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Collierville First Baptist Church
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Matthew chapter 24. We're in a series entitled Perfect Ending.
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Perfect Ending. We're talking about the end of the world. How's it going to end? We're talking about the second coming of Christ.
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When and where and how and the disciples had questioned maybe you've got questions today.
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I hope and pray as we go through the text today that you will have some of your questions answered.
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The question I've got for you today, are we perched on the edge of eternity?
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Have we moved from the last days to the last hour?
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Alexander Ross said this, he said, "It is important to remember that according to the New Testament,
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with the coming of Christ, with his death and resurrection and ascension, the last period of the world's history has begun." Do you realize that the New Testament teaches that we've been in the last days
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since Jesus ascended back to heaven?
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I believe we moved from the last days to the last hour. In fact, that's what I want to speak to you about today, the last hour.
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God has spoken his final message in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2.
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"No event in the world's history can ever equal in epic making importance the coming of Christ until he comes again."
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The Christian era, as it has been put, is the last on the divine program.
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The next will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The apostle John included this statement in his letter to the church that he wrote to in 1 John chapter 2 verse 18. Listen to this scripture.
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"Children, it is the last hour."
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He said, "It's the last hour."
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He didn't say it's the last days.
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He said, "It's the last hour."
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And just as you've heard that Antichrist is coming, even now, many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know it is the last hour.
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John was there on the Mount of Olives with the other disciples when they began to ask Jesus some questions.
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It was Wednesday of Passion Week.
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Christ would be crucified on Friday,
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resurrected on Sunday morning.
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And the disciples asked him about the end of the world. The disciples asked him about God's program for the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
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Now in the last couple of weeks, we've identified seven signs
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that indicate the nearness of Christ's coming.
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Those seven signs were these, just as a refresher, spiritual deception,
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global conflict,
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natural disasters,
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Christian persecution,
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massive apostasy, blatant lawlessness,
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and the positive one, gospel proclamation throughout the whole world.
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Now as these signs grow in frequency and intensity,
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it just tips us off that we are in the last hour and the coming of Christ is imminent. It's imminent.
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Now when it comes to the second coming,
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Jesus expects his followers, those who have denied themselves, taken up their cross and followed Christ, he expects his followers
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to have a growing awareness
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of his second coming, a growing readiness for his second coming, and a growing eagerness for his second coming.
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Does that describe you?
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Are you excited about the coming of Christ? Are you excited about experiencing the promises, the fulfillment of the promises that Jesus made to you as a believer?
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I'm excited about that.
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Now in Matthew chapter 24,
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we're gonna take a deep dive this morning into a key part of biblical prophecy.
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Our text will include verses 15 to 25, Matthew 24, 15 to 25.
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And if I had to reduce this text down to a one sentence challenge for everybody in this room, everybody watching live stream, and everybody who will watch this sermon on YouTube later on, the one sentence challenge is this, in light of the second coming of Christ,
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pray for insight and live for Jesus.
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Pray for insight and live for Jesus. One thing I've been praying recently is that the Lord would give me prophetic insight that I could understand prophecy and understand it to the point where I could teach it
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and so that it would make a difference in all of our lives. And we would have a growing awareness, a growing readiness or growing eagerness for second coming.
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Now, if we're going to do this consistently,
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we're gonna pray for insight and live for Jesus, then two things have to happen in our lives. There are two keys here in the text today.
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The one, number one is the rise of Antichrist.
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Now you've heard of Antichrist.
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John said that even in the first century, the spirit of Antichrist was prevalent.
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And the spirit of Antichrist has been here and has been wreaking havoc in our world for a long time.
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Remember what John wrote? He said, Antichrist is coming.
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There is a literal person, a literal man, who will one day be possessed by demons and he will become the man of lawlessness,
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the man that will rise and be called Antichrist.
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You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the spirit of Antichrist is prevalent in the world right now.
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We live in a world where people call evil good and good evil.
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That's the spirit of Antichrist.
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We live in a world today where we can't even define what a woman is.
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That's the spirit of Antichrist.
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We live in a world today where there is just a hardened resistance to absolute truth. The idea that I have my truth, you have your truth.
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No absolute truth. That's the spirit of Antichrist.
