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[0:00] Just before we get into Matthew, I did want to say something about Halloween. Only a sentence or two. But please don't ever be in any doubt. Halloween is abominably evil. It is awful.

[0:17] So much time and energy is devoted to dragging our kids into satanic stuff and teaching them that evil stuff is just fun and evil stuff is OK.

[0:30] It is not OK. It doesn't do our children any service whatsoever to send them out tricking and treating and stuff like that. So I'm confident that no one in this room does it, but people are also going to listen to these talks online.

[0:43] So this is there for anyone who doesn't get it, that this is Satan's opportunity to wreck havoc among the faithful. And for those who are not yet saved to delay or hinder their likelihood of getting saved.

[1:00] There is no sense in Halloween celebrations of the true evil of demonic stuff. And I can tell you as someone who on just a couple of occasions in my Christian life has been involved in deliverance ministry.

[1:13] Satanic stuff is not funny at all. It is hideous. It destroys lives. And it's something that we would do well to be afraid of. In fact, we should be afraid of it apart from Jesus Christ who delivers us from all of it.

[1:28] He is the only reason we don't need to fear. I won't go on any more about that because otherwise I'll run out of time. So for those of you who are new, we've been going through Matthew's gospel.

[1:41] And this is talk number four on Matthew 24. And on the first talk, what we did was a small, well, probably the longest introduction I've ever done on a sermon.

[1:53] But it was in many ways a small window on the caution that we need to take as we approach this scripture. Because it's the source of confusion for many Christians who try to fit Matthew 24 into rapture theology.

[2:08] And it doesn't fit there. And they also get lost in the fact that God treats Israel and the church as two separate and distinct bodies.

[2:21] They have different pathways and different endings. In fact, I would describe it like this. They are two different women. The church is the bride of Christ.

[2:31] So she is a bride who is not yet wed to her husband. Israel is the unfaithful wife of Jehovah. Now you can find those in scriptures.

[2:43] I'm not going to take time to go into that. But these two women have different pathways to the end. The Jews are told, look out for signs. The Jews are told that when you see these signs, flee to the mountains.

[2:57] The Jews are told you have a process to go through before I come a second time. The church is told you're going to be gone in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. It'll be as fast as that.

[3:08] You're gone. You won't even know it's happened. You will kind of come to in heaven. And personally, I cannot wait. But the point is you cannot be in both groups.

[3:20] You're either in one group or the other. Or you're in the group of unbelievers. And I really don't envy you if you're in that group. So if you try to apply Matthew 24 to the rapture of the church or to church stuff, you will struggle.

[3:37] Now that said, this morning we're going to explore something that does fit into both camps. But you can tell that it should fit into both camps because the Apostle Paul also teaches on it.

[3:50] So with that, we're going to read Matthew 24. And we are reading from verse 42 to the end.

[4:01] And it says this, Who then is the faithful and sensible slave?

[4:32] whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time. Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.

[4:44] Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, My master is not coming for a long time and begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards, The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites.

[5:09] In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Up to this point in chapter 24, we've had several parables and several warnings to the Jews.

[5:21] And you will note, and we'll return to this at the end, but you will note that there's nothing about future life, future growth, future stuff in this passage of Scripture.

[5:33] It's all about, well, sorry, that's not quite true. It is about future stuff, but it's about future bad stuff. There's nothing about, and you're going to bear lots of fruit and you're going to do this and do that.

[5:45] You're going to have revivals. None of that is in this passage. Because it's not written to the church. It's written to the Jews. And the Jews actually have an ending that I would not want.

[5:58] Two thirds of them at the end will die. There will be a believing remnant left. Hence the believing remnant that is all that's left. We can truly say from the Scriptures that all Israel will be saved.

[6:10] Because everything that's left will be saved. So we are in this time when God has poured out lots of warnings.

[6:22] And then as we come to this passage, he says, therefore, and it starts with a therefore. And if you see a therefore, you have to ask yourself, what is it there for?

[6:35] And it's therefore. So it's, look, you're going to experience all these things. The abomination of desolation is going to be like it was in the days of Noah.

[6:48] When all the righteous, sorry, all the unrighteous on the earth were absolutely obliterated, leaving only the righteous in the ark. And by righteous, you will know by now that I don't mean they were righteous in their own strength, but they were at least had righteousness imputed to them by God.

