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Be Not Deceived The Rapture Pt 3, I am coming quickly
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Welcome back to Be Not Deceived. We are here in 2024 now. We, our last episode, we did looking back in review of 2023 and I had my special guest pastor Rick Baudry from Calvary Chapel Bremerton with us last time and now we're having him here again, for 2024. First episode and I'm so excited that we're gonna dive in God's word today. Amen. And, something that God has just laid on my heart, is looking at the last chapter in Revelation, chapter 22, and where the Lord says over and over again, and we'll look at it in detail that he is coming quickly. And this is really a great description of, the Lord's coming in the rapture, I believe, and we're gonna look at that and break that down. And we're gonna see what, who we're talking about, who's coming quickly, how we find that in the Bible, and how we find what's going on in the world today that's going to try that is going to try to distract us from what we should be paying attention to, and that is God's Word, growing in His Word, and that He is coming quickly. So thank you again, Pastor, for being here. And I'm so excited to just go on this great adventure of looking at the last chapter, and then I was really focusing on verse six through let's see, what I was gonna go, 17? But starting at verse six in in in chapter 22, and then and then going through the Bible to find some more truth that tells us more about what's going on here. So do we want to start in reading that? Sure, go ahead. Me? Yeah. Okay. So I'm starting in Revelation 22, starting at, verse six. And he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then he said unto me, see thou, do it not, for I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship God. And he said unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. I'd like to look at that part for sure. Yeah. Kind of break that one down. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without our dogs and scoff, sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loveth and maketh a lie. And we know who the mess who the liar is. Amen. That's the devil. I Jesus have sent mine angels to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and the morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Amen. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of this book, of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city, And from the things which are written in this book, he which testifies these these things saith, surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Amen. That's the last words Yeah. Of the Bible. Last book of the Bible. Yeah. Yeah. The last words. That's exciting. Yeah. So when he says I come quickly, that is just such a fascinating over and over and over again, he says, and there's a lot in here that I really like to break down a little bit. But Three times in this section, verse seven, verse 12, and verse 20, an emphasis upon the rapture. Right. An emphasis upon this is letters to the church. And this and verse 16, under these things in the churches. So we haven't seen the word church or churches Mhmm. Except for chapter two and three, the letters to the seven churches. Right. So in chapter four and five, the churches in heaven, from six to 19, we've got the tribulation period. And then we've got the millennium in chapter twenty, thousand year rule and reign, great white throne judgment and everything. Now in 2122, we have the eternal state. And we have a new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem. And and so but still, in this last chapter, he wants the church to understand that he's coming quickly, suddenly. Suddenly. So an emphasis in Matthew 24 verse 44, to watch and to be ready, you know, looking up. He calls us to do that. In Luke, he says, you know, you know, that we should be looking up for your redemption draweth nigh. Yeah. And so you're looking for Titus two thirteen, the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior. Right? Yes. Yes. And Jesus said, pray always in Luke 21 that you'd be able to escape these things that of the tribulation period Right. And to stand before the son of man. Right? Yes. Amen. And right? Yep. That's awesome. So he's kind of reflecting back because we're looking at chapter 22, he's reflecting and bringing up the church being raptured. And he's to anybody that's listening, to anybody that's reading, the emphasis upon today is the day of salvation. Right. That this is the last book, and you can reach a point of no return. It's appointed unto all men once to die, and then the judgment. Yep. So are those where he's saying as he culminating, as he's finishing up, he's letting them know that those that have chose to not believe, you know, those that have chose to rebel and reject the gospel Yeah. They're gonna remain on the outside. So there is no second chance for salvation past the point of death. Past the point of death. Pointed unto all men once to die, and then the judgment. So there's an invitation here from the church and for the Holy Spirit to come. Invitation to come. Come. But an emphasis upon today. Do it today, not tomorrow. Yeah. Because when we reach this point, it's too late. It's too late. It's too late. You know, this really stuck out to me, and has in the past when I've read it, about when it says in 11, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still and he that is holy, let him be holy still. So, that is talking about that finality of death. Yeah. And we're reaching the finality of the age. Yeah. Of the age. You're not gonna be a part of the eternal stay, eternity, what he's describing here, if you don't in your lifetime exercise your free will. And then the Holy Spirit's prompted to Jesus identifying verse 16, I have sent mine angel to testify Mhmm. You know, to Of these things Yeah. In the churches. Yeah. Under these things of the churches, and I am and then he's shown I am the root and the offspring of David, so I'm the