The Ever Ready Disciples | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

Are we ever ready? Disciples?

Is a question that I find myself asking myself personally,

and of course I think everyone of us here should

have the same question and the same thought process.

I have to admit that.

Not every Christian or not every church denomination is in

agreement of what happens towards the end.

Okay, let's let's just establish that as a fact.

Uh, there's so many different postulations, there's so many different

ways of reading revelations, because Revelations is not always very straightforward,

is written in a lot of uh, you know, signs

and scenes, and you know it's not very literal. But

I I believe that everyone has to take a stand

wherever your stand is, and you know, to a certain extent,

I don't think it's going to make a whole lot

of difference. Okay, whether you believe Jesus coming to rule

and reign for one thousand years before or after he returns,

whether you believe in pre tribulation or post tribulation, whether

you believe Christians will be raptured before the tribulation happens

or they will only be raptured after the tribulation takes place.

All these things we have been arguing for centuries. In

all honesty, it has actually almost not to say divided

the church. It says that different ones are looking forward

to it from a different point of view. As I'm teaching,

you will realize that I have my own personal stands.

Whether you choose to agree or disagree, I will leave

it to you. But I like to take the word

as literal as possible and at the same time be

prepared for the worst case scenario. Ah, how about that? Okay,

worst case scenario, that's me. I know some Christians are very,

very optimistic that everything is Christians won't go through suffering.

That's why they have to be taken up before the

suffering begins. So I like to look forward to that

thought as well. In fact, if that really is the case,

we've got nothing to lose.

Allelujah, praised a lot.

But if we need to go through the suffering, then

I'd rather be prepared. Then we thought, Hey, why am

I still left behind a lot of us who will

be like my life behind?

Why?

Because they're as lay as you're still around and you

stay at breath, and you haven't seen Jesus yet in person.

There's still a chance for salvation.

Amen.

Okay, so let me read the portion of scripture from

Matthew chapter twenty four, and after that, I will try

to go a little bit faster, but I hope everyone

sticks with me. I can have until Okay, talk to Tea.

I'll do it. I'll do it.

I'll try to do it as fast as I can

Matthew twenty four versus one to thirty one. And he

says this, Jesus speaks about the future.

Haha. Actually Jesus taught the most about the future.

He and he thought about eschatology, which is what Pasadenia

alluded to, heaven and hell, judgment and say, you know,

these are all things that Jesus talked about. If you

read Methew chapter twenty four and twenty five, you realize

everything's irate because it's his own words.

Okay. So he says this.

As Jesus was living the temple grounds, his disciples pointed

out to him the various temple buildings. But he responded,

do you see all these buildings. I tell you the truth,

they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be

left on top of another. Later, Jesus said on the

Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said,

tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will

signal your return and the end of the world?

Wow? So they also very curious.

Disciples are bik pole back then they want to know

when is the end of the world? Okay, And Jesus

told them, don't let anyone mislead you, for many will

come in my name claiming I am the Messiah. They

will deceive many, and you will hear of wars and

threats of wars. But don't panic. Yes, these things must

take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will

go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There

will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

But all this is only the first of the birth pains,

with more to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted,

and killed.

Wow.

That's why a lot of people don't like to teach

and preach from this because it's strong. Then goes on

to say, you will be hated all over the world

because you are my followers, and many will turn away

from me and betray and hate each other, and many

false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin

will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will

grow cold. That for me, is one of the saddest

statements in the scripture, that eventually the love for many

will grow cold.

I hope it never.

Happens, but it looks like it will, and I pray

it never happens here in our church. Verse thirteen says,

but the one who enduals to the end will be

save hallelujah. And the good news about the Kingdom will

be preached throughout the world, so that all nations will hearing.

And then the end will come. And so the good

news has to be preached throughout the world.

So all of us have.

Got the evangelistic and the missiology call in our lives

to make sure that the Gospel goes out when not

supposed to, just keep it. In imen verse fifteen, the

day is coming when you will see what Daniel the

prophet spoke about the sacreligious object that causes desecrations standing

in the holy pace. And then he says, reader, pay

attention in the nlt Ah, I will explain it. I

know there's are big bombasting words, but we will get

to it Verse Sixtinendos in Judea must flee to the hills.

A person out on the deck of a roof must

not go down into the house of Tupek. A person

out in the field must not return even to get

a code. How terrible it will be for pregnant women

and for nursing mothers in those days. And pray that

your flight will not be in winter or on the sabbath,

for there will be greater anguish than at any time

since the world began, and it will never be so

great again. In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened,

not a single person will survive, but it will be

shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.

Allelujah.

Then if anyone tells you look, here is the Messiah

or there he is, don't believe it, for false messiahs

and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs

and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's

chosen ones. See I have warned you about this ahead

of time verse twenty six. So if someone tells you, look,

the Messiah is out in the desert, don't border to

go and look, or look he is hiding here.

Don't believe it.

