So as you probably guessed, the title of the message this morning is The Day Approaching. And it's important for you to understand that we are not the ones who make up this whole idea of waiting for the return of Jesus. This is the most important thing in the end time understanding that Jesus wanted His disciples to know. And let's put it this way, without the promise of His return to take us, our faith is not holding water for too long. And it's important that you understand that the world is trying to make us or to cause us to go to sleep. "This is it. That's as good as it can get. Don't expect anything. Don't wait for anything. Don't look for anything. This is it. The Kingdom of God at its best!" And I believe that all throughout the Scriptures we can see the importance of keeping our eyes open. The importance of us having endurance and perseverance. The importance of us having patience. And the importance of all of us being ready for his return. Hebrews 10 verses 19 to 25 "Therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner off some but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching." We clearly see that the writer to the Hebrews is giving an interesting window into something in the future. And he is giving the people there what is basically the priorities that we need to live by in the end times. And he's talking about a promise here. He's speaking of holding fast the confession of our hope. And then we also see that He who promises is faithful. There is hope and there is a promise that the writer to the Hebrews is trying to cause the people to understand. There's something worth waiting for. There's something that will give you hope, that will give you life, that you need to be ready for. And the question is: which promise is he talking about? Because there's a lot of misunderstandings regarding this chapter and this portion of Scriptures. Which promise is he talking about? Is it a promise to Israel? Well, because we do know that Israel was promised, at the very end, physical restoration of the land and of the people and, we'll talk about it in a few minutes. Is it a promise to the Gentiles of that time? They of course as Ephesians 2 says "...that time you were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far of have been brought near by the blood of Christ." How many Gentiles do I have here in this room today? Why you so ... Look how many Gentiles have been brought from darkness all the way to His marvelous light! Look how many now. I hope you understand as Gentiles that there is absolutely no need for you to want to be Jews. Because I don't understand how Gentiles become believers and then something is missing in their life, and they want to become Jews. We don't need more. Let me tell you something: Tte Jewish people are 90% common people, 10% priest. You have been promoted from being not his people, to not just being his people, but being what? Priests! You want to go back to be people, when you're already priests? What's the point? You wanna be demoted after you have been promoted? What kind of thinking is this? The promise to the Gentiles is that you will be joining the family, and you will become also heirs in the Kingdom! What is the promise to the first century Church? Luke 24:49 says, "Behold, I send the promise of My father upon you But Terry in the city of Jerusalem until your and in dude with power from on high." There was a promise to the first century Church. Then, stay here. I promise, it's coming. The Holy Spirit will come. It was a promise. But this letter to the Hebrews is not about Jews. It's not about Gentiles. And it's not about the Holy Spirit's promise to the first century Church. The Bible ... it also by the way, in Acts chapter 1 We see that "And being assembled together with them He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which He said you have heard from Me." And, of course, that is the Holy Spirit. But we have to remember that, yes, he promised the Holy Spirit 2000 years ago to the Gentiles. And yes, He promised Israel great restoration in the end times. And yes, He promised the Gentiles that through the blood of Jesus Christ they who once were not His people yet now can be heirs and partakers of the fatness of the oil. And they can call him also Abba Father and their sons and daughters. All of that is great, but we must understand that he's already speaking. He's already writing to believers. And they are mixed. So it's not about those promises that we just looked into. It's about a future promise. Hebrews 10:36-38 is one of my favorite scriptures because it shows you how much the Old Testament was super important. You know, I always tell people, Paul never quoted the New Testament even once! Jesus never preached from the New Testament even once. Paul is writing, excuse me, the writer here is writing: "For you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God," which means accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, live a holy life before Him. After you have already "done the will of God," which is the most amazing thing that can happen, "you may receive the promise." And then if you're not well versed in the Old Testament, you will not understand what he's talking about because he says, "For yet a little while, And he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back my soul has no pleasure in him." And these are two verses from two different books of two different prophets that he just quoted. In Isaiah 26 verse 20, "Come my people" He's not saying "stay there my people." He's saying: "Come, my people. Enter your chambers," He has prepared for us, "And shut your doors behind you. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment until," what? The Bible in your language has, "The indignation is past." I want to tell you something. I'm not a big fan of the English language because you have too many words describing the same thing! And that causes so many of you to be lost with interpretation of the Hebrew. In the Hebrew, Isaiah said, "Until the wrath is past." The word in Hebrew is 'zaham'. 'Zaham' in Hebrew is 'wrath'. And this is why it's interesting because when Daniel in chapter 8, if I'm not mistaken is in verse 19, Daniel is talking about, and I'll read it to you, he says in Chapter 8 verse 19, It says: "Look I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation." In other words, the whole time is zaham (wrath). The latter part will be probably worse than the first. But when we are told that we're not destined to the wrath of God, it's not just ... The Bible doesn't say: you're not destined to the latter part of the wrath. The Bible says you're not destined to the wrath of God! And the wrath of God in Hebrews, 'Zaham', is what you call in one place wrath and in another place indignation! Make up your mind! Wrath of God! In Habakkuk chapter 2 verses 3 and 4 for the vision is yet for an appointed time But at the end it will speak and it will not lie though it Terry's wait for it he said, "Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just Shall live by his faith." Wow! it's the future. It's great promise! It's a promise of hope, and it's a promise that is calling us: Wait until I'm calling you to come. And I'm gonna get you into those chambers until the wrath is over. 2 Timothy Chapter 2 verses 11 to 13 "This is a faithful saying for if we died with Him, We Shell also live with Him. If we endure, We should also reign with Him." You see? These are promises of the future. It's a promise that is not to the Jew or to the Gentile or to the first century Church, necessarily. It's for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, and accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior. This is a promise in the future: That all of us, if we died, we will live with him. And if we're alive, we should endure because we shall also reign with him. Amazing! 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,..." That's the promise! And "...as some count slackness..." I love it. Some count slackness. You're late. We tell Him that He's late. It's just like Peter in Caesarea Philippi. Jesus says. "Look, now I'm going to tell you, after you have already concluded that I'm the Christ, the Son of the living God. So I guess I can tell you what's gonna happen. The Son of Man is going to be given to the heads of the Jewish priests, and he will be condemned to death, He will be killed, and He will be buried, and He will resurrected on the third day. Peter, by that time, his head was that big! Because, blessed are you, Peter, The flesh and blood did not reveal that to you but my father which is in heaven, regarding the confession of Christ as the Son of the living God, as the Messiah. And Peter now thinks that he can tell God in the flesh, the one he just confess is the Son of the living God. Jesus was rebuked by Peter! You should not speak like that. How dare you? What is whole thing of dying, be buried and resurrecting. Messiah, let me tell You what Messiah needs to be. Let me tell You when I think he needs to come back. Let me tell You how things should be in the future! That's the problem of mankind. We have in our mind our things and our picture. And by the way, the people of Israel up until today, when you talk with them or to them on Messianic times, they will tell you Messiah has to come. He will come riding a horse. He will come to consume his enemy. He's going to come and reign in Jerusalem. He's going to sit on the throne of David. He's going to judge all the nations. They're describing the Second Coming. They're describing the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Because their understanding is that's messianic. To ride a donkey? To weep in front of everyone? To be crucified like one of all the thieves and criminals in the city? And to be buried and people put guards next to you? What an embarrassment! You know the two disciples hwho walked all the way down to Emmaus were very embarrassed disciples. They were sad. Even though they confessed that He's gone. He's no longer in the grave. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promises some counts slackness but His long suffering towards us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And that debunks all the Calvinism idea of limited atonement and all of that. You cannot tell me that God predestined people from the very beginning: "You go to Hell, you go to Heaven, because that's how I want it to be." God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And then the writer to the Hebrews is saying, "Listen, hold fast the promise, the confession of the hope, this promise. Because I want to tell you something. He who promised is faithful." The Promiser has a record, a track record. In Joshua 23 Verse 4 "See I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes from the Jordan, With all the nations that I've cut off as far as the Great Sea westward. And the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your site." So you shall possess their land as the Lord your God promised you. I always tell people the land of Israel was not originally Israel's. You're right. What can I say? He promised this to us. And what can I say? He fought for us. He led us all the way in. He took away all the others and He, He allowed us to come back after 2000 years. If you have a problem with this, talk to Him. Why do I need to give you an explanation? 