Did Jesus Command The Government to Feed the Poor? | Live Free with Josh Howerton

Summary

Podcast Summary

Live Free with Josh Howerton (Lakepointe Church)

Episode: Did Jesus Command The Government to Feed the Poor?
Date: November 3, 2025

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Overview

This episode dives into a pressing question at the intersection of faith, politics, and economics: Did Jesus command governments to redistribute wealth and feed the poor, or is this the calling of individual Christians and the Church? Pastor Josh Howerton, joined by co-hosts Carlos Razer and “Epistle Missile” Paul, explores biblical teaching, theology, and real-world examples on issues of social welfare, socialism, and the functional roles God assigns to the family, church, and the state. The conversation also features an extensive and intriguing segment about prophecy, the return of Christ, and a series of signs interpreted in light of current events.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Intro, Community Connections, and Banter

00:38–08:42

• The episode opens with the team sharing light-hearted moments about hats, U.S. history, candy, and interacting with listeners.
• Shout-outs are given to loyal listeners and to a group of CEOs in LA who analyze the podcast together.

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2. The Return of Christ – Signs, Prophecy, and Modern Parallels

11:07–52:02
Josh:

“It’s been a long time since a sermon got this deep into my spirit.” (11:07)

The hosts provide an engaging tour of New Testament teachings on the end times, emphasizing Jesus’ return and the biblical call to always be ready.

Key Prophetic “Signs” Discussed:

1. Increase in Travel and Knowledge

• Daniel 12 prophesies “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
• First time in history anyone can travel globally in 24 hours and human knowledge (thanks to AI) now doubles every 14–20 days.
• “We have a tsunami of knowledge.” (19:32)

2. One-World Economic System and Mark of the Beast

• Revelation 13 discussed: restrictions on buying/selling tied to a “mark.”
• Modern parallels drawn with digital ID proposals in the EU/UK (21:46–22:17).
• “It was like someone read Revelation 13… and thought, ‘let me show you how to do it.’” (22:16, Josh)

3. 666 and Its Origins

• The number 666 refers to “the number of a man”—Nero Caesar in Hebrew gematria equals 666.
• Discussed both as near and future/end-times fulfillment.

4. Rebirth of Israel

• Isaiah 66 prediction of a nation being born in a day reflected in modern Israel’s founding (1948).

5. Technological Fulfillment of Prophecy

• Revelation 11: all the world can see the same event at once—possible only in the broadcast era and now via smartphones.

6. Mass Apostasy

• The “great falling away” is said to be evident in the West; “more people have walked away from team Jesus in the last generation than maybe ever before.” (36:01)

7. Mind-Blowing Bible Fact – Mount of Olives Fault Line
37:38–45:37

• Josh delivers a much-anticipated insight: Zechariah 14 predicts Christ’s return will split the Mount of Olives in two.
• In 1964, a geological survey revealed an east-west fault line under the Mount—directly under the prophesied site, supporting the literal fulfillment of the prophecy.
• Historical Muslim efforts to brick up the East Gate of Jerusalem and plant graves to prevent Messiah’s entry are discussed:

  “That reminds me of when the Romans put Jesus in his tomb and rolled a rock in front—and they said, ‘make it as secure as you can’...” (44:09)

• American cemeteries face tombstones east—towards Mount of Olives, in expectation of Christ’s return.

8. Why Do Christians Long for the Return?

• Parallels drawn between Genesis and Revelation—God restores what was lost.
• “When Jesus comes back at the end, we get to go back to the beginning—and we actually get to go into a new story that will never end.” (48:15, Paul)

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3. Christians and Socialism: Did Jesus Command the Government to Feed the Poor?

52:02–end

Setting the Stage:

• With U.S. government shutdowns and 42 million Americans on SNAP, Christians grapple anew with the proper response to poverty.
• Featured clip: NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani expresses overt goals to “seize the means of production.” (54:50–55:27)

What Is Socialism (vs. Communism)?

• Socialism = excessive redistribution of wealth; Communism = government seizes control of production.
• Explained via historical and present-day models.

Theological Foundation: “Kuyperian Sphere Sovereignty”

62:15–68:43

• God ordains separate roles for family, church, and state—each with a lane.
  • Family: Raising, providing for children/members.
  • Church: Preaching, sacraments, discipleship, and charity to the poor.
  • State: Punishing evil, maintaining order (Romans 13; 2 Peter).
• Problems arise when government steps out of its lane—especially when it assumes charity/wealth redistribution (traditionally for family/church).

Quote:

“Bad things happen when the government gets out of its lane and assumes the primary role of charity that churches and individuals should do.” (70:50)

Scriptural & Historical Context

• No biblical examples (except possibly Joseph in Egypt) where God commands government to take and redistribute wealth.
• Laws commanding care for the poor (gleaning) were given to individuals, not the government.
• The New Testament compels voluntary, personal charity, not forced redistribution.

On “the least of these” (Matthew 25):

“Jesus said, if you did it for me—not if you voted to have other people do it for them.” (84:57, Josh)

Real-World Examples of Socialism’s Consequences

• Detailed case studies:
  • Cuba: 90% extreme poverty, massive exodus (77:31)
  • Venezuela: From richest in Latin America (“Saudi Arabia of Latin America”) to 91%+ poverty, 20% of population fled (77:56–80:52)
  • Nicaragua: State repression of churches; 80% Christian, yet heavy persecution (80:52)
  • El Salvador: Civil war fueled by socialist/communist movements (81:44)

Quote:

“What socialism and communism always do is centralize power in the government… They are almost always secular and atheistic leaders.” (80:49, Josh)

Early American Colonies: Plymouth vs. Jamestown

• Both attempted socialism (communal pot) at first—disaster and even cannibalism ensued at Jamestown.
• When Plymouth enforced 1 Timothy 5:8 (“If anyone does not provide for his own...”), productivity increased:

  “This had very good success... the women now went willingly into the field... which before would feign weakness and inability.” (Governor Bradford, quoted at 88:38)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Prophecy’s Vagueness:

  “The vagueness [of prophecy] promotes readiness, not idleness. If you stay ready, you don’t got to get ready.” – Josh (16:55)

• On Artificial Intelligence and the Tower of Babel:

  “Somebody said that artificial intelligence is the new tower of Babel... It’s this idea of, ‘We can know everything. We can be like God.’” – Carlos (19:36)

• On Charity:

  “Let’s not overcorrect against socialistic redistribution of wealth... and then actually cultivate hard hearts of selfishness toward the most vulnerable.” – Josh (60:36)

• On Historical Christianity and Government:

  “Christians have historically been big time small-government people.” – Josh (83:43)

• On Personal Generosity:

  “Carve out a small part of your budget and just call it your blessings budget... Find a way to anonymously bless someone in need.” – Josh (92:17)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Return of Christ / Signs in the Modern World: 11:07–52:02
• All about 666, Nero, and Bible prophecy: 23:08–29:53
• Mount of Olives Fault Line / Mind-Blowing Prophecy: 37:38–45:37
• Theology of Government, Church, Charity — Kuyperian Model: 62:15–68:43
• Downsides of Government Charity; Socialist Case Studies: 76:26–82:58
• Early Colonies: Socialism vs. Biblical Economics: 87:01–92:17
• Practical Application: How to help the poor as a Christian: 92:17–93:57

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Takeaways

• Biblically, the responsibility for charity and care for the poor is placed on individuals, families, and the church—not on governments via forced redistribution.
• “Sphere sovereignty” teaches God has designed each institution (family, church, state) with clear roles. When each stays in its lane, society flourishes.
• When government overreaches into areas not assigned by God—especially forced redistribution and social policy—negative societal and economic outcomes historically follow.
• Christians are called to extraordinary personal generosity, not mere political advocacy for state-managed welfare.
• Never lose a heart for the poor or miss the hope and urgency of the gospel—even while holding firmly to God’s ordering for life and society.

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For full resources and the “Disciple Guide,” text NOTES to 20411 or visit the Lakepointe Church digital channel.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Live Free with Pastor Josh Howerton. We're so glad you're here. Lake Pointe Church is a movement for all people to know Jesus, live free, and make a difference with their lives. And this weekly podcast is all about helping you do just that. Each episode is a deep dive into the word of God, tackling life, culture, and faith with truth and clarity so you can be equipped to live free in Christ. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And follow us on all our social platforms to stay connected to everything happening with Live Free. Now, let's dive into today's episode.

[B]

Well, hey, welcome back to another episode of the Live Free podcast. My name is Carlos Razer, and I'm here with Pastor Josh Howerton and the Epistle missile.

[A]

And Trinity. Trinity's going to bring me my Bible.

[C]

Making a Trinity.

[A]

Making.

[C]

She was trying so hard.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

She was trying. She was like, go, go, Gadget arm, Please extend and get this so I don't have to get in view.

[A]

Count's gonna skyrocket. That's right.

[B]

Everybody's been asking.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

What's going on, man?

[A]

Is the guy on Joe Rogan this the Trinity equivalent? Jamie.

[B]

Jamie.

[A]

Hey, Jamie.

[B]

Jamie.

[A]

Trinity. You're better than.

[B]

We have a better. That's right.

[A]

She's.

[B]

She's humbled. Well, hey, how's it going?

[A]

Really good, man. Look at this hat, this special hat we got over here.

[B]

We got this one right here and this one right here.

[A]

Man, you look so good. Wait, can I do a shout out, please? There's a. I got. Wait, hang on. Keep talking.

[B]

Okay, hang on.

[A]

I need to look something up so I get this. Right.

[B]

Well, last episode, you know, you both were wearing camo, and so I felt.

[A]

Like both of us were.

[B]

Yeah. And so I felt like I needed to, you know, kind of even the odds a little bit here. And hence I. Today, I feel pretty American.

[A]

You look very American.

[B]

I feel like not just American, but, you know, like, you look Texan.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Okay, wait. So here's my shout out. There's a guy. I hope I'm allowed to do this. I'll ask him after I say it, and then we'll decide. There's a guy in my Rudy group. His name is Elliot Hoofnaggle. His. I think he's got. Let me make sure I get this right. I'm gonna give a shout out. So his mom and stepdad, they are religious Live Free watchers.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And I was like, Bro, I'm gonna give them a shout out. So specific shout out to Jeff and Christy lagrua.

[C]

Love it.

[A]

There it is.

[B]

Thank you, guys. That's amazing.