For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines

to the west, so it will be when the Sun

of Men comes. Just as the gathering of vultures show

there is a carcass nearby. So these signs indicate that

the end is near. Immediately after the anguish of those days,

the sun will be dark and the moon will give

no light. The stars will fall from the sky, and

the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then

at last the sign that the Sun of Man is

coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be

a deep mourning among all the.

Peoples of the earth.

And they will see the Sun of Men coming on

the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And

he will send out his angels with the mighty blast

of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones

from all over the world, from the furthest ends of

the earth and heaven.

The Lord bless the reading of his word. Amen.

So Jesus is written, and the end of the world. Okay,

it's actually here. You can see some of the signs.

You see the future of the world is, like I said,

the more frequently predicted than any other.

Uh, you know.

Biblical prophecies, so there's a lot of it that talks

about what is to come, what we haven't experienced here.

There are many, many, many references hundreds, I would say

about Jesus returning to Earth. So fitting them all together

is like playing jigsaw puzzle to the text and we

have to piece it together. And so we have to

allude to different portions of the scriptures.

Uh.

You know, every different ones have spoken about different things,

and usually when it comes to Jesus' return or the

end of the world, we always think aarmageddon.

We always think apocalypse.

We always think a meteorite coming from space and hitting

Earth and boom, And then Aerosmith starts to sing, Uh,

it's not okay, it's not you, my era, You'll know

what I'm talking about. It used to be this show

called AMAgeddon about the end of the world caused by

a giant meteorite. But you know, instead of always asking

what is the world coming to? Is the world going

to end? The right question that believers should actually ask

when we are looking forward prospectively to the end of

it is actually who is coming to the world. If

you ask the question who is coming to the world,

then your focus will not be on what's going to

happen to the world. Your focus is going to be

on looking out for the person who is going to

return again.

And I tell you this.

In theory, the Church actually gives Jesus Writurn a lot

of emphasis. That's a central place for the return of Christ.

Is part of the Apostle's creed. If you haven't noticed

part one of it about Jesus. Of course the Apostle's creed.

The part of Jesus is the longest I believe in

Jesus Christ, his one and only son, our Lord, who

was conceived by the Holy Spirit. What does it say, then,

born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot, was crucified,

dying and buried. He descended to the day, and then

on the third day he rose again. And then he

goes on to say he ascended to the heavens and

is seated at the right hand of the Father. And

then he says he will come again to judge the

living and the day he will come again. Is that

central part of Jesus's nature of what will happen. You see,

we recite the Creed, sometimes we don't realize what we

are reciting. Sometimes we don't realize that Jesus will actually written.

In fact, the earliest believers had this very short prayer

that they used to pray. It's called Mara Nata, Come,

Lord Come. They were already looking for in fact, before

he ascended. So they're looking forward. They're asking him when

you're coming back, or where you're going. You know you're

going somewhere, but please come back quickly. So they always

were looking forward to it. But in practice this truth

has been neglected because we celebrate Christmas more than we

celebrate the return of Jesus. Actually, there's no festival to

celebrate the return of Christ. What's that to I mean,

we have pento calls, some people observe pentacosts, observe Christmas,

observe Good Friday. But the coming of Jesus is not

something that we look forward to his impending return. So

the past and the present seems a lot more important

for us believers as compared to the future. But I

want you to know the future is very very relevant

for us, because, like I said, the future determines how

you live your present. So let's make sense of his

written Okay, everyone saying, all right, Let not the return

of Christ just be.

Something like wishful thinking.

Because a lot of times when we talk about the

return of Jesus, we know when we're going through a

tough time and all things, when we are lamenting and

we are complaining about things that we are like, Jesus,

take me home, take me home. I'm done. No, come

and take me home. That's how we always look at

Christ's return. No, God, come and come now, come quickly,

don't tarry anymore so that I don't have to suffer

any longer. It shouldn't be something that we just stayed

out of frustration and it's like wishful thinking. I think

we should try to make some good sense out of

his return, because then it will determine how we live

our lives. Okay, so let's answer some questions. And this

is how I thought the first services. Well, thank you

so much. Who are staying on for the second service

because you have to to hear me for the second time.

But here we go. First question to ask is who

is coming? And of course the answer is quite obvious,

but I think we need to delve deeper into who

is coming? Because does Hee come as the pre existent

son of God? Or this see come as the incarnate

son of Man. I'll explain what all this means. Where

will he be returning to? Is he going to return

to the whole world all at once? Know the universal

Jesus appears. Everyone from wherever you are is going to

be able to see him.

How will he written?

No, I think we need to be able to identify

some of these things. No, his second coming, how is

it going to be? Is it going to be like

his first coming? We have to ask those questions. Then,

of course, the one that we all want to know,

When will he written? You know, everyone wants a particular date.

I can tell you no one can give you a

particular date. If someone gives you a particular date, a

person's a liar. They can give you the science. They

can teach you the science, teach you to read the science.

In fact, there are good Christians in the past who

have given dates.

Most of the time.