1 Kings Chapter 8:56 says "Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word off all His good promise which He promised through His servant Moses." There's a great track record here. God is about to fulfill His promises. This is who He is. 2 Corinthians 1:19 to 20 "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us -- by me, Silvanus, and Timothy -- was not Yes and No, but in Him was yes. For all the promises of God in Him are what Yes and in Him Amen to the glory of God through us." With God, it's a handshake. That's it. There is yes, and there is no. And there is a promise and it's a given. He who promised is faithful. We don't keep our promises. We break them one after the other. He cannot because He cannot deny Himself. Hebrews Chapter 13 verse 8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever." He cannot change. He will not change. He shall not change. This is who He is. Our Promiser is faithful. Ma-la-chee, if you're Italians. Malachi if you speak broken English. And Mal-aknē if you speak Hebrew. He says in Chapter 3, verse 6, "For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, Oh sons of Jacob." God promised deliverance to Israel. God promised salvation to Israel as a nation. God promised that this nation is going to be like a flagship through which the whole world will be blessed. And therefore, because He promised, "Oh sons of Jacob" -- because He's the same yesterday, today and forever -- because He does not change -- therefore, you're not consumed! And I love the fact that God has appointed times. The problem that we have with God regarding the return of Christ to take us and regarding the return of Christ to the world, the Second Coming of Christ, and all of that, is because we fail to understand the sovereignty of God in appointing times. We give Him times! Well, I'm sorry. God has appointed times. He did that. I love when Paul was in the middle of the city of Athens in Act 17, He said in verse 25. It's 26 in English. He says, and I'm telling you, I'm so confused. I have Hebrew and English here. I read the Hebrew, and then I find out you guys are somewhere else. So it says this: "And He has made from all from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings." He has determined. He has appointed times. Remember Habakkuk 2:3 Where he says "For the vision of yet another appointed time." There is an appointed time. God will do it. In Galatians 4 versus 1 through 5. "Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he's a master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the Father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time has come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive an adoption as sons." There was an appointed time. The fullness of the time has come. There are times and seasons He had determined and we as His children need to just wait with endurance and perseverance. And until then, because He loves us so much, He gave us signs. So look, it's not gonna happen tomorrow. But let me ... No, no I'm not talking about now. Hey, it can happen in five minutes also. But wait, I'm in the middle of a message! He gave us signs. Signs for Israel. In Matthew 24 when He talked to the people on Mount of Olives all the way from 3 to 31 talks about the troubles and tribulations preparing the nation of Israel for what is about to come. Talking about all the amazing events that are happening before our very eyes all around the world, telling Israel, by the way, as a nation unfortunately you are going to go through the Tribulation. But then there were signs for the Church. When He tells the people to look at Israel, look at the fig tree. Israel is about to come back to life, get back to its land and flourish. That's a big sign for the Church to get ready. 2 Thessalonians-- we talked about it today-- Chapter 2 verses 1 to 12, speaking of the fact that there is going to be an apostasy before the Antichrist is coming. 2 Timothy 3:1 to 9 Speaks of the perilous times and the false and dangerous people that are going to come all around us. And they are everywhere. And if that's not enough. we are an amazing generation that gets to live in the days of Ezekiel! Isn't it interesting how the Old Testament prophet has given us today's news? I mean, our newspapers today are less accurate than Ezekiel 36, 37, 38 and 39. Thinking of chapter 36 when He spoke of the restoration of the land of Israel. I speak to you, O mountains of Israel, "shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they are about to come." Israel was a dead, barren wasteland. Mark Twain shows up in the 1800s and testifies of all of that. He said to the people: Nothing could grow there and no one could live there. And in Ezekiel 37, speaking of the restoration of the people of Israel from their European grave, and I tell you, all My people, I'm gonna open your graves and I will pull you out of your graves and I will set you on your own soil, He said. I will bring you to the land of Israel, He said. And then you will know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, because he who promised is faithful. So, we already see the faithfulness of God in action with signs that He gives us. We don't know the day; we don't know the hour; we don't know the minute. But He allowed us by His grace to see so many things happening. Ezekiel 37 talks about the return of the Jews back to their ancestral homeland, coming all the way back. You see, it's one thing to rescue the Jews from the Holocaust, but it's another thing to convince them to come back to Israel. You may not know that. And I hope I'm not going to offend someone here. But I will. Well, I'm not. But at the end of the ... Ok, let's put it this way. In the 