in my humanity, I'm the babe of Bethlehem, the Messiah, the Christ, and in my deity, I'm Yeah. The bright morning The Shekinah glory of God. He's establishing his authority of who he was or who he's talking about. Yes. Right? Right there. That's awesome. It's been fulfilled. Prophesied before. It's a See the woman, Genesis three fifteen. It's like a wrap up. Here we go. Yeah, wrap up. Exactly. Wrapping this story Wrapping it up. Exactly. And still, the heart of the Holy Spirit, it says, and the spirit and the bride. So the church is given an invitation. Yeah. So the spirit is sent by the father to bear witness of the son. Yeah. Right? Yep. And the privilege of the church is to preach the gospel. Gospel. And then the holy spirit brings the conviction. Yeah. The holy spirit gives the faith, and the Holy Spirit is the one that saves, that brings the Exactly. So the spirit and the bride say, come. Wow. That's In really that invitation, and let him that heareth. So in chapter two and three, Jesus said, he that has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches. Right? Yeah. So the churches need to have spiritual ears Mhmm. To hear, especially in these last days throughout every age Yeah. To hear what the holy spirit is wanting to say. So and let him that hears say, come, and let him that's athirst, come. So if you can hear, the invitation is to come. If you're thirsty You have ears to hear. Right? If you're spiritual ears, spiritualize, and that's a matter of conversion. That's a matter of the God revealing. The book of Revelation is the apocalypse, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen. The volume of the book is written of him. Yeah. It's his story. So if you see Jesus at at here, he's identifying himself. I'm the root and the offspring of David. Yeah. You know, I'm the bright and the morning star. This way I am. If you can see me, if you can hear the Holy Spirit bearing witness of me Yeah. And the church is sharing the gospel Yeah. That's our job, sharing the gospel, Then if you're recognizing at at this point before it's too late Mhmm. If you're recognizing the spiritual thirst Yeah. In your heart and life Yeah. Like the woman in John four, I've got water that you can drink if you'll never thirst again. Yep. Or in John seven, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. As the scripture has said, he that believes in me shall you know, believes in me shall torrents of living water flow As forth from the scripture has said, he that believes in me shall have torrents of living water. So the living water. So who's athirst and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. So the will, God's made us not as robots. Yeah. Big talk today of AI and robotics and taking the place of human beings and transhumanism and all that. Well, God didn't make us robots. God made us in the image of himself. Yeah. So we are free moral agents. We have a desire and the power of choice. And so God in order for us to have a relationship with God, we must choose. Yeah. And the Lord has done all the work. It is finished, paid in full. And within the garden, Adam and Eve were told to they could partake of all the trees in the garden, except this one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They weren't partake of it, to eat of it. And you know the story, they chose to, so they fell, the sinfulness of it. And so now there's a tree in the garden, the tree of life, but here's a tree they can come and partake of. And so, Jesus hung upon a tree. He became a curse and hung upon a tree, so that we could come here and partake of the, you know, the tree here, even on into eternity, the tree of life and out of the holy city, and from things which are written in this book. And so still the opportunity to have eternal life, to partake of eternal life is there. So you choose. Do you wanna partake of eternal life? Yep. Or do you wanna eat the tree of the curse of death? You know mean? Is that where you're going? Just stay unjust and stay filthy? Or do you choose to be righteous with Christ It's who made a free gift. It's a free gift. It's that free gift. It's free will. You choose or you don't. So if you don't enter into this city, and new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, it's because you chose not to. God doesn't send people to hell. Right. People choose to reject Jesus Christ, and they choose hell over heaven. Right. And so there's a shelf life. There's a point in time where it's too late for people. So he's saying here, we're finishing it up. It's coming to a conclusion here. Yeah. Yeah. But if you're alive and you're breathing, if you got a pulse, it's not too late. Tomorrow might be too late. Yeah. That's why today is the day of salvation. Yes. Right? That's why I really have it set in my heart that the theme or the theme of what we're talking about today is, are you ready? Are you ready? This is the what are and we you might wonder what are they asking me? What am I ready for? Because in the world right now, there's so many things going on that, that is causing you to feel as if something's gonna be happening, that's gonna be catastrophic in our economy, in how we live life as we've known it for decades and hundreds of years, or that America might change and our economy might change and our health decisions we've already experienced were forced upon us to change, lots of change going on and a lot of distractions. But what I want to focus on is what we should be focused on is, are you ready? Are you ready for I come quickly? Amen. So this is the day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. Amen. And we have a reason to be rejoicing because His Word is truth. He's given us salvation. He's the root and the offspring of David and our bright and morning star that's so powerful He has done the work for us, and we don't have to be afraid. And there is, we were talking earlier about there's a time of reward, right, for the believers. So, when we talk about that reward, where did we see that? Verse 12. Yeah, verse 12. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according to his work shall be. So, that's the bema seat, judgment. But for believers, that is actually an awards ceremony, basically, where the Lord says, we get a crown of righteousness, a crown of salvation, and then there's many others. Right? Yeah. There's a crown of glory, crown of rejoicing, crown of life, an incorruptible crown that fades not away. And so we have rewards in that way. So if we look at the reward, the bamosate judgment, second Corinthians five verse 10, every man must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Mhmm. Now that sounds fearful. We're gonna be evaluated. We're gonna be judged from the standpoint of the works that we've done. What you've done. But everything we've done wrong has already been dealt with at the at the cross. Mhmm. Jesus has already taken on sin, and the father poured out his wrath upon his son so that as a substitute to die in our place. So we're what's called justified just as if there's just as if we've never sinned. So if you look into the record, there's no record of wrong. There's nothing in the record of any kind of infraction against God's holy law. Mhmm. And so we have a position of being justified, being righteous, made righteous. And so there's no fearful looking to of judgment from us from that standpoint. But from the standpoint of reward, the picture is of a Jewish wedding, and the bride would be betrothed or engaged, if you will. And there'd be a point in time where that person that was betrothed, like Mary being engaged to Joseph, and they hadn't come together yet, they hadn't consummated that marriage, but they're in that place where soon, very soon, the bridegroom would come, and Mary would be there at home, and she'd have her maidens there with her. And Matthew 25 describes five foolish and five wise, and the wise were those that had the oil. The oil is the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. So the believers that are filled with the Holy Spirit, sealed with the Holy Spirit, they're awaiting the bride of Christ is awaiting the fetching, that he could come at any moment. And what is that fetching? That's the rapture of the church. That's what's said here, reiterated three times. I come quickly suddenly. Yeah. And when we think in terms of the second coming of Christ, we can calculate that. We can say if the church was in the tribulation period, if they were, they could calculate from the time that the Antichrist goes into the temple and declares himself to be God, demands to be worshipped as God. Yeah. There's gonna be twelve hundred and sixty days later after that, a time, a time and a half time, or three and a half years, or forty two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days And it from that says that. It says that right Until in the in the the Lord Jesus comes. So it wouldn't be a surprise. Yeah. Now it is a surprise to the unbeliever according to first Thessalonians chapter five, we're children of light, that day isn't going to overtake us unaware. We see the birth pangs of the tribulation system, the beast system being presented, or what the Bible calls the seventieth seven of Daniel, the time of Jacob's trouble. So according to Romans eleven twenty five, blindness in part has happened unto Israel during this church age. There are Jews that come to Christ now Right. But very few. Blindness in part has come unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. That's the church age. So when the bridegroom comes for the bride, that's the fetching the rapture, we're taken to the father's house then. Right. So the father's house, Jesus said in John fourteen one through three, you believe in God, believe also in me. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it weren't, so I tell you. I go to prepare a place for you. Mhmm. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you onto myself that where I am, there you may be also. So when the church is raptured, the church goes up to heaven for the ceremony. So you had the fetching, which is one part of the Jewish wedding. Now you have the ceremony, and at the ceremony, that's the Bemisi judgment. Yep. That's where the Lord is going to lavish his love upon his bride and pour out gifts for faithful service. Right. And he's going to say, you know, you've been faithful in the few things. I'll make you rule over much. Enter into the joy of the Lord. So it's based upon faithfulness. And so our faithfulness, it's gonna go through the fire according to first Corinthians chapter three. Everything we do is gonna go through the fire to determine what sort it is. Everything that's wood, hay, and stubble that we've done during this lifetime to be seen of men, to get the applause and praise of men Yeah. That's your reward. Burned off. Burned off. Like But that which that which is precious, which makes it through the fire that was done the motivation. God's looking at the motivation. Mhmm. Why are you doing this? Why are you serving me? If it's anything less than love, an act of worship doing it. Then it's meaningless. You're doing it through the scene of men, Jesus said. Right. As the Pharisees did. So it goes through that scrutiny, that that judgment, and then what remains is precious, and the Lord will lavish his bride with clean white garment, unspotted, unblemished. And we see her return the next stage of the of the Jewish wedding, we come to the reception, the marriage supper of the lamb. Yeah. So we're gonna come with him. Jude says he comes with 10,000 thousands of his saints. So we come back with Jesus in the second coming, and we we consummate that that type four different stages, the betrothal, the fetching, the ceremony in heaven, and then the return, where we come back to the home of the bride and we have the reception. John the Baptist, the Old Testament saints, the friend of the bridegroom, and we come to that big ceremony there. Actually, the reception, like we call it, a huge a huge feast, a huge, you know, we see A time of A time celebration. Festivals. And that's Revelation 