The Empty Promise: Why Eschatology Without the Gospel Fails

• The Second Coming of Christ [00:24:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the topic of Jesus returning, referencing Revelation 22 and the concept of 'running to win' the race of life with a definite end.
• Escalating Signs [00:26:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that biblical signs are fulfilled in escalating sequence and frequency, signaling that Jesus is saying 'ready or not, here I come.'
• Biblical Marriage Analogy [00:29:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses first-century Jewish betrothal customs to explain Jesus' departure to prepare a place and his eventual return to take the church (his bride) to himself.
• Redemption and the Bride Price [00:34:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects Jesus' death on the cross to the payment of the 'mohar' (bride price) to redeem the church from the devil and the curse of the law.
• The Bride of Christ and Redemption [00:34:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Jesus redeemed the church (the bride) from the devil and the curse of the law by paying the bride price with his life on the cross.
• Unity over Disputable Theology [00:36:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor warns against Christians dividing over secondary eschatological views (pre-mill, post-trib, etc.), urging them instead to unite around the indisputable fact that Jesus is returning.
• The Unknown Timing of the Second Coming [00:37:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that Jesus said he is coming 'soon' but did not give a specific date, citing Matthew 24 to show that even the Son does not know the day or hour, only the Father.
• The Purpose of Uncertainty (Readiness vs. Idleness) [00:39:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using an analogy of his parents leaving him and his brother home alone, the pastor argues that God hides the date to promote constant readiness ('if you stay ready, you don't gotta get ready') rather than allowing believers to live recklessly until a known deadline.
• Signs of the Times (Travel and Knowledge) [00:44:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies 'birth pangs' or signs of the end times, specifically citing Daniel 12 regarding increased travel and increased knowledge as indicators that the end is near.
• Increased Travel [00:45:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects modern air travel and infrastructure to biblical prophecy regarding increased travel before the end times.
• Increased Knowledge [00:46:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Daniel 12 and the 'knowledge doubling curve' to argue that the rapid expansion of information (AI, etc.) fulfills biblical prophecy.
• One-World Economic System / Globalism [00:47:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses Revelation 13, the mark of the beast, CBDCs, and argues that globalism is a satanic attempt to unite humanity in rebellion, whereas God established nations as a check on this.
• Christian Persecution [00:54:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights Matthew 24:9 and provides statistics on the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria to illustrate the rising persecution predicted before Jesus' return.
• Persecution and Radical Islam [00:57:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies the persecution in Nigeria as radical, violent Islam rather than political infighting, asserting that this is a fulfillment of biblical prophecy regarding rising persecution before Christ's return.
• Mass Apostasy [00:58:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > Defining apostasy as those who once claimed to be on 'team Jesus' but have since left to side with the world, noting a significant rise in this phenomenon in Western cultures.
• Cultural Conflict and Self-Denial [00:59:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > Contrasting the cultural mandate to 'discover yourself' with the Gospel command to 'deny yourself,' arguing that the church must not compromise truth to avoid offending the Holy Spirit.
• Church Complicity [01:00:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Critiquing 'seeker-sensitive' churches for becoming insensitive to what offends the Holy Spirit, specifically citing the display of pride flags as cheering people toward hell.
• Eternal Rewards [01:04:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > Explaining that while salvation is a free gift, rewards in heaven are earned based on earthly faithfulness, using the Parable of the Talents to illustrate different degrees of glory based on one's work.
• The Great Commission [01:03:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stating that the gospel must be preached to all nations before the end, and encouraging the church to find unreached people groups to fulfill this commission.
• Divine Patience and Evangelism [01:08:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God's perceived slowness is actually patience, as He waits for individuals to repent and believe the gospel, urging the congregation to recognize their role in bringing people to heaven.
• International Ministry and Missions [01:09:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces stories from international partners in Guatemala, highlighting how medical aid and education are used as vehicles for sharing the gospel and transforming communities.
• Annual Missions Offering [01:15:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls for financial support for international and local partners, explaining the specific ways to give and emphasizing that 100% of these funds go directly to ministry efforts.

• Sermon Illustration [00:25:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his three children being terrible at hide and seek, using it to illustrate how Jesus gives escalating signals of his return, culminating in the shout 'ready or not, here I come.'
• Sermon Illustration [00:29:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the process of first-century Jewish betrothal, including negotiating the bride price (mohar), the period of separation while the groom prepares a place in his father's house, and the unexpected return signaled by the blowing of a shofar to whisk the bride away to the marriage supper.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his younger brother Lee and himself as children. When their parents left them home alone, they would ask when the parents would return. If given a specific time (e.g., 7:30), they would live recklessly until shortly before then. If given no time ('won't be long'), they lived differently. He uses this to explain why God hides the date of Jesus' return: to prevent believers from living 'like hell' until a known deadline, thereby missing opportunities to share the gospel.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of pregnancy and 'birth pangs' to explain eschatological signs. Just as contractions start slow and speed up as a baby is born, the world is experiencing increasing 'contractions' (signs like increased travel and knowledge) that indicate Jesus' return is imminent.
• Sermon Illustration [00:38:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references a NASA engineer who published a book in 1988 with '88 reasons' Jesus would return in 1988, and then published another in 1989 with '89 reasons' for 1989, illustrating the futility and error of trying to calculate the exact date of the Second Coming.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Texas gas stations are spaced 20-30 miles apart because that was the distance a horse could travel in a day, illustrating the historical context of travel before modern technology.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the 'knowledge doubling curve,' noting that knowledge doubled every 100 years until 1900, every 25 years by WWII, and now every two months, illustrating the rapid increase in knowledge.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a joke about East Dallas confusing CBDCs (Central Banking Digital Currencies) with CBD (cannabis), using it to introduce the topic of digital currencies and government control.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes watching videos of Christians in Nigeria being slaughtered, churches burned, and pastors begging for help, illustrating the reality of modern Christian persecution.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Christians in Nigeria whose churches were burned to the ground, yet they showed up the next day in the rubble to offer hymns to God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of 'team Jesus' versus 'the world' to distinguish between a lost person who never believed and an apostate who once believed but left.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Parable of the Talents, contrasting the wicked and lazy servant who hid his talent with the faithful servant who leveraged his talents to turn ten into twenty.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces a story about an international partner who grew up next to a garbage dump, setting up a personal testimony of transformation.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal testimony of a partner who grew up next to a garbage dump, lost an aunt to untreated high blood pressure, and was saved by missionaries at age seven, eventually becoming a doctor to serve others.
• Sermon Illustration [01:11:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal testimony of a partner raised by her mother, who fell into addiction and was arrested, but found salvation and purpose after seeing a banner reading 'God loves you' while in jail.
• Sermon Illustration [01:14:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares that his wife and daughter were recently serving in Guatemala among children living in a garbage dump, illustrating the hands-on work of the church's international partners.