[7:10] So the unrighteous were obliterated and the righteous carried on and populated the earth after the flood. Similarly, and we talked about the confusion that comes about through things like the Left Behind series and things like that, which is a great series, by the way.

[7:29] It makes large of the rapture, but there is a mistake, which is to assume that this passage talks about the rapture, and it doesn't.

[7:39] It talks about God pouring out judgment on the earth, leaving the righteous on earth to populate it during that thousand year reign of Christ, and the unrighteous being taken away.

[7:51] It's the opposite of what happened in Noah's flood. All of that aside, he says, therefore. Therefore, because I'm going to come in phenomenal judgment, and there are going to be stars falling from the sky, and there are going to be astronomical phenomena going on all around you, and everything's going to go dark, and I'm going to come back as the light of the world.

[8:16] Therefore, because of this, because of the dire nature of this, that will definitely come upon you. Be on the alert.

[8:26] Just a small aside then, because we're talking here about the second coming of Jesus, but let's also apply the same thinking to the rapture. For those of us who see the church, who are here, left here, after the church has been raptured, it's going to be a very similar thing.

[8:44] God will come and take his church, and your believing relatives will be gone. In fact, I was really blessed, because Ron came to me months and months and months ago, and he said, I'm drafting this thing to leave for my relatives, so that if the rapture happens in my lifetime, they'll have some point of reference.

[9:03] And he's written something that will guide them to the Bible, and guide them to the biblical truths, so that they won't be left without a pathway forward. But if you imagine, if someone is raptured who you love, and they're gone, and you have no relationship with God, and you now have no relationship with them.

[9:24] So it's a terrifying prospect, to me anyway. Now, so whichever side you're on, or whether you're around when the rapture happens, or whether you're there when the second coming happens, it's going to be a difficult time for you.

[9:40] And one other point that I'd like to make is, regardless of where you stand on the rapture, and when it's going to happen, and even if it's going to happen, which I do wonder that people still think it might not happen, which I don't understand how you can study the Bible, and not conclude the rapture will happen.

[10:00] But what we've been told about in this passage so far, is world events that we can look out for, to tell us we're in the season of the second coming. And I think you'd agree that so many of those things are happening right before our eyes right now.

[10:18] What is good is being called evil. What is evil is being called good. We have a push towards a one world government. We have a push towards a one world church. We have a push towards a cashless society, without which Satan will not be able to control your buying, selling, and trading, as is described in Revelation.

[10:38] All of these things are indications to us, that he is right at the door. And what he's saying then is, be alert because you have been warned.

[10:51] Now whether you're in the church or a Jew, these things apply to you. Because if the second coming is getting closer, guess what? The rapture is also getting closer.

[11:03] So you can't and shouldn't say, but that doesn't apply to me. Because it does. And what we're about to go through applies to us even more.

[11:15] But it says, be on the alert. This is an imperative. Right? It's not, it's not, what can I say? Sharon said to me this morning, can you watch the dog while I go upstairs?

[11:29] Because he's got a cut leg and he mustn't nibble it. It's not that kind. This is an imperative. This is more like, look out or else. You do not want to be caught out by this.

[11:43] It's a cataclysmic thing that you just don't want to not be ready for. So it's an imperative. Now, just to show you how it also applies to the church, turn with me to Ephesians 5.

[11:56] And the key verse we're going to read is verse 14. But on the run up to it, the church is being exhorted to imitate God and to live like children of God and to be dynamic.

[12:10] And I think this is the thing that has exercised me as I've studied for this morning is, the call of God on our lives is to be dynamic. It's not to sit back and put our feet up and say, well, the rapture will happen one day and I'm all right, Jack.

[12:25] And, you know, it'll all. But we are supposed to actively pursue righteousness. And if you don't do that, and this is, please, this is not a big stick to beat me with.

[12:38] If you don't do that, you won't lose your salvation, but you just won't have anything to rejoice over or celebrate or have crowns to throw at the feet of Jesus. You will live an unfulfilled Christian life because you won't live the life that God has planned for you.

[12:53] The life that God has planned for you involves energy, involves doing, involves being available, involves being active, but not to tire yourself out, but to exercise the fruits of the spirit and the oil of the spirit.

[13:09] You burn the oil and not the wick so that you're always doing whatever God has put in your hand to do. Whether you're a mum raising kids or a granddad looking after grandkids or, or whether you're teaching the word on a Sunday, whatever you're doing, whatever God has given you to do, you do it with everything you've got.