19. Armageddon's complete, the Lord's return, He subdued all of His enemies. There's like a seventy five day interval there. The millennium starts. That's a thousand year rule and reign. And that's where it starts with the marriage supper of the lamb. Yeah. And so that's the reward. We're anticipating, we're working. We're not working in vain. We're working to glorify the Lord, to be faithful to what he's called us to do, and knowing that Jesus said, what's it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what would a man give in exchange for his life? Mhmm. So what we can do is we can live in such a way that we defer being rewarded now, knowing that faithfulness is what he's asking for, whether we're up or down, whether we're suffering or whatever may happen. But he's glorified in that our willingness to suffer with him, be afflicted with him, to serve Him. Yeah. And He wants to reward us. And so those And store up our treasures in heaven. Yes. Store not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust can corrupt, where thieves can break through and steal, but store up there. And so, for those who are martyred, there's the crown of life. For those suffering, there's a crown of rejoicing. There's a crown of glory for those who are dead, to be asked in the bodies to be present with the Lord. There's two times we're told of a crown of life, crown of rejoicing, crown of glory. And then five crowns, then we have an incorruptible crown that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us. So the Olympians, when they would win and they'd come to the Bema Seat, they would get a wreath, a celery wreath, that lasts for a moment. Yeah. And a few days later, it's rotted, you know? We have an incorruptible crown in our resurrection, an incorruptible crown that fades not away. And the reason we're able to receive this reward is because Jesus said no to the devil that offered him all the kingdoms of the world. Yeah, the shortcut. He wouldn't have to go by way of the cross. Yeah. And so because he wasn't going to bite on that and worship the devil as being God, he was willing to wear a crown of thorns, which is symbolic of the curse of our sin. And so then we see him, he that knew no sin became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So when the children of Israel were sinning against God, with the Midianites and all, the Lord told Moses these snakes were out there and they were biting the people. The Lord told Moses to fashion a brass serpent. Oh, yeah. And the serpent is symbolic of sin, symbolic of the devil, the serpent, the dragon. And that serpent was put upon a pole, and any people that looked upon that serpent were saved. By faith, they're looking. By faith, we're looking at the cross. He that knew no sin became sin. He's nailed to the cross of Calvary. And by looking to him, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So Jesus in John three, as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so shall the son of man be lifted up. Oh, yeah. That's awesome. You see that? Yeah. And so that's the And then he asked us to to look up to for his return too, to be watching and ready. So he uses the word redemption. Look up for your redemption, drowth nigh. So redemption means that we're slaves. We're bankrupt. We have no ability to buy our way to freedom. And so we're in abject poverty. So the price is our kinsman and redeemer, the son of man, the babe Bethlehem takes on the form of a man. And he, like the picture of Ruth and Boaz, he's able to take a Gentile bride and to win her to pay with his blood, his precious blood to purchase her out of sin, slavery, and death for all eternity. A complete poverty. Right. Complete poverty. The price is paid, and then the seal has been given in earnest of the Holy Spirit in a purchased possession. So he's purchased us. It is finished to tell us I paid in full. Mhmm. But he's not taken us yet. Hasn't taken possession yet. Right. Right? We're not there in heaven yet. Yeah. So he puts a mark on us, which is the Holy Spirit in Ephesians we're told. Amen. We're sealed with the Holy Spirit. Yeah. So then when he returns, when Luke is telling us, look up for your redemption draweth nigh, That's the return to take possession of that purchased possession. Right. So possession of the earth that he created, and then redeemed, because there was a curse upon the earth, and possession of his bride, which he created, Right. And she ran away like Gomer, you know, and Hosea, but then purchases out of that slavery, out of that sin, out of that death, and writes his name within our heart. Right? Yeah. And and it's a love relationship. Responding to him in love. Mhmm. And now he's come for his bride, and his bride's looking up. He's coming at any moment. He's coming. He's coming. Keep looking up. Keep watching. Be ready. Hold I come suddenly quickly is what it means, quickly. When He comes, it's a moment, the twinkling of an eye, right? We're told that of the rapture. Yes. You know, that's so wonderful because you know, when we talk about being ready, if we're ready, we're talking about the church too, because we're responsible for how we rightly divide the word of truth and what we're doing today. Are we so distracted and you know, and I called called, you know, last last episode to have discernment, have the church have discernment about what's going on. And discernment means that you're following what the word is saying. You allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you. And then you do what it says. Right? And it's telling us to look up, Amen. To be ready. Amen. Not be distracted with all you know, the devil loves the shiny penny over here and the and the and the shiny penny over here and the fear and the and the and the all the crazy stuff that's going on in the world today with the Klaus Schwab's and the and the Noah Yuval Harari's and the the ones that are really pawns of the devil. You know? They're just the devil's just using them, and they're they're pretty pretty ridiculous. I mean, there's so many things