• Pastoral Charge [00:37:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The congregation is asked to verbally proclaim 'Look, I am coming soon' together.
• Pastoral Charge [00:47:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Read the entire 13th chapter of the Book of Revelation.
• Pastoral Charge [01:03:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > To participate in the church's mission to reach unreached people groups with the gospel.
• Pastoral Charge [01:15:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for and give financially to the annual missions offering above normal giving.
• Pastoral Charge [01:16:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Give to the annual missions offering via envelope, check, or text.
• Pastoral Charge [01:18:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Text PRAYER or visit the website to request prayer from the online team.
• Pastoral Charge [01:19:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Email the church to arrange for water baptism.
• Pastoral Charge [01:19:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Text GIVE or visit the website to give to the annual missions offering.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:00:03] Well, hey, Lake Point family. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Church Online. Hey, we are so glad that you are here joining us today. Hey, if we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I serve as pastor of Digital Discipleship, and we're so glad that you're here. We would love to know right now where you are joining us from. As we speak, we have hundreds and hundreds of people joining this live stream from all over the place, different cities, states, and countries. And so would you let us know right now in the comments section where you are, what city, what state, what
[00:00:33] or what country we would love to say hi to you i want to say hi to a couple people right now we have a couple of families from fort worth shout out to brandon and corinne chris and lindsay jared
[00:00:43] and jennifer beattie from rich wood texas they are also volunteers shouted as well stacy t from great vine texas valerie remnant from burhead moray scotland okay hey welcome we're so glad that you're here shout out to the people joining us locally and also internationally as well hey as
[00:01:02] As we get ready to jump into the service, join us in sharing the love of God.
[00:01:08] Man, hit that subscribe button and give this video a thumbs up if you're joining on social media, especially on YouTube.
[00:01:14] Here's what you need to know before we jump in our service.
[00:01:16] If at any point throughout the service you are here and you need somebody to process with or you have a specific prayer request, our team is ready to pray with you and for you.
[00:01:27] And so if you're joining on our church online platform, you can hit that prayer button on your screen.
[00:01:31] or if you're on social media, maybe you're on Facebook or YouTube, you can feel free to share your request in the chat section, just go ahead and comment.
[00:01:40] We will be watching out for that.
[00:01:41] Also, you can grab your phone if you're at home, in the living room, maybe joining on your TV, you can text the word prayer to 20411 or visit lakepoint.church slash prayer.
[00:01:54] We have an amazing team of church online volunteers who are ready to connect with you throughout the whole service.
[00:02:02] And so do not hesitate to reach out.
[00:02:05] There is power when the church comes together and prays.
[00:02:08] And so, hey, before we start as well, don't forget to share this live stream with your friends and family.
[00:02:15] Lake Point family, we believe that life change starts with an invitation and God wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing to the people around you.
[00:02:23] So reach out to a friend, whoever God is putting in your heart, shoot him a text, say, hey, I'm thinking about you.
[00:02:29] Would you join me for church online today?
[00:02:32] By the way, we have an amazing service coming up.
[00:02:34] We believe that in this moment, especially if you're joining us online, this is your opportunity to turn your house into a house of worship, to invite the presence of God, to join you wherever you are with your family,
[00:02:47] and also to invite God to speak to you in a mighty way as we open up the word of God together, surrounded by the people of God as we come together online.
[00:02:58] This is your chance, don't miss it.
[00:03:00] Lake Point family, right now the service is about to start and so in this moment I wanna invite you, go ahead and set aside any distraction, anything that might be able to get in the way
[00:03:09] of what God wants to do in this service to bless you.
[00:03:13] Let's get rid of those things and in this moment would you posture your heart

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:18] as we get ready to worship together.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:08:48] Clouds in every eye will see.
[00:14:27] Thank you so much for worshiping together today.
[00:14:30] go ahead and take your seat in this moment as we prepare to celebrate new life happening in the house today with baptisms right now good morning church family this is gunner gunner have you

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:14:45] trusted jesus to be lord and savior of your life and it's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit and this is and this is zoe zoe same question for you
[00:15:07] you. Have you trusted Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life? It's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is my friend Justin. Justin,
[00:15:26] have you trusted Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life? It's my privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Lake Point family, let's celebrate with

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:15:40] all those who found new life today. Amen. It's a good day to start off the morning. Amen. Hey guys, listen, we're so glad you joined us today. It's a special day. We're right in the middle of our,
[00:15:49] what we call the annual mission offering, where we highlight over the next couple of weeks and celebrate all the things that are happening through you, through our local, national, and international partners. And today, a special treat for you is we've got some of our
[00:16:03] international pastors here from all over the country today. Pastor Shea, why don't you

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:16:06] introduce who we have on the stage today? Hey, Lake Point family. We have been honored all week at a missions conference to have, get this, 55 of our international partners from 15 countries here at Lake Point this week. Several of them are on stage, but we also have many of them at other
[00:16:25] campuses at Lake Point today. But all of these pastors here and at all of our campuses are from China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Isn't that incredible? And we are so honored to
[00:16:53] serve with them all year long as they share Christ and build believers in some of the hardest places on the globe. So let's give one more round of applause. As Pastor Shea said, you may not know

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_12]
[00:17:06] this, but many of our pastors here come from countries where it's just really difficult to be a believer, let alone a pastor. Places where they face a lot of hardship and persecution, a lot of places where they don't get a lot of encouragement or honor as a pastor. So Lake Point
[00:17:19] family, like I want us to do what we do best. Will you help me by standing to your feet and just celebrating these pastors here today for all their incredible faithfulness and goodness.
[00:17:28] You guys will just remain standing here for a moment. You know, I think it's a misconception sometimes we have when we do things like this, that the blessing flows from the Lake Point Church to our many international partners. But what you guys need to understand is that while we hope to
[00:17:58] be a blessing to you, you need to know that we believe the exact opposite is true. We believe the blessing flows from you and your faithfulness and what you guys are doing here to Lake Point.
[00:18:09] We have been so blessed by your faithfulness. We've been inspired by you and honestly challenged by you guys. So thank you for all that you're doing. Hey, Lake Point family, will you extend out a hand as we bless them right now? Father, we will just want to thank you for these men and
[00:18:25] women of faith. God, they are the heroes of our faith. And so we thank you for their faithfulness to the gospel in their communities, in their countries, God, for the hardships that they face, for the sacrifices they make, many of which we'll never see. Only on the other side of heaven will
[00:18:44] they ever see the kind of sacrifices that they've made to do what they do, to reach the people that they're reaching. So Father, we just pray a blessing on them right now. We pray a blessing
[00:18:53] on their ministries, on their marriages, God. Will you strengthen their families? God, we pray a blessing on their children and their children's children. To the 20th degree, Father, will you bless their families that they would follow you from this day to eternity, God? And God, we can't
[00:19:10] wait to see what they're going to do. God, we can't wait for the day that our church and their churches will be gathered together around your throne. Every tongue, tribe, and nation gathered together to praise your name, Father. Will you hasten that day, Father, that we get to worship you together
[00:19:29] as one body father we love you and pray all of this in jesus name amen guys will you help me

