Prepare For The End ; telos

  Word of Life

Prepared for the End: Living in Union, Not Fear.

Pastor David Lien delivered a powerful message titled “Prepared for the End,” shifting our focus from fearful eschatology to secure identity in Christ. He explained that the “end” we’re called to prepare for is not just the destruction of the old but the telos—the ultimate purpose and goal of God’s redemptive plan.

Referencing Matthew 25 and the parable of the ten virgins, Pastor David emphasized that preparation doesn’t look like anxiety, survivalism, or performance. Instead, it looks like intimacy. The “oil” in the parable symbolizes the Holy Spirit, poured into our hearts through love, not earned through striving. Those who are secure in the love of Jesus carry oil that burns long and bright—even in waiting, even in hardship.

Being prepared doesn’t mean being perfect; it means being filled. We live not as fearful servants, but as the bride of Christ—already united with him, already seated with him, already included in his victory. And this love is not meant to stop with us—it flows outward to others and even to the land around us, restoring what was broken and bringing hope to all creation.

Pastor David: Okay. Father, I thank you so much for your grace. I thank you for the presence of your Holy Spirit. I thank you for the fulfillment that comes in union with you. I thank you, Lord, for your victory. I thank you, God, for the freedom that is in you. I thank you for the mercy that flows from your veins. I thank you, God, for this corporate gathering of your people. I pray now, God, that you would equip us, that you would pour out your revelation and your wisdom upon us, that you would prepare us for the end, and that you will be with us always. And we know that you will in Jesus name. Amen. All right. Well, thank you for letting me yell at you today. My name is David. I’m one of the pastors of the church and I have a sober topic today. It’s called prepare for the end. It’s very fun. Okay. Right. So, it’s now what what would it be? What would it mean if I was prepared for something? Uh you know, I got ready. I was watchful. But the end result, if I was prepared, I would be secure.

If I was unprepared, I would be insecure. If I was afraid, I would be insecure. The Holy Spirit today wants to secure our hearts in the love of Jesus Christ. He wants to secure our hearts in the victory that Jesus Christ has already accomplished and which will one day be fully manifested and revealed on the earth. Flesh and blood taking on the nature of God, resurrection life. This is the good news of God’s kingdom. God is coming again. And God has come in the past. Do we realize that? Okay. So, the Word of God, Logos in Greek, became a man. His name was Jesus Christ. He lived as you. He died as you. He was buried as you. He was raised from the dead as you. And he was seated on the throne of heaven as you. Ephesians 2:6 says, “We have been raised up with Christ and seated with him in heavenly places in Christ.” You are on the father God’s lap in heaven. In Christ. You made it. You You can rest. You can rest. You getting there is a done deal. You start with finished. He has finished the work. He has ended the kingdom of darkness. He has destroyed the devil. Hebrews 2. He has raised us up in Christ. He has judged the ruler of this world. Jesus said in John 12 at the hour of the cross, he said, “Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this age is cast out.” Jesus really did something. Jesus saved the world and you’re included. I just thought I’d throw the the gospel out here at the beginning. Okay. So preparing for the end may look a little bit different than we’ve been led to believe, than I’ve been led to believe. Because if preparing for the end means I need to be really afraid and I need to I need to start the shot clock. A shot clock is a countdown timer. Time to get anxious. Time to watch the news. Ooh, it’s Gog and Magog. Ooh, it’s Oh man, is that the Antichrist? Oh, was that the mark of the beast? Oh, I’m afraid. Oh man, let’s hunker down. Let’s shelter. Let’s ford up in place. Is that who we’re designed to be? I’m not going to speak to any esqueological system today. Escatological means the study of the last things. It’s a nerd word. It makes you seem like you know what you’re talking about, but nobody really knows what we’re talking about. We just know, we don’t know the details of how it’s all going to work together. I could give you four different views of it. Idealist, futurist, predtoist, historicist, okay? (The meaning of PRETERIST is one who holds that the prophecies in the Bible about the End Times have already been fulfilled.) Like go through those views. Um and they all have some weight to them. But here’s the point. Jesus wins. [Applause] Are we separate from Jesus? We’re distinct from him, but we’re not separate from him. Whoever is joined to the Lord, 1 Corinthians 6:17, becomes one spirit with him. Your identity is bride, bridal identity. Okay? And Jesus didn’t get engaged to you. He didn’t marry you so that you could love him. but so that he could love you. He didn’t get engaged to you and marry you so that you could serve him and wash his feet. He did that so he could wash your feet. So we we we believe in a good God. We believe in a God who serves us first. We believe in a God who actually accomplished what he came to earth to do. In Luke 9 on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus was talking with Moses and Elijah. And it says in Luke that he was talking about the exodus that he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. In Greek, it’s departure. It’s exodus. In the Exodus, the children of Israel were brought out of slavery, out of Egypt, out of the kingdom of darkness, out of bondage, out of death, out of the rulership of false gods, they were brought out. And Jesus said, Moses and Elijah, I’m about to accomplish it at Jerusalem. I’m about to cast the ruler of this world out. I’m about to accomplish the Exodus. I’m going to deliver you from this present evil age. See, the problem with this age and with this world, if you turn on the news, people are living in the past. They’re living as part of an old age where you don’t die for your enemy, you kill your enemy. That that’s of the past. They’re living in an age where you have to be stressed out that God might not come through because you didn’t keep all the rules. That’s in the past. It is finished. Okay, this is past. Yet when we believe it, it’s present.