that they've done that is so ridiculous. And the things that they've said that are so ridiculous that I don't even understand why people are following them other than they don't have a heart for God because they really proclaim the the ungodliness in many ways, and they're happy to with a little smirk and a smile on their face to proclaim it. And and it's a sad it's a sad state that they're in actually because they don't have what what God can even offer them. I mean, even Manasseh was was redeemed. Yeah. You know? But why do you think God allows them such wealth and, an ability to rebel to such a great degree against him? Why why is God allowing that? Yeah. Well, it's setting the stage for the one world government, the one world religious system, and the one world monetary system. So we've got you know, we he they're touching base with all of those things. It provides a choice. Humanity's provided a choice. They can believe in the devil, the Luciferian occultic religion that these guys purvey. You know? Yep. They can believe in a false Christ, a false messiah, a false system, a false utopia Mhmm. A world without Jesus Christ Yeah. Where they worship the antichrist instead of, in place of, Jesus Christ. Yep. So the stage is being set, like you're saying, but it provides a choice for humanity to to decide. Yeah. You know, do you want to spend all eternity in the lake of fire? Mhmm. And do you want to believe a lie, reject the truth and believe a lie, and give be given over by God to a strong delusion that you would believe the lie Yeah. That you can become as gods? Yeah. So it's a false gospel, false messiah, false eternity. False belief system. False belief system. But these guys are the guys allowed to set the stage for the glorious return of Jesus Christ. The the age the age of the Gentiles, the times of the Gentiles is coming to a close. And we're going to see the nation of Israel, be reestablished as the dominant nation upon the planet with Jesus ruling and reigning from Jerusalem. As king of kings Right. In the millennium. After the 77 of Daniel, when Jesus returns, these Klaus Schwab's and all these yo yos are gonna try and actually stop Jesus from returning. It's just craziness. Gonna try and stop. They're gonna try and stop. And the devil knows his time is short. He's cast out of heaven. He he's gonna chase after the woman of Revelation 12. Mhmm. And Psalm two says, oh, how the heathen rage, and imagine a vain thing against the Lord and against his anointed. Yeah. They're imagining that they're going to be as gods. Yeah. Well, Noah Yuval Harari says, we know that God's dead. We just haven't buried the body. Right. Stuff like that. Yeah. Very boastful. Very boastful. Very and wonder why the Lord allows breath to remain in their mouth. Right. They're a tool. Why does he allow that to even happen? They They're a are a tool that God is using to sub Expose the the heart too. And and the biggest the biggest their hubris, their pride, the enormous pride. Mhmm. And what was the number one sin, the fall of Lucifer, was pride. Yep. I will be as the most high. Yep. So people who are filled with pride, God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. And so we, like the publican, we cry out, God be merciful to me, a sinner. As humbly we do that. But their leader their leader refused to believe or admit that he's ever sinned. Yeah. He's sinless. Yeah. Perfect. Right. Perfect. Got it going on. Well, that's interesting because, you know, that's why it's so important that we don't buy into all the lies that are going on out there, which are climate change, know, with the electric cars, just, I mean, it's just not, they're not working. No, at all. But Bill Gates and all of them are all in, you know, they're still trying to push the narrative there that these are these are the this is the right way to go. It's best for the planet. It's best for everything. And it's just it's just a lie. It's almost laughable, because what an electric car can't get go very far without having to be plugged in again. And maybe that might fit their fifteen minute cities. You know, I guess maybe that might be Not if it's real cold there. Yeah. Yeah. Mean, unless it's real cold, you can't charge them and stuck they're and Yeah. Can't go anywhere. And the whole and the whole the whole world pretty much is freezing right now. It's cold. So whatever happened to global warming Exactly. Mean, they don't wanna admit that. They don't wanna say that. Now I'm all for electric bikes, electric golf carts Mhmm. Electric tools, and electric cars. I'm all for them. Yeah. But not at the expense of something I can rely upon. Right. We need to be able I got a generator. If it gets cold, the power goes out, I got a generator that runs on propane or gasoline. Got a vehicle that'll operate in the cold, in the heat. It's got air conditioning and all of it. Now, as a backup, as a secondary form of convenience, I could cruise around in a Tesla or I could cruise around on a golf cart if I was ever a senior. I'm not gonna be a senior ever, but a senior community, a little golf Yeah. Or Kathy and I like to ride on, you know, ride our electric bikes. They're wonderful. But what these guys are doing is they're trying to force us into a control grid. Yeah. Where they can flip the switch and we have no choice, no power, no transportation, no light, And no where they make all the decisions. So as far as option goes, I want some propane. I think like in terms of a house, options are good. You have a wood burner stove. That's one option. You've got propane. That's second option. Back up. Thirdly, you got electricity. Yeah. And you're pretty good to go. That's pretty smart to but if you limit me down to just the grid and make it a sin to burn wood, and you're not allowed to have any propane, any options, you can see what they're doing. It's tyranny, it's communism. Yeah, total control. Total Yeah, so to make trucks or to make farm equipment exclusively electric is suicide. Right. Absolute suicide. Yeah. It's not gonna work. And