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:19:36] celebrate them one more time amen thank you amen amen lake point family go ahead and celebrate at home or in the chat baptisms never get old each one represents a life completely changed by jesus
[00:19:53] and so man welcome welcome to lake point church online if we haven't met my name is carlos and I serve as pastor of Digital Discipleship.
[00:20:01] And let me just take a moment and remind you of this truth from Ephesians chapter one, verse 19 to 20.
[00:20:06] This is what the word of God says.
[00:20:08] I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him.
[00:20:15] This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God's right hand.
[00:20:22] Hey, Paul, in this verse says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you today and so whatever you've been wrestling with in this season you don't have to carry it on your own strength you can surrender it to God and let his power work through you and
[00:20:40] so hey if you agree well you can shout amen at home right now or you can also drop the words amen amen amen in the chat in this moment and hey if we haven't personally connected yet we would
[00:20:51] love to change that right now would you say hi in the chat right now or email us at onlinefam at lakepoint.church to tell us where you're joining us from.
[00:21:01] And so whether it's your first Sunday or Saturday or your 50th, we'd love to pray for you, get to know you, and help you get plugged in.
[00:21:10] Hey, LeBron family, let me tell you how God is moving around the world through your generosity.
[00:21:14] Because of your giving, churches are being planted, leaders are being equipped, and families in need are hearing the gospel for the first time, from feeding the hungry to providing medical care and sharing the hope of jesus your impact is global and so new ministry centers and recovery
[00:21:32] homes are opening where people are finding freedom purpose and new life in christ you're helping write stories of redemption in some of the hardest to reach places on earth and so you need to know
[00:21:43] this to be a part of what god is doing today you can text the word give to two zero four one one you can visit lakepoint.church slash give or click the give button on your screen
[00:21:56] and select annual missions offering and help spread the gospel further and faster than ever.
[00:22:01] And if today you set up reoccurring giving and select church online as your campus, we would love to send you the Songs of Jesus devotional book by Timothy and Kathy Keller.
[00:22:11] And also our exclusive LP online family t-shirt as a thank you.
[00:22:16] Because of your generosity, The future of the church is looking great, and it's being built one story, one encounter at a time.
[00:22:26] Well, hey, right now, let's check out what's happening in the life of our church.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:22:32] Hey, Lake Point, we're kicking off the Christmas season in a big way with Christmas at the movies on November 29th and 30th.
[00:22:40] During this special service, we'll use a popular holiday movie to illustrate biblical truths.
[00:22:45] and it's the perfect weekend to invite someone new to church.
[00:22:50] For all the details and service times, head to lpchristmas.com.
[00:22:54] And students, get ready for an unforgettable UnitedXL Rodeo Night this Wednesday, November 5th for all middle and high schoolers.
[00:23:04] Wear your boots and your cowboy hats for a fun evening filled with worship, time with friends, and a chance to win Chick-fil-A for a whole year.
[00:23:12] Check out lp.events for all the details.
[00:23:15] We're in the middle of our annual missions offering season.
[00:23:19] Because of your generosity, we're able to go on mission all year long, right here in DFW, across the nation, and around the world.
[00:23:27] Your giving helps plant churches, provide for families in need, and share the hope of Jesus with people everywhere.
[00:23:34] To see how your gifts are making an impact, visit lakepoint.church.com.
[00:23:40] Now let's dive back into our Run to Win series.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:23:45] Amen. Good morning. Isn't everybody rested? We got to fall back in Jesus' name today.
[00:24:16] All the parents. Okay, man. Here we go. Hey, if you guys got your Bibles, head over to Revelation 22. Hey, we're going to talk about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ today. It's
[00:24:24] going to be awesome. It's going to be awesome, okay? It's going to be really good. It's going to be really good. Today, we are in week three of a series. We're just calling Run to Win.
[00:24:33] I'm just naturally, I've just been wired competitive, and I love it because that's what the apostle Paul tells us to do and how we live our lives. He's like, hey man, I want you to
[00:24:43] run the race of your life in such a way as to win the prize. So it's run to win. Now, the difference between just running and running a race is a race has a definite end. So what we're going to do today
[00:24:56] with our Bibles open and our tinfoil hats on is talk about the end of the race when the Lord Jesus will crack the skies, come back and get his bride again. Amen, church? He's going to come back.
[00:25:07] and I want to talk about it today.
[00:25:10] Let me lead into it like this.
[00:25:11] I've got three kids and they're all watching right now.
[00:25:14] Hey, kids.
[00:25:15] And you are all terrible at hide and seek.
[00:25:18] That's what I want to talk about.
[00:25:19] I've got three kids and they all like to play hide and seek when they were growing up, but they were, y'all were terrible at it.
[00:25:25] They were terrible at it.
[00:25:26] And so if you've ever had kids like play hide and seek, they would hide in the same places.
[00:25:33] They were just like Hudson was the worst of all three.
[00:25:36] Hudson would hide like this.
[00:25:37] this is kind of his deal. And, uh, and so it was like, so what I would do when I was playing hide and seek with them, watch, watch, watch how I talk about this is when we were playing hide and seek
[00:25:49] is I would begin to give a series of escalating signals that I was coming. I would begin to count one, two, three, four. And as I was counting, I was giving again, a series of escalating signals.
[00:26:08] I am about to come for you and then I'm going to get you. And then whenever I was ready to come, what I would say, y'all parents, you can help me out, is I would shout throughout the house. I
[00:26:21] would shout, ready or not, here I come. Okay. Now what Jesus has done for us in the Bible is he has given us a series of escalating symbols, escalating signs. And what he's done is when you see these
[00:26:36] signs begin to be fulfilled in escalating sequence and escalating frequency, he's saying to us, ready or not, here I come, is what he's saying. Okay. Now there's going to be two types of people on that day. There are some people who you've spent your entire life hiding from the Lord.
[00:26:55] It's like, I don't want to go there. I don't want to hear that. I don't want to be around those people. But what you need to understand is the Bible says, where can I go from your presence
[00:27:03] or where can I flee from your spirit? If I go in the darkness, you will be a light to me.
[00:27:08] If I descend to the bottom of the ocean, you are there. So you can't hide from him because he's going to seek you. He is coming. But then there's others of us who have just rested fresh in my
[00:27:19] heart this week who are, bro, we're not hiding. It's like, come on, man, come home. I'm ready.
[00:27:23] I'm ready. I'm ready. And then there will come a moment when the Lord Jesus, he will crack the skies and he will come back. And as far as the East is from the West, every eye shall see him.
[00:27:35] And man, this week, what he's going to do, the Bible says is he will wipe away every tear from every eye. And when he comes back, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that he
[00:27:45] is Lord and he will make all things new. It doesn't say he will make all new things. It says that he will make all things new. And so this week, man, it's like I'm praying with church
[00:27:55] members who are dying of cancer and I'm praying for church members in their twenties who got put on hospice in the last two weeks. And Jan and I are out there in the lobby praying for children
[00:28:06] battling brain tumors. And some of you are in this spot where it's like your body is decaying.
[00:28:12] things are not working, well, there's going to come a day if you are in Christ Jesus, when he comes back, he will wipe away every tear. He will make all things new. And can I say this to you?
[00:28:21] You're not suffering from anything that a good resurrection will not fix. He's going to do that for you. And he'll do that for everybody that is in Christ, okay? Now, what I want to do today
[00:28:32] is talk to you about that. Ready or not, here he comes, okay? And the entire sermon is this. Let me tell you it and then let me preach it. Jesus in Revelation 22, 12, it's one of the last things
[00:28:43] he says. He says, look, I am coming. That's point number one. And then he says, I'm coming. He says soon. That's point number two. And then he says, my reward, that's point number three, is with me
[00:28:53] and I will give to each person according to what they have done. So let's talk about it. Point number one, the Bible has clearly stated that Jesus Christ is coming. Jesus Christ is coming.
[00:29:05] You need to know this. He's coming again. In John 14, three, Jesus looks out at a group of dudes that mark that down. That's really interesting. He looks at a group of dudes and he uses wedding
[00:29:15] terminology to describe his second coming. He says this in John 14, three, he says, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. See your Bibles. You may have sung it
[00:29:27] in children's choir as a kid that where I am there, you may also be is what he said. Now, here's what's really interesting is he looks out at a group of dudes and uses the wedding analogy
[00:29:38] for what he is going to do for for them and and kind of that may feel a little out of place or as the kids say out of pocket watch out now there you go watch out somebody keep you awake here
[00:29:48] but it's not out of pocket by the way I got that from my buddy Ed Newton help me with the sermon really helpful uh it's not out of pocket because uh here's how this works um Jan and I we got
[00:29:59] engaged and married within a span of about eight months in 2005. If we had gotten engaged in first century Judaism, here's what we're going to do. We're going to Bible nerd out for about the next
[00:30:12] two minutes. Are you okay with some Bible? We good for some Bible? Okay, let's do it, man. Let's get it. Let's Bible nerd out for a second. If we had gotten engaged in first century Judaism, what
[00:30:21] would have happened is I first, I actually first would have gone to Jana's, I would have talked to Jana about the possibility of what was called betrothal. And then I would have gone to Jana's
[00:30:32] dad, Jana's dad, and I would have negotiated to pay what was called a bride price or a dowry.
[00:30:40] In first century Judaism, they called it a mohar. And depending upon how valuable the potential bride was to the family from which she came, the value of the bride price could escalate. It could actually end up being costing the groom everything that he had. But if I negotiated that successfully
[00:30:58] with Jana's dad, then I would come back and we would enter into a state of what was called betrothal. Similar but not the same to modern day engagement, betrothal. Then once we had entered into that state, I would say something to Jana. I would say something like this. I would say, hey,
[00:31:16] I'm going to leave you now and then I'm going to go back to watch this to my father's house and I'm going to go prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may also eventually be
[00:31:31] and I would have have I would have left her and gone back to watch this my father's house now when I got there I would have started uh swinging hammers and turning wrenches and my goal would be
[00:31:42] to add on to my father's house so that eventually after the wedding took place, I could take my bride back to my father's house.
[00:31:51] In fact, I may have said something like this to her.
[00:31:53] I may have said, hey, in my father's house, there are many rooms.
[00:31:58] I may have said something like that.
[00:31:59] And so then I would go and I would start swinging the hammers and turning the wrenches and I would go there.
[00:32:05] Now, she would not have been given a specific date upon which I would return, because actually I wouldn't even know the date when I would return because I would be waiting for my father's approval
