The Second Coming - What things have to happen before?

I want to finish this key teaching that I feel the Lord has placed in my heart to share with my Church at this time about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that even the proclamation of this doctrine has value and a prophetic role for us at this time in the life of our Church. Knowing a key doctrine in the times we live in in all its extension and complexity. So I hope today to wrap that up, finish it and give this part to the Lord.

Second Thessalonians chapter 1 we go to verse 7. Originally I was not going to touch on this topic here in this text but I was going to go to chapter 2 which is where this teaching of the Coming of the Lord is central but here is something also important that we want to see . Do you remember that last Sunday we talked, among other things, about some points that were pointed out in First Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to 11 where it was said that the day of the Lord would come? says how? "like a thief in the night" right?

Some key points of this doctrine of the Second Coming that will come unexpectedly, unexpectedly when humanity least expects it, when the day of greatest prosperity, of greatest celebration, of greatest involvement of people in the things of the world and in history, expectations of world peace and scientific progress and advances of all kinds at that moment says the Lord will come when they least expect it. And that is why there is also a call to be what? to be sober and vigilant, be sober and vigilant.

And we talked about that, right? like the wise virgins the people of God have to keep an eye on the times, the signs of the times even while we live a productive and active life here on Earth, and dynamic doing the work of the Lord, working with our hands, being responsible, being all that a normal human being is but with one eye we are also looking towards the future coming of the Lord and we are alert.

And this thing about being sober, do you remember that word we used? the son of God is distinguished by an attitude of sobriety. Sober means looking around carefully, not falling too much in love with the world and its worries, not letting ourselves be captivated either by people who say: ah! This is the new doctrine, this is the new teaching, this is the latest discovery, this that was hidden for centuries and that is now a revelation for the Church. Our eyes are always measuring things, we don't move easily from the position where we are.

That sobriety that suits, right? Not getting too involved with the world and its appetites and deceptions but clear on what God has called us. We also said that we do not have to fear that day of the Second Coming because God, unlike those who have rejected it and for whom that day is a day of terrible pain, repentance, of having wasted time, for us it is a time of redemption, it is a time of blessing and confirmation and consummation of everything we have been waiting for. So for us it is hope, joy, celebration that day.

We also talked about how the Word says that we have to dwell in the light because that is a day of darkness and Paul says: well, you do not have to fear that day because you dwell in the light. And we talked about how in many passages in the Scripture it says that we are of light not of darkness, for example there is another passage that I did not quote there where it says that our weapons are not of darkness but of light; The weapons that we use are love, truth, justice, mercy, goodness, not the weapons of death, domination of people, manipulation, but people of light.

And we said that the fact that we are people of light means that we have to reject everything that resembles darkness: lies, dissimulation, falsehood, hypocrisy, deceit, gossip, manipulation, malice, machinations, speaking ill of others, being calculating, using others for our purposes; all those things are part of the darkness, they are things that are in the dark. The Christian has nothing to do with theft, with taking what is not his, hurting people, undermining the well-being of others, on the contrary, we are good people, we live to bless others. Then another thing.

And finally that we have to encourage each other with words of hope. We have to use these great teachings of the doctrine of the Second Coming to move forward, to encourage ourselves because Christ is certainly coming soon.

Now, as I told you, we are going through different texts that are key in this teaching. Look in Second Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 7 to 10 where there are a couple of things here that I want to point out as well, it says: "And to you who are troubled God wants to give you rest with us." That is why the doctrine of the Second Coming is so good because even when we go through tribulations, struggles, difficulties, persecutions there is a day of rest for us.

When the Lord Jesus appears to us. That word that is translated into Spanish manifest is apocalupsei, where does the word come from, which one? apocalypse, means to reveal something. Many times the Second Coming of the Lord is tied to expressions, there are two expressions: one of them is apocalupsei and another is also ephiphaneia which means to reveal, manifest. It's like the Lord right now during these centuries after going up to heaven has been like behind the curtain waiting sitting at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the day when the Father says this is the moment.

And then when Christ comes and is visible again it is as if for the moment he is made manifest to the whole world. Until now He has been there as the actor behind the curtain, waiting for the trumpet to sound, the curtain to fall, and then He steps out again to His place of prominence. And that is why he speaks then of that epiphany, he means as the manifestation, that apocalypse that is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every eye will see him, we will see him face to face, we will understand who he is, there will be no more secrets, there will be no more misunderstandings of God's teaching because everything will become very clear.

Then it says: "When the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with the angels of His Power in flames of fire" notice this character as spectacular, right? of his Second Coming, he is a King who comes with all His Majesty and all His Glory, with the angels of His Power in flames of fire, he says, for what? among other things: "To give retribution to those who did not know God."

Retribution means what? payment to whom? those who did not know God. Notice: it does not mean those who were ignorant of God, but rather those who insisted on not knowing him, rather it is the idea; those who rejected him, those who persisted in saying: He is not who He says He is. Those are the people who will then suffer when the Lord Jesus Christ comes at the Second Coming.

"Nor do they obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." There are two categories regarding the Second Coming: some who for them the Coming of the Lord will be like those five foolish virgins, surprise, repentance, oh if we had been prepared. For others: glory to God we are waiting for him, we live and die in him and these people will be happy. But those people who persisted in rejecting Jesus Christ say: "Who will suffer the penalty of eternal perdition and will be excluded" he says "from the Presence of the Lord and from the Glory of His Power."