their windmills and the whole thing, they're trying to sell their lie. And we're seeing, the people are seeing what a lie it is, but they don't have anything else to use for tyranny. It has to be based upon the environment. Yeah. And what they're doing is they're claiming that you and I are useless eaters because they got robots that can take our place and produce for them. And so the planet's too big. So the devil, Jesus said in John ten ten, The thieves come not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy. That's their strategy, the demonic strategy of destroying human beings. Yep. Right? It's it's it's already laid out. We are It's so simple. Yeah. It's so simple. The Bible lays it out. So It's so simple. But we what we do is we recognize in this case that although God's given them, according to Revelation seventeen seventeen, he's allowing putting it in their minds to lay out this this scenario, this this stage being set, God's still sovereign. Yeah. Our God's still on the throne in control. Amen. And they have to get permission for everything they do has to go through God's providential filter first. Yeah. And if he allows it, he's allowing it for his purposes. So Satan is a tool that God uses to expose the free will of man. Right. It's a second option. Here's Jesus. Here's Jesus. Mhmm. Follow him. You have eternal life. The devil's there selling his live for self. You can have it all. You can be his God. Yeah. And so God doesn't want mercenaries. He wants people to choose to spend eternity with him. Yeah. And it's based upon love. Love doesn't force. Right. Doesn't bully, you know? Yeah. So you have to choose. What do you want? Do you want Jesus, or do you want the devil, the antichrist, his his guy, whatever? Right. Every day we're making decisions based upon that. Every That's day we're making decisions of, am I gonna do this for the Lord? You know, whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. Is that how I'm gonna live? Or am I gonna live for self? Yep. Every day. Yeah. It's that battle battle between the flesh and the spirit that wars against it all the time. Then back to rewards. Everything you do Yeah. Is gonna go through the filter of what sort it is. Yeah. Why did you do that? Yeah. Was it out of love for him, the love of Christ constraining you? Or was it wood, hay, and stubble to be seen of God? To be burned off. To be burned off. Yeah. Didn't mean a Are you faithful to what He's called you to do? So all we're supposed to do is be faithful. Amen. Be faithful. If He calls us to be sick, then be faithful while we're sick. If he calls us to be poor, be faithful on him while we're poor. If he calls us to be rich, then be faithful on him while we're rich. Don't fall in love with the riches. Don't let it consume because riches can be just as detrimental to your walk of faith as poverty. So it's a matter of idolatry. It's a matter of of having nothing in your life that steals the master passion of your life, which should be Christ, which be Jesus. Amen. Right? That's awesome. Yeah. That's what, you know, it just is exactly what, I wanted to, you know, talk about today is is, one, the unbeliever to be ready, to become a believer because the Lord is coming and He's coming quickly. So this is the time, you don't wanna go through the tribulation because, you know, God's wrath is serious. It is going to be, some major catastrophes going across, you know, that's going to be happening on the earth, and he breaks it down from six to 19 exactly what is gonna be poured out, Right. And each bowl judgment, trumpet judgment, the different Shield trumpets and bowls. Yep, bowls, which I would love someday to just break those down. That might be another episode, just to look at all of the the the wrath that does come on the on the earth and and look at them in up close view. That's as close as I ever wanna get to it. I know. Just read it. Read I don't wanna touch it. In I'm in the boat. Yeah. The Lord is with us. So we're not subject under God's wrath? No. We're not appointed under wrath? Yeah. Been saved from the wrath to come. Yes. Right? I love that. Yeah. God is good. And it's very clear in his word that says that. So I'm wanting to encourage you today to have discernment in God's word, to have the truth of God's word, set in your heart and to live and grow, to be ready. As we've read, he is coming quickly. That's the rapture. Have as believers, don't, don't be following things that don't mean anything that are gonna be burned off, because what what he judges us for is what we what we do with him, and all this other stuff that takes up our time and our attention. I just want you to be more aware of what what you're giving your attention to and, and do the things that are, the most important. The most the most valuable is the things, like he says here, what what you do with, you will be judged according to what you you do with him. And and that's the most important. And also, what, if you have never heard that Jesus saves, that this is your moment to to surrender your life to this savior that died on the cross for your sins, and he took the pry he took on the the the wrath of God for us because we couldn't do it. We don't have the ability to redeem ourselves. He did that for us because of love. Amen. It was love that brought him to the cross. And it's love that lives with us in through the Holy Spirit. It's love that guides us into all truth through His word. It keeps us. It keeps us. Seals us and on into eternity. Love, God of love. God is love. Yeah. So don't believe the devil that might trick you into thinking that God is a bad God. He allows bad things. No, he's a good God. He loves us. He's already made provision for us. And all he asks is we exercise our faith that he even gives us. Exercise that faith, surrender your heart unto the Lord, and he will quickly come in and change you from death to life. And then, then watch and wait and be ready, occupy till He comes, but He's coming quickly. So that's what I wanted to get, in this discussion for the unbeliever