[A]

Hey, I'll give another shout out. I will not name the company, but the CEO of a clothing company that's like super popular for dudes. They always hook you on Instagram. It's one of those. It's a shirt company, and I really like their shirts. He. That guy apparently is. They're all in live free every week. So then he reaches out. He had seen me wearing one of his shirts that I ordered off Instagram. So he reaches out, sends me a box of a bunch of those shirts, which was great, by the way. Thank you, thank you. And then told me that they're like. He's got like a little group of CEOs around LA and they're all like. They pass live free episodes to each other and process all the things. So shout out to all the CEOs in LA. Also, man, was it the day you.

[B]

Were wearing your Gucci shirt?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, it was, man. They put me on preachers and sneakers.

[B]

Gucci shirt, Gucci shoes.

[A]

By the way, for the public record, I do not own any Gucci.

[B]

That was a joke, by the way. That's right. Hey, you went to a. Last time I asked you what you were going to do that Thursday night and you said you had a dinner with Beck.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

How did he go?

[A]

We hung out with Glenn and his wife Tanya.

[C]

It was awesome.

[A]

That's cool. He took us around. He's got a. Actually, I'm going to show something later that I saw in his museum. He's got like, bro, it's the best collection of, like, American history you've stinking ever seen, you know? And so he took us through, like, his little private museum that he's got. So it's like, dude, this. We're literally. And he lets you hold the stuff. So, like, we got to hold George Washington's compass. Like the actual one.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

We got to hold. It's called an Aiken. The Aiken Bible. It was the. The Bible that United States. United States Congress commissioned to be printed and distributed when the early colonies ran out of English printed Bibles by England is what I mean there. Dude, he's got. He has George Washington's glasses. Yes.

[B]

Dude.

[A]

We held the actual keys to Adolf Hitler's eagle's nest. Whoa. Yeah.

[B]

This is giving Nicolas Cage national treasure.

[C]

So I was about to ask you, how did it feel to hold them? And you went to Hitler And I was like, maybe different than George Washington's.

[A]

Well, you know, he wants to get all the history.

[B]

Wow, that's amazing.

[A]

And then, dude, he had, he had the actual documents from the original Roe v. Wade case. Like he purchased the actual document. I mean, I could go on and on. I've never seen anything like it. And then we just, we gotta have dinner with them and it was really cool, bro.

[B]

So I will say this. Even before moving to the U.S. i've always been a fan of U. S. History. I've just. And now I'm.

[A]

I'm curious why you want me. I don't.

[B]

I took a. I took AP US History. I'm not sure why, but I did in high school and I loved just everything about it, especially like the presidents. And I was definitely, I was geeking all over that. And so, yeah, I've always loved it. And now I'm actually reading a. A book on American history.

[A]

Which one are you reading? The American story one I tweeted about. That's right, dude. The Barton.

[B]

So far, it's amazing.

[A]

It's amazing. I'm actually going to quote from it later in this film.

[B]

Yeah. So, man, I'm enjoying it. I. I'll let you know what I think. Yeah, that's great.

[A]

Awesome, man.

[B]

Hey man, we got a great episode today, dude.

[A]

Let's talk return of Christ. Signs of the second coming. We're going to talk socialism. By the way, I'm going to. This is like totally cheesy teaser. I'm going to share what is the most mind blowing little Bible fact I may have ever learned in my entire life. Wow. I've been. I'm not joking. I've been waiting. Let's see. I learned this six years ago. I've been waiting six years to get this out. I. I intentionally didn't tell you what it was beforehand. I'm gonna blow your mind. Come on.

[B]

Okay, well, it's funny that you came saying that because I felt the same way. Even just prepping for, you know, this conversation today, just studying the book of Revelation. And so I was like, what? As I'm studying, I was like, I can't believe I've never heard about this. Of course, Chat gpc.

[A]

Yeah, he.

[B]

He knows everything.

[A]

Like his ring.

[B]

You just. I actually have a tattoo of that.

[C]

Well, Paul is Revelation. A lot of people are so weirded out by it or maybe scared of it. It is one of the most profound deep books matter. It has more references to the Old Testament than any other New Testament book by far. It has such vivid, amazing symbolism that I wish we had more time. Maybe another time I can do a deep dive. But even just in Revelation 21 and 22 alone, which I know will be parking in, it's. It's insane. It's insane. I came here, say I'm.

[B]

I'm came here. And I was like, hey, Paul, man, I can't believe what I just found. And he's like, oh, yeah. I got. I knew that.

[C]

No, no, I would not do that.

[B]

I was like, this is crazy.

[A]

I kept.

[C]

I need to redeem myself right now.

[B]

And Pa's like, oh, yeah.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[C]

Before we jump in, then I at least feel I got to redeem myself. I brought some snacks for you guys. Tomorrow is Reformation Day, or as more people call it, Halloween, as the pagans call it.

[B]

I'm teasing. I'mma send you an episode of the Live Free PODC where we talk about.

[C]

Halloween, and I'm trying to redeem it. Like, Pastor Josh told me that I could try to redeem it. So to redeem the last few minutes where I felt like I was got over there, I've got a few for you.

[A]

Are those. Those things?

[C]

Well, so for you, I've got nerd clusters. Because I know if you're. By the way, if you're the CEO of Nerd Clusters, if you want to also send us boxes of those, like the. Like the.

[A]

My favorite candy right now.

[C]

But, yeah, sorry I cut you off. For you, I feel like, although this is almost more cursing you than blessing.

[B]

You guys, I'm only here to be blessed.

[C]

The man last week had never maybe heard of her. Definitely taste or seen candy. Cor. So I brought you some candy corn or maybe as you said, some corn candy.

[B]

Well, thank you.

[C]

There you go.

[B]

We got to keep going here. It's my job to make.

[A]

We got to talk about the return of.

[C]

Yes, we do.

[B]

As I do this.

[A]

These are good.

[C]

They're so good.

[B]

We have a hab giveaway for every live free episode. So right now, comment your favorite candy in the comment section. If you're on YouTube, we'd love to hear from you. Last week's winner, shout out to Charles Mendoza, 3133, on YouTube. You are the winner of last week's episode.

[A]

Comment on YouTube.

[B]

Comment on YouTube. Your favorite candy as we try these guys. Thanks for, by the way. Now, it's actually available now live free online Merch shop is live. So if you're like, man, I want to. How do I get the live free merch shop? Like this is now available.

[A]

How do we find it? I'm a pull up.

[B]

That's a great question, Arthur. How do we find it? Lakepoint Church live free shop.

[A]

Pulling it up.

[B]

We're going to wait. That is.

[A]

We need. Let's move on.

[C]

Maybe the nerds and candy corner before.

[B]

We jump in, because this is important. Hey, we both believe that discipleship happens in relationships. And your next step after we're having too much fun here after listening to this podcast is community. And so what we've done for people that don't know, we actually put together all the takeaways.

[A]

Keep going.

[B]

What's going on right now? We put together all the takeaways, highlights, additional comments.

[A]

Keep going.

[C]

I've tried.

[A]

Here, you can get the.

[C]

I'll take the candy corn and I'll open it for you, bud.

[A]

It's like Halloween approaches. All act like little children. You can get the the show notes, AKA the disciple guide. By doing what, Carlos?

[B]

To download the discipleship guide, text the word notes to 20411 or go to Lakepoint Church show notes. Go get it, dude.

[A]

Can I just say, I say this with my kids all the time, and this is a great moment to actually say it. Christians have the most fun of anybody in the whole world. I. I say it to my kids all the time. Christian. Christians had the most fun everybody in the whole world.

[B]

That was fun.

[A]

I love you guys.

[B]

And now it smells like candy in here. All right, man, I can't open this. Let's try to open it.

[A]

Yeah, let's talk second coming, baby.

[C]

Come on.

[B]

Revelation, chapter 22. If you've missed the sermon, go check it out, man. Great sermon, dude.

[A]

I'll be honest. Let me swallow these. I had a lot of fun preaching this. More than. It's been a long time since the sermon. Can you open that?

[C]

I think you should just give up. We can eat it after the show.

[B]

There you go.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Go ahead.

[A]

It's been a long time. Do those have peanuts in them, too?

[C]

I don't know. I just grabbed the bag the first one I saw.

[A]

Let's. I'm sorry. It's been a long time. What do you think? Tastes like wax, actually.

[B]

I thought it was going to be, you know, more like for you to. It just dissolved in my mouth.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Unremarkable. It's been a long time since a sermon got this deep into my spirit. It was like two days into prep. It's just really hot in my heart. I honestly, I'll be honest, dude. I had never before this week. Just Actually sat down and studied two specific things. What specifically does the Bible say? The rewards that Jesus gives people will be. And I covered that a lot in the sermon, so I won't as much here. And then how specifically does he say, you get them? Honestly, dude, I had not studied that as much. And then obviously we're going to talk about this right here. I spent more time studying this week. What are the specific signs that the Bible says? Like, these things. When you see these things happen, you be ready, dude. And you know, I'm not that guy. Like, I'm not a. Honestly, probably to a fault. I honestly have not thought about the imminent return of Jesus as much as I realized this week I should. And when I started studying this stuff, you know, y' all can disagree with me when we start doing this. I honestly was like, holy Moses. There are a lot of these things happening right now, and they're not things that like, oh, Josh, any. At any point in history, somebody could have said, like, I'm talking about things that, like, have never been true until the last 100 years, some things. And then in some of these cases, like, last three years. So I want to talk about that here in a second. But, dude, this thing got real hot in my heart. Any other thoughts you just want, man.

[B]

Let'S go there because I do want to hear more about that.

