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Speaker 1: Hi Faith for listeners, Welcome to the Bible explained on

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Speaker 1: this lovely Tuesday morning. We're going to talk about the

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Speaker 1: Antichrist today and what is holding him back from being

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Speaker 1: revealed at this very moment. We'll talk about that in

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Speaker 1: just a minute. So I just realized today that Advent

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Speaker 1: is four weeks away. Less than four weeks away, actually,

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Speaker 1: So if you know a teen girl in your life,

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Speaker 1: whether it's your daughter or your niece or your friend's kid,

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Speaker 1: you should get them the Adore Advent Devotional for teenage

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Speaker 1: girls that I wrote. It's actually my favorite thing that

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Speaker 1: I wrote. Shockingly enough, I really do enjoy it. I've

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Speaker 1: gone through it with the youth group on several occasions

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Speaker 1: and the kids really like it. You know. It's a

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Speaker 1: four week study about what Advent is, and then there's

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Speaker 1: different activities you can do associated with Advent for each week.

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Speaker 1: So it's a fun little study and I think girls

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Speaker 1: really like it. So please click the link in my

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Speaker 1: bio that says books if you would like to order

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Speaker 1: your Advent devotional in time for Advent. But let's go

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Speaker 1: ahead and read a second Thessalonians two six through seventeen

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Speaker 1: and finish out this chapter talking about the Antichrist and

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Speaker 1: why he's being restrained. Right now, as per usual, I'll

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Speaker 1: be reading from the web, but grab it your favorite

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Speaker 1: version of the Bible, and also your cup of coffee

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Speaker 1: this morning, or your cup of tea for you crazy

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Speaker 1: tea drinkers, and let's go ahead and read all of

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Speaker 1: this together. Now you know what is restraining him to

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Speaker 1: the end that he may be revealed in his own season.

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Speaker 1: For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is

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Speaker 1: one who restrains now until he is taken out of

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Speaker 1: the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom

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Speaker 1: the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth,

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Speaker 1: and destroyed by the manifestation of his coming, even he

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Speaker 1: whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with

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Speaker 1: all power and signs, and lying wonders, with all deception

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Speaker 1: of wickedness. For those who are being lost because they

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Speaker 1: didn't receive the love of the truth, that they might

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Speaker 1: be saved. Because of this, God sends them powerful delusion

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Speaker 1: that they should believe a lie, that they all might

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Speaker 1: be judged who didn't believe the truth but had pleasure

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Speaker 1: in unrighteousness. But we are bound to always give thanks

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Speaker 1: to God for you, brothers, loved by the Lord, because

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Speaker 1: God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification

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Speaker 1: of the spirit and belief in the truth to which

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Speaker 1: He called you through our good news, for the obtaining

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Speaker 1: of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers,

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Speaker 1: stand firm and hold the traditions which you were taught

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Speaker 1: by us, whether by word or by letter. Now our

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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, our Father, who loved

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Speaker 1: us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,

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Speaker 1: comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work

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Speaker 1: and word. So if you didn't get a chance to

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Speaker 1: listen to last week's episode I did about the anti Christ,

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Speaker 1: I highly recommend that you go back and listen to

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Speaker 1: that one, because you might be a little bit confused

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Speaker 1: going into today's portion without reading the first part of

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Speaker 1: Second Thessalonians too, because it's all about who, or rather what,

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Speaker 1: the Antichrist is, and how Jesus's second coming is not

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Speaker 1: going to happen until the Antichrist is revealed. But starting

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Speaker 1: in verse six of our portion for today, it says,

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Speaker 1: you know what is restraining him to the end that

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Speaker 1: he may be revealed in his own season. So, as

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Speaker 1: we talked about last week, Jesus is not going to

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Speaker 1: come back until the Antichrist is revealed. Now that being said,

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Speaker 1: something I didn't discuss on Thursday that I should probably

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Speaker 1: bring up today is that there is some debate if

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Speaker 1: Jesus's second coming is different from the Rapture. There's a

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Speaker 1: lot of Christians that actually think that the Rapture is

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Speaker 1: going to happen first, then the Antichrist and everything will

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Speaker 1: happen after that, and then Jesus's second coming will take place.