Here you see something that this doctrine of the Second Coming is also accompanied by this matter of condemnation and what? from hell. If you want a neutral and clear description of what hell and eternal damnation are, there you have it, it is a penalty of eternal perdition and exclusion from the Presence of the Lord. There are many theories about what hell is, if it is in the center of the Earth where the volcanoes end down there; if you could take a ship like they do in those sci-fi movies and drill into the center of the earth and there's hell, yeah it's like Star Wars: warp speed, you go out and you're in another area and there's hell, yeah It is on Earth, if it is in the air, if it is a different dimension, if it is fire, if it is devils there with a fork poking people in the back for all eternity, we do not know, there are so many visions and so many things.

I can tell you one thing with complete certainty, my brother, my sister: hell is where God will not be, where people will be excluded from the Presence of the Lord. And for me that idea that it is that place where God has administratively separated people so that His Grace that emanates from His Presence does not touch them, does not reach them; I have always said: what allows a human being to be recognizable as a human and not as a grotesque demon that inspires terror when looked at is that in some way, no matter how remote his behavior is, there is always something of the Grace of God who touches it, because God in His mercy says that He makes the sun rise for the just and for the unjust.

For some reason the grace of God touches every human being still on Earth. Look at what happened to the demons and Satan when God excluded them from His Presence, what happened?: they turned from glorious beings to terribly grotesque beings and twisted in their mentality, bringing evil and suffering, and hatred and resentment. Although they know they are doomed, they continue to do wrong because it is the only thing they can do. Because? Because look: what gives beauty to a human being, what gives them a touch of humanity is the Grace of God that is still within them.

I compare it to the presence of the Sun. What is it that gives this Earth warmth and life? it is the sun brothers Scientists say that if the Earth moved away just a little bit, if the Earth's orbit moved away a minuscule amount from where it is exactly in relation to the Sun, either it would freeze and there would be no life, or it would burn because it would burn with fire. The Earth's orbit is exactly what scientists and cosmologists say, exactly the amount needed to support life. If it leans a little more towards the Sun or falls behind, it loses its ability to give life.

And so are the people with the Presence of the Lord. We live and we are real, and beautiful because God enlightens humanity. The day that God decides to withdraw His Glory from something, from someone, that turns into total chaos, total distortion, total disorder. And that is why those people who are going to be excluded from the Presence of the Lord are hell. A place where thoughts will not have, what is schizophrenia? What is one of the most terrible things that a person suffers from mental illness? It's when your thoughts get messy, you're thinking one thing over here and another over there, that's terrible. What gives coherence to human thought is a capacity it has to unite and coordinate.

But I believe that those people excluded from the Presence of God their thoughts, their emotions will be in complete disorder and that must be the most terrible suffering brothers, where the Grace of God is not enough. That is a place of terrible solitude, prisons of darkness says where the demons are, they inhabit a spiritual dimension. They can do things and intervene in human events, but they do it from a cold dimension, a spiritual dungeon, and that is where those people who stubbornly reject Jesus Christ will be.

When the time comes to choose His chosen ones, there will be a place where those who did not take refuge in the Grace of Jesus Christ will be administratively separated, that is hell in my opinion, eternal perdition, there will be no more appeal now. And the Bible says that the place to make the decision is here, now in this world afterwards there are no second chances, there is no reincarnation, there is no karma, nothing like that, listen to me, this is where you decide what you are going to do in the whole life. eternity and if you have not decided, I encourage you in the name of the Lord: stop playing games, make a decision right now, you know? please don't waste time.

So the Second Coming is that: there will already be a penalty of eternal perdition and exclusion from the Presence of His Power: "When the day comes to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all those who believed." Glory to the Lord, how beautiful, isn't it? That is important.

Now let's go to the second part, chapter 2 of Second Thessalonians: here is something, something interesting is added, it is said: "Do not rush to believe that the Lord is coming immediately" and this for me is one of the most complex things in life. doctrine of the Second Coming because if you look in Philippians 4 do you remember what it says? "The Lord is near." Philippians 4 verse 4 says, "The Lord is near." However, in chapter 2 it says: "But with regard to the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our meeting with Him, we beg you, brothers, that you do not allow yourselves to be easily moved from your way of thinking or be disturbed by spirit, word or by letter as if it were ours in the sense that the day of the Lord is near."

What are you saying here? do not be deceived or rushed into believing that the Lord is coming immediately. Do you see the apparent contradiction? On the one hand, we are told: the Lord is near, be prepared, be sober, watch out because the Lord comes when you least expect him, and here Paul says: yes, but be careful, do not be fooled by people who are going to come around putting dates and saying like that already! God is coming. Because it is a balance that we have to have between these two things: healthy expectation, being prepared, but on the other hand living our life calmly waiting for the Lord's time, because there are things that have to happen and that is what we are going to see, there are signs that we can follow

It's like spring. How many would like to see those little flowers now blooming on the trees, right? Amen? The melting snow with April there when it was left and you walk and there are bits of ice still from the last snowfall but you know that spring is already there, I would love to but you know what? I know very well that unless global warming doesn't come upon us too much, I still have to spend December, January, February and March and that even in April a little snow can surprise me, right?

So I want spring to come but there are some things that have to happen. And I still do not remember that I woke up one day and that the trees were completely full of leaves and that the garden was full, no, there is a process, right? Some little things begin to appear there, some little buttons that since the first one comes out I say: glory to God, hallelujah!, and then they begin to grow more and the bushes begin to fill up, there is a process, the weather gets hotter, the days are getting longer and for the moment we are in summer glory to the Lord.