[00:32:19] of the addition I made to his house so that it was unknown to both her and me when I would return, only the father would be able to know when I was gonna come back.
[00:32:31] So because she wouldn't know the date, listen, she, my bride, would have been in a state of expectation and urgency.
[00:32:40] She would have had to stay ready for my unexpected return, okay?
[00:32:46] Well, then eventually, while I was doing the construction project, eventually when I thought it was done, I would go to my father and I'd be like, hey, dad, is this what I've done?
[00:32:56] Is this good enough for you?
[00:32:59] Does this pass muster for you?
[00:33:02] And then only when my father gave me approval, there would eventually come a day where he would say to me, son go get your bride now when he did that there would be um it would be at an unexpected hour for
[00:33:18] my bride at an unexpected hour when he said that i would get all my bros all my boys all the rider guys we'd gather in the middle of the city and in an unexpected hour what i would do in first
[00:33:28] century judaism is i would blow a loud trumpet in the middle of the city in first century judaism it was called a shofar. I would blow this loud trumpet and that would symbol to both her and
[00:33:41] the city that I was coming back to get my bride. I would come back, I would get her, and then I would whisk her off to the wedding and we would have a marriage supper. And after the marriage
[00:33:52] supper, we would be together forever. Are y'all picking up what I'm putting down? Okay. Now, check this out. If you're like, bro, I ain't picking up nothing. You're like, you're new to church. You don't know nothing about the Bible. You're like, bro, I ain't got nothing. Okay. Well,
[00:34:07] here's what you get in the Bible. What you have is the church is called the bride of Christ. Now I know how this works. We got some dudes over at four and they're like, I ain't no bride. What are
[00:34:18] you talking about, bro? I ain't no bride. Okay. Well, that ain't, listen, as the kids say, that's not zesty. That's awesome. Okay. That's as, as the kids say, because actually in this story, you are,
[00:34:30] you're the bride and Jesus in the Bible is called the groom or the husbandman is what he's called and what the Bible says is that when Jesus y'all check this out when Jesus came the first time
[00:34:43] and he went to the cross what he was doing is he was redeeming his bride he was paying the bride price when he went to the cross he was paying the mohar the at the cost of his entire life check
[00:34:58] this out. And he was redeeming his bride from the family to which we belong. The Bible says you are of your father, the devil. He was paying in one sense, the price to redeem us from the curse of
[00:35:09] the law. And then what he did is he left and he looked out at the church after his first coming.
[00:35:15] And he said, I am going to prepare a place for you. And he's in heaven right now, in some sense doing that. This is why he looked out of the church and he said, in my father's house,
[00:35:24] there are many rooms and how many y'all know there will eventually come a day when he will crack the skies the last trumpet shall sound and in a flash in the twinkling of an eye we will hear
[00:35:38] it and he will come back and grab his bride and we'll go home with him forever that's good amen that's what's gonna happen amen amen amen that's what's gonna happen okay so what you need to
[00:35:48] understand is, listen, point number one, listen, man, it doesn't matter if you believe it. Doesn't matter if you believe in gravity. If you jump off a building, you're still going splat. Jesus is coming back. Jesus is coming back. Now, let me just pastor our church really quick on this. What
[00:36:06] will happen sometimes is Christians will debate and divide over disputable things instead of uniting around the indisputable things. And here's what I mean about this. This is just 30 seconds for the theology nerds. Knowledge puffs up, love builds up. What some Christians will do is they'll
[00:36:25] debate and divide over the disputable. See, it's Christians that like to fight and argue over the how, the order of events. This is the theology nerd section of the sermon. You'll get in your life group and have this big argument over, hey man, so are you pre-mill or are you post-mill
[00:36:40] or are you Amill? Are you a pre-trib rapture? Are you a mid-trib rapture? Are you a post-trib rapture? Or did you read some N.T. Wright and you don't believe in a rapture? Or are you not
[00:36:53] preterist? Are you a futurist? Are you a partial preterist? Or are you a full preterist? This is for the 0.01% of people know what I'm talking about. Full preterism is literally a heresy.
[00:37:02] Don't do that. So here's the deal is they'll, listen, they'll debate and divide over the disputable. But the Bible says that knowledge puffs up, love builds up. Hey, Lake Point Church, we're not going to be a church where people get in life groups and they debate, fight, and divide
[00:37:17] over the disputable. What we're going to do is we're going to unite over the indisputable. He's coming back. It's going to be awesome. That's what we're going to unite on. Okay. So we're going to
[00:37:26] do that. So that's point number one. Jesus is coming back. Okay. Point number two, point number two. When is he going to come back? The answer is soon. He said that, look, I'm coming. And I want
[00:37:36] you to actually say it out loud. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of God. So let's say it out loud. Look, I am coming soon is what he said. I'm coming soon. Now, let me talk about
[00:37:46] this really quick, especially if you're newer to the faith, because I do not want you to be deceived.
[00:37:51] It just says soon. It says soon. It doesn't give you the second. This is really important. It says soon. It doesn't give you the second. So Jesus actually said in Matthew 24, he said that even
[00:38:01] Jesus does not know when he's going to come back. Let me read it to you. But about that day or hour, it says no one knows not even the angels in heaven nor the son so Jesus doesn't even know
[00:38:13] but only the father okay so hey Lake Point family nobody knows here's why this is a big deal when people are always trying to do this they're writing books they always got charts these people always got charts charts for days these people and they're always trying to get up under
[00:38:27] the thing and here's the alphanumeric you know symbol in the Jewish and so I figured out when Jesus to come back. When I was in elementary school, a dude literally published a book, a NASA engineer, 88 reasons Jesus is going to return in 1988. The next year, this is not a joke.
[00:38:43] The next year he published 89 reasons Jesus is going to return in 1989. So here's the deal. You just need to know this. We just read the verse. Nobody knows. So hey, Lake Point Church, if anybody
[00:38:53] ever claims to have figured out when he's going to come back and they're telling you, and they're trying to convince you to like, get rid of your savings and sell your house and do this and go
[00:39:02] here they're lying to you they're lying to you in fact I kind of think here's how it works even if somebody were to guess the actual day I think God would go well then I'm changing it then I'm because
[00:39:16] I don't want anybody getting glory but me you know then I'm gonna change it okay so nobody knows the day or the hour now here's a question if you're new to the bible you may be going well okay but
[00:39:28] why? Why is there no date? Okay. Well, here's the reason. When I was younger, I'm sorry, I've got a younger brother named Lee. Lee's one of my best friends. My younger brother, Lee and I, we got to
[00:39:39] the age where my parents, they would start leaving us home alone. Okay. Which we were always excited about. And when they were going to leave us home alone, the question we always tried to ask in like
[00:39:50] a nonchalant way was when are you going to come back so all right you're leaving uh how long we got it's kind of and uh and we you know we were decent kids but when they were gone you know it
[00:40:04] was like you know the house would look like hell you know we would mess everything up and call all the friends to come over and you know you get in all the snacks and all the things but then there
[00:40:15] was two ways they would respond when we would ask when you come back sometimes they would give us a time. 7.30. Okay. And if they said 7.30, like I said, we live like hell until like eight minutes
[00:40:25] before. And then we get everything, you know, all put back up. But sometimes they wouldn't give us a time. All they would say is, won't be long. Won't be long. Soon. That's all they'd say.
[00:40:42] Now, can I just tell you when they said soon, instead of giving us the second, we live a little different. We did, we did it a little different. Uh, in the words of the great theologian,
[00:40:52] Conor McGregor, if you know how this sentence ends, I need y'all help me out. If you, if you stay ready, you don't gotta, all right, that's it. If you, we could watch MMA together. If you
[00:41:05] knew the end of that, if you stay ready, you don't gotta get ready. And the reason that Jesus doesn't give a time, he just says soon is because he knows we were all born with the sin nature.
[00:41:16] and if he gave us a time do you know what we would do is we would live like hell until like right beforehand and then we'd all try to like clean our lives up like that and we would miss our chance
[00:41:25] to move heaven and earth and actually get more people into heaven and empty hell do you understand that so this is why he said that so what he was going is he was trying to promote readiness and
[00:41:36] discourage idleness this is why he did this okay now what I want to do um here and this is the part of the sermon where I need open Bibles and tinfoil hats on. What I want to do right here is what he
[00:41:49] did is his disciples said, hey, okay, so you won't tell us the second. Will you at least give us like what would be the signs? You know, you're not going to be superstitious. Will you be a little
[00:42:00] stitious? Kind of what they're doing. And what he did is he was like, okay, I'm going to give you some signs. And when you see these things happen, then right as you see these things happen, you're
[00:42:10] going to know it's going to come really soon. Now here's my analogy for this. And then we're going to run through these really quick. Jan and I, um, we got three kids, but we never did the pregnancy
[00:42:18] thing. All our kids are adopted. There's, uh, advantages to that. Um, we tell our kids all the time, we picked you. They got stuck with their kids. We, so we say that all the time. There's
[00:42:29] advantages. And, um, uh, but so we, we never did the pregnancy thing, but what I've heard is that in a pregnancy, Jesus throughout the new Testament, he uses, um, he uses pregnancy language. He talks about the birth pangs of his second coming. And in a pregnancy, you guys know
[00:42:50] this, there comes a moment in the pregnancy where signs begin to take place in the woman's body that the baby is coming soon. So then there's like all of a sudden contraction start. And obviously not at this frequency, but at first they're slow, but then the closer and closer you
[00:43:16] get, they speed up. And the faster they get, the more you know, this is soon. Water's breaking, baby's coming. What Jesus did in the Bible is he gave us signs that would be like contractions.
[00:43:40] When you see this, you wake up because this is soon. And hey, Lake Point Church, this was really good for my spirit to like study for like 12 hours this week. Can I just say something to you? Like
[00:43:50] soon soon so so here's what I want to do tinfoil hats on Bible's open I want to talk about these signs let's move through them really quick and by the way there's there's double the number that I
[00:44:06] could get in here that we got the rest we had time to hit on the podcast I'm gonna do just like six of them here and we gotta go really fast so here are the signs of his coming number one number one
[00:44:16] let's start in Daniel chapter 12 it says but you Daniel shut up the words and seal the book by the Boy, whenever you see that language in the Bible, shut up the words and seal the book.
[00:44:24] What that means is that the author of the Bible in that spot, he's going, what I'm getting ready to say next, I'm gonna say in an intentionally vague way so you will understand the fulfillment
[00:44:33] of the prophecy happened until after it happened.
[00:44:36] So he's going, that's what's going on right here.
[00:44:38] And he says, number one, until the time of the end, this is the second coming, the end of history.
[00:44:43] And he says, number one, many shall run to and fro.
[00:44:45] Number one, Jesus said right before his coming, there would be an increase in travel.