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We live in a world today where there's a maniacal platform for the abortion industry.
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That's the spirit of Antichrist.
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We live in a world today where there's a disintegration of the traditional family.
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That's the spirit of Antichrist.
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We live in a world today where there's moral depravity everywhere we turn. It's the spirit of Antichrist.
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But I'll tell you,
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one day the Antichrist will show up.
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He will manifest himself.
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You say, "What will he be like, pastor?" Well, he'll be a charismatic man.
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He will be a visionary leader.
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He will provide solutions, long for needed solutions to human problems.
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He will rule the entire world.
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He will be the very incarnation of evil.
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He will create a one world government.
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He will create a one world economy.
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And he will create a one world religion.
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He will rise to power by declaring himself to be a man of peace.
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But not long after he declares himself to be a man of peace, he will plunge the whole world into a global war.
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We read about him in passages like these.
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Daniel chapter 11 verse 36. You realize that Daniel lived and served God with integrity and power and with conviction 500 years before Jesus ever came, before he was incarnated, 500 years.
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And yet he wrote about the Antichrist. You say, "How in the world could he do that?" Because the Holy Spirit gave him the revelation and Daniel wrote it down in the Bible. And now we look at it here, 2,500 years later.
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Amazing.
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Daniel chapter 11 verse 36.
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Daniel wrote, "Then the king will do as he pleases." He's talking about the Antichrist.
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The king will do as he pleases.
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Ironically, there was a no kings day yesterday.
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All over America.
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Crazy, absolutely crazy. Let me tell you, there is a king. In the name of Jesus.
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And every knee will bow to Jesus one day. Every one of those people marching and celebrating their weird, crazy ideas. Well, one day bow the knee to Jesus and declare, "Lord Jesus, you are Lord to the glory of God the Father."
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Then the king will do as he pleases, Daniel 11, 36.
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And he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods.
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And he will prosper until the indignation is finished.
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For that which is decreed will be done. All of this is a part of God's plan. People think the world is going crazy. The world is totally out of sight. I'm telling you, it's all happening according to God's sovereign plan.
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And when antichrist rises to power, it will be because God ordained it.
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2 Thessalonians 2, verses 3 and 4, Paul wrote, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it," "it," referring to the second coming of Christ,
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"for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and," listen, "and the man of lawlessness," that's the antichrist, "and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction." He's called the man of lawlessness the son of destruction.
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"Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God," or object of worship, "so that he takes his seat in the temple, displaying himself as being God."
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Revelation chapter 13, verse 7,
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"It was also given to him to make war with the saints,
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and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation was given to him to the antichrist."
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The antichrist may be alive today.
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I know this. I know that his spirit is here. The spirit of antichrist is everywhere.
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But if I were a betting man,
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I would bet that he's alive right now.
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I'm not talking about the spirit of antichrist.
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I'm talking about the person of antichrist.
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Now understand, the antichrist is not some kind of manifested demon.
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The antichrist is a man who has been possessed by demonic power.
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I can say with absolute certainty that the signs of his activity are apparent. All you have to do is open your eyes.
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One day, and I believe soon,
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he will reveal himself to the world.
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That's why we must, we must,
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pray for insight and live for Jesus.
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Pray for insight and live for Jesus.
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So in this text, we see the rise of antichrist. Now it's alluded to, you don't see his name there. Look at verse 15.
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"Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand."
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Here's one thing you got to understand when you talk about the abomination of desolation. You cannot have the abomination of desolation without the rise of the antichrist.
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So we're introduced here, first, the rise of antichrist. Secondly, the abomination of desolation. You say, "What?
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What is the abomination of desolation?" Well, I'm glad you asked that.
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Let me read verse 15 again.
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"Therefore, when you see,"
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you ought to underline that in your body, "when you see."
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"When you see the abomination of desolation,
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which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand."
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Now that little three words, "when you see,"
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here's what Jesus is saying.
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"When the antichrist comes,"
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not going to be a cloak and dagger type thing.
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"When the antichrist manifests himself and carries out the abomination of desolation, it will be public and it will be obvious to the world."
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And notice,
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"When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place." Well, what's the holy place?
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Well, remember, we have a Jewish context here.