This is how it happens with the Coming of the Lord, there are signs, you have to be alert, know the signs. So Paul says, it seems that the Church in Thessalonica was very concerned about that, I think they were Pentecostals like Gigi Ávila. Amen there is nothing, glory to God they are a blessing. But I think that in Thessalonica there was a lot of this, like speculation about the Second Coming that He is coming, there were people who were no longer working because for what? If Christ is coming soon, others were filling their credit cards there because we don't have to pay them, because the Lord is coming.

It seems that Paul had to work a lot with these people, which is why First and Second Thessalonians have a lot about teaching. And Paul says: hey there are people out there who are writing emails telling people that Christ is coming tomorrow and to hurry up and get ready, have your suitcases packed; No. Even if the email says: from Paul the apostle, don't believe it because there are things that have to happen.

So we have to walk brothers in balance. On the one hand, who knows if it could come, before I finish this sentence, although here there are signs that we are going to see, but we also have to live calmly, move on; Young people, don't stop studying, okay? Don't stop me from going to school, work hard for me, ah! because the Lord is coming.

I remember the Jehovah's Witnesses I prayed because there were people from my family, there still are, oh well, there are brilliant cousins of mine, people tremendously, they stopped going to school, they didn't go to university because Christ was coming, what? in 1984 such a rare issue. Listen to me: either I was sleeping for 28 years or they were wrong. They stopped doing a number of things, no: we have to move forward, we have to invest, we have to work, we have to be a people blessed by God, we have to strive in the Lord. We do not know clearly, there is a lot of complexity regarding this, right?

So we must not rush to believe that the day of the Lord is near. This refers to those who date the Second Coming or who make serious decisions based on an overzealous expectation concerning the hasty Coming of the Lord. Again note the ambiguity here; On the one hand, the Lord is close, on the other hand, let's not be too hasty to predict that He is already here ahead, right?

So: "neither by word nor by letter nor by spirit" because some say: oh no because the Lord spoke to me, he gave me a prophecy, I had a dream and he tells me that He is coming on such a day, no, the Word is more important than His revelation, sometimes it's just a lot of cakes that he ate the night before, okay? So there are people who say: oh but God revealed to me, God is not going to reveal anything that is contrary to His Word, the Word is the point of reference, okay?

Then: "Neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as if it were ours in the sense that God is near." Mire says: "No one deceives you in any way because he will not come without something first coming" that says to me since there is a sequence of His Coming, "without something coming first." That is what we have to understand: there are things, God has not told us the day but the Lord says that one has to look at the signs of the times when the trees bloom, etc. So there are things that we can say that have to happen before. God will not contradict His Word.

What things have to happen first? Let's see it right now, okay? Look what it says: "Without coming first" number 1 what? "the apostasy" so write it down there bullet number one: the apostasy, bullet number 2: "and the man of sin will be revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and rises up against all that is called god and is the object of worship." Look at me here, listen to me now I realize something, I am speaking with the microphone and it is that weeks ago I got so used to it, weeks ago this device was damaged. I am free glory to God, amen. The mind and habits are a terrible thing. Thank you Bruno I appreciate your efforts.

There are three things that are going to happen: number 1, apostasy, second, manifestation of the man of perdition and sin. There is a third thing that if you don't take care of yourself, it goes through your head at a hundred miles an hour. Look at what it says here: "Who opposes and rises up against everything that is called God and is the object of worship, so much so that he feel" where? "in the temple of God." It's easy to miss that third thing because it's inserted there as if by the way, "so much so that he sits in the temple of God as God, pretending to be God."

Then Paul says: do not be too hasty in believing as if you, as if tomorrow. Because there are three things, there are two that he clearly says and another that he says in passing: apostasy, man of perdition and sin, and I am going to add my interpretation that it is the temple that is placed there.

Ok let's see the first one. It says here: the apostasy. I say here first the apostasy has to occur, in the Greek apostaseia which is almost a transliteration of the word apostaseia, apostaseia refers in the original Greek, a rare and rarely used word, it means: to get out of or rebel against something.

So he says that there must first be and he speaks first of apostasy, and Paul does not add anything about what he means by that, turning away from what, who is going to turn away, how are they going to turn away, why? because it seems that Paul in a visit or in a previous letter that he had written to them as it were, he had talked to them a lot about this, he had preached a lot about the Second Coming and so he was kind of refreshing and reemphasizing what he had told them. taught so you don't feel like you have to give all the details. And also of course I believe that the Holy Spirit himself wanted to leave that teaching in that degree of indefinition.

Now, apostasy and turning away from what. I see it as a departure from the truth of God, a great rebellion because apostasy also has that idea of rebelling against, removing the moorings. A person is tied to something and says: you know what? I'm not going to stay tied up, he lets go and leaves, that's the idea of apostasy. When Paul says: the apostasy has to come, it is a great turning away from God and His Truth in the last times. We do not know if this refers to something that occurs within the Church only, Christians or in general throughout the world. Now I think it's both.

What it does refer to is a time in history that I believe we are living, we are seeing with our own eyes right now where humanity frantically runs amok behind lies, errors and turns away from God. He says: you know what? I do not want to have anything to do with that teaching, that truth, and if you observe, that is why I observe so much the cultural, scientific, philosophical movements of this time, everything fascinates me; I am fascinated by culture, music, what I see because these things give me and should give you intelligence about what is happening.

