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This Generation Shall Not Pass Until, What Generation? Bertrand Russell's Doubt, Matthew 24:34-35
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Feb 20, 2025
Watch John MacArthur exposition of this passage, see link below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To_sAVeDG5U&t=23s British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said that the reason why he couldn’t become a Christian is because Jesus was not reliable. And he based his assertions on Matthew 24:34-35 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.’ He basically accused Jesus of being a false prophet; Russell claimed that Jesus made a false prophecy since the generation he mentioned didn’t experience the events Jesus claimed they were going to be part of. Bertrand Russell isn’t the only one who has struggled with this passage, it has been a stumbling block for many even within the body of Christ ( The Church). I also had a very difficult time understanding this verse. If Jesus was wrong, then obviously He can’t be trusted and Christianity is a waste of time. So today we’re going to be looking at this verse more closely and see if Bertrand Russell made a valid statement, see video Scripture References: Matthew 24 Matthew 11:25 1 Corinthians 2:14 1 John 4
View Video Transcript
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hello good morning this is T at tbs.com
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and today again we're going to be
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looking at another very difficult uh
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passage in scripture I don't know why
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I'm doing this to myself lately but uh
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some of these passages have caused a lot
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of controversies and for some reason the
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Lord has led me to those passages and I
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don't like doing those because it gives
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me a headache but I believe it's
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important that I do it because for the
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sake of people like me and you or
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whoever is struggling with understanding
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scripture I think it's it's imperative
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that we we don't shy away from those
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passages but we actually dig through it
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to really understand what God is
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teaching now that passage is found in
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Matthew 24 and is particularly verse 34
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and 35 and if you look at my screen that
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says this generation shall not pass and
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that's a white generation and I put
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under the veteran Russell's doubt and
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I'll tell you what all this means in the
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introduction basically beron Russell was
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a British philosopher and he once say
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that the reason why he couldn't become a
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Christian is because Jesus was not
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reliable and he based his assertions on
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Matthew 24:34 and 35 scripture says
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truly I say to you this generation will
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not pass away until all these things
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take place Heaven and Earth will pass
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away but my words will not pass away he
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basically accused Jesus of being a false
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prophet and Russell claimed that Jesus
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made a false prophecy since the
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generation he mentioned didn't
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experience the events Jesus
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predicted and so therefore bet Russell
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like accused Jesus of being unreliable
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so he's not the only one who has
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struggled with this passage it has been
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a stumbling BL a stumbling block for
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many even with the within the body of
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Christ I told you I struggle with it the
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first time I read that passage I didn't
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quite understand what was going on so
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basically if Jesus is wrong then
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obviously he can't be trusted and
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Christianity is a waste of time so what
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we're going to do today is we're going
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to look at this verse more closely and
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then see if beran Russell made a valid
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statement so that's going to be our task
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today so let's get into that
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so it's called Uh this event is commonly
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called the Olivet uh discourse and I'm
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going to be reading it so first we need
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to Tri to see what triggered uh this
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entire disc course so let's go to
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Matthew 24: 1-3 so what I'm going to do
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is this again this is not an exposition
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of Matthew 24 because this is a vast
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passage so I wanted to just came through
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it real quick give you some quick points
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and then we're going to get to what we
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want to prove this morning so scripture
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says Jesus left the temple and was going
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away when his disciples came to point
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out to him the buildings of the temple
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but he answered them you sh you see all
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these do you not truly I say to you
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there will not be left here one stone
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upon another that will not be thrown
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down as he sat on the Mount of Olives
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the disciples came to to him privately
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saying tell us when will these things be
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and what will be the sign of sh coming
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and of the end of the age and The
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Disciples of Jesus were just like all of
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us Jesus said the temple was going to be
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destroyed which actually happened in 70
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AD an incredible prophecy that took
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place and his followers went want to
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know when it will happen and they also
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wanted to know what signs will point to
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the establishment of Jesus Kingdom which
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will Mark the end of the kingdom of this
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world or the End of the Age Now ois Pro
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had an exposition of that and he kind of
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argued about the End of the Age and what
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he meant but again I'm not going to get
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into all that today I just wanted to go
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through this and then see what
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generation Jesus was referring to so
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this is verse 1 to3 now let's go to uh
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uh verse um 4 to 6
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to8 and we're going to be again looking
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at that and Jesus answered them see that
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no one leads you astray for many will
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come in my name saying I am the Christ
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and they will lead many astray and you
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will hear of wars and rumors of wars see
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that you are not alarmed for this must
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take place but the end is not yet for
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nation will rise against nation and
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Kingdom against Kingdom and there will
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be fings and earthquakes in various
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places all these are but the beginning
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of bir pains so so Jesus response is a
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strong indicator that he was addressing
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a certain future
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generation the disciples already knew
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Jesus they had spent three years in
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Ministry with Jesus they knew him
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intimately and I doubt they could be led
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astray by a false Christ that's
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important to understand okay they have