[13:28] And it's a, it's a challenge. I find it a challenge. And I think we're supposed to find it a challenge. So in Ephesians 5, 14, it says, and I'm going to start with verse 13.

[13:41] If you try to get the beginning, if you try to get to the beginning of one of the apostles, Paul's sentences, they do tend to run on forever. So we'll start with verse 13. All things become visible when they are exposed by the light.

[13:55] For everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason, it says, awake sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Now, in fact, um, one translation of this, a very, it's a, a perfectly legitimate translation says, and Christ will give light by you.

[14:18] And I found that fascinating that the purpose of you being a light in the world is so that God can give light by you.

[14:29] Not just that you sit there like Torchy, the battery boy, and you, and you have this little glow, but you have a light that you impart to others, both believers and unbelievers.

[14:40] We impart the light of Christ to one another. Now, if we go back to Matthew 24, in verse 44, sorry, let's read on down.

[14:52] Let's, he goes off into this. Be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of night, the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert.

[15:04] So he's saying, be alert, like the man who's making ready for the thief. Now, the, the purpose of this analogy is not to treat Jesus as the thief, but to reflect on the sudden nature and the unexpected nature of finding a thief in your house.

[15:24] And the only, the only, uh, defense you have against that is to be vigilant and be ready. I think of it a bit. When I was a kid, I went to, we went on a school trip around a fire station in the old days when firemen used to actually put out fires rather than rescue cats.

[15:41] As firemen tell me these days, they very rarely have a fire to deal with, but they used to go to bed at night in the fire station with their boots next to their bed, with the trousers already over the top of the boots.

[15:54] They'd have everything ready so that when the bell went, it used to take them on average 30 seconds to present fully dressed. Now that's the kind of vigilance I picture with this.

[16:06] You may have already noticed it being Halloween, but we've already had a lot of satanic interference with our congregation. We've got at least two families that are too ill to be here. And our technology on a day when we've got guests and in a worldly sense, you would want to impress them.

[16:25] But in actual fact, they don't need to be impressed with us. They need to be impressed with the Lord and what he can do. But we've been messed with. And that makes me cross.

[16:36] So it goes on and says about the thief. Now, one way in which Jesus is similar to the thief is that when the thief comes, he indiscriminately takes the lot.

[16:50] And when it talks about the house being broken into in Israel, the house being broken into, the word in Greek means the house is dug through. So they would either dig through the roof or dig through the wall because they were clay buildings and they would just help themselves to everything that was there that was of any value.

[17:10] And so we are, we are to understand that when the Lord comes, if you're not his, and this is, this pertains to the second coming, not to the rapture, but if you're not his, you will just be taken and it will be abrupt and it will be totally, and there'll be nothing you can do about it.

[17:30] And you didn't expect it. And you will only be aware that it's happened after the event. Now, there are lots of, there are lots of historical events that run up to this snatching away of people for judgment, judgment, a terrifying thought to be snatched away for judgment.

[17:49] The language used is deliberately supposed to put a scare in you. Lots of people would say, Oh, Jesus wouldn't scare people. I'm sorry. If it was for your good, he would.

[18:00] And I think back to my own father who used to give me a nice hefty clip around the ear when I needed it. And if it hadn't been for the fear of that, I would have been absolutely uncontrollable as a teenager.

[18:13] There's a place for harsh discipline. There's a place for it. That's not to say there's a place for abuse. I'd be the first one to stand against that. So in order to not be caught out, we have to be alert.

[18:27] And as we read on, verse 44 says, for this reason, you must also be ready. So we've got the fireman analogy again, ready for the son of man is coming at an hour when you do not think he will.

[18:43] Now, it doesn't matter whether you're in the faith or outside the faith. When the Lord comes back, it's going to take you by surprise. But there will be those who go, wow, great.

[18:53] And there'll be those who go, oh no, because for some, it is such a welcome thing. And for others, it's a dreadful thing. And by dreadful, I mean, we dread it.

[19:07] Because that's the point at which we face everything that's wrong about us. That's the place where for some of us, he says, well done. And for others, he says, your name is not in the book.

[19:19] You've got judgment to face. That's another Bible study. Readiness in this context means ready to be face to face with and deal with and relate to the Lord himself.

[19:31] And we read in an earlier study, it's a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The apostle John in, uh, in revelation fell on his face as though dead, afraid until the Lord said, don't be afraid.