When we live like it, it’s present. So there’s an already not yet tension in the kingdom of God. This is uh theological. Okay. So the kingdom of God is already here. The minute Jesus raised from the dead and and sat down on the throne, the kingdom was established. He he became Revelation 1. He said he is the ruler of kings on earth. That doesn’t await a future day. He is the ruler of kings on earth. Does this make sense? Okay. So, we are preparing for an end where he actually reveals that on the earth through you.

If Jesus won and he sat on the throne and he finished it and you’re not separate from him, you have overcome. You have made it. Now watch that workout. It’s accomplished. It’s not manifested yet. Again, turn on the news. It’s not manifested. Are you preparing for Jesus to come do it for you? Or are you preparing to partner with him to see it done? Which end are you preparing for? See, we’re going to read this. This is the parable of the 10 virgins we’re going to talk about today. Matthew 25 1-13.

This parable, it spoke to people at a time when Jesus was prophesying the destruction of the temple. He was prophesying Matthew 24:3 the end of the age. Now there’s been a mistranslation in the King James where it said his disciples asked him when is the temple going to be destroyed and when is the end of the world? In Greek that would be the word cosmos. But if you look up your innerlinear, your concordance in your Bible, in Matthew 24:3, he says, “What’s the sign of the end, of the aeon, the age?”

What’s the sign of the end of the old covenant age? Well, it’s the destruction of the physical temple. It’s the destruction of the Levitical priesthood. It’s the destruction of the sacrificial system. It’s the destruction of the old way of worshiping God. It’s the destruction of the old temple. Like I said, let your praises fill the temple for you are good. This is the temple of the living God, his church, a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. That’s what changed in AD70 when this guy Titus, he was a Roman. He conquered Jerusalem. He burned the city. He tore the temple down stone by stone. If you want proof of this, Gadio had an amazing message on it a couple years ago. I think it was on Palm Sunday. You should read it. He has like they dragged the stones out of the city. They totally demolished it because God was saying through that, we’re not going back to that. We’re not rebuilding what we tore down. We’re not rebuilding condemnation. We’re not rebuilding. No matter how much blood of goats I shed, I can never feel clean of my sin. We’re not rebuilding sinful priests. We have a perfect high priest, Jesus Christ. We’re not rebuilding that. That’s ended. And this is the end that he tells them to prepare for in Matthew 25. Now, I want you to know that the principles that are in here still apply to us today. They still apply because who here has ever been waiting for God to break through in their life? Who’s ever hit a delay? Who’s ever said, “Man, I’m waiting here and I’m getting tired and I want to go to sleep. I’ve been bustling around trying to buy stuff for somebody else’s wedding and I’m getting sick of it. That’s what these people do. Let me read it. Okay. Matthew 25 1-13 says, “Then I just told you when he’s talking about then at the end of the age.” At the end of the age, then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them are foolish and five are wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them. But the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. They all slept. Some people are like, “I’m never going to go to sleep.” Okay. Well, you’re more committed than me. Okay. Um, I will probably sleep. All right. So, um, however, they all slept, but at midnight there was a cry, “Here is the bridegroom. Come out to meet him.” Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. They lit them up. And the foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”

But the wise answered, saying, “Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” But he answered, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Okay. Now, what’s the point of this?