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spent a lot of time with Jesus they knew
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about him they knew his character so I
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highly doubt that he was referring to
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the disciples when he said you will see
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you will hear of rumors of wars and all
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these things yes they might hear some of
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it but I don't think he was talking
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about the disciples when he say for many
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will come in my name saying I am the
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Christ and they will lead many astray
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like I don't think they needed to be so
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cautious about it even though they did
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need to but I don't think he was really
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addressing them directly okay because
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they also will eventually teach those
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who will listen to them about the
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dangers of false Christ and you can see
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that in first John 4 John uh in his
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first epistle talks about the false
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Christ so it's not something new so he
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describes a turbulent event and those
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events as Jesus said will Mark the
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beginning of birth pains not the birth
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itself but just the pains just the
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beginning okay so let's keep moving now
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if you go to verse
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9-4 scripture says then they will
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deliver you up to tribulation and put
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you to death and you will be hated by
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All Nations for my name sake and then
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many will fall away and betray one
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another and hate one another and many
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false prophets will arise and Lead many
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astray and because lawlessness will be
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increased the love of many will grow
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cold but the one who endures to the end
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will be saved and this Gospel of the
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Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout
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the whole world as a testimony to All
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Nations and then the end will come again
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you can see here that Jesus is
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addressing addressing a future
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generation first of all logically there
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was no way the whole world could be
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reached with the gospel within a 40-year
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time spent time spent like I know that
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all things are possible with God but
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from a logistical standpoint I'm not
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sure how that could be possible there
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were no cars no planes no none of that
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stuff so Jesus said and Jesus said the
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end will come once all have heard about
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Christ there are still someone Rich
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group to this day so you you got to
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really read these scriptures and really
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understand that he's kind of addressing
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a future generation let's keep moving
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again I told you I was going to schem
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through this real quick so verse 15 to
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20 so when you see the abomination of
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desolation spoken of by the Prophet
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Daniel standing in the Holy place let
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the reader understand then let those who
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are in Judea flee to the mountains let
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the one who is on the housetop not go
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down to take what is in his house and
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let the one who is in the field not turn
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back to to take his cloak and the last
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for women who are pregnant and those who
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are nursing infant in those days pray
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that your flight may not be in winter or
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in Sabbath now the key component of this
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portion is the phrase Let the reader
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understand this indicates again that the
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author of The Gospel has written this
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down for the sake of the readers those
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who read these prophecies okay see the
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problem with us is unlike Daniel we
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don't consider the word of God to be
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historical you see Daniel when he was in
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Babylon took the scripture seriously and
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we ought to do the same Jesus is telling
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us how all things will end and we are
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the readers we are one of the readers
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and it's our job to read the scriptures
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in order to interpret the ca of History
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accurately he's telling us how this
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whole thing will end so our job is just
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like Daniel to read and
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understand let's keep
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moving verse
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21-28 for then there will be Great
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Tribulation such as not been from from
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the beginning of the world until now no
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and will never be and if those days had
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not been cut short no human being will
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be saved but for the sake of the elect
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those days will be cut short then if
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anyone says to you look here is the
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Christ or there he is do not believe it
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for false Christ and false prophets will
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arise and perform great signs and
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wonders so as to lead astray if possible
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even the elect see I've told you
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beforehand so if they say to you look
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he's in the wilderness do not go out if
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they say look he's in the inner rooms do
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not believe it for as the lightning
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comes from the East and shines as far as
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the West so will be the coming of the
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son of man wherever the corpse is there
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the vultures will gather again the
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disciples and the people of this
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generation of Jesus didn't quite need
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These Warnings These Warnings they did
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need it but they didn't need it as much
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as future Generations would the
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disciples were eye witnesses of his life
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and Ministry Jesus is saying in verse 27
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that his coming will not be some kind of
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hidden event like people will know when
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he comes it's not going to be some kind
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of hidden you see
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it let's keep
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moving verse 29 and
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31 uh scripture says immediately after
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the tribulation of those days the sun
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will be darkened and the moon will will
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not give its light and the Stars will
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will fall from Heaven and the powers of
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the heavens will be shaken then will
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appear in heaven the sign of the son of
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man
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and then all of the tribes of the earth
