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Wilson, LesterThirty Signs 02 ~ Zechariah 12:16

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Sachariah chapter twelve. And verse sixteen, Zachariah twelve and verse sixteen. And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, that will be after Armageddon, shall even go up from year to year to worship the king. Notice that, to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the king. The Lord of hosts, even upon them, shall be no reign. And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses holiness unto the Lord. And the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts. And all they the sacrifice shall come and take of them, and see therein, and in that day there shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Now this morning we were speaking on in that day, as we mentioned so many times, over in Isaiah chapter three and also four or five times, five times in Daniel, the final chapter. And then we have it eighteen times in the three closing chapters of Zechariah. Next Sunday, Lord willing, we'll get into the book of Revelation. We'll have our chart up, Lord willing, and have our large ad in the paper. beginning at chapter one of Revelation. So we trust you to work hard, invite people, get them to come out, and I believe the Lord will have a time of blessing in store for us. Now this morning, as we were mentioning, we spoke on in that day, the emphasis upon that day, referring to the closing days of the age of grace, and also ushering in that day of great tribulations. If you were to notice these six closing chapters of Zechariah, you'll find that chapter nine, we have the coming of the king, that is his work. Then you have the call of the king, his call to Israel, calling them to repentance. The answer he got was the crucifixion of the king. All three of those are passed in Zechariah nine, ten, and eleven. But the last three chapters are in the future, for you find in chapter twelve the curse of the king upon his enemies and the enemies of Israel. Then you have in chapter thirteen the compassion of the king upon his earthly people Israel and all those who refuse to take the mark of the beast. Then you have the coronation of the king in the last chapter, and we read those verses that speak of the world going up to worship the king at Jerusalem. There you have his coronation. Today, if you watch the coronation of the king or queen of some empire that has monarchy, you'll notice about the bells and all that on the horses and all that goes with it. A great deal of pomp. But in that day, what a day that will be when our Lord Jesus Christ will be, have his coronation, and be crowned King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. And so that event is included in that day, in that day, and what a glorious day that will be. Now tonight we want to get into our subjects on... or the subject of these thirty signs pointing to that day. This morning, and we'll go over a few of them for the sake of those who were not here, we spoke on in chapter three of Isaiah the emergence of rebellious youth and their disdain for maturity or age, not honoring the honorable. And that's very plainly taught in Isaiah chapter three. Then we have the emergence of women in the political scene, on the political scene, and in the religious world, how women are emerging and taking over positions in power to rule. that God never intended. And if you read Isaiah chapter three, the prophet there speaks of a day, and he says, In that day a woman shall rule over you. And for the first time in twenty-eight centuries, a woman now is at the head of the Jewish state in Israel. And how well you knew it. And when that is the case, it's always a sign of weakness. The Lord Jesus Christ belongs in that position, but today a woman holds that high up. Then we notice the emergence of Israel as a nation, and that took place on the May, on May, nineteen forty-eighth, I think the month was, when she was recognized as a nation. And we see that that emerging nation, not only emerging as the politics, but as a military power, you have that in Ezekiel. They stood upon their feet on exceeding great arms. There's an emergence of a military power, and the Egyptians learned that lesson a few years ago during the Six-Day War. And what a fighting machine you have today in the land of Palestine. Then the emergence of Israel as an agricultural power. My what gardens and groves she has supplying so many things to other nations, exporting so many fruits. and citrus roots especially and vegetables of all kind. Then we notice the emergence today of the northern power. Russia coming up, and she's the great power north of Palestine, and she's going to support that other nation, north of Palestine, Syria, and Syria is pulling away from the Arab camp. and leaning more and more toward Russia, that great northern power. Then the emergence of the Southern League of Nations, that is the Arab world. And we noticed this morning also the emergence of the area covered by ancient Rome. Today we have the common market. Or it simply means the Western alliance that we have forming today the common market, basically Western Europe. Then we notice this morning the ninth thing, the emergence of the kings of the East. Here is Japan, a bitter enemy of the sleeping giant for centuries. Now we find them coming together, and Japan with all their know-how, think of what they're going to mean to the millions and almost hundreds of millions of the Russians. And watch out, as we pointed out this morning, the Russians are going to control over Pakistan and make a way through the mountains. And