Even I mentioned I can't remember you can You can

correct me if I'm wrong. I think one of the

Wesley brothers, other Charles or John Wesley predicted actually gave

a date, but of course the date is long after

they are gone on. No one's going to give a

date that maybe sometime we did my lifetime, because if

it doesn't happen, then you'll be like, uh so most

people predict wrong after they are god easier to predict

that way. Okay, But the truth is, no one knows

the exact thing. So let's break it down and answer

these questions one by one. Who is the first question?

And so we have to emphasize that the divine Christ

and the human Jesus are one and the same person.

Makes sense, I know even that Also times we're like, wow,

how to understand that it's so hard to understand divine

Christ human Jesus. Well, the truth is Jesus became human

and he keeps his resurrected body. So if you understand

what happened in the scriptures, Jesus was crucified again. We

read and we recited the Apostle's great He was crucified,

he died, was buried there on the third day, he

rose again. He has his resurrected body for eternity. Actually,

Jesus will always be he will always retain his humanity

in that sense, and so however you want to look

at it, look at it from this point of view.

It is a perfect human being right now who is

ruling the entire universe. It's a perfect human being who

is in charge of the whole universe.

His name is Jesus Christ.

But incredibly we must also remember this also, Jesus was

not always human being.

In fact, he wasn't.

He didn't always He wasn't always known as Jesus or

Jesus or however.

You want to pronounce his name.

He No, it was only when he acquired his body,

or when he took on the form of a human,

or when he was embodied is one term that you

sometimes hear. Or the other term that you hear sometimes

is when he was incarnate. Okay, incarnate just means God

became men. So when he took on the body, then

only was he given the name Jesus. And in a way,

Jesus was the only person in the world to have

ever chosen to be born. No one else could say

that I chose to be born. No, you had no

part to play in that decision making. Jesus had a chance,

and he chose to be born. So he was the

eternal son of God. He was the Lord of Glory.

And that's why John chapter one also alludes to him

as the Word. He was the He was a divine

being before he was a human being. But in his

embodied form we must face one implication. So I think

we can all establish that Jesus is divined. In the beginning,

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word is God. That means we know that Jesus

was there right from the very stunt. But the Word

also became flesh and made his home amongst us. I

think that John chapter one, verse fourteen. So in his

embodied form, there's always this implication. Jesus in flesh can

only be in one place at a time, one place

at one time, even his glorious resurrected body. Ear When

he was resurrected, you realize he was either in a mouse,

or he was in Jerusalem, or he was in Galilee.

He wasn't in all three places simultaneously, but he could

move to all three places pretty quickly. That's why I

think the resurrected body is going to be pretty cool.

I think we should be able to move around quite fast.

I don't know how, but if Jesus could do it.

I believe our resurrected body can. It's almost like flashloud.

However you want to look at it low. We have

some sort of power. But he could not appear in

two places at the same time.

So that is the limitation.

Therefore, when he returns to this earth, he can only

come back.

To one geographical location. Does that make sense? Amen? Question

is where will that be? The next question where will

that be?

So if the return of Jesus is physical, it must

also be local. It cannot be universal. And as we

are expecting Jesus you come back, so everywhere in the world,

every Christian and every believer is going to experience. I

think if you study the scriptures, it's not going to

look like that.

His return is going to be local.

You see, his spirit can be everywhere, but his body

must be somewhere.

Amen.

So before he ascended, Jesus could not be at two

places at once, and that is why he told his

disciples that it was for their good. Then he was

leaving them, and then he's going to send a stand by.

He's going to send the paraclectos, who is the holy spirit,

who's going to be.

By our side. All of our sides.

That's what the Holy Spirit can do to take his place,

and that's how he was able to confidently promise them

that I will be if you always. How else do

you think it was possible for Jesus not being being

physically present and still making that promise. He had to go.

He said, I have to go. I will leave a

stand by, I will leave the paracletos with you. The

Holy Spirit will come, but I have to go first

and then with that. That's why every believer, wherever you are,

we have the Holy Spirit with us. We may not

have Jesus in the physical form standing next to us

like the Early Disciples back two thousand years ago, but

we have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. So

wherever you are scattered in the world, you have the

Holy Spirit. So the only way he could do this

was to remove his body and replace his physical presence

with the omni present Holy Spirit.

Amen makes sense.

Holy Spirit are limited by time or space, so the

situation will not be reversed when Jesus returns. No believers

sometimes think, oh will lose the Holy Spirit. When Jesus

comes back again for the second time, they will be

together and I believe we will be doubly blessed, Father, Son,

Holy Spirit. We will see them all one in the

new Heaven and the New Earth. So I believe.

That we will.

Experience the Trinity in the days to come, Okay, whenever

that may be. But since his body, like ours, must

always be at one point on the surface of the earth,

his return means that His disciples will have to be

gathered together somewhere if all of us are to witness

it happening. That's the only way a physical person is

going to come back to a local area and everyone

is going to be there at the same place, and

so there has to be some happening gathering that takes place.

