Are we living in the last days? You know, that question was on people's minds as we approached the end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st century. If you remember, many thought at that time that Y2K would usher in the end of the world as we knew it. In fact, they felt that some catastrophic global disaster would occur and the world would end. But as you know, and as we're sitting here this morning, nothing happened. It fizzled. It was a big fizzle. And the start of the new millennium went off without a hitch. The end of the world has not happened. But the question, are we living in the last days, kind of was pushed back in people's minds. And that is until recently. With the current worldwide COVID pandemic that is killing thousands of people worldwide and even in the United States, many are wondering if this is a sign that we're living in the last days. Coupled this with other things happening in our world, global warming, nuclear threats from North Korea and from Iran, continued tension in the Middle East, cold relations with Russia and China, the threat of more terrorist attacks on the United States, a global food shortage, record heat in some places, and record cold in others. Are these signs that the world is headed for destruction, that the end of the world is near? Where are we according to God's time clock? Where are we according to God's time clock? Up to this point, we've been kind of looking at the big picture of God's plan for mankind since the beginning of time. We've discovered that the Bible views history as a series of dispensations. as a means by which God governs mankind, including revelations of that arrangement. And so we've looked at the various dispensations. In each of the dispensations, there is a test. Would man trust and obey God? And what man failed to trust and obey God, then judgment would come. And in each of these dispensations, we found that there is grace. Grace that is found in each of the ages. And at the end of this dispensation, it becomes a secondary means or a ruling man in the new dispensation. Now, we've looked at the various ones. I want to take a quick visual run through these. We looked at, first of all, the dispensation of innocence. And we saw that it began with God creating Adam and Eve and placing them in the Garden of Eden. They were created with untested creature holiness. And so God created a test to see whether they would trust and obey him. They could eat of every tree that was planted that God gave to them except for the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Adam failed the test, they ate of the forbidden fruit, and as a result, sin entered into the world. Judgment came in the form of curse that was placed on them, and then they were expelled from the garden. But there was grace in all of this because God promised that the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent. And so this dispensation ended. It ended when God established a new way of governing man, and that is through man's conscience. Now we know that the conscience, that man intuitively knows what is right or wrong. God has placed his law in man's hearts. And the test would be if man could trust God and live according to their conscience. Now some of them did, like Enoch and Noah, but the vast majority failed. In fact, at the end in Genesis, it says that the intent of their heart was only evil continually. They were evil through and through, and judgment came in the form of the universal flood. And God wiped out everybody except for Noah. But there was grace in the midst of this, because Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And so conscience, that is one way God continues to govern us today. Our conscience bothers us because God uses the conscience. After conscience, after the flood, God enters into a covenant with Noah that established the next dispensation, which is the dispensation of human government. God gave men the authority to rule over others in promoting and protecting the good and punishing evil, even to the point of taking a human life for capital crimes. Mankind, after the flood, was to spread out and to fill the earth, but instead, in violation of God's commands, they decided to come together and build a name for themselves and a tower. Judgment came when God confounded the languages. And people then had to spread out throughout the world because they found people that spoke German and people that spoke French and so on. And as I said in that sermon, it's interesting that linguists, they trace all the languages back to the Fertile Crescent, to one source. And we know why, because the Bible says this is what happened. But God's grace is seen in the fact that God did not destroy the nations like he did in the flood and allowed them to continue on. In fact, human government is one way in which God today governs mankind. After man's failure at the Tower of Babel, God decides to work with one man, Abram or Abraham, and a new way of governing mankind by the power of promise. by the power of promise. God promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan, a seed from which would come a great nation and spiritual blessings which would flow through him to the rest of the world. When it came to trusting and obeying God, it was a mixed bag of belief and unbelief. The test was, would they stay in the land or not? And judgment came in the form of slavery in Egypt, but God's grace is seen in sending Moses to deliver them in the exodus. And so the promise is made to Abraham. God said they were everlasting, they were eternal, they were unconditional, they weren't dependent upon Israel, they weren't dependent upon Abraham and his descendants, they were dependent only upon God for the fulfillment. And so these promises that