How Can We See What Is Invisible?

Brethren, what a time we are living in. As Charles Dickens wrote in his famous novel, A Tale of Two Cities, about the time during the French Revolution. He begins the book with the first paragraph. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief. It was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of light. It was the season of darkness. It was the spring of hope. It was the winter of despair. Probably one of the best beginnings of any novel written by man. Now, the same can be said about our age. It was the best of times. We live in unequal prosperity and incredible technology.

Poverty has significantly declined overall in the world in the last 25 years. But it was also the worst of times. The world debt has reached 315 trillion dollars. Three times the world's gross domestic product. There is a prolonged war in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine. There is still a war in the Middle East as Israel fights in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran, which is very close to having nuclear bombs. We have an ailing Pope who can die in a week or two. And we have three red heifers in Israel. And possibly before the Passover, which is a month away, one of those heifers can be sacrificed. And according to the book of Numbers, it has to be burnt totally. And the ashes of the red heifer are able to be put in the water. And then they can purify the priests to be able to have sacrifices again. According to Jewish history, there have only been nine red heifers sacrifice from the time of Moses around the 1400s BC to the time of 70 AD when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Only nine, because you only use a little bit every time of the ashes. Well, there's a tenth heifer that can be sacrificed. We don't know. I'm certainly not gonna bet it's gonna be now. But it's a possibility, because it's getting older. And already they've disqualified two heifers, because it came out with white hairs or something else in perfection. And artificial intelligence is close to the level of human intelligence. Just the other night, my daughter Debbie, who's here, and I marveled at the answer from the X, which is one of the websites, as you know, they have an artificial intelligence computer called Grock. And she had asked that Grock about a certain illness that her daughter had, and to analyze. And I remember reading. It was just like a doctor. It starts out, I'm so sorry that your daughter is sick. And I hope she gets well. And then it goes through a whole analysis of maybe the symptoms, and then gives possible solutions. And after I read that, I said, why, it's as good as going to a doctor. She looked at me and she said, Dad, it's better than going to a doctor. I was shocked how advanced this is. Now, in the Orange County Register last month, it says they interviewed a leader that said in the headlines, leader worries about artificial intelligence overkill. Redwood Research CEO says too much tech can be dangerous, maybe even deadly. So we're coming to that age where you can't tell whether it's a person or a computer with AI. It's gotten so good. And this is an expert. He's worked there in Silicon Valley with all of the big AI companies, but he's one that says, look, we need to control this. And so it says here that I think that artificial intelligence has a fundamental misalignment with humans. So after studying this, he says, you know, this isn't some your friendly neighborhood computer all the time. And then he says, I think the scenario, which is very scary, is that another bad outcome would be that someone from an AI company, one of these billionaires, seizes control of the world and appoints himself as an emperor of the world. They control computers, they can they control electricity, all the systems, because they basically are able to have what they call in chess the first move advantage, which is that you start out and then you eliminate everybody that's behind you with it. Does that sound familiar? Someone that can control the world and maybe you're going to have to subscribe to what it says with the emperor there that now controls. Remember how Revelation 13, it talks about that first beast and people are saying, who can go against this? We can't. It's too powerful. It controls so much. So again, we don't know whether this is the outcome, but it's a possibility. And so we are at a moment of time, man has never had so much power concentrated in very few companies and people.

I don't know how many had the chance to listen to Darris McNeely with his Wednesday night or the Bible study on prophecy that we've been going through every two weeks. How many saw that? Can I see? Well, it's about maybe 10 in the congregation of about probably 75 that are here.

His presentation was titled, God's Unseen Hand in History. And it was very eye-opening, what he gave. And what I like to do is to supplement what he gave and recommend that you hear his message online. We have a website where all the information and all the recordings and so anybody that's interested, we can certainly get that information to you.

So I'd like to supplement what he said with the following four points about prophecy.

Number one, he said there is an invisible world around us where God and angels, good and bad, play a major role. So in the church, we take very seriously that God reveals truth that we could otherwise not know. Because you can't see this world based on spirit. We've got this world that it's not matter, it's not energy, but it exists. It's around us.

Let's turn to 2 Kings 6, verse 13 to see how this world actually exists. Here God revealed angels, the presence of angels in 2 Kings 6, verse 13. This is talking about the prophet Elisha. Elisha had this connection with God where God would use him as the speaker to announce his message. In verse 13, the king of Syria was upset with Elisha because he kept saying where his men were poised to have ambushes. And so nobody would show up where they thought they should be crossing. And so the king got so mad at Elisha, it says, so he said, go and see where he is, that I may send and get him. So he sent his army to capture the prophet Elisha. And it was told him, saying, surely he is in Dothan, he's in the town of Dothan. Therefore, he sent horses and chariots and a great army. He was making sure he had enough power for this prophet of God there. And they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God, talk about Elisha, arose early, talk about in the morning, and went out, there was an army surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master, what shall we do? See, this man could only see the physical things. He saw the army. He saw the power. And Elisha was not a man of war. There was nothing you could defend.