1930s, right after the Great Depression in the United States, FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) put together a new deal, if you remember that. Not the New Green Deal, the New Deal. And a part of the New Deal -- By the way, he was a super socialist -- but part of the New Deal was an alliance of all the minorities. And for the first time, the Jewish people in America felt that they had a house, a home, a protection, political protection -- that they can actually be part of something-- not being pawns that someone could use, but they could be part of the government, of the country. We have to understand, for almost 2000 years Jews were not allowed to even own land in places. That's why they were so good as lawyers and musicians and professors. These are things that you don't need to own a land, you don't own property. And suddenly, instead of going to Israel, they went to America. Sixty thousand Jews in Israel. Three million Jews in America! It wasn't easy to convince them that Israel ... By the way, today, five million Jews are in America; seven million Jews are in Israel. The American Jews are no longer the majority. They cannot call the shots. They cannot dictate anything, anymore, to that little country in the middle of nowhere. And that's why we see this amazing change in the Democratic Party today. The Democrats today, they-- I don't know if they understand what's going on-- but they can do their math. The number of Jews is shrinking in America. The number of Muslims is growing in America. "We need to make what we call the great exchange." By the way, it happened in England. The Labour Party did that. Now this is the most anti-Israel, anti-Jewish party, which was the home of the Jews in the UK. Corbyn, I'm going to tell you, he's a great anti-Semite. What we see today in the Democratic Party in the United States of America is exactly what happened in the UK. When they understand the demographics change, they're making the great exchange. And today the leaders of the Democratic Party are fighting over who's gonna be more anti-Israel. Who's gonna be more anti-Jewish people, and more supportive of terrorists around the world. But God! You can do politics as long as you want, however you want. God promised that eventually He's gonna bring the Jews back to their land. And He did! And we just celebrated a couple days ago the 71st anniversary birthday of Israel! And if that's not enough, then Ezekiel continued saying that Israel's prosperity will be so evident that it will become the hook in the jaw of Rosh, Russia. How come we have the Russians on our border today? It isn't because they feel sorry about the Syrians, trust me. It's certainly not because of the Palestinian issue. Certainly not the Iranian, the Turks or anything else. It's the oil, mostly the natural gas that Israel found. Israel, in the last 10 years, changed from a country that is completely persecuted and a country that so easily could be taken by its enemies all around to a country that is the eighth most powerful nation on planet Earth! A country that is the fourth to even land a vehicle on the moon after America, China and Russia! Israel, that little dot on the map. Its cows are the most productive cows. Sorry for the people from the British Isles. Our cows complain, but they produce. And the Lord is bringing us all to understand that what is going on in the Middle East right now is unbelievably a sign for His soon return. As I said, Israel is back in the land. Israel is thriving; Israel is leading in so many ways. Israel is, right now-- second to the White House in the United States-- the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem is the most visited office of a world leader visited by other world leaders. Unthinkable! The only world leader that has a great relationship with both the Russian president and the United States president is Benjamin Netanyahu. They both cannot understand what it is, but I will tell you something -- Putin-- the day will come that he will turn against us. I have no doubt about it because my Bible says so. But at the moment what serves more of his interest is actually being aligned with us, at this moment. The troops are ready. He's got, by the way, ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads in Syria already. He's got airplanes, he's got the S300 and the S400. He's working on an S500 because we manipulate all of their radars. He's got everything there on the ground. In fact, when we want some peace along the border in the Golan Heights, we talk Russian. We don't talk Arabic. Ladies and gentlemen, Israel is now a country nobody can ignore anymore. And you know what? Even the Saudis know that. Just a few weeks ago -- nobody kind of paid attention-- but the body of an Israeli fallen soldier was returned by Putin to Israel after 27 years. And it's funny because when the Prime Minister of Israel was in the Kremlin, months ago-- I'm not gonna give you the whole spiel-- Israel help preventing a major major terrorist attack in Russia. The 9/11 of Russia was prevented because of Israeli intelligence. And so when the Prime Minister of Israel was invited to the Kremlin and was welcomed as a hero and he sat there in the Kremlin, the President of Russia asked him: "How can I help you? Tell me what can I do for you?" Aren't you surprised that they allow us to attack every other day in Syria, and they do nothing! Because he understands Israel must do what Israel must do. And the Prime Minister of Israel said: "Look, Mr. President, there is something I need to ask from you. Our intelligence security forces located and know exactly where are the remains of our fallen soldier. I can tell you the coordinates the