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will mourn and they will see the son of
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man coming on the Clouds Of Heaven with
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power and great glory and he will send
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out his angels with a loud trumpet and
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they will gather his elect from the Four
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Winds from one end of Heaven to the
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other now Jesus said after those
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troubling
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days are through the sun will be
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darkened the moon will not give its
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light stars will fall from Heaven powers
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of heaven will be shaken and the Sun of
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the son of man will appear he was very
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specific so it's up to us to know the
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signs of the time he tells the reader
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exactly how is all going to end let's
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keep
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moving now he gives the lesson from the
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Fig Tree in verse 32 to35 which is what
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we're going to be focusing on now from
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the Fig Tre learn its lesson as soon as
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his Branch becomes tender and puts out
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his leaves you know that summer is near
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so also when you see all these things
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you know that he is near at the very
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Gates truly I say to you this generation
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will not pass away until all these
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things take place Heaven and Earth will
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pass away but my words will not pass
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away now this is the most important
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portion of this passage and Jesus gives
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the illustration of the Fig Tree to
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teach the readers a valuable lesson in
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understanding the sign of the time okay
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and question one that we have is this
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when you see all these things when you
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say that in verse 33 what things is he
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referring to the signs he mentions in
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verse 29 and 30 which I repeat again
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immediately after the tribulation of
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those days the sun will be darkened and
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the moon will not give its light and the
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Stars will fall from Heaven and the
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powers of the heaven will be shaken then
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will appear in in heaven the sign of the
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son of man when you see all these things
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the signs that I just mentioned in verse
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2930 that's what he was referring to you
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know that they think the the end is near
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that's what Jesus is saying when you see
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the signs the sun will be darkened the
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moon will not give his light and the
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Stars will fall from Heaven and the
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powers of the heaven will be shaken when
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you see these things you know that he's
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near at the very G he's telling you how
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it's all going to end I mean it's
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incredible and then now we go to
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question two this
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generation what generation the
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generation that sees the signs above
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love will witness the end of all things
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what signs the sign that I mentioned in
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29 to3 that's what he's talking about
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this generation that sees these signs we
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signs the sun will be darkened and the
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moon will not give its light and the
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Stars will fall from Heaven and the
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powers of the heavens will be shaken
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this generation that sees those signs
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will indeed witness the end of all
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things and the coming of Christ that's
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what he's talking about that particular
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generation
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you understand what I'm saying so ber
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Russell didn't investigate this passage
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because he was looking for a reason not
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to believe the word of God and most
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people who stumble upon these seemingly
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obsc obscure passages do the same thing
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like they stumble because as scripture
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say it in Matthew
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11:25 Jesus said I thank you Father Lord
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of Heaven and Earth that you have hidden
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these things from the wise and
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understanding and revealed them to
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little children and Paul Paul also says
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in 1 Corinthians 21:14 the natural man
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does not accept the things of God for
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they are Folly to him and he's not able
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to understand them because they are
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spiritually
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discerned again see our job as Believers
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is when we come across these passages
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that we don't understand we ask the Lord
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for understanding because let scripture
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be its own
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interpreter you have to read scripture
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and ask God to enlighten you don't be
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like B Russell you see was looking for a
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loophole it's funny because Jesus has
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been right the entire time he predicted
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his own death and Resurrection which
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happened which I proved to you in other
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um presentation that I've done I mean
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God has given us prophecies after
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prophecies that have come to pass so you
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think God is going to blow the end God
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is eternal he knows all things he's
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omniscient he's omnipresent how do you
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think that God has some suddenly has
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Amnesia or he he just can't think
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anymore he's Eternal he doesn't grow old
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he doesn't have a learning curve he's
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not learning new
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information so our job as Believers to
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is to read the scriptures and properly
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interpret them for people to understand
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okay so most times when you come across
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a passage like that and you don't get it
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it's probably because your own
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interpretation is
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flawed so your job is to study it until
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the morning star rises in your heart
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okay now John MacArthur has done a great
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exposition of the entire passage which I
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will encourage you to really read uh
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watch is right here I'll show it to you
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in so he's done a great exposition of
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that passage so I'll encourage you to
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watch it it's really good so if you
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really want some more information be
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sure to take uh check this one out all
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right again thanks for watching this is
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T and I'll see you next time com
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