[A]

All right, I'm going to run through these real quick and talk about. So here's why I'm doing this. It's nine times the New Testament, if I got my Bible study correct this week, nine times. The New Testament specifically refers to the return of Christ as quote, soon, or we'll use the word at hand or something like that. If you expand it out to something like any language that refers to, like, the imminence of the return of Christ, I think it's like 12 to 15 times in New Testament. Now, obviously, what you can do is somebody can go, well, I mean, they were saying, we've been saying it for 2,000 years, so we don't know. We all know this. We're specifically told. I covered this in the sermon that nobody knows the day or the hour. Actually, if you're a new Christian, haven't read your New Testament yet. The Bible actually says that even Jesus does not know the day or the hour. So I'll be honest. I kind of think, like, there was that. Dude, there was some African pastor, like, two weeks ago that was like, making very specific predictions about what day. I honestly think every time somebody does that, God's like, well, if that was gonna be it, I'm changing it because nobody's. Nobody' front running me, you know? But Jesus did say is like, hey, man, just like when you look up at the leaves of a tree and you see the leaves start to change and they start withering and they start falling, you know, winter's coming. And Jesus said that there are signs. So you won't know the day, but you will know the season. So you want me to run through these real quick? Yeah. All right, let me do this. So, number one, I want to answer a very common like. Especially for dudes that just start reading the Bible, common question they'll ask is, man, why are a lot of the prophecies about the return of Christ? They're kind of vague. So they're vague. Hey, in what order? So, like, you know, let's put on our tinfoil hat for a second. We actually know the answer to the question why they're vague. So I'm going to read this. This is 1 Corinthians 2, 7, and 8. Paul says, but we speak with the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory. Now check this out. This is really interesting. Which none of the rulers of this age. So in there, he's talking about the demonic principalities and powers in high places. And he's gone. None of the demons of this age knew. Watch this. For if they had known, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory. So what Paul's doing is a lot of times we don't think about the reality of, like, demons exist and they're really smart. So, like, honestly, like, we should internalize that. And what he's saying is, hey, brother, if God had written the prophecies about the first coming of Christ in a really clear, obvious way, then the demons never would have conspired to crucify Jesus. And that needed to happen for the atonement of our sins. So here's the principle is that the prophecies about the first coming were intentionally vague so that demons wouldn't avoid doing what God wanted them to do. Well, guess what? The prophecies about the second coming of Christ, I think are probably the exact same way. They're intentionally vague so that demonic principalities and powers, like, they don't know. And there are things that you read in the Bible and it's like, oh, they're gonna do that. And they're all like little God's little puppets, and they don't know it. So that's Number one, I'm trying to figure out.

[B]

Makes sense.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, no. And then I think with that, even, I think it's also for us to then be ready at any moment. This is an imperfect analogy, but it's like, hey, if I'm trying to get in shape because I know we're going to the beach in the summer, it's like, all right, I can put it off, and if I know the exact date we're going, I guess about 90 out, I can. I can kind of get an overall. But if I know at some point. And again, this is an imperfect analogy. It's like, hey, we're going to surprise you at the beach vacation sometime in the next year. It's like, all right, I need to be in shape then at any moment, because we could leave at any moment kind of a thing. So I think that's the idea, too. Is. Is. Is that, man, if we don't know quite at any moment, then therefore, we need to be ready at any moment.

[A]

That's right, dude.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So the. That's an. I kind of hit this real quick in the sermon. That. That. The vagueness, it promotes readiness, not idleness.

[C]

That's good.

[A]

See, you know, it's kind of that rappers and ballers, they got a little thing. If you get re. If you stay ready, you don't got to get ready. I mean, honestly, that's like the principle. Stay ready. So you don't got to get ready. All right, let me run through these real quick. And, dude, I'm going run through 10 as fast as I can. I'm going run through 10 specific things the Bible says will happen that will signal the soon return of Jesus. Now, some of these are up to interpretive. You know, hey, what eschatological position do you have, that kind of thing? These are just things I'm saying. In general, Bible scholars for centuries have said, man, at least a great. A good number of Bible scholars think these 10 things, okay? And, dude, honestly, this is the stuff that made me go like, whoa, I really need to be thinking about this more. All right, so let me run these real fast. Number one, by the way, the tenth one is the one that's gonna blow your mind. I save the best for last. All right, number one, Daniel, chapter 12. Daniel is an eschatological book talking about the end times, especially the back half of Daniel. And it says this. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. In other words, what that means is the rest of this book is written in such a way that you won't be able to understand the fulfillment of these prophecies until they happen. That's what Bible scholars sometimes think that means. So shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. So now we're talking about the end before the return of Christ. And it says two things. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. So two things you got. You have an increase in travel. Number one, I'll just point this out. For all of human history, until about the 1960s, the farthest that somebody could travel in a day, at least before the invention of trains and automobiles. So actually before the 60s, so before the 1900s was about 20, 30 miles in a day. Obviously, you have railroads. Change that. Automobiles change that. What really changed in 1960s, commercial airlines. This is the first time in human history, literally, if I wanted to during this podcast, I could get on my phone, I could book a flight to Australia, I could roll over there to dfw, and I could be on, literally the other side of the world within 24 hours. First time in human history. Yeah.

[B]

And Elon wants to take us to Mars.

[A]

Yeah. Enough money, man.

[B]

Reusable rockets.

[A]

That's right. So, number one, increase in travel. Number two, it says, and knowledge shall increase. I hit this real quick in the sermon, so I won't do this, but obviously, with the rise of artificial intelligence, the amount of knowledge available to humans is now, it is estimated, is doubling every 14 to 20 days.

[C]

It's crazy.

[A]

So increase in knowledge. We have a tsunami of knowledge. Number three, this one's gonna do.

[B]

This one, by the way, can I say something about that?

[A]

Please do.

[B]

I've heard somebody said that artificial intelligence is the new tower of Babel or Babel. Tease it out for me, you know? So is it Babel or Babel?

[A]

People say it differently. People usually say Babel.

[B]

Just covering my bases, you get, man. Because in Babel, what people try to do is they try to reach the level of God. And everybody came together. And again, it's this idea of, like, man, we. We can get there. We can know everything. We can be like God. And so with artificial intelligence, we're trying to be like, well, let's double that knowledge, and maybe we can be omniscient, know everything like God does.

[C]

Because in their day, they used a special technology for their day, for building. And so it's like, hey, we've got a special technology now for building knowledge.

[A]

Or to reach godlike knowledge.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Anyways, wow.

[A]

All right, so, number two, that's obviously that's a historically unique thing. Number three, I'm going to read the passage and then I'm gonna show. I'm gonna pull up that digital ID video trinity. So this is Revelation 13, 16, 17. Also it causes all, both great and small, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand of the forehead. And I'm gonna talk about the 666 thing here in a second. So that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of his name. And I'm gonna talk about, like, what that actually might mean here in a second. But I'm just gonna point this out, man. What that's saying is there's going to be a one world. It. It appears, some Bible scholars, a lot of Bible scholars would say it appears like there's going to be a one world economic system. And the economic system will be constructed in such a way so that without some kind of mark or identifying, this is really important word identifying feature, you won't be able to engage in commerce in that economy. All right, bro, if you didn't know this dude, this is crazy, man. This kind of thing, I'm like, I'm, you know, cut me open. I'm red, white and blue, small government. That's me. This right here is a video of. This is Keir Starmer. They're trying to institute this in the EU right now. This thing called digital ID. Now, Keir Starmer has either clearly never read Revelation 13, or he read it and he's like, I'd like to be the Antichrist. So check this out. And that is why today I am.

[C]

Announcing this government will make a new free of charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work.

[A]

Mandatory for the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out.

[C]

You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital id. It's as simple as that.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Borrell.

[C]

Because decent, pragmatic, fair minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that.

[A]

They see around them.

[C]

And of course, the truth is.

[A]

All right, you can cut it, bro. Quoting Revelation here, it's like someone read Revelation 13, 16 and 17. It was like, let me show you how to. So you got it right there, man. So, by the way, you have one world government, you see, and you see stuff like that with organizations like who, World Health Organization, wef, World Economic Forum. And that's why we've talked about this before on the pod. So I won't go in this. God does nationalism Satan does globalism in the Bible because we were talking about Babel. Babel because. Because humankind has a sin nature. We are rebellious by nature. And God knew that if mankind ever unified, we would unify in rebellion against him. Okay, so that's it. So there you go. One world economic system and a mark there. Wow. Are you gonna say something? You want me keep going?

[B]

You got it.

[A]

All right, now let me tag onto this. This is something I learned this week. So Revelation 13, 8, this is right after this. And it talks about like this, like a mark or whatever that is. So it says this. This calls for wisdom. Listen really close to how this. This is the 666 verse. This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That language really interesting. For it is the number of a man. And then it says that number is 666. Now, Trinity, will you show that first the deal up there? Okay, so I got this from West Huff. So point this out. If you open a modern translation of The Bible in 13, Revelation 13:18, it reads this. And that is one of the papyrus, earliest papyrus fragments with this specific verse, revelation. Is it 318 or 13 18. 3 18. Okay. Okay. Now here's what's really interesting. Go to the next one that I sent, Trinity right there. So what it says, that number is the number of a man. So there it is. I shouldn't see. Right there, it's the number of. Amen. Now, what a lot of people point out is that in both Greek and Hebrew is that what they would do is they were very numerically oriented people. So in Greek and Hebrew, all the numbers, they have corresponding alphanumeric figures. So that's the Greek Alphabet right there. Which I can still. In serum prep this week, I was like, can I still do the Greek Alphabet? I can. It's fine.

[B]

Okay, let's go.

[A]

So that they all have that. Now, here's what's interesting. If you write out the name Nero Caesar in Hebrew, its corresponding alphanumeric figures come out to exactly 666. So, yeah, so here's the deal. And this is the whole thing about preterism and partial preterism. Which parts of Revelation are describing things that happened in the past? Which parts of Revelation are describing things that will happen in the future? Or which parts of Revelation are describing things that had what's called a near fulfillment in the past, but were typologically pointing forward to an ultimate fulfillment that will also happen in the future? Most I Would venture a guess that most Bible scholars would say this passage, it has a near fulfillment in the person of Nero, but it will have an ultimate fulfillment in whoever is the an end of time antichrist figure. So here's what's interesting about the 666 thing. First of all, it almost certainly is referencing Nero. Now if you read Revelation 13, it says a few things. It says, number one, that it's going to be a beast from the sea. And that's, you know, the sea often represents in Revelation and ancient Near Eastern literature, if I understand it correctly, often represents just godlessness, sometimes political things. So it's like potentially referencing him. Number two, Revelation 13:3 says that whoever this beast is will have a fatal wound that is then healed. If you want to do a little deep dive this week that'll get really interesting for you, go Google the Nero Redivivus Nero Redivivus mythology. So Nero killed himself. He went crazy and killed himself. And then a bunch of reporters in Rome went full Candace Owens and they were like, actually there was a conspiracy around him and there was this, like this seriously a conspiracy. The thread went all around Rome that actually it was actually just a conspiracy that he killed himself, that he's actually still alive. And he's actually, you just think that he had a fatal wound and he's coming back. So in Revelation 13:3 says this beast had a fatal wound and was healed. It seems like it could be referring to this Nero Red of vivis myth number three. It says Revelations 13:35 and six that Nero that the beast would blaspheme God. Nero obviously demanded Lord Nero worship, put himself in the place of God. And then Revelation 13:5, it talks about this guy has 42 months, the beast has 42 months of authority to persecute of authority. Nero's persecution of Christians lasted an estimated three and a half years, which corresponds to about 42 months. And then again, you've got the deal of a mark or a stamp on a right hand or the forehead. And apparently there was some of that going on back then. So anyway, you got this here.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And for people that don't know, you know, Paul Nero was.