were made to Abraham are yet to be fulfilled, and they will be fulfilled, literally, I believe, in the future. Well, on their way to the promised land, God established a new way of governing his people, and it was the dispensation of the law. The dispensation of the law. The test under the law would be whether they would develop a humble and contrite heart. As they sought to obey God, and his laws. Some of them did, partially, most of them failed, but there was only one who fully kept the law and fulfilled it down to its very letter, and that is Jesus Christ. He kept the law. Judgment comes with the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews among the Gentile nations, but grace is seen. in the person of Jesus Christ and the promise that was made of regathering the nation of Israel one day. Now Jesus Christ ushers in a new dispensation, the dispensation of grace, the dispensation of grace. For he is the personification of grace. He is full of grace and truth. The test of mankind would be whether they would accept whether they would accept God's gift of salvation by grace through faith and thus become a member of the church, which is a new entity of redeemed people. Some of them have, and we have. Many do not. And judgment will come one day during the tribulation period for those who have rejected Jesus Christ. But grace abounds during this period of time. Now the age of grace will usher in the final dispensation, the dispensation of the millennial kingdom. I don't know where that came from. PowerPoint put that up. When Jesus Christ returns at the end of the tribulation, he will set up his kingdom here upon the earth. We will be looking at this event later in our study of prophecy. But let me just say here that Jesus Christ will one day rule over this world with a rod of iron. He will fulfill all the promises that God made to Abraham and his descendants as well as to David and his descendants. He will reign over the house of David on the throne of David and this Davidic kingdom and he's going to institute among the Jewish people that new covenant relationship which we now live under as believers in Christ. The test during this time will be how people will respond to the reign of Jesus Christ. Will they obey him and his laws? Most will trust the Lord and obey the Lord, but a few will rebel at the end of the thousand years. In fact, Satan, who has been bound at the beginning of the kingdom, will be loosed for a season. He's going to lead a rebellion against Christ. In the end, the rebellion will be put down. Satan and his cohorts will be cast into the lake of fire. And those who have disobeyed will experience everlasting punishment. The millennial kingdom will usher in the eternal state with a new heavens and a new earth. And we will forever live in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now we today are living under the dispensation of grace. But where are we in this time period? Are we near the beginning? Are we in the middle? Or are we near the end, living in the last days, the days prior to the return of Jesus Christ? What time is it according to God's time clock? Are there any indications in scripture, signs that would indicate what time it is according to God's plan for the ages? Now, I believe there are signs in scripture, and the signs that we may be living in the last days, I think, can be grouped into three categories. The three categories are, first of all, world events, signs that are happening in the world today. and then signs of the general moral condition of mankind. And thirdly, signs that relate to the spiritual condition of the church before Christ's return. The Bible talks about that, the New Testament. So I want to begin this morning looking at the evidence, and then I'll let you decide if we are indeed living in the last days before the return of Jesus Christ. I've asked you this morning to turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24. Matthew 24 records what is known as the Olivet Discourse, the final words of Jesus' public ministry. For the remainder of the time before his death, he will turn his attention solely to his disciples in preparing them for his departure. in the upper room discourse of John 13 through 16 and culminating in his high priestly prayer in John 17. So these are the final words of Jesus that he gives to people and he talks about events that were still future at his time. Follow along as I set this historical setting beginning at verse one of Matthew 24. He says, and Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you see these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. Now, as they were leaving the temple area one day, his disciples were in all of the architecture. They were like the country bumpkins in the big city. Whoa, look at that. Look at that building. Wow, that's fabulous. That's fantastic. Now, actually, at this time, the temple buildings were just in the process of being built. Construction began in the 20 BC by Herod the Great, but was not finished until AD 64, six years before the temple would be destroyed. And so Jesus spoke these words around AD 30, AD 33. So the building of the temple has been going on for around 50, 53 years. The stones which impressed the disciples were indeed magnificent. These Herodian stones were huge, each measuring 10 to 12 feet in length and weighing several tons apiece. Nevertheless, Jesus makes this startling prediction. He says, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. This magnificent, beautiful temple, which was one of the wonders of the ancient world, it will be destroyed. Not one stone left upon another. Now Jesus' prediction causes disciples to really think about this. You know, this is startling to them. For notice what happens beginning at verse 