I will explain a little bit further, but of course

the question that we need to answer where will that

be exactly? And it is the same place where the

most important happenings in human history ever took place. Is

the place where time was split into two from BC

to ADY. And it is the city that is also

known as the City of the Great King. It is

Jerusalem that he will return to. That is what the

scriptures point to and allude to. And so I pray

that we will never I know sometimes we don't like

to know about world affairs and who cares what's happening

in the Middle East?

Who cares?

No, as Christians, keep your eyes on what's happening in

the Middle East, keep your eyes on what is happening

in Jerusalem, because there's the reason why we pray for

the peace of Jerusalem, because a lot of things. You'll

be able to take note the things happening there, and

then you will see how it ties into our scriptural understanding.

Third question is how how you see his second coming

will be like his first going? Okay? And how how

was his first going? He says he ascended into heaven.

Remember I think there was in xt chapter one he

said already basically he beat them farewell and then he okay,

he went up to heaven, ascended to heaven. So if

he's going to be like his first going, it's just

going to be in the reverse la.

So from up he comes down. That's what we.

Should be expecting, actually, because if you are is going

to be nothing like his first coming.

A lot of people.

Think, oh, maybe Jesus were written will come back like

how he his first coming.

No one knew his first coming.

He was born in the dirty, dingy little manger.

So it will not be like that.

It will be like his first going, where is a

public spectacle people can see. In fact, it will probably

be the most public spectacle ever because for the world

crucified him before he's returned. In the future, they will

crown him. And that's how we will finally see and

finally realize the scriptures from Philippines coming to pass that

every knee, shell bow, every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ

is Lord. That's the only way in which we are

able to do that is because when he returns again,

it's going to be so noisy. He's going to be

accompanied by thousands of angels. You see that in Matthew

chapter twenty five. You see that in June chapter fourteen.

The noisiness is not going to be a quiet affair. No,

he's not going to come quietly. It's going to be noisy.

That's in First Thessalonians, and so let us take note

of that. But when will he come? And how much

longer do we have to wait? Is the question that

everyone wants to know. Gayzy, Gaysey, we always bila, yes, Sampie, okay,

we want to know the exact timing, and the answer

is no, one knows except God himself. Not even Jesus

knows his father's calendar. Will his coming be sudden and

totally unexpected? Well, the answer to those two questions is

yes and no, because Jesus could come back at any moment.

So yeah, to a certain extent, it will be sudden,

But there will be events preceding his written things that

have to happen first, which are signs or even signals.

So what are the signs of his coming? What are

we watching out for? What events should we take note of?

That's where the Gospel of Matthew in chapter twenty four

actually highlights. And that's Jesus's own teachings. And there is

this outline that Jesus taught his disciples. It's sort of

like a four full framework, however you want to look

at it, but there are four things which really stands

out of the future events signaling his written Okay, you're

still in me. Let's go through these different signals. Okay,

the first one is this, and you will notice when

I look at it. The first two signs is going

to be a period of time, and then as it

comes closer to the third and the fourth time, the

time shortens and you will.

See it as you read the scriptures.

Okay, so the first sign is actually disasters in the world,

and three y Ares specifically mentioned walls, earthquakes, and famines.

And in truth we are already seeing an exponential increase

in all these different catastrophes. And usually what happens in

these circumstances is it usually spreads alarm, it spreads in

security among people. This is how we react and we respond,

and people will therefore be looking for a savior. People

will be hoping that someone will come and save them.

And this is where people there will be opportunities around

who will pretend that they are the savior, pretend that

they are here to come and save different ones. And

so disciples must therefore protect themselves from any form of deception,

because it is when you're going through these tough times

and these tough moments, that we ourselves sometimes can be

deceived and we allow panic to sit into our lives

and make us vulnerable.

It's a very human nature.

I think those of you who work in the emergency

I'm looking I read no, people are not rational. Sometimes

when you are in a panic mode and they can.

You know, they really need to prepare themselves. The only

way you can prepare yourself for such a calamity like

this is you need to learn how to respond the

opposite way from.

The world's reaction.

And the world always reacts like this because they always

look at it as the end of all things good.

It's like whenever something bad happens, this is in a

stage or I'm there, all things good are gone, and

there's always that pessimistic outlook. I think what we need

to be able to do is to realize that it

can actually and will actually be the beginning of much

better things. I know it's not easy, but when you

read revelations, you have to realize this. Before things get better,

they will get worse first. That is the reality of it,

and so very important to not allow alarm and anxiety

to govern how we feel. But actually what we need

to have is the anticipation of what is to happen.

That's why the early believers kept on praying that prayer

Mara Nata, come Lord, because that is an anticipation, and

with that prayer also determines how they lived their lives.

Right now makes sense, so the signs are visible today.

Many international conflicts have happened since the Second World War

has broken out. Earthquakes a doubling at a rate that

is almost every and if you have those earthquake apps,

I'm sure CG who organizes events, you get it. Or

actually it's happening all the time on it's just a

scale of it. Famine is widespread in the underdeveloped world.