[C]

Oh yeah, he was the emperor of Rome. And so even the idea of the coming from the sea when this was coming, these remember that this was written to churches in Asia Minor and so Turkey. And so when they would have people from Rome come, guess where they would come from the sea. And so there's a lot of allusions to it. And even like the idea of often it's in the Book of Revelation, you get this reference to Babylon, which was very much an indication of reference to Rome, Roman Empire. Yeah. And so. And even just people like, wait a second. It can be fulfilled once. And then again.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

This is actually more common than people realize in the Bible.

[A]

Very common.

[C]

Even think about Psalm 22. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? When David wrote that, he was writing about himself, but what he did not know is that through him, the Holy Spirit was actually pointing ultimately to Christ on the cross. And so it's a very actually common thing of the idea of having multiple fulfillments of something in Scripture.

[B]

That's good, man.

[A]

That's called. It's. I think it's sometimes called prophetic. No, no, no. Near. Near. No, I was thinking prophetic Foreshortening is where multiple events that will happen in succession appear as one in a prophecy. That's a different thing. Okay, let me do these others real quick. Number four, the rebirth of the nation of Israel. Again, this is one that a lot of people, you know, obviously depending on your eschatological position. But it. There are multiple reasons to think this is a thing. So this is Isaiah 66, 7 through 9. It says, before she goes into labor, she gives birth. Interesting. When Jesus talks about his return, he uses birth language. Romans chapter 8 talks about how creation groans with eager expectation. And it talks about labor pains. So the closer we get to the return of Christ, all this stuff that the Bible's prophesying, just like contractions get closer and closer and closer. And then it's like, bro, it's about time. So it says, before she goes into labor, she gives birth. Before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Now listen, can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. I will not leave you childless, says the Lord. I will bring it to birth. Now it asks the question, seemingly talking about the end return of Christ. Can a nation be born in a day? That is exactly what happened to the modern nation state of Israel. On May 14, 1948, the British Mandate. There was a British mandate over Palestine ended on that day, May 14, 1948. On that day, I can't remember the dude's name. Israel declared its independence as a nation. By the way, Israel is the only nation state that has ever been reconstituted twice in history that the nation was dissolved and then it was reconstituted. It's the only nation in world history that's happened twice. So they declared their independence. Then United States President Harry Truman recognized Israel as a nation on that same day. A bunch of other nations. Remember, this is right in the wake of the finalization of World War II. A bunch of other nations follow the United States leadership. And immediately, in one day, Israel became a nation again. All right, 1948. Let me do another one. Number five, the rise of false Christs and false prophets. This is Matthew 24. Jesus answered, watch out that nobody deceives you, for many will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah. I will deceive many. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. We'll just point out we talked about Islam significantly last week. There are a lot of world religions rising right now that are full of stories, myths, legends, demonically empowered things that essentially there are false Christs and false prophets. Number six, let's keep going. We talked about this last week. Revelation 20:4 is talking about the end of time, and it talks about the souls of the beheaded. Again, we mentioned last week. Islam throughout history has historically practiced beheading as one of the ways that it, you know, meets out persecution upon what they call infidels, so that that could be a fulfillment there. Number 7. John 16. 2. Jesus says, Indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. Again, we talked about this last week. That is a potentially, potentially referencing, you know, religious persecution, which is massively on the rise. Number eight, this is really interesting. The whole earth needs to be able to see the same thing at the same time. Now this one's a. This is really interesting. Just track with me. So Revelation 11, again, we're broadening out to multiple eschatological positions. So just go with me if you're a theology nerd here. Revelation 11 talks about two witnesses. Okay, that will come. Now, we don't know the identity of the two witnesses. Some people think it's Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. Some people think. Do you know who? Some people think it's Enoch and Elijah. Oh, yeah. Because those are the two people in the Bible that never experienced death. And obviously the book of Hebrews says it is appointed unto man once to die. So a lot of people think the two witnesses, like God was like, I'm gonna take you. I'm gonna take you. You don't experience death yet because your day's coming. You're going to be the two witnesses at the end. You'll experience death then. Now. But listen. So these two witnesses come, and it's like they got a sword coming out of their mouth. You know, the entire world's listening to them and hating the truth that they're speaking. Listen really close to what Revelation 7, Revelation 11 says. Now, when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will attack them and overpower them and kill them again. It's appointed once to die. Verse 8. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Almost certainly Jerusalem or outside of Jerusalem. Listen. For three and a half days, some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. Now. Now, for centuries, Bible scholars have been like, huh? Well, how can everybody from the whole world gaze on their bodies? Until the invention of international broadcasting in the mid-1900s. And I will also point this out. And now every person on earth is holding one of these in their hands. And with the click of a button, somebody can go on IG Live or whatever it is and be broadcasting real time from any location in the world. And you can be watching a live stream of anything anywhere in the world. It's the first time in human history that Revelation 11 is even technologically possible to happen. Wild. Okay, that's wild. It's going to get wilder. I got two more.

[B]

Wait, there's more on that passage on Revelation 11. It's interesting because after it says what you just said, that they will gaze at the dead body, it says that the people there will also rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents. And so not only will they. They will everybody see it, but they will be happy and celebrate. Which is interesting because, you know, we basically just saw that happen with the death of Charlie Kirk. I did not know that. And so, you know, that's right. People in this passage are rejoicing and celebrating over the death of two prophetic witnesses raised by God. We. Again, we. This just happened like a month or two ago with Charlie Kirk, where people are literally going on social media and rejoicing and celebrating. This is Isaiah, chapter 5, verse 20. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.

[C]

And it's not to say, even if people are confused like that, we're saying Charlie Kirk was one of those two. And it's. No, it's to say. Or. The point we're trying to make here is that because people hear like, oh, that would never happen. People would never rejoice over the death of the Christian. I'm like, it has happened throughout the last 2,000 years.

[A]

It always happens.

[C]

It always happens. This is what continues to happen. So no, I think that was. That was the point. Which is like man. No, ultimately people are speaking on behalf of God and they're confronting sin. When that person dies, people rejoice.

[A]

Truth sounds like hate to people who hate truth.

[C]

Exactly.

[A]

All right, number nine. This one has not been fulfilled yet, but could be very soon. The gospel has to be preached the whole earth. Matthew 24:14. In this gospel, the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. It says, and then the end will come. I'm not going to give anything away. We are, we are actively right now working on a way for Lake Point to be part of the solution of that specific verse, verse10.10 or number 10. There has to be a mass apostasy second. Thessalonians says the day talking about the return of Christ will not come unless it says the falling away happens first. Dude, I will just point this out. And I wish I had a graph. I should have found it. Particularly in the west. If you look at where Christendom historically has been for the last thousand years, we are in the middle of the largest mass apostasy in church history. More people have one at one time said, I'm on team Jesus. And now they walked away and said, I'm not on team Jesus in the last generation than maybe ever before in human history. That's like a bunch of my friends from high school. And it specifically says, yeah, there's gonna be a mass falling away right before the return of Christ. Now you want. Can I do the mind blowing one, Bro? This legit is maybe the most mind blowing Bible fact I've ever learned in my entire life. I've been waiting six years to get this out because it never fits in a sermon. Okay, you ready?

[B]

I'm ready.

[A]

I'll blow your mind.

[C]

All right, man.

[A]

So check this out, dude. This is that good. All right, I need to get this in the right order. All right, so it starts right here. Jesus ascended into heaven when he was standing on, in Acts chapter one, the Mount of Olives. And he specifically said in Acts chapter one, he said, I'm going to come in the exact same way that I go. And there are other prophecies. I'm going to read them here in a second that specifically make it sound like it's clear. When Jesus returns and he descends, he's going to descend and stand right on top of the Mount of Olives again. All right, now let's go a layer deeper in Ezekiel 44. So if you're ever there on the Mount of Olives, the Mount of Olives is east of the Temple Mount. So when you stand on the Mount of Olives, you're looking right over here, and it's like, bro, the Temple Mount is right there. Temple's torn down right now. You got the Dome of the Rock, the whole Islamic things over there. But the temple was right there. Okay, so. And that's where Jesus was standing, and he looked at the Temple Mount. So in Ezekiel 43, it's one of the passages that Jewish people for millennia have been like, that's a messianic prophecy. This is describing what's going to happen when the Messiah comes. Now listen really close, bro. This is insane. Listen really close. So here's what it says. Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, the one facing the east, and it was shut. Trinity, here. In a second, I'm going to ask for that picture of the East Gate. The Lord said to me, this gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened. No one may enter through it. Wonder why it is to remain shut? Because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. And when it says has entered through it, this is prophetic foreshortening, talking about a future event as if it were in the past. So it's saying, when the Messiah comes, he's going to walk right through that gate. Okay, east gate. Then it says, verse three, the prince himself, Messiah is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the presence of the Lord. He is to enter by way of the portico of the gateway and go out the same way. So this is saying, when the Messiah comes, he's going to walk right through that gate. Now, Trinity, will you. Let's toss that up there. This right here is East Gate as seen from when you're standing on the Mount of Olives. That's literally what you're looking at right there. East gate right there. Now, if you look at it, you're like, where's the gate, bro? Because it's all bricked up. Let me point out two things. So when the Muslims conquered Jerusalem, they did two things, because in part, they had fear of the messianic prophecies that the Messiah would come. So they did two things. Number one, if you look at the bottom of that gate, notice there's, like, thousands of tombs there. So in part, they put A cemetery out there. Because they were like, they knew the Jewish Old Testament laws that holy people weren't supposed to be around dead bodies. So they literally put them there because they were like, you know, this Messiah is supposed to be a Jewish dude that observes all the law. He's not going to want to be around a bunch of cadavers. And then, dude, the guy's name was Sultan Suleiman. He conquered Jerusalem in 1517. The Islamic guy had fear of the future Messiah coming and this specific prophecy. And he's the dude that bricked up the east gate because he was going, I'm going to make sure that prophecy can never get fulfilled and the Messiah will never walk through that gate. Now, I want to say two things, bro. Number one, that reminds me of when the Romans put Jesus in his tomb and put a big rock in front of it. And the funniest verse in the whole Bible, they go, make it as secure as you can. I love that verse. I think Jesus was like, I'm about to freaking show you that rock ain't gonna do nothing. And this is exactly what that dude did. He bricked this thing up. All right. I love this so much. Okay, now check this out. Zechariah 14, 3:5. Are you ready?