they can easily do it in a short time with their great manpower in order for those armies to go to the Euphrates. And there God will open up their way by tying up the Euphrates and permitting those hordes to go through the downs of the Battle of Armageddon. You say, why would God do that for people like the communists? You see, favoring them now, as we'll see when we get later on to the Revelation, it's the devil that's bringing them down. Those unclean spirits like frogs that are bringing the caves of these down to that great day of the battle of God Almighty, when God will crush them, and when... the blood will flow to the horse bridle. Now that's where we concluded this morning. And so we'll get on from there. I think the next thing that has appeared, and this is a familiar one, we've mentioned it many times, that is the increase in knowledge. An increase in knowledge in almost every field, such as medicine, science, technology, and space exploration. And do you know I read something not long ago that startled me? It said that in the last twenty-five years this world has learned more than the whole human race since its beginning. Knowledge shall increase. That's an amazing state. And so I say there are many of these things that we've been mentioning and will mention that you couldn't have talked about fifty years ago, nor forty years ago, nor thirty years ago, you can talk about it now, showing how events are opening up the book of the Revelation. Then you have also lightning transportation. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Oh, the speed with which we can travel today, by car, even by train, then by plane, uneven by the rockets. Yes, lightning transportation. The archaeologist spade in the last fifty years has turned up more evidence than any previous period in the history of the church or the human race. Turning up evidence that only confirms what the Bible teaches. Think of the discovery, that each sea's clothes were discovered. Many other wonderful things have been unearthed in the field of archaeology, proving the scriptures, finding buried cities. And when they get down there and dig out these great stones and find things, it has the stamp upon them that corroborate the scriptures, the Word of God of that age and era. And so you have archaeology also endorsing the fact that these are the closing days. God is going to lead man without excuse. God is causing all these evidences to come to the fore that man will not be able to say he didn't know there were not enough things happening to prove the authority of the Word of God. And so even in the field of archaeology, and I've read about many archaeologists, who have come to know Christ because of the things that have been discovered that the Word of God spoke on. And the archaeology of Spade has under unearthed the evidence to prove the veracity of God's precious Word. Then think of the earthquakes. In the last fifty years there have been more were earthquakes in the last fifty years than any previous period in the history of the world. And how well we know this. We've had enough the last few years. Managua the other day, the whole city leveled. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ said in the latter days, earthquakes in many places. And in the last half century, there have been more during the Spirit than any previous Spirit. And then again you have violence. In Genesis six, violence covered the earth, and the Lord Jesus said, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the coming of the days of the Son of Man. Violence. Today rage, fury, demonstrations, storms even. In nature you have much violence. Hurricane. And these great floods were having a lot of violence and turmoil. not to mention the violence that men will resort to sending bombs through the mail. And some of these things can only be executed by sick mind. Violence is in the land everywhere. Then the law is slacked. Is that so? Has our judicial system broken down? I should say it has. What does Habakkuk have to say in chapter one, verse two, O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save. Why dost thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance, for spoiling and violence are before me, and there are that raise of strife and contention? Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous. Therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. What does God say? The vision is yet for the point of time. But at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry wait for it, because it will surely come that will not tarry. What God told and showed Habakkuk back in that day, God says the vision is for the point of time, undoubtedly the end time. Our judicial system breaking down, criminals are not being punished, they're being released. And seventy-three percent of criminals today, in a lot of cases, are ex-parolies, showing you a breakdown of law and order. This is another evidence of the last days. And then the moral decadence, why we think of our society, corruption, in our society. The Lord speaks of moral decadence and corruption relative to Sodom. Yes, they married, they were given in marriage, and God reigned fire and brimstone out of heaven upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness and ungodliness and Jesus Christ as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man, by the moral decadence of our society and other evidence of the coming of the Lord. And think through are the rebellious and the disobedient use of the days. Does that have any connection with the closing days? Listen to what it says in Second Timothy three. This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Is