[19:46] The one who releases you from the fear of the Lord coming face to face with you is the Lord himself. When he either says, don't be afraid, or he says, oh boy, you've got something to be afraid of.

[20:00] I don't know. That's not a scripture reference. I can't point you to that one. And then if we read on, it says this, who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time.

[20:15] So the third ingredient this morning is faithfulness. Now, uh, I don't know if anybody else in the room has ever been a boss. Uh, I was in my, one of my former jobs and I had a team working under me and there were those who I never had to watch.

[20:35] Whenever I turned up, they would be doing what I was paying them to do. Didn't have to keep an eye on them at all. They were faithful employees, but there were those who I couldn't take my eyes off because I knew the minute my back was turned, they would be malingering.

[20:51] They'd be doing stuff. They shouldn't. They'd be looking for shortcuts and ways to avoid doing what I was paying them to do. And there was this balance to strike. And I think what's being said here is that the Lord, when he comes a second time is going to be looking for faithful servants, people who've been doing what he gave them to do.

[21:11] And they've carried on doing it, even though the prospect of his coming has been a distant thing. And suddenly he's there. And I suspect in the hearts of those is a sense of relief.

[21:24] Thank the Lord you are here. So we have to be faithful. The other thing is that when he turns up, if you are faithful, there are no regrets.

[21:36] I'm putting in mind of the apostle Paul in second Timothy, when he knows he's facing his own execution.

[21:47] And he says, I fought the good fight. Effectively, I've walked the walk. I can't, I can't remember the exact words. And there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

[22:01] No regrets. I've done what you told me to do. Mercifully, the Lord hasn't asked me to do anywhere near as much as the apostle Paul, because I don't know that I would have had the character for it.

[22:13] However, he has given me stuff to do. And when he comes back, I want to be able to say, Oh, praise God, you are here. And I have no regrets.

[22:24] Now, a lack of diligence, even if you are saved, a lack of diligence, a lack of alertness, a lack of faithfulness, a lack of readiness will lead you not necessarily to lose salvation, but to have regrets.

[22:42] If only I'd done it better. If only I'd done more. If only I'd paid attention. If only I hadn't spent so much time drinking or reading porn or whatever it is that distract men and women for that matter, from what God has given them to do.

[23:00] And if I was to set a base level for this, because I don't know what God's given you to do, and I don't know what your convictions are, but I do know this. God has given you other people in the kingdom around you.

[23:13] So the very base level of this is to number one, be with them. And I have to be careful because I don't want to sound judgmental when I say this, but the place you should be on a Sunday is in church somewhere.

[23:29] You should be with God's people. There's one opportunity a week for you to meet with a group of God's people. Fellowship is vitally important. If you're out of fellowship, you are like a coal taken out of the fire and left on the grate, and you will go cold while the fire continues to roar.

[23:47] You need to be in the fire. So you need to be with God's people. And the other thing is you need to find ways or let God show you ways where you can serve the people of God.

[23:59] And that could be all sorts of things. I'm not trying to give you rules and regs. So what I'm saying is be alert. I can do that because the Bible says it. Be alert and look for ways you can bless people.

[24:12] Even if they don't even know it, because what you're really doing is sitting at home praying for them. So I'm not trying to put rules here. What I'm trying to convey is what God is looking for in the heart of the people who he's calling to serve his kingdom, whether you're in the church or whether you're a believing Jew.

[24:35] So for Israel, they need to be watching for the signs and responding accordingly and to know that his appearance is close at hand. We read that back in verse 37, which says, for the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

[24:53] For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the days of the day that Noah entered the ark.

[25:04] They had been warned of impending massive cataclysmic judgment and they were marrying and giving in marriage and eating and drinking and having picnics. And yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not going to happen.

[25:17] And then the rain started to fall. And oh, oh, quick, let me in. Too late. The ark is closed. And that analogy has been used deliberately to give Jews a sense of urgency.

[25:32] And I would suggest to give us a sense of urgency to be doing God's business. There's a, I can't remember the date.

[25:43] It was in the 1800s sometime. There was a case of a congressional meeting in America and suddenly the sky went dark and they couldn't see.

[25:59] And the newspaper reports at the time said you couldn't read a newspaper. It was that dark. In the middle of the day. And back in those days, Congress was quite a biblical group.

