Use this class time tonight. I ask for your honor for our good. Build us up in our faith. We pray Through Jesus Christ our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen Thank you all. I see I need to get you a quiz for next time. I'll do that on one of our breaks. I forgot You don't mind if I perpetually forget that, right? I will tell you this it is a true and false quiz on Hukama. It consists of
36 true and false questions. I don't regard the questions as picky, but you may disagree with me. So no, I'm trying to do work with summaries and main ideas and so forth. It does cover the whole book. I know that's a lot, but review your underlinings as you or your Highlinings as you have time and again, may it be a time of learning for you. Tonight's task as we continue on in our subject of last things is the signs of the times the millennium and the resurrection of the dead. Page 67 The signs of the times some preliminary questions will launch us into a study of these matters. What are the signs of the times? According to 134 of the Bible and the future, they are precursors of the second coming. The signs of the times are precursors, anticipations, predictions, of the second coming. They point forward to the end of history, particularly to the return of Christ, page 134. They are characteristic of the period between the advance of Christ, page 130. It is mistaken, he says there, to think of the signs of the times as referring exclusively to the end time. All the signs of the times describe in the New Testament characterized the entire period between Christ's first and second coming. They are characteristic of the inter-advent period. In terms of some of the ideas we talked about last time, they are already and not yet. They are realized in part and yet still to be realized in a fuller sense. I should have said by way of review, we began our study of last things last time, and by way of introduction we contrasted the present age and the age to come. We surveyed the kingdom of God which was inaugurated in Christ's earthly ministry, expanded in his exaltation, and still awaits future consummation, and then we talked about this concept of the already and not yet. How every major theme of New Testament eschatology is fulfilled in relation to Old Testament prediction, but yet is still to be fulfilled in its greatest sense. We then talked about death and the intermediate state. We thought that death was unnatural, both in its both spiritual and physical. The intermediate state is that condition in between life in the body and the resurrection of the dead. That is, it's after death and before resurrection, we affirmed it, and then we talked about immortality, saying that only God is immortal in Himself, but that in his word, he bestows immortality to human beings, both the righteous and the wicked, so that every human being will live forever. Under Christ's Second Coming we said three things, its manner was personal, visible, and glorious. Its timing is complicated. The imminent passages encourage us to be watchful. The interval passages cause us not to despair if the Lord doesn't come within our lifetimes and the ignorance passages, perhaps most importantly, keep us from the notorious setting of dates. The function of the timing passages related to the Second Coming is to promote spiritual readiness. As a matter of fact, the purpose of the teaching about last things in the Bible is to promote spiritual readiness in its different aspects. Signs of the Times are working with preliminary questions. What are the signs of the Times? They're precursors of the Second Coming that are characteristic of the period in between the advent of Christ. What does imminence mean in this context? Some take it to mean it can happen at any moment. Christ could come at any moment. I would say a better view is that it is an impending event, not necessarily happening at any moment, so that if there are other things that have to happen before he can return, we're still to be spiritually ready, but we are to look at it as an impending event. Not necessarily one that could happen at any moment. We're short of this. He wants the church to watch, and that's what the Third aspect here is, the Third Question. What did Jesus mean when he said, watch? We talked about this last time a little bit, but from Mark 13, he tells us again and again, verse 33. No one knows, verse 32, about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the sun, but only the Father. Be on guard, be alert. You do not know when the time that time will come. Verse 35, therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back. 37, what I say to you, I say to everyone, watch. The emphasis is plain. What did Jesus mean by this call to watch? He meant for his people to be morally, that is spiritually ready, prepared. That way would it be spiritual boy scouts, always being prepared, to be morally, spiritually ready. Here's my point. Later on tonight, we're going to get into some areas of future things, for example, the understanding of the Millennium, concerning which there are large disagreements between believing Christians. When I have charts up here to give you, when I pass the charts around and we put them up on the overhead and we think about them together, one thing that comes home to me is in spite of the differences on the details. The large picture is the same on every chart. That is comforting, concerning the differences of disagreements. I don't