this a day when children disobey their parents? Is this a day when children are unthankful? You can just about do anything for them. give them anything that hardly takes time to say thankful. Ungratitude! Unthankful! And he says, unholy. This is the state of the youth that seems in the latter days. A very dark picture in these. Then you have crime. And where do we see the crimes? Everywhere. No matter where you look, you find crime. It used to be when I was a young fella, they'd talk about the crime in Detroit or in New York, in the large cities. Not today you'll find crime in the little towns. This past week, there were those three murdered. The mother and the father and the seventeen-year-old daughter. And as the announcer was interviewing the people that lived there. They said, we never dreamed such a thing would happen here. It's a quiet town. Everyone trusted, everyone else. Why such and such a thing happened in our little town that's been quiet for so long? Crime is reaching its cruel hand into every hamlet and home in the world. I received a notice this last week and the Crime Committee is asking the support of churches to afford some kind of recreation for young people to keep them out of mischief. That's one reason I'm not opposed to them using that slab of concrete at the back for the sake of burning a bulb now and again. All the time they're doing that, they're not in mischief. When I was a kid, used to be on my skates every time a little piece of ice was observable. And we'd start stating, some of the neighbors would turn on their lights or porch lights so we could see. Someone was kind enough to run a corridor and put on an extension light so we could see. We appreciated that. Today I think if they're not interested in the spiritual things, we can do some of these other things that might gain their confidence, an interest in the young people. Offer them a little bit of recreation. But notice this, fact, in the calendar year of nineteen seventy-one, crime continued its upward climb. An estimated five million, nine hundred and ninety-five thousand two hundred criminal acts were reported to law enforcement agencies in the United States. Seven percent more than in nineteen seventy. The national crime rate or the risk of being a victim of a criminal act has increased seventy-four percent since nineteen sixty-six. Although difficult to measure accurately the cost of crime in the United States, is known to easily exceed fifty-four billion dollars annually. In nineteen seventy-one of violent crime, murder, forcible rape, robbery, or assault to kill was committed every thirty-nine seconds. The nation's crime clock as computed by the FBI reveals that during nineteen seventy-one the frequency of all crimes increased. A burglary was committed in nineteen seventy every fifteen seconds. Seventy-one every thirteen seconds. Larsonie was committed every eighteen seconds in nineteen seventy-one in nineteen seventy-one seconds. A car was stolen every thirty-four seconds in nineteen seventy, every thirty-three in seventy-one. A robbery was committed every ninety-one seconds since nineteen seventy, eighty-two in seventy-one. An aggravated assault occurred every ninety-six seconds in nineteen seventy, eighty-six seconds in nineteen seventy-one. A forceful rape was committed every fourteen minutes in nineteen seventy, thirteen minutes in nineteen seventy-one. A murder was committed every thirty-three minutes in nineteen seventy, but every thirty minutes in nineteen seventy-one. They haven't got the list out yet for nineteen seventy-two. God only knows what it will be. Crime is on the increase. And that's one of the signs of the latter days. A lack of law enforcement and a situation that we can't hardly cope with. And it says here in this newspaper clipping, no end seen to terrorism. It is a melancholy fact that no solution yet put forward is likely to succeed. And I'm not going to read the rest of it. You can get all kinds of this information. out of your newspaper if you want, and listening to the newscast. So you have crime. Then what do you have also as another indication of the latter days? Solar disturbances in Luke twenty-one and twenty-five. There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity the sea and the waves roaring. Men's hearts paving them for fear because of those things that are coming upon the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And astronomers tell us there are lots of disturbances in the solar system. It only goes to prove we are in the last days. Men's hearts paving them for fear. And that word perplexity there, distress of nations with perplexity, means no way out they don't have the solutions. As much as we appreciate these men, like our president, willing to give himself his time, practically giving his life to try and bring this situation, our poor nation, out of the mess that's in, friend, his efforts are doomed to fail. There are too many forces working against anything that right today. And it just goes to show the decline has stepped in, and no one's going to be able to apply the brakes, because we're at the end of the age of brakes. Then you have another thing I noticed, and that is building. The other day I listened to a news broadcast, and it spoke of different cities in the United States that are stopping all construction. simply because they said we can keep up with it. You're building big apartment houses, big factories, and we don't have the power plant, the supply of the power. We don't have the surge disposal plant to take care of that problem. And went ahead and spoke about the difficulties, the construction of so many homes we're producing throughout the United States, and they have to stop all construction. Before the flood, They planted and they built it. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall I be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Never in the history of the United States have there been so much construction going on that today. Building, building, building, building. Then again, think of the war potential that we have in the world today. Not only the United States' fearful arsenal of nuclear weapons, Russia hadn't, China's gaining it, other countries are getting it. Thirty-five years ago, Gita told people that there were going to be wars fought and plagues sweep this planet that would dispose of one quarter of the Earth's population that had said you're free. I used to read the book of Revelation back then. I couldn't think of such days. I thought that must be spiritualized. That couldn't be real. That couldn't be real. Certainly that couldn't be real. All those people killed. Can you take that little? Soon we'll be at the four billion mark as to the population of the earth. In the seals, one quarter. of the Earth's population will be destroyed. That leaves you with three billion. And under the trumpets, one third of the Earth's population is going to be destroyed. That leaves you, one third of three, that leaves you two billion. And under the bowl of vile judgment, half the population of the Earth will be destroyed. That leaves you with one billion. three quarters of the earth population. Let it up! Now that's in your Bible. And so the war potential as given in the Bible today is certainly within the realm of possibility, quite easily so. That was not so twenty-five years ago. It shows you how up to date the Bible is. And think of the famines and the plagues And they go together where there's famine, you're going to have plagues. And I read something quite alarming a while ago. When in England, I visited some of the graveyards resulting from the Black Plagues in England a couple of hundred years ago and less. And you see this great big plaque of concrete with a nanota of something. Two hundred were buried here during the Black Plague. And then you see another one, three hundred buried here during the black plague. What was the black plague? The black plague were brought about by rats. And the scientists thought they had that thing whipped until about five years ago. And they made the discovery that rat population carrying the black fever germ was on the increase. because of the problem of the large cities. And those big buildings, those large cities, those tunnels and everything, all that work, pipe work, sewer work, seething with rap. And they say the rap population is increasing rapidly. So there's always the possibility of that plague being felt by the world. Not to mention the plagues that come from these famines that are around the world and these, like that earthquake, and after a lot of people get killed, not enough food brought in, not enough medicine, antibiotics, all with the danger of an outbreak of plagues. For plagues follow famine and destruction. God says in that day there will be famine. What about our population explosion? They claim we'll have seven billion on this earth instead of four, almost four, practically doubling our present population by the year two hundred, two thousand. Where are we going to get the money to feed them or the food to feed them? We can hardly supply the world now. And don't think that America is going to have it always so rosy. God could send a drought to this country. I believe the one thing that God's going to favor this country for is because of this country's favoritism to the Jews. And any country, any nation that favors God's earthly people, God's going to bless them in a way he'll not bless another country. China has had a great famine. Russia has been suffering a lot of crop shortage. and people are doing without food. But God said, if Abraham, Abraham, whosoever will bless you, I'll bless, whosoever will curse you and your seed, I'll curse. And if the United States is in any way in God's favor, simply because of our friendliness to Israel, And you take the money that goes from the United States to mission fields and agencies all over the world. It's tremendous. Yes, famine. And they're coming. And then think, too, of what the Scripture says, Lovers of pleasure. In the last days, men and women will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Why, today, that's all they think about. Lovers of pleasure. All week long, hundreds, millions of families in America, during the summer especially. What are they planning for? Soon as the father gets through his work on Friday afternoon, this has happened all over the nation. The wife is there with the car full of kids and all the groceries, and away they go, down to the beach. They got a cottage down the beach. And there they spend the weekend and they dash back Sunday night, late getting into bed, early Sunday morning, get up in the old rat race for five more days than another day. Two more days down at the beach, and thus they go. Yes, lovers of pleasure. No time for God. No part of going to church. No part of their children. attending Sunday school. Just let's have a good time. Let's get away from everything. Well, they're going to pay the price. Those little ones are going to go up without the knowledge of God, of any light at all as to the Scriptures. Then another thing you have, management and laborers you have in James chapter five, verses one to four, the rich and the poor. What do we read? in James. We read this. Don't you now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that have come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is tancored, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have deep treasure together for the last days. Behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your field, which of you have kept back by fraud, cryeth, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of the harvest, or the sabayeth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and be wonted. Ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of swatter. Ye have condemned until the just, and he dost not resist you. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it until it receives the early and latter days. Be also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth not. Millionaires increase, and so do the poor. The rich on the one hand, and the poor on the other, And this is how it's going to be in the last days. The rich getting richer, more numerous, and the poor getting poorer. What an unequal situation we have. But that's the way it is. And it's got the latter-day picture, as you have in the book of James. Then again you have another scripture, a war against the establishment. Now read this in second Peter through ten. but chiefly then that walk after the flesh and the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, presumptuous are they self-will, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries. Yes, a war on the establishment. Anything that's established or traditional, tear it down. That seems to be the feeding many places all over the world. That's another indication of the last days, if you want to read that over in Second Peter, Chapter Two. But also you have the one church. Effort today in ecumenicalism, let's all get together and become one church. Bury all your doctrinal differences. We're all going to have to compromise, but let's love one another, let's all get together. Let's all get together, one church, and let me tell you, and if that ever come, which I hope that God had never will, the fundamentals and those who stand for this blessed book are going to give up the most. Because the liberals are not going to give up much, they haven't much to give up. But those of us who stand for the fundamentals have everything to give up, but oh, let's come together. Let's bury our differences. There you have a union, supposedly, without unity. It's only as we all agree, and all speak the same thing, can there be a unity that God can bless. This ecumenical thing is another indication of the latter days. You didn't read about that forty years ago. But here we have it on our hands today. Then apostasy of falling away of the church, a departure from the faith. And everywhere today there's a departure from the word of God. A falling away of the truth of God's blessed word. And often you hear, well, I used to believe that, but don't believe it anymore. Yes, there's a falling away, a departure from the faith. Then the doctrines of demons, occultism, and that's spreading everywhere. Everywhere you go, or you pick up magazines and the different occultists. They're appearing just about everywhere. Cultism, doctrines of demons, and they're prevalent, and they're subtle, and make no mistake about it, cultism. doctrines of demons. That word doctrine is very significant. Could a demon take some of the doctrines of the Bible and twist and turn them? Yes. Doctrines of demon. That's what your Bible teaches. Now I'm going to hit on something that's quite known to all and a sad thing. That is drugs. I think I mentioned one time that a year ago when I came south, I stopped in to see Jimmy Chapel, who was a pharmacist. I stayed in his home for the first three years I was in the south. And when I passed through a year ago last August, Jimmy said something about a word in the New Testament that meant the same as pharmacy or a one who was enchanted with drugs. And I wasn't listening very closely. I was kind of tired from the long drive I'd had. And he mentioned two or three scriptures. But it lingered with me. I should have listened and dropped them down. And I was on my way back this past August. For one reason to go to Raleigh to see the chapel was to get Jimmy to go over those texts. I got there in time to take a funeral. So I didn't get the texts. But I dug them up for myself, and you can get them out of Vines' book on Greek words in the New Testament, and you get them out of strong concordance. In the page five, three, three, one, and five, three, three, two. That word sorcery found three times in the Revelation is the Greek word pharmakia, meaning enchantment with drugs. It comes from the word pharmacy, pharmakia. Now read those verses in Revelation, and instead the sorcerer, let's use the word enchantment with drugs. Neither repented day, and this is in Revelation nine and twenty-one, neither repented day of their murders, nor of their enchantment with drugs, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. Now notice these four things clustered together. Murders, fornication, theft. with enchantment with drugs. Who's committing a lot of these murders and guilty of a lot of this fornication and adultery on a lot of this theft? If it's not those who are enchanted with drugs, they've got to get some money to get some more drugs. Then there are two more scriptures. Another one in Revelation eighteen twenty three. And the light of the candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. For thy merchants were the great men of the earth. For by thy enchantment with drugs were all nations deceived. So you see the place sorcery or enchantment with drugs has in the latter days. And here's another one. Revelation twenty-one and