Against this army. Sometimes in our lives, we forget there are angels that protect us. That we can call upon to have that faith that this invisible world, there are angels now watching. And it says that they are in the congregations as well. And they want to see a proper decorum. They want to see proper respect when we get together. And so, what did Elisha said?

So he answered, do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. So this servant must have thought, what is Elisha talking about? There are more in our army than all of these Syrians with their power and chariots. Let's use a modern way. It'd be like having tanks all around your place. And armies, at that time, of course, they had swords and spears and bows and arrows and everything else. But I'll tell you, it didn't take very long to kill you.

And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.

Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. For this moment, God revealed he could see the spirit world. And he saw the angels around. And he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, again, this is the same way we think, oh, these armies, they're so powerful, nobody can stop them. No, for God, that's they're less than, as he says, the dust on scales of balance and weight. He says that he doesn't regard it. Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, strike this people, I pray, with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Just God intervened at that moment. And all the powerful armies, all of a sudden, they couldn't see. They stumbled around. They didn't know where they were, where they were walking to. It's kind of humorous to see this. It says, now Elisha said to them, this is not the way. You're going the wrong way. You want to go and capture me and go into the town? He says, follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. They didn't know it was Elisha. So it was when they had come to Samaria. Imagine each one had their hands on the fellow in front with the shoulder. You know, they're all walking kind of like an Indian file because they can't see anything. And so they go.

So it was that when they had come to Samaria, which was much, that was a capital of northern Israel, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw and there they were inside Samaria. Just completely helpless. And with all the soldiers pointing arrows at him. Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, my father shall I kill them? Shall I kill them? Oh, what a wonderful opportunity! Let's get rid of these enemies that came after you, Elisha. And Elisha didn't allow it. But he answered, you shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow?

There was this understanding that when you surrendered, they would spare your life. Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. Then he prepared a great feast for them, and after they ate and drank, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel. So you see, they were just overwhelmed. Here's this prophet of God. They could have been killed, and yet he spared them, showed them mercy, gave them a nice meal. So they came back to the king, and they said, look, don't go after this guy. He's too powerful. And look how nice he was to us. And so, as the Bible says about your enemy, instead of hating and doing evil, feed them. Be nice, and you'll see how they changed their attitude many times. So that's one example.

The second example was about the parting of the Red Sea. Remember Exodus? And by the way, with a Passover, we reenact that time. Every year, during the Passover, days of Unleavened Bread, we remember how God intervened at that time with the first Passover. Let's go to Psalm 77, verse 20. Psalm 77, verse 20.

Again, there's these little nuggets of gold throughout the Bible. And so, here it talks about, let's go verse 19. It says, your way was in the sea, your path in the great waters, and your footsteps were not known. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses. And there, God was there. He's the one that parted the Red Sea. And he was there with them. But you see, you can't see that. You can't see the footprints of God as he walked that way. So, there's this angelic world around us that we should, it should give us comfort. God's going to carry out his will. It doesn't matter how powerful human beings are, or what they think they can do with AI, or with nuclear weapons, or for God. That is absolutely insignificant, as he says in Isaiah chapter 40. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 40.

One of my favorite chapters, because it deals with science. And when God speaks about science, I really pay a lot of attention. It says here in verse 21, Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth. See, God didn't say the earth was square or flat. It is circular. It is a ball. That's what the term and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. Anybody have crickets in their homes? You see how many have crickets in their homes? I've got crickets in my home, but my wife likes them, so we don't get rid of them. So that's good. They're supposed to be able to eat other things. Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain? And that's what we see in an expanding universe. Just like a curtain that you pull and it just goes out. That's the way this expanding universe and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Anybody who has a portable tent knows that you start out very small and then you stretch it out. That's the way the universe is stretched. He brings the princes to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth useless.

He says in verse 26, lift up your eyes on high. Look at the sky. Look at the at night, the stars, and see who has created these things who brings out their hosts by number. Talk about all the stars. He calls all by name, by the greatness of his might and the strength of his power. Not one is missing. And he says in verse 15, behold the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as small as dust on the scales. And so nothing intimidates God. Just because all of this army from the Syrians came and to capture one man, God has all these millions and millions of angels that protect us, that we should have the faith to trust in God.