It is a time in history like never before, brothers, in which man has been given such knowledge, confidence in his own wisdom, that today we are rejecting everything and it would seem that it is a time when man can do anything and those things that were considered absolute, unchangeable that had to be respected no matter what we already say today: you know what? perhaps that is from people of the past but today with the wisdom we have, scientific knowledge, knowledge of human psychology, of biology, everything is flexible, everything can be changed.

So that is why we see that today, as never before in history, humanity is experimenting with sexuality, for example; today we have: homosexuals, lesbians, transvestites, transgenders, all the varieties of the world, all the perversions and we have governments and a science, psychiatry, for example, that says: that's fine, there's no problem, who says it's just a man, a women?. That is not fixed by the laws of biology. Our findings tell us no, that you can play with it and you can do any possible combination.

Is it polygamy? go ahead, polyamory? no problem. Why does it have to be a marriage of only one man and one woman? so let's experiment with everything. And why does it have to be a conscious person of a certain age? In a while we will also be with pedophilia as something legal, work is already being done on that too because humanity is experimenting with everything. He is experimenting with the ideas of man and woman in terms of their relationship, authority, marriage. Today marriage does not mean anything, marriage can be homosexual, it can be several people together, it can be a man with several women, it can be whatever it is today.

Look at biology. The human race is experimenting with the same genetic code. Today man has the ability to manipulate, use organs from one part, take cells from those organs and create other organs and then put it into people. Today we are experimenting with electronic artificial prostheses where a person who loses a leg can get a bionic artificial leg attached and can win an Olympic race for example, tremendous progress is being made in that way.

Medicine, psychiatry, anthropology, all that is telling humanity is to look: nothing is fixed, everything can be changed. And why do we need God up there and this Word telling us what we have to do? Nothing is sacred: we are sacred. We invented the world. We create our own scientific, cultural, political, historical reality. We are the masters of this creation and that leads humanity to what? to get further and further away from God because it has no mooring, it has no anchor, it has no eternal, absolute points of reference. Everything is at stake, everything is on the table.

So that is apostasy. That leads man to believe that these fictions of God and all these things that religions use, I was there two weeks ago, am I boring you brother or can I continue? Please, I am here saying: two weeks ago I was in a meeting with leaders of the Muslim, Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Evangelical denominations, there were about fourteen people. And one sees that all these religions, despite how divided they are in different things, one thing is clear: that they all know, all the great religions of the world believe in certain basic things, a God who created man with fixed laws that have to be respected, a sexuality that has to be respected, moral laws that have to be respected.

Muslims and Christians may be shooting at each other over many things but they all agree on a respect for a God who has created humanity. The Jews. All these great religions that are thousands of years old on the surface of the Earth have a clear understanding of human reality and respect certain things. The modern secular man is going in the opposite direction away from all these truths. And that's why it says apostasy, turning away from.

So when Paul says: without the great apostasy coming first and there will be more. Humanity is going to become more secularized, more rationalized. Science is going to separate more and more from the truths eternally given by a Creator and man will feel more and more free from the moorings that bind him to a God who determines the laws by which he has to live. So that's turning away and we're seeing it more and more.

So that's preparation. Now, does it only occur in the whole world or in the Church as well? I believe that there is also an apostasy. The Bible speaks of "some will fall away from the faith." So the apostasy occurs in the world but also, and we are also seeing that with my own eyes I am seeing, living and many without realizing it.

The fact that today, for example, here in the United States, which has been the bastion of Christianity throughout the world, because Europe and all the Western industrialized countries are already much further away than the United States. But the United States, the Church in the United States has held up for better or worse. However, we are seeing how little by little this Church is also saying: ah, you know what? doctrine?. oh! what matters is that people come to Church and that they receive Christ.

What Christ? that is what they do not define because Christ is His Word, Christ is His commandment, Christ is His Truth, he is not a fictitious man who lived two thousand years ago. If you accept Christ you have to accept Him with the entire apparatus of His faith, His Truth, His teaching. But then a lot of churches today that are saying, you know what? no, just let people come; let's not bother them or offend them there with strange and very specific doctrines, what we want is for people to love the Church, to be nice, to be nice to people, not to think that we are grumpy ogres but that we are good, nice people , open.

And every day more and more I see a Church right here in Boston, brothers, which were solid evangelical churches and in a few years they have evolved until they began to preach doctrines that are terribly far removed from the Truth of God.

So number one: apostasy, that is so ongoing and I can say that it is advancing in a very big way. Then a great apostasy will come. Second place says: "And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." The man of sin, this being that comes, what is his name? Antichrist, right? The Antichrist, is a being that I am going to describe a little more, but that being has to be fully manifested in action and has a series of things that it has to carry out, and that it is going to promote and propitiate before the thing is ripe for the Lord Jesus Christ to come in all His fullness.

You and I have to be alert to what the Bible says, it is not said by a prophet out there, no, it is the Bible that says it. This man of sin, the son of perdition, is called so because he is a being that embodies evil, he is a being demonically possessed, energized and revitalized by the devil himself. It is like Christ who was the incarnation of the Power and life of God himself in Him, this Antichrist is an incarnation of the devil himself. Satan always tries to duplicate God's miracles. Just as there was an incarnation in Christ Jesus, likewise there will be an incarnation of the demonic spirit in this being that is the Antichrist and it is a specific work that he does.