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Speaker 1: There is some scriptural evidence for that. However, I'm more

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Speaker 1: in the camp that it all happens at one time,

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Speaker 1: that the Antichrist and everything in the Book of revel

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Speaker 1: happens before Jesus's second coming and before the rapture. That's

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Speaker 1: my personal belief. But there are a lot of Christians

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Speaker 1: that believe that the rapture is different from Jesus's second coming.

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Speaker 1: So that being said, there is a possibility that the

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Speaker 1: Church is raptured before the Antichrist even happens. Okay, but

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Speaker 1: based upon verse six, we know that the Antichrist is

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Speaker 1: being restrained and that he's going to be revealed in

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Speaker 1: his own season. There are two things we can talk

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Speaker 1: about there, what is restraining the Antichrist and also how

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Speaker 1: can the Antichrist be restrained way back in the days

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Speaker 1: of Paul if the Antichrist hasn't even happened yet. But

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Speaker 1: let's talk about what is restraining the Antichrist first. There's

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Speaker 1: a lot of different beliefs on this. The first belief

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Speaker 1: is that the Church is restraining the Antichrist. The Church

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Speaker 1: is holding the anti christ Christ back from being revealed.

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Speaker 1: And the only way the Antichrist can be revealed is

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Speaker 1: when the Church is taken out of the picture via

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Speaker 1: the rapture. So when Jesus comes again and the rapture happens,

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Speaker 1: that is when the Antichrist will be revealed right after that.

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Speaker 1: The second belief is that the Antichrist is being restrained

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Speaker 1: by the Gospel message itself, and that's talked about in

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Speaker 1: Matthew twenty four, verse thirteen and fourteen. He who endures

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Speaker 1: to the end will be saved. This good news of

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Speaker 1: the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for

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Speaker 1: a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

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Speaker 1: Now those are Jesus's own words. So that's what a

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Speaker 1: lot of people think is holding back the Antichrist from

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Speaker 1: being revealed now is just the Gospel message. It hasn't

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Speaker 1: been proclaimed to all the nations yet, not every single

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Speaker 1: person has heard the Gospel message. So if that's the case,

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Speaker 1: the Antichrist can't be revealed yet. The end has not

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Speaker 1: come yet. And there's some other beliefs as well as

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Speaker 1: to what is holding the Antichrist back. For example, some

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Speaker 1: people think it might be angels like Michael the Archangel

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Speaker 1: or something like that. But I think the most common

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Speaker 1: understanding of this, and also most logical understanding, is that

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Speaker 1: God himself is holding the Antichrist back. When Jesus was

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Speaker 1: walking the earth, he walked it for about thirty two

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Speaker 1: years before he was killed, and how many times did

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Speaker 1: he say to as disciples He was like, my time

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Speaker 1: has not yet come. He was telling his disciples, it

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Speaker 1: is not time for me to die yet, that time

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Speaker 1: is yet to come. And then finally, when it was

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Speaker 1: time for him to die, he said to his disciples,

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Speaker 1: my time has come. There's a verse in Ecclesiastes that

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Speaker 1: says there's a time for everything under the sun. So

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Speaker 1: the obvious answer is that God the Father is holding

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Speaker 1: back the Antichrist from being revealed until his time is right,

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Speaker 1: and only God the Father knows when that time is

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Speaker 1: going to be, So the Antichrist is still being held

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Speaker 1: back to this day, both in Paul's day and today

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Speaker 1: as well. We do not know who the Antichrist is yet.

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Speaker 1: So all that being said, how if the Antichrist is

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Speaker 1: like one individual, how is he being restrained for two

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Speaker 1: thousand years? Like, is this guy some sort of immortal?