Be ready. Be prepared. It actually follows on five separate parables at the end of Matthew 24 about being ready. There’s the parable of the fig tree. Hey, when you see the fig tree blossoming, get ready for the fruit. This generation is not going to pass away till it happens, guys. And biblically, a generation is 40 years. AD30 to AD.70. 40 years, then the destruction of the temple. Okay, get ready, guys. Heaven and earth’s about to pass away. Okay, get ready. The fig tree. Then he goes, “Get ready. It’s going to be like the days of Noah. People are going to be marrying and giving in marriage. They’re going to be paying taxes to Caesar. They’re going to be lighting up incense to Caesar. They’re going to be going to the festival of booths. They’re going to be, you know, eating hummus. They’re going to be doing everything that they do.” Okay? And then it’s going to strike them. Okay? And so be ready for it. And then he goes, you know, there’s he gives the idea of your house, if you knew when a thief is going to break into your house, you’d stay awake, wouldn’t you? Okay. Then he goes to the idea of if you’re taking care of the household, you could either be a good steward, ready for the master to come back, or you could be lazy, you could start getting drunk, you could forget what’s coming that you need to give an account, and then you’re going to be cut in pieces and thrown with the hypocrites, right? Jesus does not water it down. Does that make sense? Okay. So, he then builds on that with the parable of the 10 virgins. Guys, get ready. Hey,12 weatherbeaten fishermen. You’re like 10 virgins. It’s like, it’s pretty amazing how Jesus talks to people. Okay. And the word virgins, it meant unmarried young women. They weren’t providing for themselves in that day. They didn’t work at Starbucks. They couldn’t get a second job at Kmart. Oh, wait. No, nobody can cuz Kmart closed. Okay. Um Walmart, I don’t know. You know, so they they actually lived on their dad’s money. And he says what they should have bought oil with their dad’s money while they were waiting. These virgins were waiting to be the bridesmaids for a bride. And a Jewish wedding went like this. There was a uh betroal when people were young. There’s basically three stages. There was a betrothal when people were young. The act of betrothing or the fact of being betrothed. A mutual promise to marry; an engagement.   "announced their betrothal the next day." The act of betrothing, or the fact of being betrothed; a mutual promise, engagement, or contract for a future marriage between the persons betrothed; betrothment; affiance. The dads would pick out the young partners, who will be the wife and the husband, in future. Then there was an engagement phase and they were legally married. Then they were seen as husband and wife, right? Said like when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant, he would have had to divorce her because they were seen as legally legally one in the engagement phase. Then there is the consummation phase where the groom leaves his dad’s house, goes gets the bride, takes her to the wedding feast, and then takes her back to his house. Okay? And so the groom would come. He would take the bride um to a feast and the virgins were waiting. The bridesmaids were waiting and because they needed to usher in the groom. They needed to usher him in. And then they would actually light up the lamps and they would have a torch light parade   through Jerusalem in the middle of the night. And their torches would light up the darkness of the city and they would be dancing. They would be praising God. They would be celebrating. They’d be full of joy. and they would be bringing the bride to the bed chamber and the wedding feast of the groom, right? That’s what would finish the marriage. Okay? And so Jesus is saying the day is going to come when I will come and I will not it will go from engagement to marriage, right?  It’s easy for us in this day and age livingwith Jesus seated on the throne. Bible says we’re the bride to think, you know, maybe I should go back to being a fiance. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Okay? But I want to tell you, we serve the bride. We’re a bridesmaid, but we’re also the bride. My job as a pastor is to serve the bride of Christ to help you prepare for Christ, to help you encounter him, to help you enter into his banqueting house where his banner over you is love. But I’m going in, too. Yeah, I’m going in first, by the way.

If you guys can come if you want, you know, I’m going in there. So, I need to have oil. I need to be. We’ll see this represents the love of God poured into our heart by the Holy Spirit. This is the oil that’s in their flasks. Okay. Back then, they were just waiting for that day for that marriage ceremony for it to go from engagement, legal oneness, into an actual consummated oneness, the new covenant age to begin. They were waiting for that. Okay. And that would have to follow the destruction of the old age. We don’t have to wait for that anymore. That’s not the end that we are preparing for. Okay? I’ll say this. There’s two words for end. I already mentioned it. Matthew 24:3, there’s the word cintile, which means the consummation or completion, a total finishing. And then in 1 Corinthians 15:22, I want to put this one up. It’s the word telos. This Greek word telos , for end means the conclusion, the aim, the definite goal, the purpose, and the thing by which something is finished. So, it’s the thing we’re all aiming for ultimately, the telos. It’s a different word. Okay? And this comes at the very end of history. What Paul is going to talk about here, you know, everything, we’re not experiencing everything just because we’re in a new covenant. Everything is not manifested. There’s still a physical resurrection of the dead to come. There’s still a final judgment to come. There’s still all nations being brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ through worldwide evangelism. There’s still all Israel coming to conversion according to Romans 11. There’s a lot of things that are yet future, but it’s all based on what Jesus Christ has accomplished in the past. Okay? And look at this. what we’re looking forward to. 1 Corinthians 15:22-28. He’s going to talk about some of those things. As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in its own order. Christ the first fruits is the first one ever raised from the dead. Then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end. Telos,  tell us when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power that’s talking about spiritual darkness. It’s talking about corrupt kings on the earth. It’s talking about poverty, genocide. It’s talking about oppression. It’s talking about abuse, suicide. It’s talking about everything that is evil, everything that’s an enemy of the God of love. Okay? And it says the last, it says he must reign. Where is he reigning right now? Is he reigning right now? No. I thought, you know, we’re not waiting for the future for him to reign. He sat down. The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a foottool for your feet.” Psalm 110:1. It’s the most quoted verse from the Old Testament in all of the New Testament. that’s quoted more times than any other verse that Christ is reigning in heaven now and his heavenly reign is effectual. It makes a difference on the earth because he actually has a body on the earth still. Who would that be? A geopolitical nation. No, it would be us. He has that body in Iran, in the West Bank, in Israel, in America, in the UK. All right, I’m just leave that there. Okay, so he’s reigning and his reign is effectual. It’s not only a spiritual reign. It’s not like, well, all we can hope for as the overcoming church is that, you know, a lot of souls are going to be saved. We’ll never see education transformed. We’ll never see, you know, poverty ended. We’ll never see an end to slavery, human trafficking. That’s, you know, but at least people will be saved, their souls. No, he must reign from heaven through his bride. And it says this, he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Who’s his feet? Some of us, you know, smell more like feet than others. Okay, good. All right, just got to throw that one in there. All right. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Now, you can be taught from certain perspectives, the first enemy to be destroyed will be death. Jesus will come back and raise the dead and then after that he’ll take care of all the bad things and all the genocide and then he’ll remake the earth. Well, it said the last enemy to be destroyed will be death. That would mean that our rule, Christ’s rule through us would be effectual. It would be a gradual, generational, incremental, inevitable victory of the church because we are the overcoming church. We’re not the church that gets overcome and then Jesus has to come kill everybody with a physical sword. You can believe that and I believe that. I was raised in that. You can challenge me on it. I will listen to you. I, you know, ever since I was 15 and I got scared by Left Behind, I’ve been really interested in esquetology. And, you know, Kurt Cameron got some good things right. God bless him. But, you know, it’s, you know, some of the stuff is not held by a lot of people in historical Christianity. All right. We won’t go into this. If you want to ask me more about it, you can. I’m trying to just really I’m like, okay. All right. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. So, that’s the enemy we can’t defeat. Okay.