and for the believer to, to be ready. Are you ready? Question mark, are you ready? If you're not ready, look up, get ready, and, and be prepared. I think the next episode that we're gonna do is talking about all the things that the world is saying, and maybe the ones who are not trusting in the Lord, what are they doing in their activities to get prepared? Maybe some of the prevers and the I think that for me that it's the sky is falling chicken little, the sky is falling, and there's this confusion. Satan is the author of confusion. And you have a multitude of people running around in circles, seeing seeing things waxing worse and worse and just chaos. I see the chaos. And and I see the presentation as Jesus told us of false Christ and false prophets, false messiahs coming in his name that are gonna lead us out of this chaos, you know? Yeah. A deception. But let's let's read here. It says verse seven, behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he, so, oh, how happy is he, that keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So this book is a book that many pastors don't teach. This book is a book that many Christians won't open and read. This is a book that many Christians have never studied. And the book starts out with a blessing in the first few verses of chapter one and ends with a blessing and a warning, you know, as we continue to read. Blessed is he that keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So a lot of people don't like prophecy. One third of the Bible is prophecy speaking forth, which means this word keeps means to trust, to anticipate. And I, John, saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship for the feet of the angel who showed me these things. So John the beloved lives to almost a 100 years of age. They tried to boil him in oil, he wouldn't boil. He's the one that wrote the Gospel of John, first, second, and third epistle of John, and the book of Revelation. So, he's on the island of Patmos, and he's aging, John the Aged, and an angel comes and gives him the apokaloops, apocalypse, the revelation, not plural, the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the reaction of John when from the angel that was showing him these things is that just like in chapter 19 verse 10, he wanted to bow down and worship the angel. Mhmm. And the angel, he says, not so. Don't do that. I'm an angel. You know, worship God. Only worship And that's what we need to get through to people is in Psalm 118. Vain is the help of man. Vain is the help of princess. So if you put your hope in a politician, it's vanity. It's emptiness. Don't be worshiping men. In Hebrews one verse six, Jesus received worship. In Matthew eight eight verse two and Matthew fourteen thirty three, Jesus received worship because he's he's God. In John nine thirty eight, Jesus received worship of of people. And so he says, verse nine, then sayeth the enemy, see thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant. So, angels, no matter what their rank, are servants. They're ministering spirits. Yeah. And of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them who keep the words of this book, worship God, not angels. Worship And he saith unto me. And so, Mormonism is the worshiping of the angel Moroni, and it's kind of moronic, know, it's pretty moronic. So, and he saith unto me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. So when you ask people, hey, how come you don't read the book of Revelation? How come you're not teaching the book of Revelation? Well, it's a sealed book. Yeah. We can't understand it. You know, it's symbolic. There's so many different symbolism in it. How do we know, you know, what it means? You know? Well, if you don't study it, you're not gonna be able to ever teach it, pastors. Yeah. So they and and he says here, seal not. Now in Daniel eight twenty six and Daniel twelve nine, God did tell Daniel to seal the book up Yeah. Because the prophecies that were there in Daniel were for a future time in the last days. Yeah. Here, we have the book of Revelation, which when you study the book of Revelation, you should always study the book of Daniel. Right. Because it keys, they key together, they tie in. Yeah. And so it's not a sealed book. It's an open book with a promised blessing for those who just read it. Yeah. You don't even have to interpret it and teach it. Just read from beginning to end, and you're gonna be know, you're gonna be blessed. Says in Revelation one, chapter Right. And so he says, he saith them, he seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. The time is at hand. It's has come at any moment. He that is so for two thousand years, the church has been living with a doctrine of what we call imminency. Yeah. Jesus wanted the church to live in such a way that he could come at any moment. Yeah. And And that's his decision. No man knows the day or the hour of the rapture of the fetching of the coming for the bride. So for two thousand years, we have the church age. And why is it? The scoffers come along and they say, I've got rapture fatigue, and I'm tired of waiting for the Lord and all. God, when's he gonna come and all? Well, they're willingly ignorant. Their fulfillment of prophecy that Peter lays out in second Peter three verse nine. Right? Yep. That their scoffers are gonna come. Yeah. And they're willingly ignorant, not understanding that God is long suffering, not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. One day is a thousand years. A thousand days is a thousand years is one day with the Lord. Right. It's only been two days in God's economy. It's his time. It's time. Mhmm. So because he is long suffering and he sees out there into the future, he sees Vicky and Rob and Rick and Kathy and our grandkids, he's, I'm gonna save them, and I'm going to make them the objects of my love, that I pour out my love upon them for all eternity. So at the end of the church age in nineteen eighty, toward the end, I got saved. And it wasn't my idea, but the Lord saved me and wrote my name