Actually one third of our world goes through famine. This

is something that for me is fundamentally wrong, because why

I say that we should not have people who go

to be hungry. There is enough food in this world

for everyone. That was God's promise to know that I

will not wipe out human race again. And what was

the promise? What was the sign of the promise? It

was the rainbow. How do rainbows form? Is basically light

and water gives you the rainbow. And light and water

is what you need to be able to produce crop.

And there's enough crop. There's enough things grown in this

world to feed the entire world. Any community developer will

tell you that it's just that distribution has been so poor.

All greed has not allowed for the distribution to take place.

And that is why until today you have one third

of the world dying of hunger, and then another one

third going for buffets every weekend, which includes me. I'm

not saying that I'm not We are all guilty, but

there's something that is fundamentally not right. But yet famines

are happening. How is it happening? Well, because the scripture

says it will happen, and this is one of the signs. Okay,

so this is the first major sign, Claire. Second sign,

people will desert the church, Okay, not eat nice deserts,

desert as in abandoned, run away leave. It starts off

with their being opposition, in that followers of Jesus will

be hated by all nations. The scripture actually says that

sometimes you already feel it, oh, very hard to become

Christian nowadays. That's why sometimes we try to hide our faith.

We try not to let people know you're Christian, because

oh they know I'm Christian, no more favored they or

they will ostracize me, or you know, maybe we have

not fully experienced it here in Malaysia.

And I think that is a blessing.

Not it should not be a curse to us, because

it can be if we are not careful because the

truth is, when the believers are going to face opposition,

what it usually corresponds with is that many of them

will eventually die because of their faith, because it says

they will be persecuted and then they will eventually die.

And all around the world, actually you start seeing these

kind of pressures, especially in maybe communist nations definitely not

so easy, no freedom of expression. But you think about it,

even in the most expressive nations in the world, the

most free nations or so right now, not everyone is

so brave as to want to proclaim and declare that

I'm a Christian and I'm a follower of Christ because

it gets you under more pressure than it actually alleviates

and takes away your pressure. So the truth is, churches everywhere,

Christians everywhere need to prepare their members for suffering and sacrifice.

We have to.

You know, I'm doing all view at this service. If

I tell you that Christianity is a nice walk in

the park, no testings, everything is comfortable all the way,

you know that that is not true, because if our

members are not prepared, then it's going to be hard

for them to face what's impending and what's to come

and you know, from suffering and sacrifice, what will naturally

happen is numbers will reduce in your churches. Believers will

reduce in your churches because the pressure will quickly reveal

those who are genuine and those who are just paying

lip service, those who are genuine and those who are nominal.

You will be able to tell. And there will be

those who will struggle to remain faithful. That is just

the honest truth. But the scripture does say those who

remain stayed fast and faithful, they will cause the church

to expand. And so this is always my plea to

every believer. That's why faithfulness is such an important thing

in our lives. To remain loyal to God, to continue

to walk in accordance to his plan and his purpose.

Because those who truly believe, even in the midst and

surrounded by persecation, trust me, they are the ones who

are bold enough to carry the Gospel to the ends

of the earth. I pray we will be those people

if the time comes in our lifetime.

I don't know.

And accompanying all these events will also be the increase

of false profits. Now we have to deal with all

these jokers who comes and preach all sorts of different

good news. No, those who always tell you that everything

is nice, fine and dandy, everything is comfortable, Be very

very prepared, be very very careful. Those who tell you

don't worry about anything. Bad times will never happen. Christians

will always you know, be free to do whatever you

want to, be prepared, be prepared. Of those who tell

you and try to make light of sin. I think

that's another very dangerous thing, or siner, It's okay, on, continue, continue,

carry on doing what you're doing. It's all right because

God's grace will cover every single thing. Never, never make

light of sin, because the truth is Jesus came to

seek and save us who are lost, us who are

sinful in our nature. He came to save us from

our sin. What do you think a mix of when

people tell you to make light of sin, the very

thing that Jesus came to save us from.

So be very careful with teachings like this.

But you will get a lot of it, things that

will soothe your years. But really does it prepare us

for what is to come? Because ultimately all of us

have a choice to make. And if you talk about it,

if you think about it John three sixteen sometimes can

be very dangerously construed. For God so loved the world

that whosoever who believes in him she'll not perish but

have everlasting life. And we always take it that God

loves me. God loves me. God loves me. But you

have to read the verses prior, and you got to

read the verses after as well, because it talks about

a God who is righteous, a God who will judge

those who are wrong, a God who will punish the

wrong and reward the righteous. Sometimes we miss out everything

and we just focus in on.

Love, l OVEE.

We've got to go beyond that and think and realize

that I pray, I pray this life because it says

the saddest thing is many will turn away from the faith,

and the love for many will grow cold. That means

that we will become an apathetic group of people. We

will do our own things, we will become individualistic in nature,

which is already happening in the West.

This is actually the greatest tread.

For me to Christianity is not other religions, it's actually ourselves.

Individualism is what has crept into the Church. I can

do whatever I want, I can be whoever I want.