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Speaker 1: Well no, I mean the obvious answer is that the

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Speaker 1: Antichrist in and of itself is Satan. And Satan, as

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Speaker 1: we understand him, is kind of like an immortal that

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Speaker 1: we know of. So yes, Satan has been alive in

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Speaker 1: the times of Paul, and he's alive nowadays wreaking just

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Speaker 1: as much havoc as he always has. So Satan is

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Speaker 1: probably going to possess a person in the future, and

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Speaker 1: that person possessed by Satan will become the Antichrist. Now

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Speaker 1: I don't know person. If Satan is going to be

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Speaker 1: one individual or if he is going to be an

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Speaker 1: organization of people, I don't know. I haven't done enough

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Speaker 1: research on that to fully say for sure. Christians throughout

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Speaker 1: the years have believed both things. For example, Martin Luther

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Speaker 1: famously believed that the papacy, the organization itself, was the Antichrist,

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Speaker 1: whereas other famous Christians believe that the Antichrist is going

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Speaker 1: to be like a world leader or a politician of

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Speaker 1: some sort. So I don't really know. We don't know

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Speaker 1: who the Antichrist is going to be. But we do

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Speaker 1: know that the Antichrist is going to be inhabited by

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Speaker 1: Satan himself. And this is what Paul talks about here

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Speaker 1: in verse seven, for the mystery of lawlessness already works.

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Speaker 1: Only there is one who restrains now until he is

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Speaker 1: taken out of the way. You know, you and I

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Speaker 1: we have a limited understanding of demonic powers and the

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Speaker 1: inner workings of sin and you know, spiritual things. We

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Speaker 1: you know, we understand it somewhat because we have what

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Speaker 1: God has given us in the Bible. But it's still

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Speaker 1: kind of a mystery to us, you know, like we

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Speaker 1: really don't know what's going on behind the scenes. You know,

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Speaker 1: Paul talks about it. He says, we're not fighting a

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Speaker 1: flesh and blood battle. We're fighting against principalities and spiritual forces.

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Speaker 1: And like darkness, we're fighting a battle that we can't

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Speaker 1: see us individual Christians, So we kind of understand spiritual warfare.

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Speaker 1: We know it exists, but it's still a mystery to us.

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Speaker 1: So this mystery of lawlessness that Paul talks about here

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Speaker 1: is going to someday be revealed, like God is going

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Speaker 1: to reveal it, and it's no longer going to be

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Speaker 1: a mystery. I think a lot of Christians have this

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Speaker 1: fear that if the Antichrist is revealed in their lifetime,

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Speaker 1: that they're going to accidentally fall for him, that they're

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Speaker 1: going to, unbeknownst to them, go get the Mark of

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Speaker 1: the Beast and not realize that their soul is like

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Speaker 1: doomed forever because they start following the Antichrist and got

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Speaker 1: the mark of the Beast. That is not the case.

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Speaker 1: This mystery of lawlessness which exists now is going to

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Speaker 1: be shown to everyone. We're gonna see it. You know,

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Speaker 1: the Mark of the Beast that I've talked about a

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Speaker 1: few times throughout the episodes. That mark is going to

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Speaker 1: be an incentive for people. They're going to want it

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Speaker 1: because it's going to give them something that they desire.

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Speaker 1: That's how the Antichrist is going to work. People will

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Speaker 1: know that this guy is bad news, but they will

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Speaker 1: choose to be deceived by him because they want what

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Speaker 1: he has. You know, I'm going through the Book of

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Speaker 1: Jeremiah right now, and it's really eye opening. In fact,

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Speaker 1: if you want to understand a little bit more about

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Speaker 1: end times and how people will react. I think the

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Speaker 1: Book of Jeremiah is very telling because the entire premise

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Speaker 1: of Jeremiah is this poor prophet named Jeremiah just can't

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Speaker 1: catch a break. He's being told by God. Go to

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Speaker 1: the people and tell them that they are sinning, tell

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Speaker 1: them that Babylon is at their doorstep, tell them that

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Speaker 1: the city is going to be burned down with fire

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Speaker 1: if they do not turn away from their evil ways

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Speaker 1: and stop listening to their false prophets. So Jeremiah would

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Speaker 1: go to all of these gatherings and these meetings, and

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Speaker 1: he would tell the kings and these false prophets and

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Speaker 1: anybody else that would listen, that Israel is going to

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Speaker 1: be destroyed if they don't change their ways. But the

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Speaker 1: people would be like, we don't believe you. We want

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Speaker 1: to believe our false prophets because we like what they say.

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Speaker 1: To us. You're saying bad things, Jeremiah. You are telling

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Speaker 1: us bad, evil things that we don't want to hear.