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And if you were to go back into the first century and you were to have an in-person interview with John and Peter and James and the apostles,
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and you ask them, now what exactly is meant by the holy place?
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They would point you to that beautiful building called the Temple.
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The Temple, the Temple, the Jewish Temple.
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But wait a minute.
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Here we are in 2025,
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and there is no temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
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There is a Muslim mosque on the Temple Mount there in Jerusalem.
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I've been there, I've seen it.
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But when the Jewish nation was reconstituted in 1948, May 14th, 1948,
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it is one of the most important fulfillment of biblical prophecy in the entire Bible.
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There are those today who think that God has written off the nation of Israel.
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Don't believe that, not for one minute, not for one second. It's called replacement theology.
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And it's not true. God's not through with Israel. You don't believe it.
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Read Romans chapter 11.
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Not now, but when you get home.
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Now, when the Jews reconstituted as a nation after 2,000 years in exile,
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they had no temple to worship in.
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There's still not a temple there today.
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In fact, when they reconstituted as a nation, May 14th, 1948, there were only a very small nation of Jews who had assembled.
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The idea of building a third temple on the Temple Mount must have seemed as something totally impossible to many of them.
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Hey, if you've been to Israel,
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and you've been to the Temple Institute,
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the nation has grown tremendously since 1948.
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In the Temple Institute, I've been through there, I've seen the Jewish people are preparing to build the third temple.
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They've already got the high priest garments made.
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They've got some of the implements that would be used in worship in the third temple already prepared.
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There cannot be an abomination of desolation that the Antichrist will carry out in Jerusalem without the building of the temple.
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So I believe with all my heart that one day I don't understand when, I don't understand how,
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but I believe that one day the Lord will allow the Jews to rebuild the temple.
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Now, in that new temple,
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the Antichrist will go into the holy place at some point in the future,
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and he will desecrate the holy place. Now, understand this, the Bible teaches that the Antichrist is going to make a seven-year peace deal with Israel. He's going to offer them peace. He's going to have a covenant with the nation of Israel, promise them peace,
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a seven-year covenant.
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And then three and a half years into that covenant,
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the man of peace will become the man of destruction,
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the man of lawlessness,
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a man of evil,
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and he will take the Jewish holy place,
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and he will design, I don't know how, but he will design a statue or something, maybe something to do with AI, I don't know.
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But he will make an image of himself, the Antichrist, place it in the temple and demand that the Jewish people and the whole world worship him.
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It's called the abomination of desolation.
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The prophet Daniel referred to the abomination of desolation three different times.
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In Daniel 9.27, he wrote, and he will make a firm covenant. This is the Antichrist. He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. Now, understand this. When you get into Daniel chapter 9 and you read about one week, it's not talking about seven days. It's talking about seven years.
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Literally, God has said to Israel, you've got 490 years, 490 years.
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That's 77s. Okay.
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70 times seven, if I've got my math correct, is 490.
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And yet the Bible says that the last seven years are on hold. God took his stopwatch and he stopped everything at 483 years.
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So there's seven years left.
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And that seven years is the years of tribulation. God starts the stopwatch when the Antichrist makes a promise to provide peace for the Jewish people.
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And then midway at the three and a half year mark, the Antichrist will carry out the abomination of desolation.
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So in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27, and he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, one week, that's seven years. But in the middle of the week, that's at the three and a half year mark, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate.
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Look at Daniel chapter 11 verse 31, forces from him will arrive, desecrate the sanctuary fortress and do away with the regular sacrifice and they will set up the abomination of desolation.
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You see the false prophet, his goal, his ministry that's been given to him by Satan is to get the whole world to worship the Antichrist, the beast, as he's referred to in Revelation chapter 13.
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Daniel chapter 12 verse 11, from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1290 days. Now, there was a historical prefigured example of this in 168 BC before Christ. Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king ruled over Israel and over Jerusalem.
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And in 168 BC, he erected a statue to Zeus in the Jewish temple, 168 BC.
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And he sacrificed a pig on the brazen altar in the Jewish temple.
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And then he forced the Jewish priest to eat the pork.