I can choose my identity, I can choose my gender,

I can choose.

How I want to live my life.

But nowhere in the scripture does it says all those things.

Because we have been given a set of guidelines, it's

called the Bible Basic instructions before living Earth, we better

know what these instructions are, if not now in a

place where Pasadenia had to explain to this teenager not

too long ago.

That's the reality of it.

Okay, the third Sign, and again I don't want to

make this all doom and gloom, but it does look

a little bit too. Men glue the third one even more,

do men gloom? Because the third side is dictator in

the Middle East. And then he says no, because all

these troubles will come to a climax, persecution, and all

these things will come to a climax. And the climax

is basically you have to read it together with revelations.

In revelations you will read of the Great Tribulation, basically

the Great suffering. Okay, here is where Christians can be divided.

Some Christians believe that Christians, if you are alive at

that time, you will be raptured and you'll be taken

away and therefore we don't have to go through the

great tribulation. I personally don't subscribe to that belief, even

though I'm not saying it's wrong.

I don't know when it happens, it happens.

If it happens, great, I think I will look forward

to that happening if I'm going to be alive at

that time, because who wants to go to a suffering, right,

great tribulation. No, but if it doesn't happen that, I

think I jolly well better teach all of us, myself included,

to be ready for it.

Because again, I don't know.

There are different points of view, but I believe that

the rapture is not at that point.

That's not my belief system.

But I'll leave it to your These troubles I need

to highlight to all of us is actually something that

Jesus talked a lot about. The Scriptures talked a lot about.

In fact, from Daniel. The warning is actually based from

a term that you find in the Book of Daniel,

the bombing nation that causes desolation. I don't know how

else to describe it, but really it's just an evil

thing that will bring about such a suffering. And this

evil thing is not just a thing, it's actually a person.

It's going to be a human conqueror. The very in

the very city where God is supposed to be honored,

would also come this evil person who will appear and

he will provoke a great mental and physical distress amongst

God's people. Some scriptures refer to this person as the Antichrist,

you see that in either jude or Revelations or One John.

Some refers to him as the Beast. But the reality

is this person will come into existence. Of course, the

period of tribulation is actually stated in Revelations. You see

the statement is for a time times and half a

time basically, that is a way of calculating as a

way of calculating that term, and it's about one two

hundred and sixty days. It's about three and a half years.

That kind of a period, not forever. And that's why

we are we should be grateful that it's not forever,

this tribulation period. But all these things you will see

most evidently in Jerusalem. And that's why Jesus advised all

all those living in Judea at the time to leave

because this person is going to be based there, and

those who are there is going to be facing it

first hand. Don't remain in the vicinity of this person.

That's why he goes on and say if it's during winter,

there's going to be very challenging because you have to

leave during winter. It's hard to find refuge by whatever

it is. Prepare yourself because together with this Antichrist will

be a false prophet. It's like his march eye, it's

like his sidekick. So there'll be two of them. They

will set up some sort of totalitarian regime. I don't know,

but let's just be aware and understand the scriptures because

it says so people who are under this person's authority

will be branded with a mark, and that mark is

six six six, Okay, so it's there in revelations. I'm

not making up. It's not fairy tales. How it's going

to pan out, I guess we have to wait and see.

But what will this mark afford those who have it?

It's most likely the ability again from the scripture's the

ability to trade, to buy and sell. And you can

just imagine how life is going to be so difficult

when you're not able to purchase to buy and sell.

That's why it's going to be very, very trying during

those tribulation days.

And I pray that's why.

You know, I told this morning service no, when I

go out to the Orang athlete mission work, I'll always

tell them, don't ever give up your your knowledge on agriculture.

You see, rang athletes are our local aborigins. Today. Most

athletes don't know how to plant anything, honestly, but yet

what they are given actually is land. The Orang athletes

in Malaysia own swaths of land. Actually that is their

inherent right as the aborigins of this land. But most

of them don't know what to do with the land,

and so what happens is they actually end up selling

their inherent right full land that belongs to them to

big palmer companies. You know, they come and just take

over for pittons and then of course they grow their

crops and then they sell to others then or honestly

are left with nothing. So a lot of them actually

don't know how to plan, even though they are born

in the jungle. I believe when going gets tough, when

trading is going to be difficult, and you really know

how how difficult.

It is.

Imagine right now if you don't have your phone, it's

so hard to buy things, you know, without our phone,

let alone. Now we are talking about a mark. You

need a mark to be able to purchase things. No,

it's either you want to download that mark or not.

I'm suggesting don't download that mark. But really it's choices

that we have to make. But if we don't download

that mark, then how we're going to survive. Well, I

think we probably have to grow our own crop or

find ways to steal someone else's chicken. I don't know.

I don't know, but we think about it. We have

to be ready and we have to be prepared. That's

why my prayer actually for the aron Us list is

please don't ever give up on agriculture.

You all need that.

In fact, you'll probably be the ones that are teaching

us in the future because all those city folks who

can't even plant anything. I can't keep a charactus alive.