[B]

I'm ready. I'm ready.

[A]

Zechariah 14, three five again, messianic prophecy about the return of Christ says this. His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a large valley. Half of the mountain shall move to the north and half of it to the south. So it says, when Jesus returns, he's gonna come back on the Mount of Olives, and the mountain will crack in half, bro. In 1964. Look this up. There's a million news stories about this. 1964, these Jewish dudes want to build a hotel on the top of the Mount of Olives. In order to do it, they've got to get a geological survey done before they build on the top of a historic mountain. When they do the geological survey, they discover that there is a fault line that runs right underneath the Mount of Olives. It is an east to west fault line that runs right from the top of the Mount of Olives right to the east gate. Wow. And that passage says, when Jesus returns, he'll descend on that mountain. And I think what's going to happen is the Bible talks about the earth and the heavens being shaken. I think he'll come down trump's going to sound and the whole earth will get shaken. That fault line will crack wide open. I think that in fulfillment of this prophecy, that whole valley will just do this. All those stones that that dude put in front of that thing are going to fall right down. And everybody listen, bro. Every single body they buried in front of that thing going, he's not going to want to walk through a place of dead bodies. They're all going to ris from the dead right in front of the Lord of glory. And he's going to walk right through that thing, stand on that temple mount and be like, where are you at now? That right there.

[B]

That was amazing.

[A]

That's amazing, bro. That's amazing. Yeah.

[C]

I thought it again. I love that line. When. Make it as secure as you can.

[A]

I thought you.

[C]

I thought this. Where you're going is. Because I can just imagine Jesus saying, oh, that's cute. Like, that's adorable. And the same thing is, like, when they put the tombs there, it's like, the only problem with that is that when I come back, everyone's going to be raised from the grave.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

And so Jesus is like, that's cute.

[A]

I'm fine.

[C]

Yeah, I think I'm good.

[A]

I think we're good. I'll give you two other little Bible facts. First of all, can you show the hotel? So, I mean, you can. This is like. You can look this up. This is the seven arches hotel. That's the hotel they were trying to build on the top of Mount of Olives. They literally had to move. If you go there, you can go there today. They literally had to move the spot where they constructed the hotel because they wouldn't let them build on top of the fault line. So, like, you can read all the news stories. This is right there. This is, like, not a. You know, they're not hidden. That's. That's the hotel right there.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And this is a fun little Bible fact. A lot of people don't know this. If you go to any cemetery in the United States and you pull out your little compass. I love doing this. Pull out your little compass. Every. Every gravestone in the United States is, like, industry standard for cemeteries. They all face east. The headstones, all. Every single one. I know people have never heard this. They're like, there's no way. That's true. Yes, it is. Drive to the closest cemetery, pull up your compass, and you will see every single headstone in the entire cemetery faces east. Because Christian people that founded our nation were like, we're going to bury all of the dead facing the Mount of Olives because we want them to be ready to come out of their grave and see Jesus as he cracks this guy.

[B]

That's amazing.

[A]

Wow. It's amazing. So anyway, dude, you know, if you go back to Jesus going, hey man, it's all like contractions. And the closer we get to my return, it's going to be like. And right now what you got is like, I just read them. You got 11 things that it's like the contractions seem like they're getting closer and closer and closer. So, man, we ought to be people who are like, I'm gonna get ready. I'm gonna stay ready, so I don't gotta get ready.

[C]

Yeah. Oh, so much good there. I think with you Mind if I share even this other cool details?

[A]

Go for it. I've been waiting to share that for six.

[C]

It just. I love the Bible and I love that God that is out there. Bible. And I hope it's just sharing. People like, these aren't just nerd facts. It's like, no, dude, the Bible is true and it's telling a true story. And speaking of stories, that's the one thing, you know, coming out of Revelation 21 and 22, every story has an end.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And even if even for people listening to this is like, as we've been nerding out a little bit, it's like, man, why do we want Christ to return? Because in a sense, then the story, at least in human history that God has been writing comes to an end and then a new story begins. And I just even connective like, why do we long for this? Why is this so important? And that's because in the book of Revelation, last two chapters, where the story comes to the end, it actually goes back to the beginning. And what I mean by that is that there are insane parallels between Genesis 1:3 and Revelation 21:22. I actually have a couple slides I was going to show a couple pictures of just showing you some of these. So for example, in Genesis 1:3, you have the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Revelation 21:22. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. In Genesis 1:3, God dwelled with Adam and Eve. But then 21 and 22, behold the dwelling place of God with man. There's a tree of life there. There's a river there. If we go to the next picture, we have some more things. In Genesis. Genesis 1:3, Light exists before sun, moon and stars.

[A]

Oh, that's a good Catch.

[C]

Yeah. This is the thing that people miss in Revelation. It is the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God gives its light in Genesis 1 through 3. Human dominion, dominion is given, Adam and Eve. But in Revelation 21:22, they us will reign forever and ever. Curse bring sin brings a curse in Genesis 1:3. But in Revelation 21:22, that's done away with. No longer will there be anything a curse. Genesis 1:3, Eve is created as a bride for Adam. In Revelation 21:22, the church is a bride for Christ. So at the end, we get to go to the beginning. Like we want Christ to come back.

[A]

That's right.

[C]

Because when he does, we get to go back home.

[A]

That's right, man. Home. Yeah, home.

[C]

And what I mean by that is, like, we get to go back to the unimpeded presence of God. And unlike the first time, we're never leaving again. We get to go back home and we're never leaving again. And it's actually better than it was the first time. It's better than it was the first time. And so this is why we long for. This is because when Jesus come back at the end, we get to go back to the beginning and we actually get to go into a new story that will go on and on and on and never end.

[B]

Man, Paul is really good that you said that, because I feel like oftentimes when people talk about the end times and, you know, especially as you just pay attention to everything's going on, like, in the world and all the chaos, like, especially for Christians, there could be a little bit of a fear, like, oh, man, what's gonna happen? Like, I hear the words tribulation and. And chaos and wars and rumors of wars, but what you're saying is there should be an expectation and a rejoicing of, like, man, like.

[C]

Like.

[B]

Like whatever's coming after, like, it's going to be like Jesus wins. And. And so I think it's even just hearing you, Pastor Josh, talk about all these signs that are found in scripture that we are told beforehand. This should be a reminder that none of. None of what you see today catches God by surprise. There's nothing that he's like, oh, that happened? Oh, no, no, no. Like, on the contrary, these things are unfolding to fulfill a divine purpose. And at the end, like we said. But I think it was Billy Graham that said, I've read the end of the book, and we win in the end. And so, man, that's an expectation, not a fear for us. To have.

[C]

Yeah. Typically when you look through that, the New Testament, whenever it's talking about the return of Christ, generally three big things are being present or present in terms of what it's aiming to engender to create in Christians hope for the future, holiness in the present, and then also a sense of urgency in the present, hope in the future. Like you just said that we went holiness in the sense of we want to be ready for him when Christ returns. We want to be found as people who are living for Jesus. As Jesus returns, then finally we should live with urgency because on the day when he returns. I think I shared this a week or two ago. For us, for believers, that is the first time that we will get to see Jesus and then we will see him forever and ever. For unbelievers, it will be the first and last time they ever see him. And so it should fill us with urgency. In fact, in two Peter was just teaching this to our residents today. It actually talks about that the reason that God is delaying that return is because he doesn't want anyone to perish, that all should repent. And so that's why he's delaying. In the meantime, then we gotta get our butts in gear and then share the gospel with as many people as possible.

[A]

Empty hell.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

Well, hey, before we jump back in, I want to take a quick moment to tell you about something close to our heart here at Lake Point. It is something we call our annual missions offering. Every fall, we set aside a season of radical generosity where 100% of what's given goes straight to missions. And this goes to help plant churches in some of America's hardest to reach cities, strengthening local churches around the world, meeting needs in our own communities, and even sending students to camp to encounter Jesus. And so here's what you need to know. Your giving fuels real stories of life change. And so to be a part of spreading God's love farther and faster than ever. Text the word give to 20411 or visit visit Lakepoint Church. Give a m O. Well, hey lift Free family together. Let's make this a season where our generosity moves the mission of Christ forward. Let's go. Well, speaking of sharing the gospel with our culture, we're talking about how what's going to happen then. I want to talk about now transition, if you're ready.

[A]

Unless you have more of what's going to happen now.

[B]

Okay, get ready. And so speaking of culture, speaking of chaos, speaking of conversations that are happening in our culture today, Pastor Josh, you this Week I saw I was on X having fun. And a couple of your X is.

[A]

That it's that light, happy, encouraging place.

[B]

My joy and my happiness goes up every time.

[C]

And I'm never a place of rage.

[B]

Or despair I stumbled upon. And I was like, oh, hey, like, you're. You're posting some things. And there was one tweet, I guess, I don't know if this. That's what we call it these days, but there was one post that you shared on boosting Max, boosting welfare programs and kind of ties into the conversation of socialism. Let's go there. Tell me about it.

[A]

Well, let's set it up like this. So the. The big. The reason there's a big question about this is obviously with the government shut down right now, and I can't remember how many days, it's like, it's very soon the SNAP benefits, which is like a welfare program, runs out. And I think people are kind of freaking out because it became public that I think it's 42 million Americans right now are on. Are on SNAP. So then it raises this question, right? The question then becomes, I think Christians are confused how to feel because on the one hand, I think, you know, probably most normal people that understand basic economics are like, it doesn't seem awesome that 42 million people were doing that. But then Christians are also. We're like, we love the poor people. Like, that's like our thing. We care about the poor. That's like our thing. So then I think people, Christians in particular, have been like, well, on the one hand, that feels really foolish and probably not a good economic system. On the other hand, I'm supposed to care about poor people. What should I think about this now? I think this conversation been compounded, but with the Mamdani election in New York City. In fact, do we have that. Did y'. All. Do we got that clip, the Mamdani clip? We got that trending because, you know, like, we talked about this a little last week. Like, well, last week we talked about his Islamic faith, but he's. He's not just Islamic. Like, he's a communist. And I think when some people heard me, I saw some of the comments like, oh, you're calling this guy a communist. Like, we're not supposed to slander a brother. I'm like, I'm not. I'm not. Let's just show this clip from Mom. Donnie, real quick. This is old. This is an interview with him.

[B]

We are unapologetic about.

[A]

What'S his background? What is that background?

[C]

The Earth.

[A]

Is he like green screen in the. Like a. Maybe he's Liz, green screen. You know what that is, Jason?