That is why he is a son of sin, sin and perdition emanates from him, he is a totally corrupt being. "Who opposes and rises up against everything that is called god or is the object of worship." This being possessed by the spirit of Satan himself and has an antipathy and opposition to everything that is divine, everything that invites humanity to submit to the superior law of a Creator God, hates everything divine. That is his modus operandi, it is the force that animates him, opposition to everything that is the object of worship. I would also say that he hates any religion that worships anything other than humanity or himself.

Then he opposes everything and says: "To such an extent that he sits in the temple of God as a god." Let me spend a moment, I'm going to go back, okay? The man of sin again, I'll summarize here: it's about a mysterious figure who strongly opposes God. A powerful demonic figure, supernaturally endowed with the devilish spirit of world-wide proportions and scope. This powerful being is going to have a resonance, world control.

This is a world ruler, the nations of the world because of the charisma that he has and the demonic supernatural endowment and his ability to do miracles, and Daniel says, "to speak wonders," to say things so convincingly, to speak in such a captivating way that Unless the person is inoculated with Christ's blessing and protection, they will fall for his charisma and deceitfulness.

Then he is going to rule nations that are going to throw themselves at his feet. This man is going to administer great world alliances, he is going to establish a world government. What has not been achieved up to now, establishing a world government, this man is going to achieve because he has power and God will give freedom to the devil in these last times so that this being completes his work because he is going to be governed in the last instance By God, God is going to allow him to do certain things, he is going to give him ease to speed up the process of the Second Coming of Christ, but the Lord is behind all of that in the end, right?

So he is such a terribly demonically endowed being. Now his opposition to God and everything that is worshiped, everything sacred is such that he sits in the temple of God as God. Now that's why I tell you the third thing that's so easy to get away from because it's tucked in there quickly and it's not elaborated, you sit where? in the temple, now what temple? the hebrew-jewish temple in jerusalem. Paul is writing about the temple.

The dates of when Paul wrote his letters indicate that the Jewish temple had not yet been destroyed in Jerusalem because if it had been destroyed the Scriptures, it was something so terrible and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the expulsion of the Hebrew people that if that had already happened the Old Testament scriptures would have recorded it. Nothing is spoken. Those things evidently happened after the letters Paul wrote.

Perhaps the only, what is the latest letter you know of in the New Testament? they were written in the 90-something year or so, 90-something, all the other letters were written in the first century, you know which one? John, first, second and third John. The epistles of John were possibly written after the destruction of the temple but everything else was written in the 60's, 70's and something around there. So Paul is talking about the temple in Jerusalem.

Now, is there a temple right now in Israel? Is there a temple like the one that David built, the temple that Herod rebuilt? That temple was destroyed in the year 70 when a great rebellion on the part of the Jews after Christ was crucified and the Lord spoke about it they rebelled against Rome and its power, and there were several years in which they besieged the city of Jerusalem, finally They penetrated the walls of Jerusalem, they killed a lot of people, they crucified hundreds and hundreds of people and they drove all the Jews out of Jerusalem, and from Israel, and from there came the dispersion. Have you heard the word dispersion? The Jewish people were expelled from Israel. and they began centuries and centuries of wandering throughout the world.

They went to Europe, they went to Turkey, the countries of the Middle East, and they were persecuted wherever they went, to Russia, all these countries, the dispersion. Israel ceased to be a nation in the year 70 after Jesus Christ. And when did Israel become a nation again? in the year 1948 almost two thousand years after the roman empire destroyed that nation and scattered all the members of that nation, and one of the things they did was to destroy the temple. It's interesting by the way: the Roman emperor did not want the temple to be destroyed and ordered his troops not to touch the temple when they entered Jerusalem.

And the Romans were following that order because it was one of the great architectural wonders in history. And yet it says that mysteriously during the entry of the Romans a fire broke out that destroyed the temple in any case, and the Lord had said: there will not be a stone left on a stone on these things, the Word of God had to be fulfilled, you know? . And that is why the Lord said: oh how he would have wanted to protect them as the hen covers her chicks and they did not want to. That's why Israel was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed.

So look interestingly: almost two thousand years the Jewish people roamed the world without being a nation, in all the nations of the Earth there were Jews and there still are. However, the scholars of the prophecies studying the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Haggai, Hosea, Joel said: but here he is talking about that at one time God would gather His people, he says that He would scatter them but that they would return to Earth and they would be a nation again. And it says here that in the last times there will be a nation to receive Jesus in His Second Coming and that this nation is going to be attacked by a mysterious being, and that Jerusalem is going to be attacked but at that time Jerusalem did not exist.

The students of the prophecies say: but how is this going to be? In the entire history of mankind there has not been a nation that ceased to be a nation for two thousand years and returned to become a nation again. In the year 1948 the United Nations voted to declare Israel a nation again. By the way, I think it was Guatemala that gave the confirming vote, you know? to Israel, you know? That is interesting. Guatemalans have a great blessing because they were the last nation to vote and with that Israel was confirmed as a nation, interesting.

The fact is that in 1948 at the moment that prophecy that Israel would become a nation again and from 1948 until now, 64 years if I'm not mistaken the Jews have been returning from all parts of the Earth, there are five million of them now same or three, three point something million in Israel, the first part was fulfilled, there would be a people called Israel again.

And after that Jerusalem was still there even though Israel had control of the land Jerusalem was in the hands of the Arabs, all of Jerusalem, and in the year 67 there was a great six day war and Jerusalem passed into the hands of the Arabs. Hebrews and then that part became a reality. Now something very interesting is missing and it is the temple.