In Isaiah 65, it says, “As the new heavens and the new earth expand, the new covenant age, there will be a guy that lives 100 years old.” And people say, “What did that guy do? That guy’s cursed. He only lived to be 100. There will be no infants that die in infancy.” So that’s a reign that is like making a difference on the earth. Okay? There’s still the remnants of the old age that are being swept away. The devil’s still trying to do things, but it’s all illegal. How much authority does the devil have?

I thought he was like, “You really got to bind the strong man. You got to anoint every window frame in your house. If you miss one window frame, he’s going to come in there.” You know? No. Jesus said, Matthew 25:28, “All authority in heaven and earth is given to me.” We don’t believe this, man. I don’t believe it. Or, you know, things would be a lot different in my life. I’ll tell you that I’m just starting to get it the past couple years and I’m like he really the age to come is in Christ and I’m in Christ. We need to break into this age where people think it’s the old age cuz it’s not. We need to declare to them the kingdom of God is here at hand. Now you can let the devil steal this from you with false doctrine. The age to come is not yet come. The future is not here. Actually, the future is here. The fullness of time has come. Oh, well, then we’d have to start walking in it and start reigning over some of these things. No escapism, no survivalism. That was the end of the old age. Hey, flee to the mountains when the Roman armies come. Flee on foot. If you’re on the rooftop, get down. Hope you’re not pregnant. Hope it’s not the Sabbath. That was really good, practical advice for that time. What end are you preparing for? This is the end we’re preparing for. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under Christ’s feet, the body of Christ. But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain that Jesus is accepted who put all things or the Father is accepted who put all things in subjection under Jesus. When all things are subjected to HIM, Elohim, then the son himself will also be subjected to the Father who put all things in subjection under him. So that God may be all in all. That didn’t happen in AD.70. God did not become everything to everybody. That’s other translations of that. Did you know there’s going to come a day when the whole cosmos will be set free and God will be all in all? That heaven and earth will be one. We’re not trying to escape to heaven. Heaven’s coming here. Heaven is here in you. We’re not trying to escape. We’re not trying to survive. We’re trying to occupy until he comes. There’s going to be a message on that next week. Don’t let mistaken beliefs steal that from you. Because he has won and he will manifest the victory. There’s an esquetology of hope. There’s an esquetology that brings hope, not fear. Yes, sir. Now, it does dominate your mind like a fear. So, you know, it’s like the fear of the Lord. What is that? That’s not fear. That’s love. that casts out all fear, but it functions as a fear. That’s why it’s called the fear of the Lord. Okay? Because when I’m afraid of something, I Google it on WebMD all the time. That’s all I think about. It’s all I talk about to people. It makes it actually has physical manifestations. My palms are sweaty already. Mom spaghetti. Okay? Like, it actually does something to me. Okay? It actually changes the course of my life because it functions as a fear, but it’s love. It’s I’m like he loves me. He made me to love me. He married me for me, not so I could do something for him. God, that’s all I’m like, you’re wrong, God. You shouldn’t have done that. That’s how crazy his grace and mercy is. I want you to hear that. Maybe maybe I don’t want to roll over it too quick. We’ve been we’ve been saying this on Wednesdays. God didn’t make you to serve him or to love him. He made you to be loved by him. He didn’t get married to you so that you could love him. That’s a narcissist. He didn’t have kids so they could love him. That’s perverted. Okay. He got married to you so he could lay his life down for you. So that when you are waiting and you’re like, “Where’s the breakthrough?” You still have the union. You’re not a bridesmaid, never a bride. You’re one spirit with him. You died to the law, Romans 7:4. So you could belong to another, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s an accomplished fact. Oh yeah. For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. And if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress. Okay. So also we too died to the law so that we could belong to another to Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. Okay. I think we have that one on there. Do we have verse four on that one? All right. I want you to see it. Okay. So that you may belong to another to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. It makes a difference who you’re married to. Some people don’t know that. It makes a difference who you’re made married to if you’re going to bear fruit for God. Amen. Luckily, my wife helps me, you know, she she cuts off some of my dead branches, you know, helps helps me bear fruit for God. No, when we’re actually joined, when you’re a fiance, you don’t share the name of the husband. You don’t share the bank account. You don’t share the inheritance. You don’t share the estates. You don’t share the bed. hopefully. I don’t know if that is our society anymore, but okay. Um, you know, the thing is when you’re married, you have access to all of that. So, wouldn’t the devil love to tell you just wait for that marriage? That marriage day is going to be so great, man. Yeah, it’s going to be awesome. There’s going to be wine flowing like whatever they say. Okay, we’re not going to drink till then. Okay, whatever. What