[C]

I hope he has green screen.

[A]

All right, go ahead and do it. Just caught me. It funny.

[B]

We are unapologetic about our socialism.

[A]

There are also other issues that we firmly believe in. Whether it's bds.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Or whether it's the end goal of seizing the means of production. Whoopsie daisy. Where we do not have the same level of support at this very moment. All right. Whoopsie daisy. Now, pop quiz. Chad, gpc. Where have we heard the phrase end goal of ceasing the means of production before?

[C]

I'm pretty sure it's this dude named Carl Marx.

[A]

I'll take Karl Marx for 500, Alex.

[C]

It is the definition, defining feature of socialism as we know it. Yeah.

[A]

Not just socialism. Yeah.

[C]

Like communism.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

It's like it is the defining feature. Yeah.

[A]

And he just said like, that's my end goal. He said, number one, we're overt about our socialism. Number two is like the end goal is to seize the means of production. Did you have anything else you're going to say there?

[C]

No, I just laugh because I mean literally, that is like the defining feature that. That's it. It is when the government takes control of economic and social good and it is his job to do it. So, yeah, that involves seizing the means of production.

[B]

Paul, are you defining socialism? Right. For people that maybe are not as familiar with some of these terms.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Because even like within capitalism, we have public programs that are tax funded for sure. That does good. Because what we're trying is we want to do the maximum of public good that we can, but with limited resources. But you still have private equity, you have private companies and private people and we tax them and then we try to do as much good public good we can for the common good. What socialism does is it seizes controls of the means and production of wages. It sets wages, it sets prices so that it can do that for everybody and so of it just being taxed.

[A]

Am I wrong, Paul? I may be wrong. You're not going to hurt my feelings. Socialism. The difference is socialism and communism are related. They're related, but not coterminous.

[B]

Yeah, it's.

[A]

So socialism is typically marked by redistribution, like excessive redistribution of wealth, trying to.

[C]

Get it equal, literally equal.

[A]

Because there's obviously gradations of socialism. So you know, Venezuela, you're going to talk about this here in a second. Second, there's gradations, but it's just, it's essentially excessive redistribution of wealth typically falls under the category of socialism. Communism is like actual, like you said, seizing the means of production. Kind of the tagline is from each according to his means, to each according to their needs. Or something like that.

[C]

Yeah, each according to each according their needs. That's the thing.

[A]

Yeah, that's the Karl Marx thing, by the way. I'll just point this out. Like, Karl Marx died living with his mom. Like, I seriously just want to point that out. Like, can I just point that out? Karl Marx died as an insane person that lived with his mom. So like, I don't know if this is. Yeah. On brand.

[B]

The amount of influence he had, you know.

[A]

Yeah. So one, I just want to point. So here's the question, here's why I'm bringing this up because I do think Christians are like, Holy cow, wow, 42 million people are being subsidized by this program. But man, I also want to be somebody that cares about the poor and makes sure that the hungry are fed. And so what am I supposed to think about this? So the X post that I did that you're referencing was essentially like, man, it's actually not a historically Christian belief for some biblical reasons that the government should step into the primary role of charity and wealth redistribution. And that's where that came from. Do you want to talk about that real quick, please? All right, let's do it. So let's do this at a moderate pace here. We'll do our best. Okay, so here's the. And actually toss up the little, the meme, the one that's tan. The tan meme up there. There it is. Okay, so, and this is what Christians, when a Christian has maybe a more conservative view of economics and government, this is what you're going to get thrown at you. Why? When Jesus talks about feeding the poor, it's Christianity, but when a politician does it, it's socialism. Well, actually there's really, really good reasons for that. Let me explain this because, well meaning but naive Christians don't know how to respond to that. So let me say a few things. Some people will. Sometimes they'll say it like this, man. Shouldn't Christians support full support of any welfare program because Jesus said to feed the hungry and the early church was marked by generosity of the poor. Okay, let me few, few responses here. Number one. No, let me just point this out. Out. No. Using the government to forcefully take other people's money against their will and redistribute. It was not a mark of the early church. The early church was generous to the poor. A, with their own money. I will just say this, like in general, and I'm more talking ideologically and not as much politically. All the overlap in general, what you get is conservatives, data shows are about three times more generous to the poor with their own time and money than progressives. There was like that thing a few years ago where everybody kept talking. Bernie Sanders was running for president and everybody kept talking about how he was so generous, generous, generous, generous to the poor. That's his thing. And then his tax returns got released and he was giving less than 1% of his personal income to any charity. So what you get a lot of times is like people who are secular progressives is they want to brand themselves as the generous ones when actually they're not. They're generous with other people's money.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

That's like, they're like, I'm really generous, so I'm going to vote to take your money and give it to other people. That's not generosity. So, number one, the early church was generous with their own money, and B, they did it of their own volition. Let me just say, yes, Christians and churches should 100% be those things.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

So let's not do this. Let's not overcorrect against socialistic redistribution of wealth to the poor. And then we actually cultivate hearts of selfishness and callousness towards the most vulnerable people in the world. Let's not do that.

[C]

Because, I mean, even just to put it to a point, I mean, like the book of James, in the context where it's talking about faith without works is dead. It is in the context of James talking about them refusing to help and take care of the deserving poor.

[A]

That's right.

[C]

And so it's that serious. Basically, James is like, hey, if you are not helping caring for the deserving poor around you, you may say you have faith, but you don't.

[A]

You don't.

[C]

I mean, that's how much James is elevating the stakes of this. I just wanted to put a point.

[A]

Yeah. When James says with faith without works is that he says, what good is it? And really his principle is like, hey, man, if your faith, if you having faith doesn't result in good things happening to the people around you, then that type of faith is not going to do anything good for you either.

[C]

That's right.

[A]

So people who are hurting and in need around you, like, they should be marked and blessed by the presence of a Christian around them. So let me just say that, like, let's not Overcorrect against socialistic redistribution of wealth and then we just become selfish people. In fact, that's one of the specific ways the New Testament says you can get rewards in heaven, is with generosity to the poor. Okay, now what this does is. And Paul, we need to do this super fast. So I don't know if it can be done fast. This goes to a theological concept that we've hinted at before on the pod. It's called Kyperian sphere sovereignty. I'm going to butcher it and then you can fix it.

[C]

You'll do great.

[A]

All right. Abraham Kuyper. He was Swiss, right?

[C]

Yeah, he was Dutch. No, sorry, Dutch. Dutch Netherlands.

[A]

Abraham Kuyper. He was a Calvinistic theologian that became a political leader in the Netherlands.

[C]

Literally. He was a pastor, professor and prime minister. So, you know, like, kind of a big deal.

[A]

Yeah, you know, bit of a Renaissance man.

[C]

It's cute that your kid made the honor row. You know, his. His mom had bumper sticker on. I guess it wouldn't have been a car at that point, but.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. So a little, little bit of Renaissance man, pastor, professor. I mean, he literally started a university newspaper and he was the prime minister.

[A]

And prime minister, so, you know, their equivalent of a president.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And by the way, dude was absolutely brilliant theologian. You can still. I did. It's probably six, seven years ago. Six, seven years ago. My. I need that joke to die, by the way. I need that joke to die, by the way. Six, seven years ago I went and read some of his essays on sphere sovereignty. They're very readable. They're not too over your head. And dude was stinking brilliant. And basically what he did is he noticed in the Bible that God has instituted. God has created three primary institutions in the Bible and God has given each of them a lane in which to run. Each institution that God created for the flourishing and blessing of the world have all been given specific responsibilities. Now, this is rudimentary. I'm not going to get all these right. And it's not an exhaustive list. So if you go read them, you're like, ah, you left that out. Yes, you're totally right. The three institutions are the family, the church and the state. So the family in the Bible is primarily responsible for the raising of children. The things like feeding and caring for them, forming virtue. Forming virtue. Moral formation. That's the family's job. By the way, throughout church history, the family was the primary place that Christians have historically located the responsibility for the education of children. So I will just say this. This is not to say the schools are wrong. It is maybe we should talk about at some point. It is a reason that, for instance, people like J. Gresham Machen, Presbyterian theologian, when the government was moving, this IS in the 1920s, the government was moving towards government controlled school systems. J. Gresham Machen was alluding to Kyperian sphere sovereignty and testified before the United States Congress in the 1920s. Hey guys, this could actually go really bad bad, because right now all of our government leaders are predominantly Christians. And he was like, the day may come when they're not. And actually. And he was alluding to sphere sovereignty actually. The family is supposed to be the primary place for the moral formation of education of children. So watch out. So anyway, that is not to say government schools are necessarily wrong. I'm just saying historically, Christians have located the family as the place where the primary responsibility for the education of children was. So you got family, then you have church. The church's primary responsibilities have been things like word and sacrament, to use some classically Reformed terminology. So that's the preaching of the Word, the teaching of the Word, the discipleship of the people, the administration of the ordinances of the church, baptism and communion, things like that. And also both family and church historically, and this is germane to this discussion, those have been the spheres where Christians have historically located the primary responsibility for charity to the poor. Yes, this is where it gets really germane to this discussion.

[B]

Family and the church.

[A]

The family and the church. I say that for two reasons. One, if I understand it right, Kuyper alluded to this, but I was going to talk about this more here in a second. Number one. You have the specific command. Let me find it in my notes here. Let me find it. You have First Timothy five, eight. If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So First Timothy is notice what it's doing. Hey, if you got a family member that's poor, hurting or in need, it's locating the responsibility, the primary responsibility for the care of that person in the family. So which sphere does it go in there. Now you also obviously have, if you read particularly the Book of Acts, Acts chapter six. Actually, you see this all over the place. What the church is doing throughout the book of Acts is caring for the orphans, the widows, the poor. Paul is consistently taking up collections to. I'm going to use the word redistribute. Watch this. The voluntarily given resources of the Christians to the poor among the communities. So, yeah, the spheres, the institutions that it seems like in the Bible have been primarily assigned the responsibility for charity to the poor are the family and the church. Now, before I go any farther, is there anything you would add here? Chat G. Paulson I think just to.