But anyway, this pressure that we witness is going to

be very fierce, but mercifully shot again. It can be counted,

and it will be the greatest pressure followers of Jesus

have ever known. There will be many rumors that Christ

has returned, and believers will be told they can find him.

You'll see all these things happening. They must not listen

to these rumors because they will.

See the sign.

And the next sign is almost immediate, because that's how

the scriptures pain it to be.

It's not going to be measured in the law time.

In fact, I think it's going to be so quick

because the next sign is that every light that exists

will be extinguished. That means it will become so darn

wherever you are. And then what we will see is

we will see the lightning coming from the east and

flashing to the west. That means it will not be

a mistic It's not something you can mistatement. It's something

that if is happening, you will know it. You will

know it. And then you will see Jesus riding on

the clouds. And the believers who have waited so long

for this day to arrive will then be called to

the Lord's people and all of us will be gethered together.

That is my personal belief, or what the rapture is.

We will all beget if we are alive at that time,

that we will all be gethered together to welcome back

the King of kings. Of course, firstly those who have

gone before and those who believe will be there first,

and then followed by us Again. I will let you

interpret the scriptures as to the order and the timing,

but rest assured, I believe, whatever it is, what is

needed is for us to hang in there and keep

on being faithful followers of Jesus who will ultimately be

forever united together with each other.

With their Lord. Amen.

So why are we told so much about the second coming?

There has to be a reason, and it's actually very practical. Really,

it's so that we are ready for Jesus's written.

It's as simple as that. You see.

Revelation for the future is given to affect the present.

It's not to satisfy our mental curiosity. A lot of

times we debate and we argue over know who's right? No,

are you going to be left behind? Actually, really couldn't

care less about who's right and who is wrong. It

is actually to stimulate moral consistency. It's for us to

live our lives right where we are. It is not

for information sake. Sometimes all of us want to know what.

I want to study revelation so that I can beat

everyone else in a pop quiz. No, it's not about information.

It's actually about incentive. Why do I say the word

incentive Because the Lord will punish those who do wrong,

and he will reward those who choose the righteous path.

That is who God is. If you think that, no God,

not like that one. Everyone gets a reward, everyone's a winner.

If you realize that we don't teach our children in

ex kids that everyone's a winner, even though I know not.

Now there's most schools everyone's a winner. Spot's there. There's

no first second for It's like everybody is a winner

because everyone needs to feel good. I don't know how

how much it's actually teaching our child, But the truth is,

you do what is right, you excel, there is a

reward that is waiting for you. In X kids, that's

what they teach you. You behave yourself, you get a token,

you get something.

There is a reward.

I think we need to know and we need to

understand that there is an incentive for us to remain

morally upright until the Lord, to choose to do what

is right. And the only time we have to get

ready for the future is the present, because to delay

is to run the risk of being late, and how

can we be ready for his return? Well, these are

five things that I'm going to just go through, but

I hope that all of us are already doing these

five things. The first thing is this individual faith. The

slides can go on. I'm not sure if it's jam

or it's individual faith. Is the first thing not borrowed faith.

Children cannot write on the faith of their parents. We

cannot write on the faith of those who experience the

reverar I will thirty or forty years ago.

That's not how it works.

Every one of us need to develop our own faith

in who God is.

I think that's very very important.

God put men on this earth so that they will

seek Him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.

All of us are capable of doing that. All of

us need our individual faith. The second thing is this

faithful continual service. And so faithful service is essential. It's

an essential ingredient in the raadiness for the Lord's return.

That's why I met you twenty four.

If you read on the next few verses after that

gives you three parables.

There's a parable on the household.

Household servants given responsibility the responsibility that was given to them.

Did they fulfill the responsibility or did they not fulfill

the responsibility of taking care of the household. There was

the wedding banquet. The ten bridesmaids. Remember that were they

prepared or not? Five world why and make early preparations.

The other five decided to leng a lenga jill and

then it was too late. And then, of course there

was another final parable on commercial trading. Basically, it's the

parable of the talents. The five two and one, five

and two of course invested, got back returns, and then

heard this statement from the Lord saying, well done, my

good and faithful servant. The last one decided to bury

his talent in the ground and earn nothing in return.

You see, the Lord essentially once his servants to be

both faithful and fruitful, not just faithful, and got no

fruits to bear as well, because if you are faithful,

you are supposed to be fruitful.

That's what is promised to us.

We are promised not just eternal and everlasting like we

are also promised abundant life. Abundant living basically means it's

a life that bears fruit, and the life that bears

fruit is one that has the Holy Spirit in them,

because the fruit of the Spirit is from the Spirit,

from no one else but the Holy Spirit.

So remember that continual service.

Let us serve God with all our heart, my soul,

and serve him gladly, because this is our absolute privilege.