3. It says, now as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? Luke records it this way. He says, so they ask him saying, teacher, when will these things be and what sign will there be when these things are about to take place? Now his disciples here ask three questions. And at the same time, they have three requests for signs. Three questions and three signs. The first question is this. When will these things be? These things be. In the context, these things refers to the destruction of the temple that Jesus has just predicted would happen. When will Jerusalem and the temple be destroyed? And what will be the sign that this is about to take place? The second question is, what will be the sign of your coming? The sign of your coming. This question revolves around the second coming or the revelation of Jesus Christ that occurs at the end of the tribulation. He's not referring to the rapture of the church. As we will see in coming weeks, the rapture of the church is signless. There are no signs in regards to when Jesus Christ is going to come back for his own. It's imminent. It could happen at any moment, at any time, without warning. However, Christ's second coming will be preceded by signs. So the people living at that time will know that Jesus is coming again. And his disciples asked what signs that might be. And the third question is, what will be the sign of the end of the age? What will be the sign at the end of the age? Literally, in rabbinic theology of Jesus' day, the Jewish theology of Jesus' day, they spoke of two ages. This age, the age in which they were living at the time in which we are now living, and the age to come, or the messianic age. So the question is, what is the sign that the last days of this age have begun, which will lead to the next age, the messianic age, when the Messiah comes and sets up his kingdom here upon the earth? What are the signs that the last days of this age have begun, which will lead to the next age, the messianic age? Now this morning, briefly, we're going to look at the first and third question. Leaving the second one, what will be the signs of your coming for a later time message? May I also say here, as we look at the one way of understanding the Olivet Discourse, you need to understand this, is that the material in Jesus' Olivet Discourse is not presented in chronological order. although there are indications in the text where certain material falls chronologically. In other words, Jesus does not answer the questions in the order in which they are raised. And at times, he even goes back before the end and talks to his disciples about things that they're going to face and experience prior to these events. We need to keep that in mind as we look at these questions. So in response to the first question, when will these things be? When will the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem occur? Jesus does not give a time frame. He doesn't give an answer as far as time, but he does give a sign. He does give a sign that to the Jews in his day, that they were to look for that would signal the imminent fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. His prediction is not found here at Matthew's gospel, but it's recorded by Luke and Luke chapter 21. If you have your Bibles, turn over to Luke 21. Luke 21. And I'd like to begin reading at verse 20. Luke 21 and beginning of verse 20. Jesus says, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and not those who are in the country enter here. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written might be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Now the sign that Jesus gives that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed in the temple is that the sign was the surrounding of the city of Jerusalem by armies. The Jewish believers were told when they saw this sign they were to leave Jerusalem and Judea and to flee outside the land. And this sign would mark the coming desolation of Jerusalem which continues to this day. as it is trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Even today, there is a Gentile presence in the land of Israel and especially in Jerusalem. It's trodden down. Now, may I say to you this morning that this prophecy was fulfilled. It was fulfilled in a marvelous way. In AD 66, the first Jewish revolt broke out against Rome. And at that first break, the Roman general in the land, Cestus Gallus, came with his army from Caesarea, and he surrounded Jerusalem. The Jewish believers who were living there at that time recognized Jesus' sign, but could not escape because the city was surrounded. Then Cestus Gallus noticed that his supply line that he had established was not secure for a long siege. And so he lifted the siege of Jerusalem to return to Caesarea. But on the way, on the return trip, he was ambushed by Jewish forces and he was killed. And so temporarily, For a short period of time, the city was no longer surrounded by Roman forces. So every single Jewish believer in Jerusalem was able to leave. They crossed the Jordan River. They set up a new community of Jewish believers in the town of Pella in the Transjordanian region. They were joined there by Jewish believers from Judea, Galilee, and from the Golan Heights. And there they waited for Jesus' prophecy to be literally fulfilled. In the year AD 68, a new Roman general Vespasian and his son Titus, again besieged the city in AD 70, the city and the temple. City was breached, the temple was destroyed. Altogether, over 1.1 million Jews were killed in the final slaughter. But not one Jewish believer died. Why? Because they believed the words of their Messiah. Since that time, Jerusalem has indeed been trodden down by the Gentiles and continues to be so to the present day. And regarding the