Many prophecies like this one that we are reading here, many others in more clear ways speak that when the Son of Man comes in His Second Coming there will be a temple established. Because the Antichrist says he's going to sit there. That is a lot of cloth to cut, I don't have time but if you search, look in your time there Daniel from chapters 7 to 11, 12 where he talks a lot about the Antichrist and all the things he is going to be doing in the temple and all these things.

In the 2nd century BC Antiochus Epiphanes look it up on Wikipedia if you want, Antiochus Epiphanes, don't ask me how to spell it because I don't have time right now, Antiochus Epiphanes, tell Siri, Siri Antiochus Epiphanes is going to send you maybe another part but . The thing is, Antiochus Epiphanes was a Greek tyrant who invaded Israel in ancient times and he hated the Jewish people. A terrible persecution, tremendous massacres.

He invaded Israel, persecuted the Jews, and desecrated the holy place. He set up a statue of Jupiter and some say even put an unclean pig in the holy place. It was a contrary spirit. And it's like Antiochus Epiphanes was a premonition of the coming Antichrist. It is one of these cases in which Daniel was possessed by the spirit of prophecy and there are prophecies that are fulfilled twice, they are fulfilled once in the time that it was uttered and in the time of the last days.

So this Antichrist is going to be present and just as Antiochus Epiphanes sat down and desecrated the holy place and the temple so also this demonic spirit of the Antichrist is going to do the same and for that there has to be a temple first. That temple is not built yet. That temple every day thousands of Jews go, those who have gone to Israel know the place of lamentations, it is called the Western Wall which is the base, it is the foundation of the ancient temple that was on a high promontory and there they besiege the Lord, and they knock on the door saying: we want our temple.

Israel will not have completed its historic process of restoration until that temple which is the very symbol of the Jewish nation is established. Let me tell you that the Jews are at least pious Jews because there are so many Jews who don't even believe in electric light. Israel is a secular people but there are a number of Jews who cry out and cry for their temple. And brothers have already designed the clothes of the priests, all the utensils of the new temple, all the rituals. They even know who are the people who are legally and genetically descended from the priests of Aaron. They know the names because those people keep all their names for generations and generations.

They have everything ready. The day that God allows those people, they will be ready to build that temple in no time and have all their rites and things there. That hasn't happened yet but it will happen. You see that mosque there with a gold dome, that's where the sanctuary is supposed to be built, the temple, there where the Davidic temple was, the Solomonic temple and the temple renovated by Herod in the first century.

There the demonic spirit moved Islam to plant one of the holiest mosques in the entire Muslim world, on top of it. In that place there, below that place is where the Jews are celebrating their prayers at the wailing wall saying: Lord give us. Not even the mayor of Jerusalem can go up to that place because a war is going on, that place is controlled by the Palestinian authority. In the very bosom of Jerusalem, eh? That place is still under control and the Muslims say that the day they knock it over there there will be a world war, they are going to throw themselves everywhere to attack Israel.

In other words, the only way that this temple can be built is by a miraculous intervention on the part of God. I don't know if things are going to get so bad that the Jews are going to say, you know what? What does it matter to me we are going to build our temple, or if lightning is going to strike and break everything, or an atomic explosion or the earth is going to swallow them up I don't know, something is going to happen but it has to be very big so that that temple is built.

Now the day the temple is built, prepare your bags, okay? What's more, not totally yet because then a series of things is unleashed. The Antichrist has to come, there has to be a war against Jerusalem, this Antichrist is going to create some tremendous alliances and it is said that in the last time an alliance of nations is going to gather together to attack Israel. One of the ancient prophets says that: "They will come upon a city that is quiet."

He says that it is going to be a time when it is going to be definitively recognized that the Jews can exist and the Jews are going to be breathing calmer. It says that: a city without walls, living in peace. And at that moment this alliance of demonic powers and nations is going to come together to attack Jerusalem and it is going to be the most horrible and terrible time in the history of all of Israel. They are going to almost bring the Jews to the sea itself and at that moment it says that the Lord will descend.

It says that His feet will rest on the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives will split in two making a way for Him to enter Jerusalem. And it also says here that the Lord will destroy that cursed being with the splendor of His Coming.

In other words, the Second Coming of the Lord coincides with all these things and we have to be alert to those things. For example, there is talk of a world government and I tell you that because there are many brothers in your good intentions who inhabit a world of indecision. On the one hand they say no, that Christ is coming, I don't know, I don't know how much, that already this, that everything else and they talk about being faithful to the Word but they don't look at all these things that have to happen . I think it's a little bit missing, brothers, don't max out your credit card yet, there's still time, you're already tired of that joke, I'm going to have to find another more original one (laughs). lack of time

Now: we must be working because yes, I think we are already; the clock is speeding up yes, i understand that. I believe that a great harvest of souls is also going to come, there are precious things that are going to happen, prepare yourself for the best times in the history of the Church.

But there are a number of elements, right? a literal temple, a Jerusalem that is going to be attacked, a world government. Right now what there is in the world is not a world government, what there is is constellations of nations but it is not a world government. For example, there is the European common market. That is a group of nations that is still if not reeling, somewhat regional. There is the United Nations, which is a constellation of nations, and the United Nations, more than a place of peace and world government, is a place of constant quarrels and fights, which continually jumps out. Russia, the United States, China, the countries of the Middle East, of the third world fighting with each other, rather a source of infection than of unity in the world.