That's very powerful for us to understand.

Many times God has intervened in history to carry out his will, sometimes using angels to do his bidding. Notice Daniel chapter 10. That's another example of God intervening, the spirit world being revealed. That God's in charge and any of the enemies of God are like nothing in comparison, including Satan. He's like that dust in the scales as well. Daniel chapter 10 in verse 12.

Here apparently was the angel Gabriel, which is mentioned in chapter 8 by name. Here it just says that same type of conversation. God sends this messenger to Daniel. And in verse 10, it says, suddenly a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, oh Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. See, an angel was sent. While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. You would too, if you were in front of an angel. Then he said to me, do not fear Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. God answers prayer.

It talks about, he was asking God to reveal what was going to happen to his people in the future. And God sent an angel, but there are bad angels too. They don't want God's will to be done.

In verse 13 it says, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia, talking about an angelic angel, evil angel, who was guiding the kingdom of Persia, which at that time was a world power. So, you remember the beasts of Daniel? Well, this was the beast of Persia. Now it had defeated the Babylonian empire, and here you have these human kings doing the bidding of the evil powers.

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. I couldn't make it from heaven. I was sent there. It took me 21 days to fight through and get to you, Daniel, here on the earth.

And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, see how they're all princes? They're the heads of angelic armies. Michael came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. So, don't think they're even angels here. The bad angels under Satan are powerful, and it took them 21 days. Now he says, I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come. And then in verse 20, then he said, do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. So again, there are these battles taking place, Satan and his angels, God and Gabriel and Michael over the rest of the armies. And we have no idea of these things, but it influences world events. They're probably trying to to frustrate what God's will is. And there was going to be a change from the Persian Empire to the Greek Empire with Alexander the Great. They probably just wanted to keep the king of Persia in charge. They were a lot more ruthless. And the Greeks were ruthless as well, but they seem to be a little more enlightened. And then he says in verse 21, but I will let's see, verse 20. Then he said, I have to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come. See, that's the next emperor that would control that part of the world, which was Alexander the Great. And so it's important to realize, in a sense, we are pawns in this great chess game, that God is carrying out his will. We're human beings. We don't have the power, but we have angels that protect us. And so that's the second thing that I want to focus on. Examine that invisible world in our lives and see how it works. We've talked about the angels. Yes. Notice what it tells us in Psalm 34 verse 7. Psalm 34.7. This is one of the scriptures when little children are blessed. The blessing of the children established by Christ in Mark chapter 10. It tells us about going little children being brought to him, and he laid hands on them and blessed them. So, and we all we use this scripture in Psalm 34.7. It says, let's see, I think 34. It's a wrong chapter here. Verse 7. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear him, talking about deeply respect God, obey God, and delivers them. So as we get closer and closer to God, we have an angel there that is a sign to be with us, to protect us, to help us in our moments where he can certainly shoe off danger.

I think one of those angels in our lives when our daughter Natalia, and basically we've had all of our daughters get into such trouble that they could have easily not been here if it hadn't been for protection. But I'm remembering the oldest Natalia. She must have been about six when she sat on the ledge. Or was she? What? One and a half. Boy, see, that's why she's got better memory than me. She was one and a half, just barely walking a little bit. And in the office, there was a window, the window sill, looking out to where we had the parking area for the car. It was all concrete. And I remember I'd left the office, and then all of a sudden I came into the office, and there was Natalia sitting on that ledge. And I guess it was probably four feet, maybe? Four feet high. And my wife also came, right? And we both saw it, and we just sort of froze because we didn't want to frighten her. And she's looking, smiling, and she went backwards, completely backwards, head over heels. I couldn't catch her. And it basically took me about two or three seconds to go around, because the door of the house was right next to my office. I opened there, and I didn't hear a thud. My daughter did not cry, and she was laying out flat, looking up, smiling at me. And my wife could be a testimony. We just stood there, aghast. We couldn't believe that had happened. I thought she had split her, because she went, you know, how the head is heavier, she would have split her head in two. And so God is there. Let's go to Psalm 91, verse 11.

We had one daughter that jumped out of a plane, didn't even tell us about it.

We've had really interesting times. I'm glad angels were there, too. Of course, she jumped with a parachute. I'm not just saying. But, okay, Psalm 91, verse 11, it says, for he shall give his angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone.