think we should shy away from them. I think we should study them. I am hesitant to be dogmatic on some of the details. I favor some views a little bit more than others, but concerning some of the matters that are really controversial. I'm not dogmatic personally. You may have stronger convictions, but I tell you what, a person could have his chart down or hurt chart down to the eighth degree, and I jokingly say they could know what the little toe on the left foot of the beast is, and if they're not ready for Christ's return, if it's not causing them to be purified, if it doesn't bring about joy in their life after all it's supposed to be a blessed hope and so forth, then the purpose of those passages is not really being fulfilled in their lives. So, we want to study future things, last things. To ignore any part of God's truth is wrong, my own reformed tradition has erred on that side of it by the way. I jokingly refer to those who have all their ducks in a row as holding two eschatological omniscience. They seemingly know everything, and sometimes you have to sign on the dotted line. I know, remember back east, I was prohibited from speaking in certain churches, and I wasn't about to attack what they believe, but I was prohibited because I wouldn't wholeheartedly agree with them on very detailed statements about the rapture and some other details of things that I wasn't prepared to make a strong commitment on, or maybe I disagreed with them, but I wouldn't have come in and kind of dictated their church teaching, but I had to agree to hardly. So, there are those who have all the answers, I say they're guilty of eschatological omniscience or so it seems to me. On the other hand, and here I'm stepping on reformed toes, there are those who almost despise the study of last things. I call them eschatological agnostics. There's agnosticism on the one side, and seemingly omniscience on the other. Nobody knows it all, but it is wrong to ignore any part of God's truth. So, let's go at it, let's do what we can. Let's see whether there are large points of agreement, because there are, they even surprise you, because all the infighting, you think we have more not in common than in common, it's not true. So, that's kind of my approach to that, but we need to get there. Here's what reminded me of it. When Jesus said, watch, he meant that his people should be spiritually prepared. And that's what we need to be, okay? If you're a prophecy buff, and you're not spiritually prepared, shame on you. If you don't study biblical prophecy, shame on you as well, okay? So, we want to study it. I would suggest we hold fast to what is clear that we are charitable concerning matters that aren't as clear, but regardless, may God fulfill the purposes for which He gave those passages. First John 3, let everyone who has this hope in Himself or herself purify Himself. Titus 2, it's supposed to be a blessed hope. It's supposed to be something that gives us joy, the prospect of Christ coming back for us, and so forth. Comment?
I believe so. I, for once, didn't bring my Greek New Testament, and wouldn't you know it? I believe it's certainly the same concept. So, it gives us an example. In that case, He meant, keep awake with me, be alert, and pray. And you know what happened. The rest of the story, it seems to me they are the same as we, we're like they are too much. It's three times they fell asleep. And that is really when He needed them, isn't it? It was in His darkest hour. Well, the darkest hour was when He was on the cross. They fled and left Him alone there too, except for John. Yes, certainly is the same idea. I can't vouch for the fact that it's the same word. I think it is, but I'm not positive. I won't give you a snow job on that one. Will Christ return be expected? Dr. Jones has said this so well that I quote him here or nearly a quotation. Christ's return will be unexpected by the careless and the indifferent, those who make jokes about it. And by the way, that's nothing new. In 2 Peter 3, we read of those scoffers, Peter calls them, who make fun of the notion of Christ's second coming and of the end of the world. Where is His coming? They say, where is this coming He promised ever since our fathers died? Everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget, 2 Peter 3, 5, that long ago by God's word, the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also, the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly human beings. So the scoffing began already in the first century. Will Christ's return be expected? No, it will not be expected by the careless and indifferent. Yes, it will be expected, I love this qualification, but not predicted by the watchful. Yes, it will be expected, but not predicted by the watchful. Isn't that well said? Those who are spiritually indifferent or who really could care less will not be looking for Him to come. Those who love Him will love His appearing. They're the watchful ones. They'll expect His coming, but they will obey His word and not predicted, because He has told us nobody knows that time. Let's look at some of the signs in particular, different categories, largely again following Hukumas, good presentation. Are you enjoying this? Is it pretty good reading, pretty smooth reading? Certainly it is maybe not perfectly comprehensive, the areas in which I have worked in more detail. I have found it to be a wonderful starting off place, but then more work is needed. But I