So there are many things: NATO, the league of nations. But there is no world government. That can only be done by a being supernaturally endowed with charisma and power, and the ability to compel nations that this man truly does. And he will have an ability to convince and hypnotize nations. It is as it says a deceitful spirit is going to fall on humanity as it is now falling little by little. But it is a time process.

It will take time for a world government to be established that is capable of uniting humanity. God operates supernaturally through nature. So the historical, political, supernatural processes, the machinery moves but it is such a big machinery that it moves slowly, but everything is going to happen and what we have to do is be alert. All of this is slowly taking place and that is why you should read and study and know these things because it is there but it is going to happen in a very organic and gradual way.

Then he says: don't you remember when I was with you that I told you, I talked to you about this? "and now you know what stops" that demonic spirit, there is something that actively grabs it, holds it back from manifesting itself and that is God. Now, because God is in control of everything, nothing takes Him by surprise, everything that happens is because God says: ok, now this happens, then: now that happens, God is a strategist but He is in control of everything this process, says: "now there is something that stops it" what is it that stops it?

Some have said: well the Holy Spirit and then the Holy Spirit will be taken and there will no longer be the Holy Spirit in the world then the devil will be free to act, or the Church with its prayers or its interventions, when the Church is kidnapped then there will be no Church on Earth, then the Antichrist will come; nobody knows.

It says: what stops it, grammatically neutral, we don't know what it is but there is something actively that God says: this is the retaining wall. When God removes that wall then the devil is given power to enter another level of power, intensity, manifestation.

"So that in due time" when God sees fit, "it may be revealed. Because the mystery of iniquity is already at work" certainly the devil is at work. Sin, iniquity, evil is in action, only there are those who stop it completely, evil is already at stake but there is something that stops its full manifestation, "until He in turn is removed from the middle." Here He says, who knows? We do not understand. In one part it says neutral, what and here the what, that the one who stops it has manifested itself and is removed from the middle. There is something stopping this until now.

It says: "And then shall the wicked be revealed unto whom the Lord" says "with the Spirit of His mouth." That's talking about an Old Testament prophecy there too, "and destroy" with what? "with the brightness of His Coming." That is to say with His Glory; It's like an atomic explosion and the brilliance and manifestation of power is going to destroy, when? when I am at the gates of Jerusalem, at that moment the Lord with His Coming.

That is to say that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ also coincides with the destruction of the Antichrist, with the construction of the New Temple in a time that is called the day of the Lord or the time of the Great Tribulation, whatever you want to call it, it is a time in which all these events are going to be taking place one after the other and then it is the Second Coming and the destruction.

It says here: "Wicked whose coming is after the work of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." This being is going to have a spirit of evil and deceit, and the devil is going to give him power to deceive and subdue the nations, suggest them because he is also going to do great signs and wonders.

So brothers, one last little button that I want to put here, look at what it says here and this is something that I want to engrave in your hearts, because in recent times this spirit of apostasy will also be due to a spirit of deceit that is going to fall on the humanity. God is going to release a spirit of lies, falsehood and a troubled mind on humanity, which is what we are seeing right now. The Bible says in another passage in Romans that since they did not know God and did not give Him the glory that He deserved and exchanged His Glory for the glory of quadrupeds and reptiles, and rare images, it says that God gave them to a reprobate mind to do things that don't fit.

Then God himself is going to release a deceitful spirit in the end times on Earth and that deceitful spirit is going to affect many people. It says here that: "With all deceitfulness of iniquity" verse 10 "for those who are lost because they did not receive the love of the Truth to be saved, for this reason God sends them" God himself actively with a decision of his own sends a deceptive power, that power is a demonic spiritual power, a spiritual power, something deceptive spiritual "so that they believe the lie so that all those who did not believe the Truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness may be condemned."

I want to point out that, we have to be alert. I have felt the Lord clearly in this time, that is why you hear me speak of these things, I believe that our León de Judá Church, at least we are going to have to become more defined every day with respect to what we believe and we teach, because out there this world is getting more and more false and more deceitful.

And one of the things that can keep the people of God from that deceitful spirit that is going to take control of humanity is: good teaching, sound doctrine; the Word of God. We are not only going to not leave the good teaching of the doctrine but we are going to strengthen it. Brothers, whoever wants to be a member of this Congregation will have to get used to the idea that this is a Church that is going to preach the Truth of God, okay?

Listen to me: we are not going to become more liberal, nor more sympathetic, nor more generic in our preaching, on the contrary, we are going to become more specific, more clear. That does not mean that we are going to get more legalistic, no. What it means is that the teaching of the Word of God cuts whoever it cuts, it cuts me, it cuts you, it cuts the most developed person, the most theologically educated, the most studied, or it cuts the simplest person, the most poor, the Word of God is going to be preached no matter what.

To resist what is coming, the congregations need to be equipped with the teaching of the Word of God and that is why we are going to have to continue, with love, grace, mercy, generosity, sympathy, but the Word of the Lord. Where it says hell we are going to say hell. Where it says sin let's say sin. Where it says injustice, let's say injustice. Where it says blessing let's say blessing. Where it says right we are going to say: we have the right. Where it says responsibility we will say: responsibility. Where it says hope we will say hope. Where it says discipline, let's say: discipline. We have to tie ourselves to the Truth of the Word of the Lord, why?

I leave you with two verses, First Timothy chapter 4. Why is it necessary that congregations today more than ever be taught correctly, be equipped with the Truth? Pastors and teachers arm themselves with courage and courage to preach the Word. Because there is a world out there that every day is going to be saying with more force: you are doctrinaires, self-righteous, narrow-minded, people who are not catching up on new discoveries and new teachings. Look what is happening in the other churches, they are coming out and you are still in the Middle Ages over there.