if you’re already one with him? What if he is in you and you’re in him and Christ is in the father and the father is in you and you’re in him. John 17. So even when you’re waiting and you don’t see a breakthrough, you don’t see an answer to your prayer, you have union with him. He says, “I’m with you. I’ll never leave you or forsake you, you’re going to overcome this.” There’s something working in you. There’s something filling oil in you through this. There’s a something in you is happening that’s expanding the flask into a jug that can take more oil. So that when you actually start walking around the streets as part of the bride and as a servant of the bride, your torch is bright, your song is loud, your dance is Davididic in its splendor. Okay. I don’t know. It’s it’s like, man, this is a love to celebrate. Don’t you guys want to come to the marriage feast with us? They would invite people on the way to the marriage feast. So you being prepared and secure in the love of God is not only for us. It’s not cuz we’re afraid of having the door slammed in our face. We already went in there, but other people have not gone in there. Maybe today you’ve not received the invitation from Jesus, the proposal from Jesus. Why don’t you just say yes? Let him bring you to his banqueting house for his banner over you is love. And he’ll never cast you out. He’ll never kick you to the curb. He’s not like that. Okay. So, we’ve already gone in there. All right. I think I’ve sort of um done this. Okay. So, some people were prepared. They were like, “Okay, we’re not going to miss out on the groom. We know how great this groom is. We know how great this part is going to be. The day before, we’re taking dad’s money. We’re not earning money. We’re taking dad’s money and we’re going to go prepare with everything that he’s given us, the resources he’s given us. We’re going to prepare. We’re going to buy oil. When you actually buy oil, it costs you something. It will cost you, but it’s something that the father has given you to pay. Does this make sense? God’s given you time. He’s given you gifts. He’s given you access to his presence. And it’ll cost you your time and your agenda to posture yourself before the bridegroom. But is that like a chore to you? Is that a duty or an obligation when you know the fire in his eyes? When you know the anointing that flows from him. Where does all this oil come from in our flask? I mean oil biblically it’s, you know, we can go through it right now. I mean oil, it’s a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4. Um, Romans 5:5 says, “God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, like oil.” Okay, oil. It stands for like an infinite flow. Second Kings 4, Elisha told a widow, “Hey, just keep pouring out this little flask of oil and if you keep pouring it in faith, it’s going to keep coming out. It’s an endless supply.” Oil stands for abundance. In the Psalms, grain, wine, and oil, it’s this trio, and it means abundance. God is abundantly providing for you. He’s abundantly blessed you at the cost of his own blood. Okay. Oil. Um it means a flowing connection. Again, Zechariah 4, we get this idea of a a lamp being fed by pipes that come from two olive trees. And there’s a little verse, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. He’s like, I’m going to provide this stuff. You just root down right underneath the pipe and it’s going to flow down into your flask. If you’re running around trying to buy oil for someone else’s wedding, you’re not going to be under the spigot. Okay? See, there’s people that were waiting and they’re like, “Even if I fall asleep, I’m at peace cuz when I wake up, I’ve got oil. I’m not going to miss out. I know who who’s coming. I know how great the party’s going to be. I’ll never take a chance of missing out on that.” And there’s other people that go, I think we have everything planned. Um, okay. Well, I think, oh, we forgot oil. Oh no, we fell asleep. Oh no, all the shops are closed. Let me bustle around. It’s like that person didn’t know what could be missed. That person didn’t even think about it in advance. They were so burdened and preoccupied by other things because they had never really known how great this groom was, how great this wedding was, how great this feast was. No, there’s been trips that I haven’t been excited to go on. Have you ever had one like that where you’re like, “Oh god, I got to fly to Cleveland or something.” You know, you’re like, “Who wants to go there?” You know? Um, and you don’t I don’t really like think about it too much. I’m like, “Oh, shoot. That’s coming up in like 3 days. I guess I should probably pack, you know, cuz I’m not really that excited about it.” But when there’s like when I was going to go to Madagascar to see Dawn and I hadn’t seen her in months when we were dating, I thought about that every day. I told every single person what I was going to do. I spent a lot of money to do it. And it wasn’t like I better go or else she’s going to break up with me. She probably would have, but um you know, same thing with same thing with Jesus in this parable, right? Um I don’t know. But um I wanted to go and some of us we maybe we don’t want to go cuz I don’t know. We don’t really know how much we’re loved. We don’t know why we were made. We don’t know our identity. We don’t know that we’re it’s not bridesmaid. It’s not servant. It’s friend. But why do we want to go from friend back to servant? Why do we want to be like the prodigal son and go back from son to employee or slave? And why do we want to go from the new age back to the old age? I mean, I think it’s shame. I think it’s shame. And you know what? You have a a bridegroom that’s like, “I took everything you’re ashamed of and I was stripped naked on a cross because I would rather take it from you so that you could be free. So I could cover you like it says in Isaiah 61. I could take your garment of heaviness, give you a garment of praise. I could take your ashes and give you a beautiful headdress, which is a wedding headdress.” That’s who God is. It’d be easy for me to come and preach this and say, “You know what? you’re probably not committed enough. You’re lukewarm. Where’s your oil?  