[C]

Color it a little bit. Is that what Kuyper said was that, hey, what happens when things can go wrong is if you get out of your lane and you begin to either use super authority or try to do things, that really is not your role. It can go wrong in a bunch of ways. But I think that's one thing that doesn't mean that there's no interaction. So may probably a tangible example would help best here is the role of the family. The parents are. They're the primary disciplers of their kids, actually, like, in terms of raising them up in the Lord, they're the primary disciples of their kids. But it's the church's role actually to recognize who is actually saved to the best of our ability. We can't discern the heart that's ultimately Lord's. And that you mentioned the sacraments, that's baptism. And so there's so like right there, there's a close interlocking plane that we won't. We don't have to show the picture. But actually in one of his speeches where Kuyper talks about this is he talks about cogs or cogwhee in a watch, about how they're all working together, but the second they begin to go too much into the others, actually it jams up and it doesn't fulfill the function that it's supposed to. And so I think that's. We're not saying that they're literally completely separate. There's no interaction. We're just saying, hey, God has ordained them. And here's the big thing for Kyper is that God is ultimately sovereign over them all. This is where you get that classic quote, trying to think, if I want to do a tattoo based on this at some point. But the idea there's not a square image that Christ said look at and say mine. Yeah, a little bit of a paraphrase.

[A]

Kyber quote.

[C]

Yeah. So Jesus is sovereign overall and he has designs for them all. And all those things work best when you're working in line with those designs. But then also he's designed to be separate from each other. And anytime one tries to usurp the authority of the other, things go bad.

[A]

Yeah. So an example of that. So the lanes is a good analogy. So imagine the family is Like a little VW Beetle driving in. This one lane is tiny. Then imagine the church is like a big party bus. You know, it's over here and it's in a different lane. And then imagine the government of the state which is also, according to Romans 13, instituted by God. That's also reaffirmed in first or second Peter, Peter, second Peter. I think the government has been instituted by God. And that's like a stinking, you know, 36 Wheeler over there. When everybody stays in their lane and does their God given role, good things happen. Now I'm going to give an example. Real, real bad things happen when one of the spheres gets out of its lane and tries to do the primary responsibility of one of the other institutions. For instance, people accuse me, us and other pastors of quote unquote getting political. Because now remember, one of the roles of the church is word. Declare the word of God, be the conscience, the moral conscience of society. Help people and societies know what is true right and good from the Word of God. Okay? So what I always say to that is, hey man, the church is not getting more political. Politics got out of its lane and started getting spiritual. When the government moved past things like building roads and issuing driver's licenses to things like redefining marriage, erasing gender, reframing infant murder as quote unquote, reproductive rights, and then using the government school system to indoctrinate everybody's kids into believing those things. Hey man, the church didn't change, politics did. And see what's happening there is the government's getting out of its institutional lane that's been given by God and it's veering into the lane of the church and it's starting to encroach upon the declaration of the Word of God by, by defying the word of God and by defying the moral order that God has declared in his Word. When that happens, all you gotta do is just look at our society for the last 30 years. When that happens, society decays. So what we need is all three institutions, family, church and state, embracing their God given roles and staying in their lane. Now that leads us to this discussion. Actually bad things happen happen when the government gets out of its lane and assumes the primary role of wealth redistribution for the purpose of charity. That's supposed to be the family in the church. Paul or Carlos, any thoughts here? You want me to keep going?

[B]

Keep going.

[A]

Okay, I'll get, I'll just give one example of this. So here's why. Let me just, let me, let me read this real Quick. So this was like from my ex post, although a thin social safety net for dire circumstances is permissible. So, you know, for instance, you have the example of Joseph in. When Joseph was in his.

[C]

In Egypt.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

With the famine.

[A]

Yeah. In his political position. I was trying to remember his specific title, but I can't remember when Joseph, with his political position, God warns him of a coming famine and he's like, hey, we should probably fill these barns so that we can have food for the people when the famine comes. It's a dire, unique circumstance and it's okay for. For the government to do that. But that's honestly, that's the only example in the Bible that I'm aware of. Okay, so a thin social safety net for dire circumstances permissible. But there are no examples in the Bible besides maybe Joseph, of God commanding or affirming governments to take money from earners and redistribute it to take care of people. Okay. Now sometimes I will say this because I want to get out ahead of it. Sometimes people point to the Old Testament gleaning laws in Deuteronomy, and that's like they call them gleaning laws because farmers were commanded to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so that the poor could come and gather and they would be taken care of by those things. But people pointed out, number one, that was still a situation in which even the poor needed to do some form of work. Hey, that you still have a responsibility for you. It's trying to engender personal autonomy and growth of responsibility. But then also, number two, notice those commands are not given to a centralized government. Those commands are given to individual farmers in Israel. So it's not an example of centralized government.

[C]

They're not collecting the leftover stuff and then redistributing it at their own thing. It's up to individuals to do it when they're filled.

[A]

Yeah, that's exactly right. So what this drives down to is biblically, there's a difference between the role of the individual and the role of the state, which gets us to kyperion sphere of sovereignty. Now, last thing I'm going to say. And then. Carlos, will you talk real quick? Quick. So it was honestly, when I moved to Texas, it caught me off guard. In Nashville, where I live, there wasn't an enormous Hispanic community. And then I moved here. And dude, I noticed, in fact, Pastor Paul Lewis started explaining this to me. I noticed real fast, like a lot of people from Hispanic backgrounds, anything that smells like socialism at all, they're like Red flag, Red flag, no. And I want you to talk about why that is here in a second. Second. But I want to give an example. So here's why bad things happen when the government gets out of its lane and tries to do the charity that churches and individuals should do. Trinity, will you show toss up that graph of SNAP participants over the last 20 or 15 years? So here's the point. And this is like, this is, you might just call this like political theory, but it actually undergirds this biblical truth of sphere sovereignty. With governments. What you have to understand with governments you tend to get more of what you subsidize and less of what you penalize. I'm going to say that one more time because if all of American political leaders could just get that in their head and apply it to everything, we would fix a whole lot of things. Let me say that one more time. With governments, you tend to get more of what you subsidize and less of what you penalize. So check this out. What people, what well meaning but naive people think is, oh, if the government helps people who are struggling and they step out of their lane and they do the charity thing, well, that will help alleviate poverty. Wrong. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Because what you're seeing is the more the government does it, the more poverty there is and the more people that need it. Here's why. You're not alleviating poverty, you're incentivizing it. The government. Thomas Sewell. I've read some Thomas Sewell. Thomas Sewell is a brilliant, he's probably the most brilliant economist in our generation. I've read some Thomas Sewell. Thomas Sewell points out that when the government does that, what it's doing is it's removing incentives. So you think the government thinks, oh, we're caring for, for impoverished people. In fact, what's happening is the government is removing incentives from the human population towards hard work and ingenuity. So it's actually incentivizing poverty with.

[C]

There is a book written actually about Christian missions, but I think it applies here. It's called When Helping Hurts. And that if you can have good intentions but actually you could be doing it in such a way, some of missions in a way that it actually hurts the people that you're trying to serve. And this is pretty much what you're getting at here is that we can do things in such a way that our, our heart bleach with boy, as we already said it should. But if we end up helping them in A way that hurts them. We're actually doing them a disservice. And we're doing ourselves and our nation a disservice as well. Yeah.

[A]

So, yeah, it installs in people a sense of learned helplessness.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And dependency instead of, you know, we all get. It's kind of that thing of the best argument against progressive policies, progressive cities. It's just like, man, seriously, it just seems like, man, wherever there's, there's more. The government stepping out of its lane and into the primary charity lane. It actually seems like you get more poverty. You're creating poverty, not alleviating it. Now, Carlos, can you talk about. Yeah, yeah, some of that.

[B]

And by the way, we're about to find out, because it seems like Mamdani is likely to win New York as a mayor. Yeah, I think for Hispanics, I think, you know, we just, we've seen it. I mean, we have significant case studies where it's just kind of. Of obvious it has. It hasn't been just a theoretical debate. It's actually been like. It's affected like millions of people. And so again, three quick examples. Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua. So Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1961. Today Castro started with Castro. Yes, I think so, yeah. Today. So that's 61. So, you know, however, amount of years later, today, 90% of Cubans live in, quote, extreme poverty.

[A]

90%.

[B]

90%. There's been a massive exodus from Cuba in the last several years. Almost 1 million people have left between 2021 and 2023. That's 10% of the country's population. That's 1. Cuba is interesting. Yeah, we can talk about that after another time. Venezuela was at some point one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America because of its oil. It was known as the. Quote.

[A]

Wait, wait, did you say one of the wealthiest nations.

[B]

Wealthiest nations in Latin America because of its oil. It was known as the Saudi Arabia of Latin America. America. And then Hugo Chavez came in and he brought what he called, quote, this is his words, socialism of the 21st century.

[A]

Do you know when that was?

[B]

1999, if I'm not mistaken. Around that time. And then, since then, they've been under a socialist system for 26 years now. Now we have. We don't have Hugo Chavez. He died. We have Nicolas Maduro. And today in Venezuela, the poverty rate is above 91%, bro.

[A]

Whoa, whoa. I didn't know this. That used to be one of the wealthiest nations in South America, oil. And now it's what, what poverty rate did you say?

[B]

91 or above collapse economy, hyperinflation, shortages of food, medicine, electricity. 20% of the population has fled the country and over 2,000 leave per day. And again, this is where like, especially for like our LPE brothers and sisters, like P Espanol, we actually have a lot of them here that they, they are originally from Venezuela and they will tell you everything about it like it's is a real thing they know from firsthand.

[A]

That's a last example here before you leave Venezuela. So this, I just sent this to Trinity. Toss up this video. So 60 minutes literally this week is so. So I'm going to read it before you play it. Hunger, chronic blackouts and scarcity of essential medicines plague Venezuela today. More than 70% of residents live in poverty. And obviously it depends on how you define poverty. A stunning reversal of fortune for a nation to your point, Carlos, that was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And then just play a few seconds of this clip and it's just panning around. Freedom isn't the only thing in short supply in Venezuela. Hunger, chronic blackouts and a scarcity of essential medicines plague the country today. More than 70% of residents live in poverty.

[B]

It is a stunning reversal of fortune for a nation that was once one.

[A]

Of the wealthiest countries in the world. Who is Venezuela's economy was my disastrous social policies and mismanagement, a Crisis exacerbated by 20 years of US sanctions imposed in direct response to the regime's anti democratic actions, human rights violations and corruption. Yeah. Pause. So let me just say. So you went from one of the wealthiest countries in South America to one of the most impoverished and corrupt. And what changed is socialism was instituted. So I do just want to point this out, dude. What socialism and communism always do is they centralize power in the government. And dude, I just want to point this out. This is fascinating to me. They are almost always secular and atheistic leaders. Almost always. So this is what, this is hilarious to me is the same people who will look at you and you and laugh at you for believing in an all powerful, all good God. Those are the same people who think if we just made the government all powerful things would be all good. Mh. It's insanity. It's like literally insanity. All right, keep going.