think maybe you have enough work here. 300 and something pages, right? It certainly gives a good introduction to each aspect, doesn't it? I hope you feel that you're getting a good foundation with that book, I regard it as giving us that. Signs evidencing the grace of God, 67, signs indicating opposition to God, signs indicating divine judgment, that is God's response to the opposition to Himself. First of all, signs showing the grace of God, bottom of 67. Two of these, the proclamation of the gospel to all nations and the salvation of the fullness of Israel. First, Matthew 24 and verse 14. Hukumas calls this the outstanding and most characteristic sign of the times on page 138. Because of the increase of wickedness, Matthew 24 12, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. It is hard to overemphasize the importance of this great sign of the times. Hukumas correctly shows its importance for Christian missions. This sign, top of 139, looks backward as well as forward. It looks back to the death and resurrection of Christ as the proof of God's gracious intervention into human history and as the objective basis of which on which the offer of the gospel can now be made. It also looks forward to the paracetia because it says, and then the end will come. 138. The missionary, sorry, the missionary preaching of the gospel to all the nations is, in fact, the outstanding and most characteristic sign of the times. It gives to the present age its primary meaning and purpose. The period between Christ's first and second coming is the missionary age, par excellence. This is a time of grace, a time when God invites and urges all people to be saved. This sign of the times, therefore, should be a great incentive for missions. Once again, I would urge a practical eschatology studying these matters rather than neglecting them, avoiding undue dogmatism when we're really not sure. But most of all, responding in ways that glorify God, asking the question, why did he give us this or that piece of information? Here, there's no doubt about it. He gave us the sign of the proclamation of the gospel to the nations that we might do that work. We all need to be involved in missions to some extent. We certainly need to be knowledgeable, to be praying, to be active, to be praying about the greatest thing we can give to the cause of Christ around the world. Things are not quite the right word. I'm referring to our children. We have to be willing to give our children to world missions. We certainly want to be open to that in God's will. You say, that is the hardest thing to be separated from my kids like that. I only have to ask you one question. Do you believe in the reality of hell? Maybe two questions. Do you believe the gospel's the only remedy from that? Then we have to be willing to go ourselves. We need to be to raise our children as world Christians with an eye on the whole world. And considering as they pray for God's will for their lives to go and serve Him there, all of us need to be involved in this sign of the times, if you will. There's a very controversial sign, and that is the salvation of the fullness of Israel. Romans 11, I'm referring to. I thought, look, I did a nice job, as he always, almost always does, in the Bible and the future of setting forth the different viewpoints. That you feel like you know the lay of the land, the different options. And although he gives his own view, I mean, I would expect that. I hope he's a man of conviction. He is fair with others and says what they think. Romans 11, 25 reads, I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceded. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As an Old Testament quotation from Isaiah, as far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account. But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs for god's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to god, Gentile Christians, have now received mercy as a result of their the juiced disobedience. So they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of god's mercy to you. For god has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. What is this sign of the times, the salvation of the fullness of Israel? Hukumah tells us that there are two primary views. And this is accurate. Oh, it's around page 140. There is the view that it refers to spiritual Israel. That is the church, all Jews and Gentiles who are saved. The problem with this is pretty consistently in Romans 9 to 11. Israel refers to Jews. The question comes, why not here? I would thus favor the second view that it speaks of ethnic Israel. Be careful. It does not necessarily speak of national Israel. Don't think there has to be a nation for this to come about, a nation of Israel, as long as there are Jews in the world. It seems to speak of god bringing to himself physical descendants of Abraham. There are sub-sets under this view that it is not just spiritual Israel, but rather ethnic Israel. Some hold that it's the sum total of the remnants saved between the advent of Christ. This is Hukumah's own own option. It speaks of not just the church in general, but Jews, but the sum total of all the Jews saved between the first and second comings. Another view is pretty close to the first, is that it's a totality climaxing the interadvent period. Hukumah is open to this one, 139 and 140. I don't see why those two couldn't be combined, that it does speak of all the Jews saved between the second