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Speaker 1: So we're going to listen to the prophets that tell

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Speaker 1: us exactly what we want to hear. And that's essentially

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Speaker 1: what they would say to Jeremiah. They'd be like, no,

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Speaker 1: we don't like you because you say mean things. We're

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Speaker 1: going to listen to the guy that says nice things.

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Speaker 1: That's how people will react at the end days as well.

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Speaker 1: They're going to want what the Antichrist gives them, whether

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Speaker 1: it's power or money, or fame or incentives of some sort,

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Speaker 1: they're going to want that. So they're going to choose

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Speaker 1: to not listen to the truth. And that's what Paul

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Speaker 1: talks about right here. The lawless one will be revealed,

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Speaker 1: whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth,

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Speaker 1: and destroyed by the manifestation of his coming. Even he

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Speaker 1: who's coming is according to the working of Satan, with

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Speaker 1: all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all

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Speaker 1: deception of wickedness. For those who are being lost because

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Speaker 1: they didn't receive the love of the Truth, that they

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Speaker 1: might be saved because of this God sends them a

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Speaker 1: powerful delusion that they should believe a lie, that they

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Speaker 1: all might be judged who didn't believe the truth but

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Speaker 1: had pleasure in unrighteousness. It actually says he's going to

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Speaker 1: be able to perform lying signs and wonders and miracles

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Speaker 1: of some sort. No matter what this guy does, the

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Speaker 1: Christians who truly believe in God will not be deceived.

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Speaker 1: Now you might be like, well, Jenet says in Matthew

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Speaker 1: twenty four that he might deceive the chosen ones. Well,

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Speaker 1: let's actually read that verse Matthew twenty four, twenty three

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Speaker 1: and twenty four. Here's what Jesus says regarding the Antichrist.

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Speaker 1: If any man tells you, behold, here is the Christ,

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Speaker 1: or there don't believe it, For false Christs and false

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Speaker 1: prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and

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Speaker 1: wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the

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Speaker 1: chosen ones. Notice that phrase Jesus uses, if possible, even

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Speaker 1: the chosen ones. So I think that means that the

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Speaker 1: anti Christ he's going to try. He is absolutely going

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Speaker 1: to try to deceive the Christians, if at all possible.

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Speaker 1: And some Christians who may be Christian in name only

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Speaker 1: might fall for him, might be deceived, might really like

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Speaker 1: what he has to offer. But the Christians who are

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Speaker 1: grounded in truth are not going to be deceived by

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Speaker 1: this guy. That's what Paul says right here. The only

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Speaker 1: ones that are going to be deceived are the ones

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Speaker 1: who did not love the truth. That's what he says

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Speaker 1: in verse ten, because they didn't receive the love of

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Speaker 1: the truth that they might be saved. That's why you

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Speaker 1: have to ground yourself, right, That's why you have to

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Speaker 1: read the Bible. The Bible is the truth. So when

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Speaker 1: all of this eventually happens, the Antichrist is not going

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Speaker 1: to have power over your soul. And this is all

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Speaker 1: a warning, you know, to Christians and to non Christians alike,

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Speaker 1: that we should be on guard. We should be careful

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Speaker 1: because it is possible that the Antichrist is revealed in

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Speaker 1: our lifetime, but it is possible the rapture is before that,

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Speaker 1: and we don't have to worry about the Antichrist at all.

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Speaker 1: But it's better to be safe than sorry, better to

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Speaker 1: be on guard, making sure we ground ourselves in truth

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Speaker 1: every single day rather than fall for the lies of Satan.

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Speaker 1: Because that's all this is going to be. It's all

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Speaker 1: going to be a bunch of lies. You know. Satan

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Speaker 1: he can offer people very surface level things, but he

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Speaker 1: can't offer them the truth. He is the father of lies.