stones, well, there was so much gold in the temple. that when it was burned down by the Romans, the gold melted and ran down in the crevices between the stones. And the Romans came in, they tore the temple apart stone by stone in order to get the gold. So that one, not one stone was left upon another, just as Jesus said. Now, I think that's a beautiful thing. I think the fact that it's recorded here and it happened precisely as Jesus predicted would happen. You know, this was a prediction that he made that happened just 37, 35, 37 years after his death. There perhaps were people that were alive at that time that heard of Jesus' prediction that would have seen the literal fulfillment of it. And we can look back as historians and look back and see the literal fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy. And I think that what that does for us is just as he fulfilled this prophecy, it happened literally, so the other prophecies in this passage are also going to be fulfilled literally. They're going to happen just as Jesus says they will happen. They're not to be understood allegorically as somehow being fulfilled today in the present time. They're going to be fulfilled just as Jesus said. They will happen. So then what are the signs? That the last days of this age have begun, which will eventually usher in the next age, the Messianic age. Turn back in your Bibles to Matthew 24. We'll continue there. Follow along at the beginning of verse 4. Matthew 24, beginning of verse 4. It says, And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceive you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." Now Jesus begins by providing two that are not signs. Two that are not signs that we're living in the end times because you know what Jesus says at the end of verse five, but the end is not yet. So these two sides provide some general characteristics of the age in which we're living right now. The first is a widespread spiritual deception and the emergence of false Christs. We're going to look at this a little bit more closer next week when we look at the spiritual condition of the world and the church prior to the end of the age. But let me just say this morning that historically Jesus was the first. He was the first to claim to be the Messiah. But from that time of Jesus until the middle of the 1850s, there have been a great number of Jewish men, from Simon Bar Kochma to Jacob Frank, who have claimed to be the Messiah and indeed have led many people astray. But the existence of these false messiahs in no way meant that the end had begun. The second sign, he says, is the presence of wars and rumors of wars. Wars and rumors of wars, I believe, refer to local wars and conflicts that take place all over the world and even in the Middle East. Since the time of Christ, men have gone to war with each other and have threatened warfare. And this is not, though, an indication that the end times have begun. Luke writes, but when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified, for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately. Not the end. So what is, what are the signs that the end has begun? Follow along as I begin reading at verse seven of Matthew 24. He says, for nations will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famine, pestilence, and earthquake in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. All these are the beginning of sorrows. When nations rise against nations, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, these are the beginning of sorrow. The ancient word for sorrow could also be translated travail. And I think some of your translations might have that translation, travail, or labor. refers to birth pangs that which women undergo before the giving birth to a baby. In other words, these things therefore signal the beginning of labor. The beginning of labor. You know, once labor starts, you can be assured that the baby's on the way. The baby's on the way. Once labor starts, it's soon to be delivered. And so the prophet pictures the last days as a series of birth pangs before the birth of the new messianic age. And so the beginning of travail, or the first birth pang, or the first sign that the end of the age has begun, is when nation rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Now what is meant by that? What is meant by a nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom? I think this idiom needs to be understood in its Jewish context. And we do have some Old Testament passages that speak of a nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. The first is found in Isaiah 19, verse 1, where it says the burden against Egypt Behold, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and will come into Egypt. The idols of Egypt will totter in his presence, and the heart of Egypt will melt in its midst. I will set Egyptian against Egyptian. Everyone will fight against his brother and everyone against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom." So the kingdom against kingdom points to a conflict that's all over Egypt as the nation is engaged in a civil war. Brother fighting brother, neighbor fighting neighbor, city fighting city, and so on. Now there's a second passage in 2 Chronicles 15 that the Spirit of God through Azariah, the prophet, had a message for the Asa, the king of Judah, and he said to him, hear me Asa, And all Judah and Benjamin, the Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. But when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel and sought him, he was found by them. And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in. But great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the land. So nation was destroyed by nation. and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity, but