[00:44:49] Now, can I just point this out to you?
[00:44:52] Until about 130 years ago, the farthest that somebody could travel in a day was 20 to 30 miles.
[00:44:57] Fun fact, if you ride on, come back to me on the camera, there we go.
[00:45:01] If you come back, if you ride on highways in Texas that run along old roads, you're gonna notice that all the gas stations are at 20 to 30 mile increments.
[00:45:10] There's a reason for that.
[00:45:11] That was the distance somebody could travel on horseback in a day.
[00:45:15] And so the little one horse towns, that's where they got put, okay?
[00:45:19] Well, then the railroad was invented.
[00:45:21] it changed that. Automobiles got invented, it changed that. But then in the 1960s or around there, that's when commercial air travel metastasized. And today you are living in the first generation in all of human history, where if I wanted to, I could walk off this stage,
[00:45:36] get in my truck, drive to DFW, buy a plane ticket, and I could literally be anywhere on the globe before the end of this day. Jesus said, right before I return, there will be an increase in
[00:45:49] travel, and I didn't even talk about Elon Musk and SpaceX. I didn't even get there, okay? So that's number one, okay? Contraction number one. Contraction number two. He said right before he returns, there would be an increase in knowledge, an increase in knowledge. Let me finish the verse
[00:46:03] from Daniel 12. Many shall run to and fro, and it says, and knowledge shall increase right before the time of the end. Now, in 1982, there was a guy who started studying something called the
[00:46:13] knowledge doubling curve. And what he figured out is that until the year 1900, the amount of knowledge available to humankind would double every 100 years. By the end of World War II, it increased. By the end of World War II, the amount of knowledge available to all humankind
[00:46:30] was doubling about once every 25 years. Now, you today are living in what we literally call the information age. That's the age, that's what people who don't even believe the Bible, They call this the information age. In 2022 and 2023, that's when AI metastasized and became
[00:46:52] publicly available to people and is just rapidly increasing in its capability. So a while ago, knowledge would double every 100 years. Then after World War II, every 25 years. Right now, the age in which you are living, the amount of knowledge available to humankind doubles
[00:47:08] on average every two months. Every two months. Jesus said right before he returns, There will be an increase in knowledge.
[00:47:16] Listen, ready or not, here he comes.
[00:47:20] Ready or not, here he comes.
[00:47:22] Contraction number three.
[00:47:23] Jesus said right before he returns.
[00:47:25] Now, it depends on your eschatological position.
[00:47:27] I'm broadening this real quick.
[00:47:29] The Bible seems to make clear that right before his return, there will be something like a one-world economic system.
[00:47:35] Now, homework, go read Revelation 13, the entire chapter.
[00:47:38] We talk about it a little more on the podcast.
[00:47:40] But this is what it says in two verses.
[00:47:41] It says, it also talking about, in Revelation 13, talking about the beast, which is a symbolic representation of what seems to be an antichrist figure.
[00:47:51] It causes all, so the whole world, both great and small, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand and on the forehead.
[00:48:00] Now, that's the whole 666 thing.
[00:48:01] It's like that, by the way, this little 670 right there.
[00:48:04] But let me just, can I just say this?
[00:48:06] Hey, hey, parents, can we all agree on something?
[00:48:09] Can we all agree?
[00:48:09] we that joke needs to die can we all just say amen amen hey my kids are watching hey amen we're gonna kill that we're gonna kill that okay but so this is the whole 666 thing I'm gonna talk about
[00:48:24] that here in a second that's not like a tattoo on the forehead I'll explain what that is here in a second it says so that watch this no one can buy or sell this is what it's saying will happen unless
[00:48:37] he has the mark so that the name of the beast, that is the name of the beast or the number of his name. Okay. Now let me explain this really quick. So that said, there's going to, it seems
[00:48:49] like there will be a one world governance system that is also obviously tied to a one world economic system. So that in that day, you will not be able to participate in commerce or an economy
[00:48:59] without taking some form of identification. Let me talk about it real quick. Now, let me do a little theology really quick, and this can be a little nerdy. There's a lot of debate right now
[00:49:07] in our world between globalism and nationalism. Now, when I say this, I'm not talking about what is uppermost in the affections of your heart. I'm talking about span of governance. That's what I'm talking about, span of governance. Now, I want to point this out to you. There are only
[00:49:20] two times in the Bible that globalism is either attempted or enacted. In Genesis 13, at the Tower of Babel when humankind gathers together and unifies in rebellion against God to put itself in the place of God. That's in Genesis 13. Remember what God does when mankind tries to do globalism
[00:49:40] at the tower of Babel in Genesis 13. God immediately confuses their languages and scatters them into nations. This is one of the times in the Bible where nations, the concept of nations, are birthed.
[00:49:52] The other time that globalism is attempted or enacted is right here in Revelation 13.
[00:49:57] Here's my point.
[00:49:58] There are only two times globalism is attempted or enacted in the Bible.
[00:50:02] Both times, Satan is the one doing it.
[00:50:06] Conversely, God scatters people into nations in Genesis 13, and then Acts chapter 17 says that God is the one who, quote, establishes nations and the boundaries of their dwelling places.
[00:50:18] Let's zoom out.
[00:50:19] Here's the big idea.
[00:50:20] In the Bible, Satan does globalism, God does nations.
[00:50:25] Satan is the one that does globalism in the Bible, God does nations, why?
[00:50:29] Because God knows that all of us are born with what the Bible calls a sin nature.
[00:50:33] You and me were born sinners by both nature and choice.
[00:50:38] So what God knew is if mankind ever unites itself, it won't unite itself towards righteous purposes and goodness, God knew mankind will only unite itself in rebellion, violence, and wickedness against me.
[00:50:52] That's the only thing they'll ever unite on.
[00:50:54] So God established nations as a natural check and balance of us being able to unite in violence, wickedness, and rebellion against him.
[00:51:03] And then in Revelation 13, it says that Satan eventually unites, it seems, unites the world in a globalistic form of governance that also prohibits people from taking part in economic commerce unless they engage in the globalism.
[00:51:18] Now, here's a big idea.
[00:51:19] Right now, this is talking about a one world form of currency.
[00:51:23] Right now, over 130 countries are experimenting with something called CBDCs at East Dallas.
[00:51:30] They're like, CBD, you talking about pot?
[00:51:33] Okay, I love East Dallas.
[00:51:35] I love East Dallas.
[00:51:35] That's a joke, man.
[00:51:36] All the campuses send differently.
[00:51:38] I gotta have fun with it.
[00:51:39] That's, y'all, everybody sends differently.
[00:51:41] CBDCs, that stands for Central Banking Digital Currencies.
[00:51:45] Now, a lot of people are like, oh, one world currency, that's Bitcoin.
[00:51:48] No, no, this is talking about something that's under the control of a government, something that's under the control of a government.
[00:51:54] 130 countries are doing that right now.
[00:51:56] This is why, by the way, Christians historically have all, listen to me, Christians historically have always been wary of governments, always.
[00:52:06] One way to read the Bible is that, this is a little homework, I don't got time for this.
[00:52:10] One way to read the Bible is as a series of stories of God versus government.
[00:52:15] In fact, side note, I didn't say this in any other service.
[00:52:18] If you go back to the founding of our nation, the founders of our nation that were largely Christian men with Christian convictions, the reason they made our founding documents like they did, notice our founding documents in our nation,
[00:52:29] they're not about how to protect the government from the people.
[00:52:32] The founding documents of our nation made by Christian guys are about how to protect people from the government.
[00:52:40] Now, the reason for that is, check this out, man.
[00:52:42] The reason for that is Christians have always been wary of governments because we know how it ends.
[00:52:48] we know how this thing ends this is why christians like i cast a side eye man at organizations that are trying to exert global influence across all nations organizations like who world health organization wef world economic forum esg all these things right now bro literally i watched
[00:53:06] a video this week it's on a pod i watched a video this week the prime minister of the uk keir starmer I got my eye on you, bro. Keir Starmer, like literally enacting in the EU what's called a
[00:53:18] digital ID where he's literally saying, you have to, I'm not joking. You need to take this digital mark, a digital form of identification. And he's literally saying on video, if you won't, you can't get a job or take place in, take part in our commerce. Bro, it's like literally if
[00:53:39] somebody went, how do I do a revelation 13? Oh, here's how I'll try this. This is what he's doing.
[00:53:44] So man, this is why Christians historically have been wary of big, powerful governments. I'll just say this. I'm out on big government. I'm out. I'm out because we know how this thing ends. And can
[00:53:55] I just say this to you, Christians? Can I just say this to you? The same people who will laugh at you and mock you for believing in an all good, all powerful God, those same people think if they
[00:54:07] just made the government all powerful, it'd be all good. Insanity. Insanity. So this is number one. You're seeing this right here. That's contraction number three. Contraction number four. Right before Jesus returns, it says there will be a rise in Christian persecution. Matthew
[00:54:23] 24, nine. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and they will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. Matthew 24, nine. Lake Point Church, let me just
[00:54:35] say this. One of my great fears is I have not prepared you to be hated by this world for the name of Jesus Christ. Like you just, the Bible says friendship with the world is enmity towards
[00:54:49] God. And if you ever have a decision, do I want the approval of God and to lose the approval of men? Or am I going for the approval of men? And if I, if I have it, I will lose the approval of
[00:54:58] God. You do the, you do the, you do the first, you do the, okay. We understand this, but right before Jesus returns, a rise in Christian persecution. Now, some of you are like, yeah, man, bro, I know. Tell me about it. Somebody lit me up on Instagram this week. The persecution's
[00:55:13] tough. Okay. First of all, let me just say, I get my fair share of that. And it does. It's discouraging when it comes from the people of God. But I will say this. Here's what I'd say to you.
[00:55:27] No matter what you're experiencing, nothing compared to what our brothers and sisters in places like Nigeria are experiencing right now. Nothing right now. Listen, man, did you know this in the last 100 years, but we have been largely protected from this by the blessing and mercy
[00:55:46] that we have in the United States for the last century. We have been largely protected from this in the last 100 years, more Christians have been killed for their faith in the last 100 years
[00:55:56] than in every previous century combined.
[00:56:00] A rise in persecution.
[00:56:02] Right now in Nigeria, 72,000 Nigerian brothers and sisters slaughtered for their faith in Jesus Christ since 2000.
[00:56:11] 72,000, 18,000 churches raised to the ground, rubble.
[00:56:17] I'm watching videos of men, women, children, and infants slaughtered for their faith in Christ, bodies thrown in mass graves.
[00:56:25] the pastors of their churches, knee deeps in their corpses, begging people on camera to care about what's happening to them. And listen, what I'm getting ready to say, not a political statement.
[00:56:36] I would say it no matter who was in office two days ago, president Trump was like, Hey, we're going to make sure Nigeria stops doing this. Thank you. Thank you. I would say that no matter