eight, quite significant, all these three are in Revelation. But they're fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers or those who are enchanted with drugs and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. The fearful, those who are afraid to accept Christ, the unbelieving, the religious, the good worker, the one who believes his character will take him to heaven. Friends, you hate those people who are engaged in drugs today. You wouldn't want a socialist. You'll be with them forever unless you get born again. So that's part of the crowd that's going to be down in that lake that burneth with fire and bigotore. All these poor people addicted to drugs have some of those people who wouldn't touch drugs. But the trouble is they've all rejected Jesus Christ and haven't been born again. Thus they'll share the same punishment. The person's not going to hell because he used drugs or didn't use drugs. He's going to hell because he wasn't born again. That's the point. But here you have the drug traffic today, a number one problem in the United States. That wasn't so twenty-five years ago. So you see all these things converging into one period of a half a century. None of these things practically appeared in previous centuries. Why have they all been saved up to a period as they have in the last half century? Fifty years. My, these are interesting days in which to live. They're all coming together at this time because that's the setting for the coming again. of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can give you one or two more if you want them. This gospel of the kingdom must be preached among all nations. Then shall the end come. That's the thirtieth one. Twenty-five or thirty years ago, or fifty years ago, at least that couldn't have happened. Daniel was in his infancy then. But today there's hardly a spot on this earth that radio broadcasts are not heard, and the gospel is not reaching. Then again there's another one we could mention, thirty-firsts. Worldliness, wealth, and materialism in the professing church, the church of Laodicea, the last church of the seven in Luke of Revelation, The seven in chapters two and three, and the church prior to the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is how that church stopped. We're rich. We're increased with goods. We have need of nothing. We've got the finest building at one. We've got the best preacher, the most intellectual preacher available. We've got the finest choir that ever sung. We've got it all. We've got all the big shops in our church. We're rich. We're increased with goods. We have need of nothing. But as God says, don't you know you're wretched, you're poor, you're miserable, you're blind, you're naked? But there is the religious situation. All these things clustering together at this time, as they've never clustered together before. And more will appear that the Lord doesn't come before long, and these things that are in existence are going to intensify. Thus you have all these indications that are coming of the Lord. Do not. In that day, in that day, in that day, in Isaiah many times, in Daniel five times the last chapter, and in Zechariah eighteen times the last three chapters alone in that day. Jeremiah makes some reference to it. Ezekiel makes some reference. In that day, that day goes Latter-day. Going onward to Israel's tribulation and the triumph and coronation of the rejected king, but the church will be up above it all. When the Lord Jesus comes, will be taken up, then these things will break forth, and this poor will undergo its woes and its pravias, the last three and a half years especially, known as the Great Regulation. I want to close with one verse that has that day in. Paul says in Second Timothy, One, Twelve, he says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believes, unto the Jew first and also to the Gentile. Does that mean that's not the one? I had reference to. He said, I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. That's a nice thing to be able to say. I am persuaded that he is able, Christ is able, to keep that which I have committed unto him. What have I committed unto him? My spirit, my soul, my body. Against that day. that coming day of earth do and heaven's glory what a day can you say that tonight I've committed my soul to Christ some can say that yes have you committed your body to and in the day of death will you be able to say into thy hands I commit my spirit That's the only thing worth knowing in this world. These are solid things, unshakable. We receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved. And this kingdom is righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit. I ask you, what are your reactions to the situation we're in and these evidences that the last days are upon us? All I can say is, you need Christ, and you need him desperately. You need him now. And I hope you'll find him, or that he finds you. Shall we pray? Our Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, we come into thy presence. We ask thy blessing upon thy word. How it stirs our heart. Those of us who are saved, I can almost hear the football on the threshold of the door, and my heart, my heart is longing to be with them ever more. May all these things that point to his soon return, stir our hearts to be busy. We may be able to bring some poor sinner in before the door is shut. Father, if there's any williness or waywardness in our hearts and lives, any backsliding, glad that we may be restored before the shout, for we would not like to be ashamed before him at his coming. Blessed in thy word to this end, we ask in our Savior's precious name. Amen.