I used to preach like that all the time. It’s pretty easy. You know, where’s your commitment? Where’s your oil? You’re lukewarm. It’s like, well, that’s not going to do anything. Okay. What’s going to do something is you to say, “It’s not repent harder. It’s not try harder. It’s not stay awake longer. It’s come so close to the anointed one. Get your head under his beard and the oil that flows down his head and his beard is going to fill you. Psalm 133 says, “How good and how blessed it is when brothers dwell in unity.” Oh, union. Oh, how good, how blessed it is when brothers dwell in unity. It’s like the precious oil flowing down the beard, the beard of Aaron. Jesus is Aaron. He’s the high priest. He’s the anointed one. The anointing, the Holy Spirit flows from him. He pours out the spirit without measure. He poured out his spirit on Pentecost. If you will just tuck your head under his chin and get in there, you’re going to smell like him for days. Your flask is going to be full for days. You can’t get there by fear. You can’t get there by your effort. You get there by being captivated. Perfect love casts out all fear. Perfect love secures us in our identity. Perfect love seats us on the throne in heavenly places in Christ. Perfect love is what God looks at you with. You are perfectly loved by perfect love. That should prepare you to go through anything. Now, there was great tribulation that happened, like I said, at the end of the age. There’s great tribulation happening today. Paul said, “Who whoever wants to live godly for Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Things be hard. There’s temptation. There’s trial. There’s resistance. But perfect love casts out all fear of that. It’s not If you look at the circumstances and you look at your own performance and you look at your own progress bar, you’re just never at 100%.” Maybe that’s just me. You know, if I’m like, man, I’ll have peace and I’ll be secure when my progress bar is at 100. Uh, you know, talk to me in 10,000 years might, you know, it’s probably gone backwards by then. Isn’t that the worst when it’s loading and then it like goes back? You’re like, ah, you know, I feel like that’s trying to like attain your own righteousness. You know, you’re trying to, you know, whatever. God’s just giving it to you. Says, I just I love you. You’re Hosea. Read that. Let’s just throw that out there, right? We don’t have to be a worthy bride for him to want to join with us. You know, I got to say something right here is that these these fools, there’s five fools and there’s five wise ones. Okay. The fools brought virgin olive oil. It’s true. But not enough. However, the wise ones brought extra virgin olive oil. Okay. So, just had to throw that in there. Okay. It was olive oil. All right. I just had to I was like, it’s in my notes. I’m just going to read it. I don’t know why. It must have been late at night that I wrote that one in there. Okay. All right. So dumb. Sorry about that. Okay. Um, so if we want to be filled with God’s oil, we get so near the bridegroom, so near the high priest that he’s just pouring on us. And we get there with other people. We’re here today in his banqueting house, and we’re not alone. And we’re being filled with the oil where we can point we can light our torch and we can march through the streets of the city. Not to say, “Oh, we’re going to riot,” you know, like we’re seeing on the news, but to be like, “Hey, you know, we’ll die for you. God would. He loves you so much. Why don’t you come home to Aba Father?” That’s a light that the world has never seen. the unified church. Not divided, not fearful, not insecure, not competitive, but man, we’re going we we’ve been to this party. It’s amazing. It’s actually my wedding, but you know, you should give me a give me a gift. No, but it’s my wedding. You got you can come to I’m going to invite you. Okay. Even the the homeless people under the hedges get invited. This is biblical teaching. God says, “I want my house filled, man. I didn’t throw this big party so it could be empty. Right? So our preparation and our security doesn’t end with us. It actually ripples outward to the whole creation. There’s a cosmic scope to this. It brings souls into the kingdom of God and it also sets free the land around us. Biblically, the land is always cursed by the disobedience of the people and it’s always blessed when the people come into their identity as sons of the living God. Okay. Um, there’s an Isaiah 62 one I had on there. I don’t know if we have that one. Um, but this is the whole idea of when we come into our place as a delighted in bride, our whole land is going to be set free around us. That’s not just America. It’s the whole cosmos. It’s the whole globe. Isaiah 62 1-4. For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent. And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness and all the kings your glory and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed desolate, but you shall be called my delight is in her, and your land married. For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. Us receiving his love doesn’t stop with us. It keeps flowing. It keeps burning. It keeps igniting. What did Pastor Paul prophesy up there? It’s not the end. It’s the ignition of something new. Okay. The gospel secures us. It restores us. It purifies us to be like Jesus. And it doesn’t stay contained in the flask.