[26:12] They were, they were aware that the founding fathers were all Christians. And so these men said, if this is the end, we need to be found by God doing our duty.

[26:24] So we need to carry on. And I think that kind of expresses what should be in our hearts. If the Lord comes for his church tomorrow, I want him to find Ray doing what Ray is supposed to be doing.

[26:40] And not messing with stuff, which I am like all of you prone to. We are all there to be tempted. But I think this call is to make war on temptation, to make war on sin.

[26:58] Almost, I hesitate to say this. Almost to the extent that we say, if that's your game, Satan, bring it on. I am not playing your game.

[27:10] Almost welcoming it. And I say that carefully, because I don't think we should be out there looking for temptation. But at the same time, neither should we be responding to temptation with fear.

[27:22] We should be responding to temptation with a dynamic pushback. I am having nothing to do with this. Take it away. I have quite a good friend, who won't do all sorts of things, because in his former life he was, for instance, he won't take his children swimming.

[27:44] He won't take his children swimming, because there are ladies scantily clad in the swimming pool, and he struggles to cope with it. Now I admire him for pulling away from that. But I wonder whether there is an even stronger way to say, I'm not going to deprive my kids.

[27:59] I'm just not going to look. That's a hard one, that isn't it? But I think ideally, and ideally is a thing that we, sometimes we have to be careful.

[28:10] We might sail too close to the wind for our own good. But I wonder if there is a pushback that we can have that is dynamic enough to say, you cannot tempt me with that anymore. I don't have to deprive my kids, because that is no longer a temptation for me.

[28:25] Because I've become a man of prayer, and I just don't look. Now I realise that's tender territory, but I think what I want to do with this scripture is encourage us to make war on sin, and to make war on unrighteousness, unrighteousness, rather than just sitting in the corner, quivering, and waiting for the second coming.

[28:48] Matthew's Gospel then says, blessed is the slave who the master, and the word master is the word Lord, it's kurios, blessed is the slave who the master finds doing these things when he comes.

[29:02] Now, I do believe in Matthew's Gospel, this is addressed to the Jews who are operating under the law, but it also applies to us. Because, if we read Ephesians 4, you turn there, and we're just going to read verses 17 to 24, in fact we'll start with verse 15, because it gives a good lead into it, therefore be careful how you walk, now this assumes, this is written to Christians, and assumes they are actually walking, therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

[29:43] So there's an exhortation to be dynamic, make the most of your time, the very days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is, and do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody, with your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, God, even God the Father, and be subject to one another, in the fear of Christ, and I've missed the verse, that I wanted to catch, which was verse 11, do not participate, in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them, have you noticed, that all of this is active, it's active pursuit, of righteousness, and a desire not to cave in, turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, chapter 6, and we'll quickly read verses 1 to 10, and working together with him, we also urge you not, to receive the grace of God in vain, for he says, at the acceptable time,

[31:03] I listened to you, and on the day of salvation, I helped you, behold now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation, giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything, commanding ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness, for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report, regarded as deceivers, yet true, as unknown, yet well known, as dying, yet behold we live, as punished, yet not put to death, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things, effectively it's saying, be dynamic in your walk with the God, with God, whether good or bad comes your way, or whether you are accused or not, whether people love you or hate you, whether it hurts or doesn't hurt, the challenge is, to say the only thing, that matters is him, because eternally, we are delivered from everything, so if you do come across a problem, that might take your life, well, the Bible's attitude to that is, that's a temporary thing, because life is eternal, now, what you, what we've just read, applies the principles of Matthew 24, be alert, be ready, be faithful, to the church, so it's not, whilst it's spoken to Jews, it doesn't only apply to Jews, we have things to learn from it, very similar to the life of Joseph, who when he was enslaved, was a faithful slave, and as a result, he was put in charge, of all his master's affairs, twice, in Potiphar's house first, and then, in Pharaoh's house, later on, and you can read those for yourself, in Genesis 39 and 41, what's said, back in Matthew, turn there, is, the faithful servant, is put in charge, of all the master's, possessions, verse 47, truly I say to you, that he will put him, in charge, of all his possessions, we will have a part, to play, in the government, of the world, under the hand of Jesus, if we're faithful, and so, corporately, he will put us in charge, of all his possessions, when we go on, to look at the evil slave, says, verse 48, but if that evil slave, says in his heart, my master's not coming, for a long time, and begins to beat, his fellow slaves, and eat, and drink with drunkards, the master of that slave, will come on a day, when he, does not expect him, and at an hour, which he does not know, we have a natural tendency, and by natural,