[00:56:45] who was in office. Thank you, man. Thank you. And then you're watching these videos. You're watching videos of these people, their churches burned to the ground. They show up the next day in the rubble offering hymns to God because they want to worship their king. Listen, bro, I love
[00:57:01] you. You didn't come last week because it was foggy. Man, it's like, how much does this matter to you? Man, this is not a game. Do we understand this? This is not some game. And listen, I'm just
[00:57:14] going to say this, man. Like what they're saying about Nigeria is like, oh, it's just political infighting. It's just political infighting. No, no, no. Listen, and nobody wants to say what it is because it's a little taboo, it's not political infighting. It's radical, violent Islam. That's
[00:57:28] what it is. It's radical, violent Islam is what it is. And nobody wants to say it because it's like, oh man, if you say that, like you're not supposed to come at the prophet Muhammad. Let me just say
[00:57:36] this. When Jesus returns, Muhammad will bend his knee to King Jesus. In front of the entire world, he will bend his knee to King Jesus. So this is it, man. He says there will be a rise in Christian
[00:57:49] persecution. Number five, there will be a mass apostasy right before Jesus returns. I'll explain what that means. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, it says, let no one deceive you in any way because that day
[00:58:01] the return of Christ will not come until it says the falling away. And the Greek word that gets translated falling away is where we get the English word apostasy. It says that will come first. Now here's the difference between a lost person and an apostate person. Let's do a little
[00:58:14] theology. A lost person is somebody who has never been on team Jesus. They've always been with the world against team Jesus. An apostate person is somebody who at one time said, I'm on team Jesus.
[00:58:27] Then they left team Jesus. And now they're siding with the world against team Jesus. Bullets flying this way. Okay. That's an apostate person. Jesus says, or the apostle Paul says, right before Jesus returns, there'll be a mass apostasy. Now in my generation, I'm what they call a geriatric
[00:58:44] millennial. Harsh my feelings every time somebody says it. I'm what they call, I'm 42. They call me a geriatric millennial. In my generation, now, in my generation, in Europe, the United States, and Canada, in my generation, more people have walked away from the faith in my generation
[00:59:05] in those areas than in any other time in church history. Now, I'm going to talk about it next week, there's little rumors of revival happening right now. Come on, somebody. Do it again, Lord.
[00:59:14] Do it again, Lord. Do it again, Lord. Little rumors of revival. But we have seen that happen.
[00:59:19] And man, I just need to say this, is right now we live in a time where people will, the Bible predicts these times, where people will not put up with sound teaching. They will not do it. They
[00:59:31] will hate it. They have itching ears. They will walk everywhere they go just going, I need you to affirm and approve of what I'm doing. And they will not put up with clear Bible teaching. They
[00:59:41] won't do it. So right now it's like our culture, it's culture versus Christ. Our culture is like, ah, discover yourself, discover yourself, discover yourself. The gospel is like, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him. Deny yourself is what it says. People say, man, things like,
[00:59:55] but I was born this way. Yeah. And you can be born again another way. You can do that, man. He can do that for you. That man, people, listen, people walk in the lobby and literally they'll visit
[01:00:06] the church and they'll say, Hey, you're not going to try to change me. Are you? Yep. And that's why, why do you think we're all here? We're not getting up and missing NFL pregame just because
[01:00:19] we just wanted to walk here and sit here. Do you know why we're here? We're trying to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We're all here to be changed. The whole goal is to be changed.
[01:00:28] That's the whole thing.
[01:00:30] And man, it's not just individual Christians, it's churches.
[01:00:34] I have to say this.
[01:00:35] We are, we have, this is an era, it's an age where sometimes, and not all, not all, listen to me, not all, I'm gonna put it in air quotes, that man, we have churches that are seeker-sensitive churches
[01:00:47] and they become so sensitive to not offending quote-unquote seekers that they've actually become insensitive to what offends the Holy Spirit.
[01:00:56] They care more about not offending people who hate God than they care about not offending the Holy Spirit.
[01:01:03] What offends the Holy Spirit is a refusal to honestly say what he has said in his word.
[01:01:09] This is what offends him.
[01:01:10] Now we have churches where it seems like everyone is welcome but Jesus and everything is tolerated except the clear teaching of the word of God.
[01:01:17] I have to say this.
[01:01:18] We have churches, we have large churches in my city, in Dallas, Texas, who are painting pride flags on the stairs, on the steps into their churches.
[01:01:29] Synagogues of Satan is what Revelation 2 and 3 would say.
[01:01:32] You are cheering people on in a wide path that will lead them to hell is what you're doing.
[01:01:36] And Jesus said this.
[01:01:38] He said, I think he would say this to you.
[01:01:40] He would say, woe to you.
[01:01:41] It will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day than you because if they had seen and heard what you have seen and heard, if they had access to the revelation that you have access to,
[01:01:50] they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.
[01:01:53] Woe to you, synagogues of Satan.
[01:01:55] that's what he's saying right here and what this is is Jesus is predicting he's saying hey man there's going to be a mass apostasy every time man and nobody's doing this here I'm not talking
[01:02:05] about anybody doing this here like when I preach I've just gotten used to like people they get up and they walk out angrily while I'm preaching I don't care I don't care man it's because listen
[01:02:18] man, because we are living in an era, man. Listen, we are living in an era. We are living in an era where it's like, the only thing that's not okay is somebody opening their Bible and, and, and
[01:02:32] refusing to affirm or cheer something you're doing. And people will say, man, you're wrong for saying that. No, you're wrong. I'm not controversial. You're controversial before the king of the universe. It's not, I'm not the controversial one. You're the one that will stand before him
[01:02:45] been controversy. So people will say, man, I was born the wrong way in the wrong body. No, no, no, no, no. You were fearfully and wonderfully made. You should know that full well. You are loved by
[01:02:55] God, man. You are made in his image. He loves you. God loves you. He loves the real you. The real Jesus died on a real cross, the real you. And if you give him your life, he can really change it
[01:03:06] forever. Come on, somebody, man. That's our thing. That's our thing. Listen, we are not a bunch of good people telling bad people how to be good. We are a bunch of forgiving nobodies telling everybody how they can be redeemed by somebody that can save anybody. That's who, that's who we
[01:03:19] are. Okay. Now, last one, I got to finish the sermon. Last one, the gospel will be preached to all the nations before Jesus returns. This has not happened yet. This is Matthew 24, 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations.
[01:03:36] And then the end will come. Now I'm not going to talk about this here. I'm going to tease something you're going to hear about probably next year. I want Lake Point Church to be a part
[01:03:43] of finishing the task the Lord Jesus has given us to take the gospel to every nation in languages that it has never been heard before. So we're trying to figure out right now, you'll probably
[01:03:54] hear more about it next year. We're trying to figure out right now how we become a church that finds an unreached people group. We become the church that gets the gospel to somebody who has
[01:04:04] never heard it before, because this is the commission that we've been giving and we have to usher in the coming of the Lord Jesus in that way. Okay. That's, that's awesome. Now. Okay.
[01:04:11] Listen, I say all this to say, those were six signs. Listen to me. I say all this to say this ready or not here, he comes ready or not here. He comes. Okay. Now let me, let me land a plane
[01:04:22] like this. Let me land a plane like this. Point number three, he will reward us for what we have done. He will reward us for what we have done. Jesus says this, look, I am coming soon. My reward
[01:04:34] is with me and I will give to each person, watch this, according to what they have done. Listen, salvation is free. Rewards are earned. Salvation is a gift. Rewards come from work. Okay. So everyone, listen, everyone that goes to heaven, I don't fully understand this. It was actually
[01:04:55] awesome for me to study it for like 12 hours this week, get it into my spirit. Everybody that goes to heaven will not experience heaven in the same way. I don't know how it all works. There will be
[01:05:08] different degrees, the Bible says, of eternal wealth in glory in heaven. Different degrees based on what we've done. There will be different degrees, it seems like the Bible's saying, of fame, honor, and recognition in heaven based on what you've done. This is one I totally don't
[01:05:31] understand. It seems like the Bible says there will be different levels of access or proximity to the throne of the father in some ways, based on what you have done. This is why in the parable of the talents, remember there's a dude that just takes the one talent and sticks
[01:05:49] in the handkerchief and is like, I don't want to risk anything. So he does not listen. He does not turn, turn a profit on his life with the things God gave him for the glory of God and the good
[01:05:59] people he doesn't do that and jesus looks at that guy and he goes you wicked and lazy servant he gets in but he gets no reward but then jesus looks at the dude who took the 10 talents and he
[01:06:15] leveraged his life time talent treasure and he turned 10 into 20. and jesus looks at that guy remember what he says he says well done well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful with a little, now you will be entrusted with much. Enter into the joy of your master.
[01:06:40] Now, can I just say this, man? I don't want to live, let me reverse it. I want to live in such a way that when I see Jesus, he goes, I don't want to live in such a way that when I stand before
[01:06:59] Jesus, he goes, well, yes, you're done. And the difference depends on how we live right now, okay?
[01:07:11] So here's how you get those rewards.
[01:07:15] Anytime you are hated or persecuted or rejected for being on team Jesus or standing for truth and righteousness, put it in a bank.
[01:07:32] Anytime you have family members or friends who they cut you off or they distance themselves from you.
[01:07:39] Listen, not because you were a jerk and you weren't very loving, because of Jesus, put it in a bank.
[01:07:48] Number two, anything done for the glory of God and the good of people that you do in secret that nobody else finds out about, put it in a bag.
[01:08:00] That's coming back to you.
[01:08:04] Anytime you give to or you bless people who can't do anything for you in return, Jesus says, great will be your reward in the kingdom of heaven.
[01:08:18] Put it in a bag.
[01:08:20] And then here's a big one.
[01:08:21] anything you do that results in more people being in heaven for eternity put it in the bank put it in the bank you may all hear that hear that and you're like oh man it'd be really good if he just
[01:08:40] went ahead and came back dude it'd be really awesome what's he waiting for well the bible answers that first peter 3 9 second peter 3 9 the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some
[01:08:53] understand slowness. Instead, he's patient with you, not wishing that anyone should perish.
[01:09:06] Do you know what he's waiting for? If you're here and you don't know Jesus yet, you know what he's waiting for? He's waiting for you. He's waiting for your lost friends or for your prodigal son
[01:09:19] or your prodigal daughter. He's waiting for them. Every single day, he's waiting one more day to give one more person one more chance to repent and believe the gospel and come home every day and anything that you do that results in more people coming to him and being in heaven put it
[01:09:40] back now I want you to see how what you right now are doing as a church is making that happen in the world right now and I want you to see it in the story of one of our international partners
[01:09:53] that you're helping with.
[01:09:54] Check this out with me right now.