The third thing is personal holiness. Look, holiness is really

saying to ourselves, if this is wrong, I will stop

doing what is wrong, and I will choose to do

what is right. If I have already done what is wrong,

then the scripture says very clearly, confess and he will

be faithful to forgive you. You see, the trouble that

most Christians come about is we keep confessing until we

become numb, until we become a God. I think I'll

bet I'll I'll let you off the whole me confessing

all the time. I'll just keep repeating and repeating the

same mistakes. Now it's okay, I'll just all over my sorrows.

Don't don't ever stop confessing unto the Lord if it helps,

confess to one another, because it will help you remain

on the straight and narrow. God doesn't just want to

cancel the penalty of your sins.

He wants to help you conquer them as well.

A lot of us we are like, oh, when we

are safe, hallelujah, we are no longer bound by the

penalty of seeing the sins of the past. All have

been wiped out clean, hallelujah, Praise God. But then you're

still living life, right, You're still making choices every day.

We need God to help us conquer see in our lives,

not just cancel them out, conquer and overcome them. And

so personal holiness is so important. A lot of Christians

believe in this. No, I want to be happy now

and then later when I go Heaven, I be holy.

So it's always happiness first, holiness later in the scriptures

is the other way around. Holiness now, happiness forever. You

see that, and so it s touched where we are

making the choices where we are. Yeah, you can come,

I'm almost done. Communal fellowship is the fourth thing. It's

part of our apostles creed. I believe in the Holy

Catholic Church, which simply just means I believe in the

Universal Church, and then I believe in the Communion of Saints.

I believe in the fellowship of believers. You know, there

is strength in numbers. We are all chosen people, we

are all royal priesthood. We are a holy nation, we

are a people belonging to God. If you're going to

go to trying and challenging times, let's do it together.

Don't do it on your own. Your own be straggle

off the pact, surviving on your own. That's not how

the Lord wants us to live our lives. There is

strength in numbers. That's why it's so important for us

to celebrate together. It goes much for the amen. And finally,

the fifth one is this global evangelism. You see, the

church is the only society, has been said, the only

society in the world that exists for its non members.

You think about it. A lot of societies is always

very inward looking. We're always talking about, oh, let's see

how we can benefit our members. But the Church is

technically the only society that exists for its non members.

Of course we're also there for our members, but primarily

the non members. All four Gospels has got a great commission.

If you think it's just in Matthew, you're wrong. Go

and read it. Matthew Chapter twenty eight, verses eighteen to

twenty sixteen, verses fifteen to eighteen, Luke Chapter twenty four,

verses forty seven to four, the eight John Chapter twenty,

verses twenty one to twenty three. All of it have

got the great commission that was given to the Apostles,

and then through the Apostles it was then given and

passed on to the Church throughout time and space. Because really,

you think twelve apostles alone could have brought Christianity far

and wide to where it is today. No, of course

the twelve did a wonderful, amazing job, but they passed

it on, and they passed it on, and so the

mission is worldwide, to the ends of the earth. Not

until every corner of our planet has heard the good

news of Jesus Christ, then only the world will be finished.

That is the scriptures. And in today's day and age,

actually it's much easier. You're talking about a few centuries

ago where we got no way in reaching some places.

Actually, now everywhere we can go. Helicopter can bring you everywhere.

Actually you think about it, So any of your own helicopter,

maybe it's time to lend it to the Lord.

Hallelujah, praise God.

But these are the five things for us to ask ourselves,

are we ready for Jesus's written You see, the real

test of our faithfulness is not how we behave if

his coming is imminent, but how we behave if he

is long time coming. He's not looking for panic action.

He's actually looking for loyal service. And in today's day

and age, loyalty is dead. We don't see loyalty in families.

We don't see loyalty in our workplaces, we don't see

loyalty in friendships.

The truth is is dying. But what Jesus is looking

for is loyalty.

It is not what we are doing when he returns

that matters so much as what we have been doing

all the time that he has been away.

That means we have to be faithful.

If if you think about it, the word for faithful,

the word for loyal they're all one and the same.

They mean almost the same thing. That means carry on

doing it, keep on doing it. And that is why

such passages in Matthew twenty four Revelations six to eighteen

they are in our New Testament is to get us

ready for the worst that can happen. And that is

why the shortest prayer and the early church is Maranata

Lord Come. Why were they so eager for Jesus to

return one day? Well, because they know when he does,

Jesus will complete the good work he has begun in

every believer pass present and those to come. He will

complete the word. We will be made perfect. Jesus will

come back, and he will fulfill his promises to his

chosen people who continue to respond to him in faith.

Jesus will ultimately conquer the devil, and therefore he will

command the world. How many of you can't wait for

the day when Jesus returns and he will rule, and

he will reign in accordance to his plan and his purpose,

and of course finally he will judge the ungodly. Let's

stand the question that we all have to ask, is

this Ah We ever ready? Disciples like the battery ever ready?

And I pray. I know it's not an overnight thing.

But let's continue to encourage one another. Let's continue to

spur each other on towards good deeds, towards good works.

Let us continue to spur each other on to continue

to embrace our faith and keep ongoing so that we

will always be ready and one day we will hear

the words of the Lord. The Lord, well done, my good,

faithful and fruitful servant.

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