you be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded." Here we have nation against nation. In the context, it points to conflict that was all over the Middle East at this time. Now the context of the statement that Jesus makes in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew chapter 5 is that of the whole world. He's speaking of the whole world. And thus the idiom, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, refers to a worldwide conflict. The first birth pang, which indicates that the last days have begun. It's interesting in the rabbinic writings of Jesus' day. Nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom was a Jewish idiom of world war that would precede the coming of the Messiah. For example, the Berish Rabbah states, if you shall see kingdoms rising against each other in turn, then give heed and note the footsteps of the Messiah. When we see world war, that's the footsteps of the Messiah. The Zohar Chaddish states this, at that time, wars shall be stirred up in the world. Nations shall be against nation and city against city. Much distress shall be renewed against the enemies of Israel. World War. Now, the first time such a worldwide conflict occurred was in the years 1914 through 1918 with World War I. And most historians believe that World War II was just a continuation of World War I. And may I say to you, both had a decisive impact on Jewish history, for World War I provided the impetus for the Zionist movement, and World War II set the stage for the establishment of the nation of Israel. I believe that these two wars marked the beginning They mark the beginning of the birth pangs, or the beginning of the last days. Now, may I say that it's also possible to understand the idiom of nation against nation as referring to the increase in ethnic conflicts. For the Greek word for nation is ethnos, which means race, nation, or people. And so these are ethnic wars or genocides. involving various people groups within a country and contrasted kingdom against kingdom, which would be kingdom wars in which one nation goes against another for land purposes. In World War II, especially in the European theater, it was really a genocide, wasn't it, as Hitler sought to exterminate the Jewish people. In fact, the word genocide was actually coined at that time. to describe the Holocaust. You know, over six million Jews died as a result of that. Most of the 130 plus wars that have been fought since that time have been ethnic wars. The term ethnic cleansing has now become a part of our vocabulary. Northern Ireland, most of the Sub-Saharan Africa, Pakistan, India, China, Tibet, all these conflicts that have been going on are either ethnic or religious in nature. And currently there are five genocides that are going on around our world. Nation, rising against nation, within an own country, ethnic groups fighting other ethnic groups. Just as Jesus would say, right before the end of the age, setting the stage for that. Now you add to the world wars, ethnic conflicts, and territorial wars another sign of the last days, and that is there's going to be an increase in famine and pescalence, or diseases. Today, the world stands on the brink of unprecedented famine. According to the United Nations Agency on World Hunger, 155 million people in 55 countries are teetering on the edge of famine, up from 27 million just two years ago. Famine-like conditions exist in countries like Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. And even in our own country, With all the resources that we have, with grocery stores shelves full, more than 38 million people experience hunger on a regular basis, including over 13 million children. Famine. Add to the worldwide famines are pestilence and diseases. I don't think I need to say more about the current COVID pandemic that has affected every nation of this world. More than 219 million people worldwide have contracted the disease, with over 4.5 million deaths. In the United States alone, we've had 42.5 million cases with over 680,000 deaths, more than died in that 1918 flu pandemic. The numbers keep climbing. And we're not only dealing with COVID, but there's also AIDS and a resurgence of Ebola in this world. Africa is dealing with not only COVID and AIDS, but also with tuberculosis with TB. Health officials fear that over 1 billion may become infected with TB, and over 70 million may die during the next two decades. What has made this problem even more acute is that the new drug-resistant strains of TB have emerged for which there is no known cure. One of the frightening discoveries in the old is that old nemesis of man. such as TB, yellow fever, cholera, syphilis, malaria, diphtheria, have also developed immunities to most antibiotics. Some of the diseases which we thought were once eradicated are coming back with a vengeance. There is famine. There is pestilence. People are starving all over the world and even in our own country. And then there's another sign in verse 7. And that is that there are going to be earthquakes in various places. Earthquakes in various places. Now according to the Encyclopedia Americana, between the years 63 AD and 1896, there were only 26 recorded earthquakes. Most of the world's earthquakes, by the way, began since World War I. Today, the National Earthquake Information Center reports that there are about 20,000 earthquakes occur around the world each year or approximately 55 every day. According to long-term records from 1900, they expect about 16 major earthquakes per year with an intensity of 7.0 or higher on the Richter scale. Now, perhaps it's just because the world has shrunk because of our telecommunications in the last few years. But there seems to be more earthquakes of greater intensity in