[01:09:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:09:59] I grew up right next to the garbage dump.
[01:10:04] I watched loved ones in my family pass away.
[01:10:08] My aunt lost her life to high blood pressure simply because there was no doctor.
[01:10:15] One pill could have saved her life.
[01:10:29] When I was just seven years old, some missionaries came and shared with us the message of salvation.
[01:10:35] I still remember the moment I accepted Jesus.
[01:10:39] That's when I first felt the calling to become a doctor.
[01:10:43] I told my father I wanted to be a doctor, but he told me we couldn't because we didn't have the money.
[01:10:50] That broke my heart, but I applied for a scholarship anyway.
[01:10:58] And I made it to college. I'm convinced God was preparing me for ministry.

[01:11:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:11:04] I was raised by my mother along with my sister.
[01:11:15] She did everything she could to provide for us.
[01:11:19] My uncle took me along to work with him, where I was surrounded by adults battling addiction.
[01:11:27] I fell into the same trap of addiction until one day we were arrested for drug possession.
[01:11:34] Sitting there in a jail cell, I knew something had to change.
[01:11:38] One day I saw a banner that read, God loves you, come and experience it.
[01:11:51] And I thought, I've tried everything, but I've never truly experienced God's love.
[01:11:56] Then I heard the message of salvation and I said, this is exactly what I need to change my life.
[01:12:03] I stepped forward, feeling the heavy weight of my sins.
[01:12:07] I kneeled down and all I could say was, here I am.
[01:12:11] I surrendered my life, my will completely to God.
[01:12:14] And in that moment, he forgave me and gave me a reason to live.
[01:12:22] I realized people desperately need to know Jesus, and I felt called to do more.
[01:12:28] And so was she.
[01:12:30] That's how our journey together began.
[01:12:33] I have never forgotten the place where the Lord saved me.
[01:12:37] I would see men living on the streets, and I knew that could have been me.
[01:12:42] But now I could actually do something about it.