coming, between the two comings, but especially the climax, a big harvest near the second coming of Christ. The dispensational view is that it refers to a political entity following the rapture of the church. Certainly, the progressive dispensationism of today has made progress in my estimation by rejecting an older view that was held. It was originally held and for some quite a few years by dispensational interpreters, that there's going to be a separate destiny for all eternity even for the Jews who are saved, then for the church. Israel and the church would be separated for all eternity. The church was the heavenly people, and Israel was to be the earthly people in the millennium and thereafter on the new earth. That has been broken down. I don't know if by every preacher, but by the by the professors, it really has been given up, and now the unity of the people of God for all eternity is affirmed. Still, a dispensationist would still hold that this speaks of a political entity of Israel, turning to God following the rapture of the church during the tribulation period and before the second coming to earth. I wouldn't, especially, I don't agree with that, the details of that eschatology, but I would respect it. I would favor, I guess, the second view that it does speak of the Jews who have been saved in between the Cummings of Christ, but with a special emphasis on a great turning to the Lord among the Jewish people, toward the end of that period in between the two Cummings of Christ. It is remarkable. In the last, I'll say, 20 years or so around the world, there has been great progress in Jewish evangelism, and I've been told I don't have exact statistics, but that more Jews have been saved in that time than in any time since the first century, something like that, a great turning to the Lord. You know that I'm not a date-setter? May that go on for many more years until the Lord comes, and maybe there are even cycles of these things in terms of ebb and flow, so let's be careful, but the salvation of the fullness of Israel is one of the signs of the times. Yes, sir. Yes? Not yet. That is every single living individual, right? It does say the question is, what's the meaning of Matthew 24, 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Question is, are we to understand this as every last individual person, or rather, does it speak as the NIV translates it of nations? I would take it to be of nations, of different groups of people and so forth. Okay, that is a difficult question. The question is, how can God send people to hell who have not heard the gospel? This issue of the destiny of the unavangelized is a raging problem, is a raging topic today, and there's great debate and tremendous concession in my estimation on the part of even those who are evangelical Christians. There seems to be a tremendous yearning that everybody here, I'm all for that, and the way to have that accomplished is to do the task of missions, but there's not only a yearning, there's almost a calling of God into question that I don't appreciate. The thing that is said is God has to be fair to everybody, and give them all an equal chance, and because of that, I mean well-intentioned self-eviled evangelicals, and I wouldn't disagree with that assessment, I certainly believe the gospel, and the Bible in large anyway, are saying that people get a chance after death because they don't get a chance in this life. This is just wild speculation in my opinion, or they're adopting a view called inclusivism that says, you can be saved by Jesus, he's the only savior of the world, but you don't have to hear the gospel to be saved. If you seek God and the confines of your own religion, you can be forgiven. The Bible doesn't teach that. Again, I can understand, I can appreciate the desire that people would be saved, but it seems to me these views are going to hurt the task of missions. They really aren't more compassionate, because the people are going to get a chance after death to be saved by Jesus, well then why send out missionaries? In fact, some teach that only those who haven't really heard a good presentation of the gospel get a chance after death. Well, we better really bring the missionaries home in that case, because no missionary could be better, a better witness than Jesus himself. After death, a person will be removed from all those cultural influences that make it so hard to believe in Christ, but friends, this is fool's gold in my estimation. They need to hear the gospel in this life. Hebrews 1027 says, it's appointed unto human beings once to die, and after that comes judgment. I've been unpersuaded by attempts to make that word judgment to something good. No. It's a reluctance to believe the hard truth of the Bible, and we have no hope. We have some examples in Scripture we can't explain, for example. No, Kisadak and some others. We don't know how they got how they came to know the Lord, but to take that and use that as a basis for saying, you can be saved if you're a faithful Hindu or Muslim or Buddhist, is unkind, is uncompassionate, and is downright dangerous in my estimation. So we need to get the gospel out. We will talk about the judgment next time the last judgment. The basis of judgment is not whether they heard the gospel or not. The basis of judgment is what is thoughts, words, and deeds. That is, if an unsaid person says, I want justice, that is what they will get. We should pray that they don't get that