[34:43] I do mean, natural, we were probably, all like it, to some extent, before we got saved, and some of us, retain, that, tendency, we have a natural tendency, to apathy, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before, you know, we've got these people, making, prognostications, about the Lord, coming back a week, on Tuesday, and it all turns out, to be rubbish, and so we just, puddle along, and there's no urgency, and there's no need, to be dynamic, about anything, I find myself, I read this, and I want to kick myself, up the backside, to say there is an urgency, that I don't fully understand, but I need to believe it, just because God said it, we are supposed to be, about God's business, and when we are, he causes us, to thrive and prosper, but not necessarily, financially, this is not prosperity gospel, in the sense, that you often hear it, but he prospers us, in our spirit, and he makes us useful, I keep hearing the term, politically useful idiots,

[35:46] I'm happy to be, the Lord's useful idiot, because what do I know, really, well whatever he puts, in his word, and whatever he puts, into me, and if I become apathetic, and useless, and don't use, what he puts into me, the chances are, I'll stop receiving it, I don't know, and in the end, it says, and we'll cut him in pieces, and assign him a place, with a hypocrite, in that place, there will be weeping, and gnashing of teeth, so, the people who were not ready, now, if you apply this, to saved individuals, they're not going to hell, necessarily, but certainly, to Jews operating, under the law, to believers, in the last days, where, the temple is rebuilt, the sacrificing, has started again, they're back, under the law, yes, there's a chance, that they, if they're not, if they're not seen, to be doing, what they should be doing, they will be held, to account, I'm going to jump ahead, because I know, I'm running out of time, the notes will be, with the sermon, when you, catch it online, but there's something,

[36:52] I want to draw, our attention to, in closing, and that is, this discourse, is about, a couple of days, before the crucifixion, and it's spoken, to Jews, and it's spoken, in the light, of the coming crucifixion, as to what, their future holds, and we've, already deduced, it isn't pretty, contrast that, with the, with the upper room, discourse, which is, on the very evening, of his crucifixion, so this is, the next day, or maybe two days later, this is, spoken to, the faithful, disciples, who are going to be, the founder members, of the church, and the whole, tone, changes, and I'm not, going to go through it now, just for the sake of time, but do read it, when you get home, the upper room discourse, is John's gospel, chapters 13 to 17, which is why, I'm not going to read it, right now, because we'll be here, right through lunch, but if you think, of the Olivet discourse, addressing Israel, the upper room discourse, is much more, intimate discourse, with those, who will be, the founder members, of the church, in this discourse, the work of the Holy Spirit, starts to be mentioned, in the Olivet discourse, the Holy Spirit, doesn't get a mention, in the upper room discourse, plays a large part, in chapters 14 and 16, and of course, the Holy Spirit, is the one, that gives birth, to the church, the discourse, we've been studying, speaks of the end of Israel, the upper room discourse, speaks of, future life, of the church, this, this discourse, doesn't talk about, the future, fruit, of those, to whom it's addressed, the upper room discourse, talks about,

[38:49] I want you to bear, much fruit, I want you to love, one another, a central theme, of the upper room discourse, is the need for disciples, to remain in him, and to ensure, they bear much fruit, this discourse, tells, signs and seasons, that we should look out for, so that we know, where we are in world history, the upper room discourse, tells us how we should, conduct the church's ministry, as these events unfold, so, final point, the discourse we're studying, is all about, what happens on earth, the upper room discourse, is all about, I go to prepare, a place for you, and so it's about, what happens in heaven, eventually, so I wanted to draw, a contrast there, because there are, these two discourses, and they're definitely, addressed to different people, not everybody agrees, with that conclusion, you need to study for yourself, and by all means, quiz me about it, what's the application for us, be ready, be alert, be faithful, so father, thank you so much, for this word, lord help us, to be alert, and ready, and faithful, lord, lord, please show us, as events unfold, where we are, in the great, scheme of things, lord equip us, and especially, with courage, as things get worse, and more difficult, that we will have, the backbone, to stand up, and be counted, and that we will be able, to do so, in the way that you did, with gentleness, and with compassion, and with love, and not with brutality, father, work on our hearts,

[40:44]  I pray in Jesus name, amen,