[01:12:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:12:45] Education is one powerful way we can bring change, so children don't have to keep working in the dump.

[01:12:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:12:54] We want young people to be trained and rooted in the Word of God, so they can rise up to serve Him in Guatemala.
[01:13:04] Through faith, God has opened so many doors.

[01:13:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:13:09] And with Lake Point Church's generous support, we're able to run more medical tests, because finding peace in Jesus also brings healing and physical restoration.

[01:13:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:13:23] Everything we do and every resource we have is dedicated to reaching the souls that Christ gave His life for.
[01:13:30] That truth gives us the strength to keep going.
[01:13:34] We want our very bodies to be spent in service to God.

[01:14:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:14:02] Lake Point family, can you help me honor some heroes in our midst?
[01:14:05] Come on, man.
[01:14:06] Amen, amen, amen.
[01:14:29] Hey, listen to me.
[01:14:30] great will be your reward in the kingdom of heaven.
[01:14:35] Gloria adios.
[01:14:39] Hey, Lake Point family, these are just one of our 20 or so international partners serving in some of the hardest places in the world where they minister is literally one of the most impoverished places in the world.
[01:14:55] My wife, Jana, and my daughter, Eliana, were down there serving earlier and hundreds, thousands of children live right there in the garbage dump trying to look for food every day.
[01:15:06] And they are right there, the hands and feet of Jesus, helping people with everything they got.
[01:15:13] You may not be aware until this moment, but you are helping this happen.
[01:15:18] So what we are doing right now is from now to the end of the year, we're receiving what we call our annual missions offering.
[01:15:25] And this is the offering that goes to fund our 20-ish international partners like in Guatemala City.
[01:15:33] This is the offering that funds us planting 80 and counting churches in the hardest to reach cities in North America where the name of Christ is little revered.
[01:15:44] And this is the offering that funds our more than 40 local partners serving the last, the lost, the least, and the lonely in the DFW area.
[01:15:52] And so I'm asking you to do what my family's doing right now.
[01:15:56] I'm asking you to pray and ask God what he would have you give above and beyond your normal giving, above your normal giving from now to the end of the year in the annual missions offering.
[01:16:08] And let me just say 100% of that goes to that.
[01:16:11] And in eternity, none of us ever gonna regret that.
[01:16:15] And so you can give to that in one of three ways.
[01:16:17] Actually, first of all, will you help me thank them one more time?
[01:16:19] Thank you guys.
[01:16:19] Thank y'all.
[01:16:20] God bless y'all.
[01:16:20] Thank you.
[01:16:24] You can give that offering in one of three ways.
[01:16:30] There's a little envelope in front of you that says annual missions offering.
[01:16:32] You put a gift in there.
[01:16:33] Number two, you can write a check.
[01:16:34] And in the subject line, just put A-M-O and we'll know that stands for annual missions offering.
[01:16:40] Or you can text the word give to the number 20411 and choose annual missions offering from that dropdown.
[01:16:46] And we'll obviously know 100% of that goes to that.
[01:16:49] Okay, so begin praying about that.
[01:16:50] I'm with you, I'm with you.
[01:16:52] Now we're getting ready to receive our regular giving.
[01:16:54] You can give to that in the buckets that come by.
[01:16:56] in the boxes next to the doors on your way out where you can text the word give to the number two zero four one one but right now let's offer some worship both as we give and as we sing here

[01:17:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[01:17:06] we go big point family what an incredible time together in worship today hey if something stirred

[01:18:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:18:37] inside of you or maybe god is doing something inside of you and you're here or maybe you you need somebody to pray with you and pray for you or you need to know this our online prayer team
[01:18:48] is standing by to pray for you, like as we speak.
[01:18:52] Each week, our team lifts up each request by name, Believe in God for the Miraculous.
[01:18:57] And so if that's you, we'd love to hear from you.
[01:18:59] Just text the word PRAYER to 20411 or visit lakepoint.church slash PRAYER.
[01:19:08] And hey, if you're here also, and today after this service or throughout the service, you gave your life to Jesus, man, we are celebrating with you.
[01:19:16] Here's what you need to know.
[01:19:17] your next step is water baptism and we'd be honored to help you take that next step. And so if that's you, would you email us at onlinefam at lakepoint.church and we'll walk with you wherever you are in the world. Man, we'd love to connect with you personally as well. And before
[01:19:34] we go, and I want to remind you about what you just heard, our annual missions offering. Every fall, we enter into a season of radical generosity where 100% of what's given goes directly towards planting churches, reaching the unreached,
[01:19:49] serving our communities, and helping students encounter Jesus.
[01:19:52] And so if you want to be a part of sharing God's love farther and faster than ever, you can text the word GIVE to 20411 or visit lakepoint.church slash GIVE and select annual missions offering.
[01:20:07] Lake Point family, thank you for joining us today.
[01:20:10] We love you and we will see you next time.