exact coordinates. I can tell you where he is buried. Exactly what cemetery, next to what house, in what refugee camp in the outskirts of Damascus, the Yarmouk refugee camp. We cannot be there. You're there. Would you do us the favor and just go and grab those remains and bring it to us?" The president of Russia looked at the prime minister and said, “Twenty-seven years ago and what do you care about it?" And the Prime minister said, "My entire nation is one big army. Everyone goes to serve there. There's one promise that the commanders give to their soldiers and the families is that we will bring you back. Dead or alive, we will bring you back. And so this is a promise I gave to those families. And if you can help me, I'll really be thankful." President Putin was so shocked, and he said, "I've never seen anything like that before. You know what, Bibi? This one is on me. You can still ask all the other things you want. But this one is on me." And months went by, and the Russians tried three times to retrieve those bones! And terrorists wouldn't allow them, and eventually Russian soldiers got wounded in the attempt to bring those remains. And he brought them all the way back to Israel. This is who we are, and that's how we are being respected all around the world. When an Israeli prime minister comes to the leader of the free world and tells him, "the Iran deal is a big shame, it's a big scandal," against the whole world's opinion... Guess what? He takes his word over the whole world. And what's going on in Syria? Syria is just the hanger upon which everybody's hanging their coats. If you really think about it, no one there cares about Syria. Iran could care less about Syria. They want to bring their own Shiite troops so they could be in the front against Israel. Turkey wants the Kurds out, so they come in. Russia wants the oil and the gas. They come in. Nobody cares about the Syrians. There's no Syria anymore. But the Syrian civil war was the way for everybody to invade and fulfill the Ezekiel 38 scenario very soon. Iran. Why in the world they cannot stay quiet and deal and mind their own business? I mean, we don't want anything from them. Live your life. No! You stole our clouds, therefore we have no rain! Iran has lost 10% of the value of its currency over the last three days, just from the new sanctions that the Trump Administration just imposed. Iran is now ready to strike American troops in the area. Over 30 different targets are all around Iran in Iraq and in area of Yemen and Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Oman. And the Iranians are now giving a green light for all of their proxies to do something because they are so beaten by this Trump administration. And the funny thing is they're being beaten without even a single gunshot. Twitter is stronger! Look it's what going on in Turkey. A dictator was born. He thinks he's a sultan. He wants to revive the Ottoman Empire. His currency is plummeting. He cannot even accept the fact that he lost the elections in Istanbul. And he calls now for new elections as of yesterday. Because, "Hey I lost, so that means it's not legal." Look at what's going on with Russia. Russia is not there to leave. Russia is there to stay. They keep bringing more equipment, more aircraft, more carriers, more stuff. They're not going anywhere. At the moment, we are happy with it. Who are we going to talk to keep the law and order there? The Iranians? There's no Syrians to talk to. Who are we going to talk? At least the Russians are someone we can talk to. So at the moment, we actually like it. Look what's going on in Sudan. The Sudanese lost their president. They toppled the government, and now we know that the army took over. Look at what's going on in Libya. General Haftar is fighting against the self-proclaimed government that the EU has imposed there. And we're seeing clashes over Tripoli and we see how it all affects Europe. They are being flooded right now-- flooded with immigrants. When was the last time you've been to the streets of France? The Champs Elyse is a big refugee camp. If you don't believe me, you are more than welcome to go there right now and see for yourself! Look what's going on in Germany. France and Germany consists the heart of Western Europe where I believe the Antichrist is going to rise from. The EU is bleeding. They're thinking about restructuring the EU, creating something that will have an army, weapons, its own economy. No longer 30-40 countries, just 10. That's all that we need. Just as the Prophet Daniel said. America--for such a time as this-- we've got a president that never ceases to amaze each and every one of us, every day. Every day-- starting with the bold decision to move out of the Iran deal and reimpose sanctions, continuing with his move of the embassy to Jerusalem, moving all the way to recognizing the Golan Heights as Israeli territory. You may not understand that, but when he did that, he basically gave a death kiss to the Palestinian state idea. Why? Because for 20, 30, 40, 50 years they were selling us land for peace, land for peace. "If you don't give back land, we will not recognize it. We will not be able to deal with you." Suddenly there's a president that says: "Hey, you've been there for how long? More than 30 years? That's yours. No more land for peace. It's land, and if you want peace, let's have peace also." And suddenly the Palestinians are saying, "Whoa! So you want to tell us that the Israelis don't really have to withdraw from territories in order for you to acknowledge them? No, they don't. If you really think about it, the entire deal of the century is about to be presented at the end of Ramadan, just about 25 days from