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Now, if you know anything about anything, you know that that is absolutely horrendous for the Jewish holy place to have a statue to an idol,
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for a pig to be offered as a sacrifice on the brazen altar, and then for the Jewish priest to be forced to eat the pig.
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It's horrendous.
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It was an early picture of the abomination of desolation.
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Some have said that Antiochus Epiphanes was the antichrist of the Old Testament.
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You can read about, he killed thousands and thousands of Jews.
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You can read about what he did in the apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees.
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Remember that there was a very brave Jewish man, Judas Maccabeus, and he and some of his buddies came together and they made war against Antiochus Epiphanes.
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And they defeated him.
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And they went into the temple that had been desecrated.
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And they cleansed the temple in a way that would honor and glorify the God of heaven.
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And that cleansing of the temple has become the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. That's what Hanukkah is all about.
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You see, Antiochus Epiphanes and the antichrist that will show up in the last hour hate God.
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They hated Jews. They hated believers.
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And they attempted to obliterate the Jewish religion altogether.
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In the future, in the future, a man will ascend the temple mount in Jerusalem and go into the third temple.
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He will go into the holy of holies and proclaim himself to be God almighty.
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And he will demand that the entire world worship him.
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It is the ultimate sign. We've looked at seven signs so far, but this is the ultimate sign that the coming of Christ is coming three and a half years later.
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Almost like a calendar with it.
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And then once the abomination of desolation takes place, it will usher in a period of unmatched persecution and horror for the nation of Israel and the believers who were saved during that period of time.
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According to Jesus, these will be the darkest days in Jewish history.
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And he gave advanced warning in verses 16 to 20 of Matthew 24. Look at it. "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains." Now, this is a very specialized reference.
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It's referring to those who are living in Jerusalem and in Judea at the time that the antichrist makes his appearance.
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Does it mean it won't affect the United States? It may want to affect Great Britain? It'll affect the whole world.
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But I'm telling you, the Bible says this is Jesus.
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He said, "If you're living in Judea, if you're living in Jerusalem when the antichrist shows up and commits the abomination of desolation, run for your life."
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Run for your life.
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Look at it. "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
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Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.
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Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. But pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath." Listen, if you're a Jewish person living in Israel at that time, nothing must hinder you from getting to the mountains.
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Now, most scholars think that the place the Jewish people will run to will be a place in Jordan called Petra, the city of rock.
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I've never been to Petra. I hope to go one day.
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It's a city that's built into a mountain range, really. It's amazing. It's a very narrow way you get into that city.
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Look at verse 21. "For then there will be great tribulation." Underline great tribulation.
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This seven year period of time is called the tribulation.
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But the last three and a half years is called the great tribulation. The Old Testament calls it the time of Jacob's trouble.
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"For then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will."
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You take all the disasters, all the wars of history, all the plagues of history, Spanish flu, you name it. You take all of the trouble that this world has ever experienced and you add it all together and cannot compare to the last three and a half years called the great tribulation. During that period, God is going to rain down His judgment on those who have rejected His son Jesus. That's why every Sunday, every Sunday I give a gospel invitation and I will do it as long as I have a breath in my body. I don't care who don't like it, I don't care because the most important thing I can offer you is salvation through Christ alone.
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I've had people comment, "Why do you give an invitation? Why do you share the gospel every Sunday?"
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Help me. That's what I'm supposed to do.
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Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now. During that time of tribulation, God will unleash His fury on a Christ-rejecting world.
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You read about it in Revelation 6-19.
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The Lord Jesus alluded to Daniel's prophecy again here in Daniel 12, verse 1. Listen to it. "Now at that time, Michael the great prince," that's an angel.
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Michael is the angel, I believe, who has peculiar responsibility to protect the nation of Israel.
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"Now at that time, Michael the great prince who stands guard," look at this, "over the sons of your people will arise and there will be a time of distress."
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Just as has never occurred since there was a nation until that time.
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And at that time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued.
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The Bible says in the book of Zechariah that one day the Jewish people are going to see their Messiah and they're going to believe in Jesus.
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Jesus said this will be the most dreadful time in all of human history.
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It's the great tribulation.
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Satan, the Antichrist, through the Antichrist will unleash his fury on the Jewish people and on those who believe in Jesus.