[B]

Well, on that note, third example here in Nicaragua, same thing. Second poorest country in the western hemisphere ahead of only Haiti. I have a, I have a friend who's a pastor in Nicaragua and he will tell me like, man, it is rough. More than 80% of the population is Christian. Half catholic, half evangelicals. Sermons, gatherings and processions are being regulated or banned. Evangelical churches are being shut down. Pastors face violence, intimidation or prison. Prison. Marco Rubio actually did a trip to Central America early this year and he said this about the Nicaraguan government. He said that they're basically trying to eliminate the catholic church and the religious Christian community and anyone who tries to take power from that regime is punished. And so that it's bad. It's bad. And so these are again, these are real examples. Interestingly enough, I was actually, I was born in 1992 in El Salvador. This is four days before the end of the civil war in El Salvador. This is a civil war that lasted 12 years.

[C]

Years.

[B]

And that was a war between.

[A]

It was before you were born, before.

[B]

So I was born four days before the end of the civil war.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

And so lasted 12 years Civil War in El Salvador. And it was a war between a socialist Marxist movement backed by Cuba, Nicaragua and Soviet influenced countries versus a U. S backed conservative military, Salvadoran government. 70,000, 75,000 deaths, deaths, massive human rights abuses, kidnapping, massacres. My parents actually tell me stories of how they went to college and they kind of lived through that season. And so it was not good. It was, it was actually really bad. And here's what I think it's interesting with this new generation because we were talking about Mamdani and how charismatic he is. And you know, he's very charismatic, very likable. With this new generation, they don't know these stories. And so.

[A]

Bro, that's a good point, Carlos.

[B]

I'm kind of like, yeah, you know, yeah, they're there. My parents, obviously they know anybody that's ahead of me. But then with somebody that's new or gen Z and they're born in this country and all they know is man, like I can't, we'll never be able to afford a house and everything is crazy expensive. It and you, you miss this perspective, it'll change your perspective on how you see this conversation. It's interesting.

[A]

And all that goes back to when governments step outside of their God given role. So, and this is one thing I didn't say. So then people ask, okay, well then what is the role of the government? Romans 13 and 2. Peter says that the primary role of the government is to punish evil. Romans 13 literally says to be a terror to those who do wrong. And then I think it's second Peter says to reward those who do good. So to create societal conditions in which if you do good things, you're rewarded and if you do bad things, that's really the role of the government, very limited government. So I will just point this out. The government, government. The, the vision. Christians have historically been people who are big time small government people.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

In fact, if you go back to the founders and read the founding documents of our nation, it's really interesting, man. When they're writing the Constitution and all the amendments, they are not writing things to protect the government from the people. They are writing things to protect the people from the government. Government. Literally the entire reason the second second amendment exists is because Christians that founded our nation had read a dang history book and knew that what governments do over time is they consolidate power, they never give it up, and then they oppress the people and try to control everything. And they were like, we're going to create a system where they won't be able to do that.

[B]

I got two questions for you guys because I think, you know, you already addressed it in some ways, but I think people will phrase it this way. They'll be like, wait, hey, well, Matthew, chapter 25, verse 40 says, says Jesus himself said, truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Actually, I watched this clip from a pastor that's well known and you know, we've read some of his books. He was citing this verse in this context of this conversation, what would you say? But Pastor Josh, Jesus said that we need to help the least of these brothers and sisters of mine. If you did it for them, you did it for me. Shouldn't we continue to advance this?

[A]

Yeah, Jesus said if you did it for me, not if you voted to have other people do it for them. So listen, man, I would just like to my fellow pastors, like, hey man, you need to open your Bible in a history book and make sure you know what the heck you're talking about, because you're playing with fire. And we're living in a generation right now where people are deciding in a way they haven't really decided in a few generations. Like, hey, maybe we ought to shake this government thing up real quick. Well, hey man, let's have a settled theology of these things and not do the thing that has resulted in more human suffering and oppression than nearly any other governmental system in human history. So what I would say to that, Pastor, is in a very firm way, I'd say, I love you, you're wrong and you need to sit down and stop talking.

[C]

And I think also to help clarify is like, this is Not a conversation of whether we help the poor. Yes is what is the best way to help the poor. And so even like with that I think it's because. But that's how a lot of times people who don't agree with this will frame it is like oh, you don't care about the poor. We started this conversation pretty early on. Saying no like if you were a Christian like you were compelled to is one of the things that determin is actually your love or reward in heaven. The conversation is what is the best way to help the poor. And then even with this, not what you asked but I think like for those maybe who don't know us and don't know like point story, like we have had a reputation for decades of being insanely the people of our church are insanely generous because we get the blessing.

[A]

We are literally right now in the middle of raising like $8 million to give away to people in need.

[C]

And then with that like our thing is always when we do this, how can we best use that to best help people? So even when we're doing things, we're trying to serve the PO. Hey man, we would definitely love to that but hey, how can we help coach them? Because maybe part of their issues, they've never been coached in finances. How can we help get them a job so that we have to keep giving them so they can actually support themselves. Because by the way that's what they want. They want the dignity of doing it's all long winded way of saying hey, this conversation is not whether we should help the poor. It's what's the best way and how has God best designed that to happen?

[A]

That's great. Let me tell one. Can I tell one last story and then we'll finish on a little application note. So I just finished reading. You're reading it right now. What's the name of the American story by the Bartons? Yeah, David and Tim Barton. It's a fantastic book. So this is really interesting. There's actually a little case attorney I'm getting ready to have you pull up that map. Well actually go ahead and pull up that map. Can you pull up that little map of Jamestown, of Plymouth? So this is really interesting. So, so this is an 1888 map that some political leaders in our nation put together. And you'll see at the top you got an arrow that is flowing left from the plate Plymouth settlement. And at the bottom you have this nasty looking crooked arrow that flows left from the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. So here's. And the Top one, what is showing is that the Puritans that really settled and then implemented their faith in a generally consistent way out of Plymouth, it's showing, man, God's blessing flowed out of those people. Jamestown was considerably more secular, secular, considerably more secular. And I'm going to talk about that here in a second. And even in 1888, you got this map, political leaders going, well, a bunch of nasty things flowed out of Jamestown. And it says, God's curse, slavery. And then the top one, flown out of Plymouth, they created this little thing that said God's blessing, liberty. Now, here's what's really interesting. This book documents this, that when the original settlers settled Jamestown, Plymouth, both of them adopted socialistic forms of local governance. So they get here and winter comes and they're like, oh, dang, man. You know, so they kind of do the, you know, from each according to his means and to each according to his needs thing. And they all do a, hey, common pot, whatever. You get your farm, put it here and we'll distribute it. Absolute disaster. About half of both the colonies died in the first winter from starvation, malnutrition. In Jamestown, of the original 104 colonists who arrived arrived, 2/3 were dead within six months. And that first winter, they started doing things like eating horses, dogs, cats, rice mice. They were eating boot and shoe leather. This is really disgusting, but you need to know what happened. It got so bad, they dug up dead corpses and were actually committing cannibalism. Okay, now here's what happened in Plymouth. They learned from their mistake and they started embracing biblical teaching on how we should think about economics. So, for instance, the governor, I think his name was Governor Bradford, he literally opened his Bible to 1 Timothy 5, 8. And what, you know, what we're supposed to be doing is if anybody doesn't provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. And then he also read the other verse from Thessalonians that says, if somebody will not work, he shall not eat. And so he literally said, hey, guys, we're not doing this common pot thing anymore. From now on, when winter comes, next time, you're responsible for your family. You're responsible for your family. I'm responsible for my family. And they instituted some form of free markets and system. I'm going to read you what he said. This is what he said. So in Jamestown, people kept dying. What happened in Plymouth is they introduced this. Governor Bradford wrote this in his journal. This has had very good Success for it made all hands very industrious. So as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means the governor or any could use and gave far better kind content. The women now went willingly into the field. He had previously documented how. Actually, I'll read the whole sentence. The women went willingly into the field and took their little ones with them to set the corn which before would fake weakness and inability. So dude, I just want to say this literally in the first colony when they had a redistribution of wealth economic system, guess what? Everybody did. Man, I'm disabled. I don't, I really, I don't think I can do it. And man, I'm real tired, you know. Ah, you know, we're a little busy today. Why? Because a redistribution of wealth economic system removes human incentives towards hard work and ingenuity. And as soon as they went towards a more biblical system of spheres, he said, man, it worked really, really good. David Barton finishes by saying this. You know, he's a guy that studied all the primary documents. Significantly from the time the pilgrims began adopting a biblical economic system, no general want ever existed again among them. There you go. Interesting little story. Now I'll just give one last encouragement and then we can be done because I'm gonna go take Jan on a date. My encouragement is what I don't want to have happen. Happen is the primary note of this podcast results in a bunch of compassionless, hard hearted Christians towards the poor. I'll just tell you what I encourage you to do and I encourage it from personal experience. I encourage every Christian everywhere to in addition to your tithe, this. Listen, you have no idea how much this will bless you and you have no idea how much it will bless your children growing up in a house where they this happen. In addition to your tithe, carve out a small part of your budget and just call it your blessings budget. And every time you find out about another Christian in particular anybody, but in particular do good to all, especially those of the household of faith. Whenever you find out about somebody in need around you personally find a way to anonymously bless them and help somebody who's poor, hurting or injuries need. You have no idea how much that will bless you and your children and great will be your reward in the kingdom of heaven.

[B]

Would you pray for us, Mr. Josh?

[A]

I will, Father. First of all, I do pray that you would enlarge our hearts for people who are hurting and that our church and even all these podcast listeners that first and foremost we would be people who just like your word says, are eager to remember the poor. So Father, grow our compassion, soften our hearts and and make us people who it's just man. Our faith is good for everyone around us. Father, I do pray for wisdom in the political leaders of our nation that they would understand what your word has outlined about the roles of the family, the church and the state and that I do pray that you would protect us from well meaning foolishness that actually ends up at scale hurting people long term. So give our leaders a wisdom and prudence and we pray for a rightly ordered not just family and not just church, but a rightly ordered nation for the good of people and the glory of God. In Jesus name, Amen.

[C]

Amen.

[A]

Thanks for tuning in to Live Free with Pastor John. We pray today's episode helped you take a step forward in life, culture and faith as you live free in Christ. If it encouraged you, be sure to rate, review and share the podcast. And don't forget to subscribe so you'll never miss an episode. Join us for Lake Pointe Church Online every weekend and find more resources at Lakepoint Church Livefree. We'll see you next time.