now. It will not include any evacuation of Israeli settlements anywhere! That idea is off the table. And if that's not enough, United Nations. We've heard an amazing message. We call it United Nothing. We also call it the UN; it stands for unnecessary. But what is it that they're doing today? Do they really care about the poor and the needy? You know, they do two things today: They push the LGBT agenda everywhere and they push the climate change agenda. That's it! It's all they do today. "If you are not willing to agree with us, you will not get help from us." That's it. These are the two things they ask everyone, every country: "You want help from us? Show us how you promote the LGBT agenda and show us what you do for climate change." That's it. And what do you ... Well that was from the bottom of your heart. And of course, the Church. We see so much apostasy: Kingdom Now theology. New Apostolic Reformation. That is so diabolical! They think, they tell you, this is the Kingdom of God right now. If this is the Kingdom of God, I'm disappointed. Ecumenism, Globalism, Universalism. I have a friend, a pastor, a good friend of mine, one day, out of the blue, he said, "Amir, I want to tell you something. I believe all men are saved, and I want you to stop teaching on the rapture because there is no rapture." Wait a minute! And then he said, "And I want to tell you something. Finally a burden has been lifted from me. Suddenly I feel so relaxed!" And the last thing he said to me is this. He said, "Your teachings cause people to be afraid. Stop teaching them. It causes them to question their salvation." And that's a pastor who was so passionate about Israel and Bible prophecy! And I couldn't believe how the Enemy was just getting there and completely blinded him! And I asked him, "Pastor, what if Isis would go into your house and kill your wife and kill your children and slit their throats? Isis. Do they go to heaven?" "Yes." And I looked at his wife. "They just killed you. They go to heaven?" And she's like that. Amazing! And I told him, "Look, I preach everywhere. I'll preach against everything you say. But you don't have to preach anything. Please, don't preach. Because you think everybody is saved, no? Stay home. Everybody is saved. Everywhere.! And we just heard, as 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 says, that we are at the point between apostasy and the rise of the Antichrist. "Apostasia" and the rise of the Antichrist. We can see the mystery of lawlessness at work. We've seen a whole presentation on the lawlessness all around the world. We can see what's going on. How dark this world is! But we also know, ladies and gentleman, that we have a great promise. And the promise is that in order for the Antichrist to rise, the Restrainer first has to be removed. He's going to be removed very, very soon. And we are the generation that is watching the fig tree blooming. We are the generation that shall not pass away. And I will add this: We are the generation that can see all the signs. We can see ... Look, we don't have to pray for it, hope for it. We can see the day approaching! We're the only generation that doesn't have to rely on
Hope for it. We can see the day approaching. We're the only generation that doesn't have to rely on other promises in the past with the hope of something. We see the day approaching. We see the fig tree blooming. We see their signs being fulfilled. We see all of those things. We don't have to hope for it. We are a spoiled generation. While 2000 years ago every generation had to hope for, pray for, look for, have so much endurance and perseverance. We are a spoiled generation. We get to turn on the TV and there is an Israeli flag, an Israeli Prime Minister. Israelis already back in the land. We see something that our grandparent's -- if you asked them 80 years ago, 90 years ago-- "How about moving to Israel?" It sounded as if you are asking them to build a settlement on Mars. And here we are today. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Why? Don't lose your hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 "I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep unless you sorrow as others who have no hope." Don't be like those who have no hope. Don't be anxious. Don't be too scared. We have the greatest things in front of us. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus," he said. And I will conclude with this last verse. So what is our hope? In 1 Thessalonians 2 "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?" That's the joy! That's the piece! That's the hope! That's the promise! Hold onto that promise because He who promised is faithful. And indeed the day is approaching. Father, we thank You so much for Your word. We thank You so much for Your promises. We thank You so much for the signs that You have graciously given to us. We thank You so much that we are the generation that can see things that the "generation that shall not pass away" because we, unlike any other generation, we are able to see the fig tree back alive. And You said that when you see those things, it is right there at your doors. So, Father, we choose today to wait upon You to hold on the confession of our faith, to have perseverance and endurance, and to remember that He who promised is faithful. Thank You for your faithfulness towards Israel, and to all of us. We thank You, Father, that in You everything, Your promises are Yes and Amen. You have not changed. You cannot change because You cannot deny Yourself. We bless Your name today from Toronto Canada and from all over the world. And we say, "come Lord Jesus, come!" The Spirit and the bride say, Come!" In Jesus name we pray. Amen Amen!