It pours out. It expands. It renews the creation. When we are when it’s revealed to us who the son of God is and how much God loves us, we will be revealed on the earth as the sons of God and the daughters of God. And all creation will be set free then from its bondage to decay and death and corruption. Romans 8. Does this make sense? What end are we preparing for? What end are we looking forward to? Because you see, the more that you know you’re loved, the more hope that you have. You could be facing the worst scenario in your life. I use this example a lot. If I lost everything, my house burned down. I was just sitting totally penniless on on the lawn of my house weeping and my wife said, “It’s okay. I love you. We’ll get through it.” I’d be like, “All right, one more day.” When you know that the creator of the universe loves you with an unbreakable, everlasting father-son, father-daughter love, you have hope. The more you know your love, the more hope that you have. The more hope you have, the longer you can burn.

The longer you can burn, the more people you can lead to the marriage feast. Does this make sense? All right. I will end here. You guys were prepared for me to end. Okay. We can wait for God’s breakthrough in fulfillment. Fulfillment doesn’t come at the end of breakthrough. Fulfillment comes before breakthrough. The flask was full before the groom showed up. Before you’re healed, before your family’s fixed, before you overcome depression, which you will, before the harassment is over, before the  problems are over, you can sit fulfilled in your union with Almighty God. You can be like, “Hey, whatever the world’s doing to me, I’m on the throne right now with him.” Do you know why? Let me I’ll just All right, I got to throw one more in there. Do you know why he seated us on the throne? Ephesians 2:6, he raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ. So that in coming ages, not just the old one, not just this one, in coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace toward us in kindness through Christ Jesus. That’ll get the fire going. Boom. What is that? What is that joy? What is that fire that cannot be quenched? That cannot be quenched in the earth. Amen. Cuz I’m loved with an everlasting love. I’ll never perish. I’ll never be cast out. I’ll never be rejected. I’ll never be forsaken cuz Jesus took care of it. Jesus, I love him so much. I want to crush him in a hug, get his anointing all over me. I want to smell like him the rest of my life. He’s like that. He’s, I’m no different than any of you. If I can get this, I know any of you can get it. Not in your head, in your guts, man. Can you get this? He’s for you. He’s not against you. We’re not cringing in a corner. We are the overcoming church. We’re the bride with the anointing on her brow and the flame in the torch. Can you get it? Oh boy. David, can you get it? Jeez. Next week, ask my wife if I get it. That’s the real test. Ask my kids. Okay. This stuff is going to seep through your life. And even if it’s hasn’t got that far yet, dude, it’s a seed. It’s leaven. It’s a rock that spans through the whole earth. Daniel 2. It’s wine that expands till it bursts the skin. You just let it in a little bit. You dare to believe for one bit that he looks at you with fire in his eyes and he says, “Come on, we’re going to the banqueting house. Come on, we’re taking the whole creation to become the banqueting house. It doesn’t look like it could be possible when you read the Nobody reads newspapers. It doesn’t look like it’s possible when you look at the news.”

Oh, man. But I already took care of it. You don’t even know what my resurrection did. We’re We’re praying maybe the bowels of hell will shake. He ripped out the bowels of hell. He harrowed hell. That’s an orthodox doctrine. He broke the gates of Hades. It’s done. Let’s just start pulling people out of there. Let’s just tell people the gates are wide open. Just come on out. And the biggest enemy is we we’re so used to guilt and shame and condemnation and oh I’m nothing. I you know I can never do anything for God and I have to do something or God wouldn’t want me anyway. Such a lie. While you were his enemy, while you were a sinner, he gave his blood for you. Is he going to look for a reason to cast you out now? He could have just left you cast out. Romans 5 logic. Okay. All right. End it, David. Thank you, God, so much for your word. I pray, Lord, that it would seep in, God. I pray that we would prepare in every way. That we would be ready for any persecution, for any hardship. We would be ready for any war or famine or anything that will ripple out into history. But God, we are going to be seated above it in Christ Jesus. And one day, you will manifest your reign on this earth. God, I pray that you would be with us by the power of your Holy Spirit in consciousness of your full love and that God, we would just exude that peace and that triumph and that joy that comes from union with you. God, I thank you that you united with us. God, you did it. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself. All this is from God. I thank you, Lord. And I rest in what you’ve done. I pray for my brothers and sisters that we would rest today from the burdens of fear and insecurity. And I thank you that today you’ll set our hearts, leaning against your chest, leaning against your beard. You’d set our hearts at rest. You’d lock your eyes with ours. And God, I pray that it would have ramifications in our families, our marriages, our workplaces, anywhere that you would call us to go. Humbly ask that you would lead us by your Holy Spirit, the only one who can lead us in triumph. Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor David. Thank you. I’d like to invite you all to come as an extension of our worship and our time. We we go over across the parking lot to our fellowship hall and have lunch together, do life together, be family together. So, if you’re here for your first time, we’d love to invite you. If it’s not your first time, come and come and do life together with us and get to know each other. I’ll see you over there and we’ll see you next week.

What does it mean to prepare for the end?

It’s a sobering question—and not one we often associate with comfort or peace. But in his recent message, Pastor David Lien challenges the fearful, survivalist mindset that often surrounds end-times thinking, and instead invites us into a secure, joy-filled reality rooted in union with Jesus.