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Speaker 1: So if all he can do is a lie, people

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Speaker 1: who are grounded in the truth are going to see

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Speaker 1: through those lies. Now, the other point that I want

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Speaker 1: to make here is that the Antichrist is not here

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Speaker 1: to judge Christians, like, this is not some sort of

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Speaker 1: punishment on Christians. Paul actually says that this is a

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Speaker 1: punishment for the people who actually worship the Antichrist. That's

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Speaker 1: what it says. Because of this, God sends them a

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Speaker 1: powerful delusion that they should believe a lie, believe in

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Speaker 1: the Antichrist, that they might be judged who didn't believe

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Speaker 1: the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The people who

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Speaker 1: believe in the Antichrist, they're going to be happy that

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Speaker 1: they do. They are going to want it. You know.

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Speaker 1: I was talking with my mom recently. We were kind

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Speaker 1: of discussing this topic, and she told me, she's like,

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Speaker 1: you know what, Jen, I think God gives people exactly

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Speaker 1: what they want. And I've talked about that concept before.

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Speaker 1: On the podcast where we discussed Pharaoh and how God

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Speaker 1: hardened Pharaoh's heart. But the one thing people never remember

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Speaker 1: when it comes to the hardening of Pharaoh's heart is

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Speaker 1: that Pharaoh had four chances to believe the truth before

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Speaker 1: God hardened his heart, and Pharaoh was already hardening his

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Speaker 1: own heart before God just did it himself. Pharaoh got

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Speaker 1: chance after chance. And that's the other thing about the

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Speaker 1: Book of Jeremiah that's been very eye opening. You know,

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Speaker 1: God was giving the people prophet sees for a couple

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Speaker 1: decades before Babylon even came into the city, and yet

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Speaker 1: the people refused to listen, just time after time. They're like, no,

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Speaker 1: we don't want these prophecies. We don't like these prophecies.

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Speaker 1: God was giving them chance after chance to turn away

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Speaker 1: from their sin to follow after the truth, but they

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Speaker 1: refused to do it. And I think God's going to

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Speaker 1: do the same exact thing in the end days as well,

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Speaker 1: because the prophets are going to come back. Is what

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Speaker 1: it says in Joel chapter two. When this is a

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Speaker 1: minor prophet in the Old Testament Joel two twenty eight

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Speaker 1: through thirty one, here's what it says. It will happen afterward,

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Speaker 1: that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh,

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Speaker 1: and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old

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Speaker 1: men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions,

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Speaker 1: and also on the servants and on the handmaids. In

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Speaker 1: those days I will pour out my spirit. I will

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Speaker 1: show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,

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Speaker 1: fire and pillars of smoke. The sun will be turned

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Speaker 1: into darkness, the moon into blood. Before the great and

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Speaker 1: terrible Day of Yahweh comes, it will happen that whoever

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Speaker 1: will call on Yahweh's name shall be saved. For in

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Speaker 1: Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, there will be those who escape, for,

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Speaker 1: as Yahweh said, among the remnant those whom Yahweh calls.

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Speaker 1: So this entire chapter of Joel is actually talking about

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Speaker 1: the end days, which it's a really good read if

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Speaker 1: you're curious about more things that happen in the end days.

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Speaker 1: But that is very clear that when all of this

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Speaker 1: takes place, God is going to pour out his spirit

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Speaker 1: on his people, and these prophets are going to come

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Speaker 1: back and they're going to try to warn people that

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Speaker 1: end times are coming, that the Antichrist is coming, that

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Speaker 1: bad things are taking place, that the day of the

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Speaker 1: Lord is coming, and they need to turn away from

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Speaker 1: their sin and actually follow after Jesus, follow the truth.

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Speaker 1: God says, he himself is going to show the people's

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Speaker 1: signs in the sky, and like there's going to be

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Speaker 1: blood and fire and pillars of smoke and darkness, and

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Speaker 1: the moon's going to turn into blood. Really crazy things

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Speaker 1: are going to happen. And God is doing this not

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Speaker 1: to judge the people, but to show them that things

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Speaker 1: are happening, that the day of the Lord is nearby.

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Speaker 1: And that reminds me of the Book of Jeremiah where

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Speaker 1: Jeremiah was telling the people turn away, and the people

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Speaker 1: just refused. They didn't want to see any signs, they

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Speaker 1: didn't want to hear any prophecies. They just want to

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Speaker 1: believe their delusion that they were safe inside of Jerusalem.