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Matthew chapter 24, verses 22 to 25, look at this. "Unless those days have been cut short, no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, behold, here's the Christ, there he is, do not believe him for false Christ and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead impossible even the elect." And Jesus said, behold, I've told you in advance. You've got advanced warning.
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The Jewish people have advanced warning. No, no, listen, no one should be deceived about the person, the character and the nature of Jesus Christ. No person.
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Listen, at this time during this great tribulation period, there's going to be an explosion of false prophets and false Christ.
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And so many people are going to fall for it, hook, line and sinker.
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It will not be secret. The coming of Christ will not be secret.
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It'd be like a gigantic thunderstorm and lightning fills the night sky. Next week, next Sunday morning, I'm going to preach on the second coming of Christ right out of our text.
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Make sure you're here. Invite people to come with you.
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Are we living in the last hour?
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I think we are. Is the return of Christ imminent? Absolutely.
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When Dr. Robert Jeffress, now the pastor of First Baptist Dallas, was in high school, his English teacher assigned the class to present a creative report on the book of their choice.
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Shouldn't have done that to Dr. Robert Jeffress.
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He picked Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth.
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And he spent the first 30 minutes of his report explaining the events that would precede the second coming of Christ.
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He really nailed down the role that Russia would play in the last days.
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You read Ezekiel.
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There is the coming of Russia and a coalition of nations against Israel to destroy them and wipe them off the face of the planet.
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The Bible says God intervenes and protects the people. So during his report, he emphasized how Russia would invade Israel.
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At that particular time when he's given the report, President Nixon was in Russia trying to calm down the war concerns with Russia.
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No one knew this, but Dr. Jeffress, Robert Jeffress, had arranged with the assistant principal to interrupt his presentation by announcing this over the intercom.
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I quote, "Students and faculty, we've just received word from the United Press International that Russia has invaded Israel.
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President Nixon is returning from Moscow to Washington at this very hour.
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Students and faculty are urged to leave immediately and seek shelter."
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The teacher screamed out, "Oh no, it's true!"
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And she and the students headed to the exit.
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But Robert Jeffress told them that this had all been preplanned with the assistant principal. The only problem was the assistant principal hit the wrong button on the intercom.
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And that message went to the entire school, and the entire school was filing out of the building, seeking shelter in a panic, an absolute panic.
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I won't say this to you.
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One day, the graphic details of Matthew 24 will intensify, and the world will literally be thrown into chaos, and it won't be a prank.
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I'm telling you, Jesus is coming.
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Now here's the question, are you ready? Do you have an awareness of His second coming?
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Do you have a readiness for His second coming? Do you have an eagerness for His second coming?
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It's no game. I'm telling you, what I'm preaching to you is right out of the Bible.
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And the Bible says over and over again, "Be alert! Wake up!"
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And if you're in this room today, or if you're watching live stream, and you've never repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus,
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I pray that today will be the day.
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I'm going to ask our staff to come, our worship team to come,
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and I'm going to invite you in just a moment to stand with us. We're going to worship the Lord, and I want to encourage you to receive Jesus as your Savior and your Lord. Time's running out. It's not the last days anymore, it's the last hour.
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Come to Christ. And if you're a believer in this room, the Bible says over and over again, "Wake up!
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Wake up!"
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Prioritize the things that have spiritual impact and meaning in your life.
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Not the things of this world.
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Maybe you want to come to the altar and bow before the Lord, and just ask Him to make you more aware, and more eager, and more ready for His coming than you've ever been before. I encourage you to do that.
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Or maybe you're here and you don't have a church home.
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Everybody needs a church home.
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We're here to encourage each other and all the more as we see the day drawing near, the day of His coming.
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Maybe you want to come and just tell the staff member, "Hey, I want to be a part of Collierville First Baptist Church, and we'll help you with that decision."
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Listen, pray for insight, and live for Jesus. Amen.
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Father, in the name of Christ, I thank You, Lord, Your coming.
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It's going to be wonderful, Lord.
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And I pray that everybody within the sound of my voice would be ready.
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That we would have an awareness, a readiness, and an eagerness for Your coming.
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Oh God, touch our hearts today.
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In Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand and worship and you come.
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