And where do we get this idea that there are angels assigned to God's people? Let's go to Acts chapter 12. I could tell you the stories of miracles that have happened, but I know everybody has their own, and that's enough. In Acts chapter 12, in verse 11, Peter had been put in jail, and he was going to be executed. But God intervened. It says there, verse, let's go to verse 8 first, then the angel said to him, gird yourself and tie on your sandals, and so he did, and he said to him, put on your garment and follow me, because the angel struck and took the chains right out from him. And then in verse, as I said here, verse 11, and when Peter had come to himself, he said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people. So when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. They were praying for Peter to be liberated. And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter's voice because of her gladness, she did not open the gate. Here Peter, the first thing he wants is to get in the house. There are soldiers after him, and she was so excited she went to the back, and she left him standing there on the street, ready to be arrested. So that's part of the humor of the Bible.

It says, But ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, You are beside yourself. Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So he said, It is his angel. Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren. And he departed and went to another place. So again, a typical intervention by God. When you least expect it, remember, there is this angelic world you can go to. You can ask God for that protection. So they thought that Peter's angel was the one that appeared. It was actually Peter himself. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 6, because we do have an angelic world that we have to face with their attitudes. In verse 10, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10, it says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. So we are to arm ourselves spiritually every day for the spiritual battles that we have with people, with hostile attitudes, with the world trying to tempt us to follow them along, repugnant things.

And he says, For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. We're not into fighting physically, people, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It's talking about wicked angels and that they tempt us and they want us to leave the church and follow Satan.

In the Good News Bible, it says, For we are not fighting against human beings, but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. Now, of course, God has allowed this because He is testing us. He's testing our faithfulness. It's like a muscle. You have to exercise it because if it didn't have any resistance, you could never build muscle. It's the same way we have to learn to resist and to become stronger and resist even more powerful temptations.

Let's go to Hebrews 11. We're still here examining in our own lives to see how it works. I remember every time we have the Feast of Tabernacles over in Port of Iorda, there's always going to be some challenges there. And the first year, we had a hurricane that was heading straight for us as we had arrived at Port of Iorda. And the owners were saying, oh, we've got to move people out. We have to take everything from the patio chairs, all the beach things, and the first floor because that hurricane is powerful. It's going to come with a surge. And I remember, I said, God is the one that has the last word, and it is his feast.

And he knows what he's doing. Enrique Vidal was there, and Debbie, and he can see. And you know what? That hurricane went closer and closer, and then it veered off, jumped that whole area, and continued northward. And we never had anything like that. And year after year, but again, it's not us, but it is faith in God. He's in charge. If we trust him, as it says in Hebrews 11, and again, I'm nobody, but God's Spirit in me can make me into somebody.

It's him working. Hebrews 11, verse 1, it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I'd like to read it in a modern version, the easy translation.

It says, faith is what makes real the things we hope for. I didn't have the power to do anything. I couldn't stop the hurricane, but I knew God could. And faith means you go to God, you pray, and then you wait. And what we hope for turned out to be that way. In Hebrews 11, continuing this chapter, verse 24, talking about Moses and the faith he showed. Verse 24, it says, by faith Moses, when he became of age, he was a prince in Egypt, had all the privileges, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

And usually, the succession of future kings went through the queen. And he was the queen's adopted son. So basically, he refused becoming the next Pharaoh, from what we know. Choosing rather to suffer afflictions with the people of God, because he knew these are the ones that have the faith, they have the truth. I want to be part of them. Then to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, which is very fleeting, always leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Esteeming the reproach of Christ. So he suffered the same type of reproach as Christ would in the future. Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he looked to the reward, the reward in God's kingdom. That's what he was focusing his attention on. But that means sacrifice. It means making choices. Who you want to be with? Who? What kind of reward? Do you want the reward of the world, which is fleeting? Or you want God's reward in his kingdom, which means to be under the Father and Jesus Christ and reign under Christ for a thousand years.

He would be our mentor, our guide. We can't have a better boss who died for us even. How would you like to work personally under him? How many would just jump at that opportunity? Well, God is offering it to us. He says, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. That's the title of the sermon. Seeing what is invisible by faith. Because even if we don't see it physically, we know God tells us they are there.

The angels are there. I am there. I will help you. I will strengthen you. That's what faith is all about. As it says in another version, he says, for he looked to the reward by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. As you walk more with faith, you know God is there. You enjoy meditating on his word, following him, following his guidance. That's how walking with God is all about.

So let's go to the third point.