The End Already Begun

Pastor David began by reminding us that the end is not something to be feared—it’s something to be understood in light of what Jesus has already accomplished. Scripture speaks of two kinds of “end”: one meaning the conclusion of an old age (such as the destruction of the temple and the old covenant system in A.D. 70), and another meaning the ultimate purpose or telos of history—the full manifestation of God’s reign on earth.

That telos isn’t marked by doom, but by victory. Jesus has already been seated on the throne. He’s already judged the ruler of this age and defeated death. And we, the Church, are not meant to hunker down in fear but to rise in partnership with him, participating in the gradual and inevitable triumph of his kingdom.

Not Bridesmaids—The Bride

Using the parable of the ten virgins from Matthew 25, Pastor David painted a vivid picture of readiness—not as frantic effort or self-righteous preparation, but as a life soaked in oil, symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The wise virgins brought extra oil because they knew the value of the wedding, and the beauty of the bridegroom. They were captivated by love.

We’re not just invited to the wedding—we are the bride. And Jesus didn’t marry us so we could serve him; he married us so he could pour his love over us. “He didn’t get married to you so that you could love him,” Pastor David said, “That’s a narcissist. He got married to you so he could lay his life down for you.”

A Love That Prepares Us

This kind of love transforms everything. It fills us with peace, even when breakthrough hasn’t come yet. Fulfillment doesn’t start after the victory—it starts in the middle of waiting. The oil we carry isn’t earned through effort; it’s received through nearness. It flows when we tuck ourselves under the beard of Jesus, resting in the security of his presence.

And when we are secure in that love, our torches burn brighter. We don’t live in fear, worried about whether we’re doing enough. We live captivated, pouring out the oil of love and joy as we light the way for others. It’s not just about being prepared for Jesus’ return; it’s about carrying his presence now.

Hope That Spreads

This message is not just for individual security—it has global consequences. “Your land shall be married,” Isaiah says. As the people of God walk in their identity as the delighted-in bride, the earth around us begins to shift. The land is healed. Creation responds to love. The flame in our hearts can set entire communities ablaze with hope.

We don’t prepare for the end out of fear. We prepare from a place of being already seated with Christ, already united with the One who has overcome. We prepare not as servants trying to earn his favor, but as sons and daughters who are already chosen, already loved.

So… What End Are You Preparing For?

Are you stockpiling fear, anxiety, and survival strategies—or are you preparing by falling more deeply into the love of Jesus?

Let the oil flow. Let your torch burn. You’ve been invited not just to the wedding—you are the bride.

Here is your discussion guide for Pastor David Lien’s sermon, formatted in the same structure as your previous guides:

In his message “Prepared for the End,” Pastor David Lien redefines what it means to be ready for what’s to come. Rather than preparing with fear, panic, or religious striving, we are called to prepare through union with Jesus, living from a place of love, not anxiety. Drawing from the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25, Pastor David emphasized that “oil” represents the Holy Spirit—the overflow of intimacy with God, not effort.

Jesus has already defeated death, judged the ruler of this world, and been seated on the throne. And we, the Church, are seated with Him. Preparation doesn’t mean being perfect—it means being present with God, filled with His Spirit, and anchored in His love. The end we are preparing for is not a catastrophe to fear, but a wedding to celebrate.

Our identity is not as mere bridesmaids watching from the sidelines, but as the Bride of Christ—loved, chosen, and already united with Him. And that love isn’t just for us; it spills into the world around us, bringing light, restoration, and hope to creation.

Icebreaker

What’s something in life you’ve prepared really hard for—whether a trip, a performance, or an event? How did it feel to get ready, and what were you expecting?

Key Scriptures

Matthew 25:1–13 – Parable of the Ten Virgins

1 Corinthians 15:22–28 – The telos: the final goal of Christ’s reign

Ephesians 2:6–7 – Seated with Christ in heavenly places

Romans 5:5 – God’s love poured out through the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 62:1–4 – “Your land shall be married”

Discussion Questions

According to Pastor David, how does fear-based preparation differ from love-based preparation?

Have you ever been tempted to “prepare” for God out of fear or anxiety?

What does the oil in the parable represent, and what does it mean to “buy oil” in your own life?

How does this challenge or encourage you?

Pastor David said, “Fulfillment doesn’t come after breakthrough—it comes before.”

What does that look like practically in a season of waiting?

How does understanding yourself as the Bride of Christ (not just a bridesmaid) shift the way you live or think?

What does union with Christ mean to you personally?

How can we, as a church, be a light to our community by living securely in God’s love?

What does it look like to bring others into the feast?

Closing Prayer

Take time to pray that your group would grow in deep, restful union with Jesus. Ask for fresh oil of the Holy Spirit to be poured out—not just for endurance, but for joy. Pray for security in God’s love and readiness for the mission ahead.

Example Prayer:

Father, thank You that we don’t prepare for the end in fear, but in confidence. Thank You that You’ve already united us with Jesus and seated us with Him in heavenly places. Fill us again with the oil of Your Spirit. Teach us to rest in Your love and to carry that love into the world. May our hearts burn bright with hope and joy as we look forward to Your full reign. Amen.