o eagerly await your second coming, please, father, bless us and make us a blessing.

I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.