God intervenes in the world, but he still allows for free will to change the outcome, because it's not set in concrete. So it's not like, okay, God judges something, and that's definitely going to have to happen. And the classic book to show us that's not the case is the book of Jonah. Let's go to the book of Jonah. This again is filled with humor. Psychologists say that a person that has a good sense of humor usually will never become a criminal. Criminals don't have a good sense of humor. So it's good to have good humor. The Bible also tells us the same thing. So the book of Jonah in the first chapter, it says, in the first verse, it says, Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. So God is saying, the wickedness in Nineveh has gotten to the point where I am going to intervene. I am going to punish these evil people. And what did Jonah do? But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish, which is way out in Spain, from the presence of the Lord. He went down and took a ship, and God said, No, Jonah, you're going the wrong way. You're resisting me. And finally, God had a storm come. And finally, the mariners cast lots. And the guilty one for this terrible storm, which shouldn't have happened during that time of the year, was Jonah. And so then they tried to save him, but at the end, they finally threw him overboard. And God had prepared a fish, a whale type of an animal. You know, the greatest animal ever created on this earth that we have any skeletons for is not some dinosaur. It's actually the blue whale. It's about 150 feet long. It's longer than any dinosaur ever. Thankfully, it has a very small throat and is very tame.

But you have the sperm whale, which does have a big throat, and it has a nasal passage where a human being could go and be inside of. And since it's got the nozzle there to be able to breathe, some animals and some people have actually whalers have been caught in those things and have been vomited later by whales, according to some of the histories. So anyways, it says that verse chapter two, then Jonah prayed to the Lord. He was in the fish three days and three nights. And believe me, he was repentant. He's ready to work with God now. And so in chapter four, no, let's see, chapter three, verse one, it says, now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and preach to it. The message that I tell you, so Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. And Nineveh was a great city. And then in verse four, he began to enter. And he cried out and said, yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. You got a little bit over a month, and this whole city will be destroyed. Well, most people would have thought this is a nut. This is the great capital of the world at that time. And but you know what it says? And so the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth. Now, some Jewish commentators say that after the whale, whatever the great fish was, vomited him out. He'd been three days, and some of that acid had gotten into Jonah. And he had lost all the hair on his body, and his skin had been bleached white. And so after he went to Nineveh, and guess what? He had the best marketing tool, if that's the case, because people knew this is real. Whatever is the reason, they repented.

And then in chapter four, Jonah gets mad at God.

In verse one, it says, Displeased Jonah exceedingly that God forgave him. And he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country. Therefore, I fled previously to Tarshish. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness, one who relents from doing harm. And so he has a fit here, because he didn't want Nineveh to be forsaken or to be forgiven. And God explains to him in verse 10, but the Lord said, You have had pity on the plant. He made him a plant to give him shade. And then God killed the plant. And Noah was very sad, for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night, and should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, in other words, children that were still innocent and much livestock. And so remember, God does intervene in world affairs, but he also leaves room for repentance. God can change the outcome. And so the last point is to carefully analyze the fig leaves, because they usually are not the ones that last in the long run. Let's go to Luke 21, and I'll be finishing here pretty soon. Luke 21.

In verse 29, Christ is talking about the end times appearing, and then he said in verse 29, then he spoke to them a parable, look at the fig tree and all the trees when they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also when you see these things happening, these events in the end time, know that the kingdom of God is near. Crisis will come. And surely I say to you, this generation will by no means pass till all things take place. Talk about the generation that sees these signs. Heaven and earth will pass away, but not my words will pass away. And so we look around, there are a lot of signs, but we have to be careful and not think, oh these other fig leaves that are out there, they could have, but there's one factor that we should remember to be able to differentiate from short-term leaves and long-term leaves, the ones that do reach into those end time events. Let's go to Matthew 24, verse 8.

Women can relate to this a lot better than men, because when Christ talks about end time events, and then verse 8, it says, all these are the beginning of sorrows. And actually, the word here has to do as the easy reading version. These things are only the beginning of troubles, like the first pains of a woman giving birth. And so you see, when a woman starts with those pains, you know that baby will be coming later. And so what events will eventually be the most important are those that will intensify. They will not diminish in time. Just like a wife, the intensity gets stronger, the minutes get shorter, the pushing gets stronger. It's the same way here, that we have to differentiate, because some things, who knows? In the future, whether we still got just like a rollercoaster ride that you think the last downward slide will be the end of the ride? No, they go up again. So we have to be patient. We can't get overly anxious about that. So remember these four points. First, God said there's an invisible world around us, where God and the angels, both good and bad, play a major role. Number two, examine in our lives how this angelic world works, how it can apply to us. Number three, God intervenes, but still allows for free will to change the outcomes. And number four, carefully analyze the fig leaves. They usually are not the ones that are short term, the ones that are long term. Those are the points about how we can see what is invisible.