kind of justice, that they receive grace in this life through hearing the gospel. On the other hand, there is justice in the gospel, since the sun justly saves us by virtue of his righteousness and taking our condemnation. Does that help concerning that particular verse? One thing you can say to him is, what chance did the Canaanites have in the Old Testament? Apparently God's notion of fairness is not the same as ours. The truth of the matter is, Abraham didn't deserve to be chosen by God. God chose him according to Joshua, who was the child of idolaters, of worshipers of idols, by his own grace he chose Abraham, and it was his own doing to make of Abraham a nation and so forth, and to bring from them the Messiah. It is our task to get the gospel out. What about signs indicating opposition to God? You can stay in Matthew 24 for some of this.
The tribulation, this future time of terrible judgment of God on the earth, and also terrible rebellion against God. That's why it's here under signs indicating opposition to God. Matthew 24, 15. So when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. You say, this sounds like the destruction of Jerusalem between 66 and 70 AD by the Romans. It does speak of that. Well then why do I have it here under the tribulation? Even as I take a little break in the reading, I want to help give you understanding. It seems to be an example of prophetic foreshortening, using the destruction of Jerusalem as a picture of the devastation of the last days. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, Matthew 24, 17. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now. It looks to me like in 21 there's a shift to the last days and never to be equal again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, look here is the Christ or there he is. Do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. So here is the destruction of Jerusalem foretold by Jesus. He already had done that earlier in Matthew 24. I tell you the truth, Matthew 24, too. Not one stone. Here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down. But the destruction of Jerusalem is used by a way of prophetic foreshortening to speak of a great devastation. That would happen at the end of the age. Generally thought to be of seven years in duration and a certainly a terrible time. Unequaled, Jesus said, in history. Yes. Question is, is Jesus using the destruction of Jerusalem as a type of a great tribulation? One could say it in that way. It would be not inaccurate to express it like that. He also speaks of apostasy. Another sign indicating opposition to God. Apostasy, Matthew 24, 10 through 12. Verse 4, watch out that no one deceives you. Verse 5, for many will come in my name claiming, I am the Christ and will deceive many. Verse 9, then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. And you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Sad words to be sure. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But he who stands firm till the end will be saved. Here's the context for verse 14, so there is hope. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to the nations. And then the end will come. Second Thessalonians 2 is Paul's attempt. One of his attempts to help the poor Thessalonians get their ducks in a row concerning last things. Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, second Thessalonians 2.1. And our being gathered to him, we ask you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter, supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs. This seems to speak of the same basic idea as the verses I just read from Matthew 24. And the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything it is called God or his worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple proclaiming himself to be God. Now you say this seems to say that the revelation of the Antichrist, many people identify this figure with the Antichrist figure, for example, from 1 John. If you look down to the next category, I think that is right. Concerning future things, I say I think a lot. If I'm wrong, I don't want to be careful. And even say that it doesn't call this guy the Antichrist. So it is a bit of a conclusion. I think it's the right one. There I go again, I think. But I want to let you know when I'm putting things together, the problem is people begin with a verse here, a half verse there, a surmise there, a deduction there, and pretty soon you've got a whole system, okay? And your five stories up from the Bible, you with me? Here's something a Bible says, here's something that's been concluded from that. Here's another thing over here, it doesn't exactly say that, but well these two things are put together, third story, four story, and here's the problem I have. The fifth story is regarded as rock bottom bedrock, biblical truth, the way the first story is, and it just isn't so. It really isn't so. So it looks to me like, I'll hear the case of the person who wants to argue otherwise, but it looks to me like it's speaking of the same. If that is true, it is saying this will happen before Christ comes again. Doesn't that rule out in any moment, second coming perhaps? Doesn't that tell us we can take our ease because we can't identify the inner Christ yet? Well, be careful. That is, it may not be as easy to identify this as we thought, and certainly he calls us to watchfulness, but it looks like this is an example of an interval passage. In any case, Matthew 