God's people are going to have to be clear, sober, vigilant, whatever they say. You decide who you will serve but we will serve Jehovah and His Word. It is that conviction is needed, receive this spirit of Truth. What is going to keep people able to resist what is coming sane and clear is a love of God's Truth, a deathly commitment to what God has declared, to sound doctrine, the truth once given to the saints and not changed.

Verse 1 of First Timothy chapter 4 says: "But the Spirit clearly says that in the last days some will apostasy" apostasy "from the faith, listening to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" do you see the power there that deceitful that is released about humanity?, "because of the hypocrisy of liars who have their conscience cauterized" and they will preach all kinds of strange and specific doctrines, and exotic of different types, we do not have time, last times, deceitful spirits, false doctrines will come.

Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 also, Paul writes to Timothy, Pastor of a congregation and tells him: Timothy, don't give up on me, carry out your work as Pastor and preacher of the Word to which you have been called, and look In what solemn terms Paul speaks to Timothy, he says: "I charge you Timothy before God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Solemn, solemn, solemn, you are right now before God and that Jesus Christ to Timothy "who will judge the quick and the dead" in his what?, "ephiphaneia", in His apocalypse, His manifestation, His Second Coming, and in His Kingdom "I urge you, I urge you, I command you to preach the Word. To urge it in season and out of season."

Here are a series of terms that many people who want to present a nice, attractive, non-offensive Gospel to people don't like. He says: "Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience" and what? "and doctrine" that is, specific teaching, "because the time will come" the time we are in now "when they will not suffer", they will not endure, they will not have patience to listen or struggle with sound doctrine, "but having an itching ear" because people today have an incredible appetite for religion, for mystery, for sacred things.

They flee here, there, they go to Buddhism, Hinduism, spiritual channeling, they consult all kinds of crap and things, and today spirituality is two per chele as we say everywhere. Angels, Oprah preaches about angels, so-and-so preaches about Hare Krishna mysteries, twenty thousand things. There is a tremendous hunger that people have and there are many Christians who are hungry but when they are told something they do not like, they give up and go to another Church next door that is a little more in line with what they want to believe.

If it's not hot enough they go to one that's hotter. If it's too hot, they go to one that's a little colder and go to the market to buy and ask, ok, how much does it cost me? no, it's too expensive, how much? no, it's too cheap. They are going from church to church and from doctrine to doctrine continually. Don't be like that, be sober, watchful, be mature, be firm.

"They will not suffer sound doctrine, they will itch to hear" and they will pile up teachers according to what they want to believe, their own lusts. Whoever wants to run amok in whatever it is will find a teacher who will teach them that it is okay. "And they will turn away from the truth of the ear and turn to fables" he says: "but you be sober with everything, bear the afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." That is what each Church has to do.

We keep doing that brothers. The world that goes where it wants to go, we will follow the instructions of the Lord. We'll preach the Word, we'll do teaching work, we'll set the people free, we'll worship the Lord, we don't have to be on the latest fad of religion, right?

And how beautiful I am going to read verse 6: "Because now I, Paul, am ready to be sacrificed, the time for my departure is near." my good battle, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" we must keep the faith, we must keep the sound doctrine, "otherwise the crown of justice is kept for me which the Lord will give me just judge on that day" the day of His Second Coming "and not only to me but to all who love His Coming." Glory to the Lord.

People of God: let us continue calmly doing the work of the Lord without any fear. When Christ comes we will be prepared, if he finds us evangelizing, preaching the Gospel, working with our hands, living honest lives, imitating Jesus in our walk, doing the work of the Lord, not worrying about those who are going to be slaughtered by the spirit of lies and deceit that will be in the world. You keep your hands on the plow.

If God gave you a threshing floor from his great vineyard to continue threshing that little piece of land. Go ahead faithfully, don't worry about what you see around you and the Lord in His time will give you and bless you with the reward you deserve.

Glory to the Lord. We are going to stand up and we are going to tell the Father. Lord we want to be that people. Raise your hands to the Lord right now, brother, receive this call from God. I believe this is a clear Word from the Lord to His people. These are times pregnant with meaning and we don't even realize all that lies ahead. You have to live the Christian life more seriously and more committed than ever, you have to fight the good fight. We must commit ourselves to the Truth of God, we must tie ourselves to the only thing that can keep us in the midst of the storm and that we do not fall into the sea, the simple, pure teaching of the Word of the Lord.

And Father, this afternoon as a Church we make a pact with Your Truth. We won't change it, we won't go behind flashy bits of glass. We want the gold of Your Word, we want Your solid, true teaching. Allow this Church to fulfill its calling Father to the fullest. Keep us from a spirit of error and give us a balance between love for Your doctrine and also a generous and kind and compassionate heart for those who are lost, that we do not put artificial or unnecessary obstacles to those who want to know you but that neither, Lord, let us deceive ourselves with a Too easy Gospel that is not what You have called us to preach.

Give us the right balance, help us live at that level, give us more to give you more Father. Bless this town, seal it with Your Spirit and help us to do Your Will Lord in these last times. Thank you Father, we deliver your people into your hands and we say: glory to your name, come Lord Jesus, come soon. Praise be to you, in the name of Jesus we pray. The people of God say: amen, we bless you brother, may the grace of the Lord be with you, amen.