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Speaker 1: That's how it's going to be at the end days

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Speaker 1: as well. And you might be like, well, Jen, how

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Speaker 1: do you rectify all of this with the fact that

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Speaker 1: Jesus says, we don't know the day or the hour

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Speaker 1: of his return, Like if the Antichrist is revealed and

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Speaker 1: all these signs are happening, and you know, people are

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Speaker 1: prophesying saying that the Antichrist is coming, the day of

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Speaker 1: the Lord is coming. Doesn't that kind of prove that

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Speaker 1: we will know when Jesus comes back again, will know

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Speaker 1: because still we don't know the timeline of all these things.

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Speaker 1: We don't know how long anything is going to take.

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Speaker 1: Jesus did say, you're going to see the signs and

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Speaker 1: know that my return is extremely close, Like the prophecies

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Speaker 1: are going to start making way more sense in the

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Speaker 1: Book of Revelation. Things will be revealed, and at that

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Speaker 1: point the Christians will know that their salvation is very near,

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Speaker 1: that Jesus's return is imminent. But we're still not going

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Speaker 1: to know the day or the hour or the timeline

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Speaker 1: of any of these things taking place. And I talked

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Speaker 1: about that on the previous episode where I said, no,

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Speaker 1: we're not going to know Jesus's hour of return, but

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Speaker 1: we are going to know the signs. The signs are

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Speaker 1: going to be very evident to us, and these signs

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Speaker 1: will take place, is what God says. So to conclude

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Speaker 1: this chapter, in verses thirteen through seventeen, here's what Paul says.

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Speaker 1: We are bound to always give thanks to God for you,

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Speaker 1: brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from

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Speaker 1: the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the spirit and

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Speaker 1: belief in the truth. So there it is right there.

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Speaker 1: You know. The Thessalonians actually believed that the day of

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Speaker 1: the Lord had already come, and that was why Paul

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Speaker 1: wrote this letter, was because he was setting them straight,

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Speaker 1: being like, no, the day of the Lord has not come,

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Speaker 1: and it won't happen until these things take place. Right,

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Speaker 1: So he tells them, you guys, understand the truth. You

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Speaker 1: know the truth, so don't be deceived, and don't be

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Speaker 1: afraid thinking that you haven't been raptured with the rest

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Speaker 1: of the church or something, or that the day of

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Speaker 1: the Lord has already happened. Don't be deceived by these things,

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Speaker 1: and don't be afraid. You know the truth. Just stand

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Speaker 1: firm on the truth. And he says, he called you

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Speaker 1: through our good news for obtaining the glory of our

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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. So he's setting their entire fears at ease.

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Speaker 1: He's like, you believe in the truth. You've been called

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Speaker 1: you are going to obtain the glory of our Lord

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. So don't be afraid of these things. So then,

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Speaker 1: brothers verse fifteen, stand firm and hold the traditions which

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Speaker 1: you were taught by us, whether by word or by letter.

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Speaker 1: So Church, stand firm in the truth. Then verse sixteen. Now,

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Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our Father, who

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Speaker 1: loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope

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Speaker 1: through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every

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Speaker 1: good work and word. So Paul prays for the church.

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Speaker 1: He says, God, please give this church eternal comfort and

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Speaker 1: good hope through your abundant grace, Comfort their hearts, and

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Speaker 1: establish them in every good work and word. And he

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Speaker 1: ends with that prayer because he knew the Thessalonian Christians

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Speaker 1: needed it, so he prays for them. And that's what

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Speaker 1: I'm going to pray for all of you guys as well.

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Speaker 1: You know, I don't really pray on this podcast very often,

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Speaker 1: but I feel called to, so, Heavenly Father, please bless

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Speaker 1: the listeners of this podcast. You love them so much,

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Speaker 1: so please give them eternal comfort and good hope through

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Speaker 1: your grace. Comfort each individual heart, and establish them in

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Speaker 1: whatever work that they are going to do. In Jesus's name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: faithful listeners will be in the last chapter of Second

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Speaker 1: Thessalonians on Thursday, so I hope to see all of

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Speaker 1: you guys then six am or whenever you choose to

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Speaker 1: wake up and listen until Thursday. Happy listening and God

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Speaker 1: bless