24, and second Thessalonians 23, speak of this great apostasy in the end of the age, or of the rebellion, it's called in Second Thessalonians 23. What about the Antichrist? First John 2 helps us here, because it takes that perspective of the already and the not yet, and it applies it to the Antichrist. Dear children, first John 2, 18, this is the last hour, and as you have heard, get a load of that. This is the last hour. Definition of the last times, the times in between the comings of Christ. Even the last hour could be called those times. And as you have heard that the inner Christ is coming, I think I have to be singular. I mean it is singular. I take it to be of the future Antichrist figure. Presumably the same person spoken of in Second Thessalonians 2. As you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrist's plural have, I take the Antichrist is coming to be still future. And certainly the fact that many Antichrist have come is already fulfilled in John's time in the first century. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us. They were false teachers who professed to believe in Christ, who were part of the congregation, and were accepted as members for at least for a time. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us, but they're going showed that none of them belonged to us. And then verse 22, who is the liar? It is the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the Antichrist. He denies the Father and the Son, or how about 1 John 4, 1 the 3 dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the spirit of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of Antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and even now is already in the world. So here is another sign indicating opposition to God. There were already heretics, false teachers who opposed Christ. They did not carry signs around their next thing. We are the Antichrist. No, they said they were the true thing, the true people, the genuine prophets and so forth, but their message and their lives ultimately gave them away. Sometimes they left congregations, as is the case there in 1 John 2, indicating that they never were the genuine article. Other times they make a trickier by staying around Matthew 7, and Jesus said, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, who never knew him, whom he never knew, right up until the judgment seat of Christ, right up until judgment day. So it gets tricky, but sometimes they do defect. Yes sir. Question is, this implies the Antichrist will assume to be a Christian. He will certainly profess to be of God. He will not profess to be against God, but he will persecute the people of God in the name of God as worked as it seems. There are, we have false religionists now and those who attack the fundamentals of the Christian faith and so forth, not only cultists from outside, but how can I say it, liberal church people from inside Christendom anyway. Yes. Do I see this to be a particular personality or a political entity? Oh boy, it's a difficult one. Second, that's Loneans 2. It looks like it points to a person, but if I understand revelation, a right which is very debatable. I see political and religious institutions. So I see them not mutually exclusive, those ideas. Okay. Polita, institutions, entities, perhaps headed up by political leader and religious leader looks like that, beast and false prophet, but I'm already out on the limb and you and I are both starting to saw it off. So I'm really cautious on this business. Yes. Well, yes, no, it'll give you a good new order to ask answer. The comment is, are we seeing a picture here of the darkness getting darker and the light getting lighter as things get near the end? Well, if you just focused on these signs indicating opposition to God, okay. And likewise, the next category, signs indicating divine judgment, you could say it's going to get bad and worse and worse, okay. But if you go back to signs evidencing the grace of God and the gospel conquering and so forth, there is greater light. So when we get to the millennial positions, we'll see post-millennialists are very optimistic, okay. And believe in the progress of the gospel and the gospel conquering the nations. A part of me wants to say amen to that. And yet the scripture says that pastors and evil people will go from bad to worse. So I want to believe I want to be optimistic pertaining concerning the gospel. And yet I want to acknowledge a certain pessimism concerning sin and its own ravages. Certain pre-millennialists, on the other hand, have been too pessimistic, it seems to me. And I've even taught the whole notion of kind of forsaking the culture to the devil and let's build the spiritual kingdom and that type of thing. So I want to draw a middle way in between post-millennial optimism of the gospel and pessimistic pre-millennialism. I know I'm getting ahead of myself and we're not even, don't even have our church yet. How can we talk about these things? Meaningfully without our church. I hope that helps a little bit. Yes, sir. Comment has made the first John 2.19. It's sometimes been misinterpreted to say that anytime people leave a church that they're necessarily the baddies and unbelievers and so forth. Indeed at times it is the job of those who believe to leave if the thing has gotten beyond remedy and so so far dug in against the truth. We need to wrap it up here, take a break, come back, let's say 10 after and continue on.