various places around the world, in places where it's been rare for an earthquake to occur. I mean, we've even had earthquakes here in New Jersey. I had my, I remember sitting in my office one day and I saw the wall, my office wall go up and go down. Felt the rumble and the shake. I go outside, I think, I ran out the door thinking my house was going to fall down. What was going on? All my neighbors were out as well. Never experienced an earthquake before. It was really weird. Earthquakes. Now, he says that all these things are the beginning of sorrows, or the beginning of labor or birth pain. Seeing these things occurring on our own lifetime, we can be assured that labor has begun. And once true labor begins, we can be assured that the baby is on the way. So the initial stage, or the end of the age, I believe, has begun. Now some of you might be thinking this morning to yourself, but pastor there's always been wars and rumors of wars since the beginning of time and certainly during this age of grace. History is littered with battles and campaigns of kingdoms against kingdoms that have been conquered. There's also been famines and pestilence. The Black Plague nearly wiped out Europe, and there's been earthquakes before in various places. Detailed records were not kept as they are today. So why do you think that what is happening today in the world scene is what Jesus predicted in Matthew 24? Well, you're right. Those things have occurred, but the key, I believe, to understanding the signs of the time is found in the parable that Jesus tells his disciples and recorded in Matthew 24, verse 32. Jesus says, now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branches have already become tender and put forth fruit, you know that summer is near. So you also know when you see all these things, know that it is near at the door. When you see all these things, know that it's near. It's when all of them are coming together. It's when all of them are happening at once. When there's a convergence of world events, when all these signs come together in concert, then you know that that specific point in world history, that these events are soon going to happen. They're soon going to happen. It's when we see the stage being set, When we see all the factors coming together, we know that we're living in the last days. The tree is blossoming. Summer is coming. The mother is having labor pains. The baby is on the way. And more accurately, Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. So the general world condition points to the soon return of Jesus Christ. We add to this the assembling of the props that will have to be in place for the tribulation to happen. like a one-world government that will be ruled by the Antichrist, a global economy, a cashless society where you'll need a mark in order to buy or sell anything within that economy, a worldwide communication that allows the leaders of them to communicate to everybody all over the world. The world focused on Israel in the Middle East, all of these and more have been prophesied as part of the tribulation period and we're already seeing the stage being set. The props are being assembled. The curtain is about ready to rise. Now I believe that the rapture of the church takes place at least seven years before the end of the play. And so if we're beginning to see all these things happening today, if we're beginning to see the buds on the tree and feel the labor pains, then we know that we're at the very near the end, near the coming of our Lord. Now in light of Jesus' soon coming, Jesus says that we should be doing two things. First of all, we need to be watching. We need to be watching, anticipating His coming. Jesus says in verse 42, watch therefore, for you do not know the hour your Lord is coming. We need to be watching. Are you watching for the return of Jesus? Are you anxious for his coming? Jesus says over and over again in this passage that although we may have a general idea of the times of his return, we may see the stage being set for the final act, we may notice the blossoms on the trees, know that spring is coming, or we may feel the labor pains, yet none of us know the day nor the hour of his return. He could come at any moment. He could come today. He could come before we lay our heads down on the pillow tonight. And He wants us to be ready, to be watching, to be anticipating, to be looking for His coming, to live with that awareness that Jesus could come at any moment, perhaps today. But you know, Jesus doesn't want us just to be sitting around and just waiting for His coming. This is not the time to sell your home and move to the mountains and wait. But it's the time to really work for the Lord. So notice what Jesus says, verse 45. He says, who then is a faithful servant, whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. Blessed, blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. We need to be working. There is so much to be done. And if the truth be known, perhaps little time to do it. It is time for us to double our efforts, to lay aside the things that distract us from our devotion to Jesus Christ, and to work as hard as we can for the kingdom of God, for the salvation of lost people, because quitting time is soon coming. The boss is gonna be returning. Our life work will be over and only as what's done for Christ is going to last. So I want to encourage all of us this morning to buy up every opportunity that we have to serve the Lord until Jesus comes. Work. Work for the night is coming when our work will be done. So I want to encourage us. Let's get busy today. Let's watch, let's anticipate his coming, let's look forward to that day, but let's put our efforts into reaching people with the gospel and spreading his word to everyone.