in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the earth. You wanna go back further? He knew. In eternity, he already knew me and he chose me, so And to says, And behold, he says, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. So an emphasis here of time's short, time's up. When we get to this point, it's over. So today's the day of salvation. Don't put off today to tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late. That's right. So he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. Because in eternity, there's no second chance. There's no hearing the gospel and going back. So we illustrate this in Luke 16, where the rich man Lazarus died, and they're in Hades, Sheol, and there's a double compartment. One is Abraham's bosom. One is a place of torment. The rich man said, Father Abraham, send Lazarus over here to put his finger in the water and to touch my tongue. And Abraham says, No, there's a great gulf between you. You can't come over here. We can't go over there. And he says, Well, send someone back to tell my brothers to don't come to this place. Yeah. You don't wanna you don't wanna I don't ever want my brothers, my five brothers, to ever wanna come to this place. And Abraham says, they have Moses and the prophets. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, if they don't see Christ in the Old Testament, neither will they believe the one be raised from the dead. Now, Jesus raised himself from the dead. Do you believe? So it's what Jesus said in Luke 16. Yeah. Most a lot of people won't believe even after the irrefutable proof of Jesus fulfilling 300 prophecies in his first coming. Yeah. Part of which is his death, his burial, his resurrection, which is the proof text that he's God. Amen. Destroy this temple. In three days, I'll raise it up. Yep. And so he says, And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. Your righteous standing is gonna continue on into eternity. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. Gonna be in a new perfected body. I'm not gonna lose my holiness. And behold, I come quickly, here we go again, and my reward is with me to give to every man according to his work shall be. So the wicked dead at the great white throne judgment in chapter 20, they're bodily raised from the dead. They are. So there's no cessation. There's no annihilation. There's no just being asleep. Yeah. Are alive. At rest. You are conscious in the lake of Yeah. So they're bodily resurrected from the dead, they stand before what's called the great white throne judgment. Mhmm. Revelation chapter 12 verse fifteen and eleven through 15. And they're going to give an account of what they did while in their body, whether good or bad. Now we are rewarded at the Bema Seat judgment. Mhmm. They have a graduated punishment based upon knowledge bringing responsibility. Mhmm. So blasphemy is the only way you go to hell, is rejecting Jesus Christ. But what comes along with that is the things that you did against the Lord while you knew you what you were doing was wrong. And you're without excuse if you're in Romans one because you know that God is a God of all of creation. You can see from his creation who he is, so you're without No excuse. And so you're bodily resurrected from the dead. Your punishment, according to Luke chapter 12, is a graduated punishment. Some are gonna be beat with few stripes, some with many stripes. But the bottom line is death is eternal separation from God. The outer darkness to the lake of fire is where they're cast, those that are raised out of Hades. And then the devil, the beast, the false prophet, the Antichrist, they they are also eventually in the lake of fire, where Jesus said the worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched. So you don't you there's no as I said, there's no annihilation where you cease to exist. You will exist, but you won't be in heaven. You will be in the lake of fire, a place of torment where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Of teeth. Now we say that with tears in our eyes. We say that with sorrow. Mhmm. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but the wicked turn from his wickedness. So God's saying, turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die in your sins? And so he's pleading with you to make a decision, the day of decision, that you might partake of eternal life rather than eternal death. Mhmm. And he says, so behold, I come quickly and reward with me to give to every man according to his work shall be. Faith without works is dead. There's gonna be fruit from your life. I'm the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. So again, his deity in chapter one, verse eight, chapter two, verse 16, Blessed, there we go again. Oh, how happy, what a blessing. Blessed are they that do commandments. They may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. So within the new Jerusalem, there's gonna be a tree of life, a reminder of eternity, a reminder of Adam and Eve within the garden. They had a tree of life. The angels had to guard the tree of life to keep Adam and Eve from partaking in their sinful condition. They covered themselves in fig leaves. Then they're going out of the garden coats of skin, speaking of Genesis three fifteen, the seed of the woman, the virgin born son of God, is healed, be bruised, but would crush the serpent's head. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin or forgiveness of sin. It is impossible that the blood of bulls and bullocks could take away sin. So, the Levitical system is a kaphar. It is an atonement, a covering of sin year by year, pointing to one day, as John the Baptist said, behold the lamb of God who takes away The sins. The sins of the world. So blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life. So you got the tree of life that you have you're able to partake of. Adam and Eve weren't allowed because they would be in their sinful condition. And they may enter in through the gates into the city. For outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. So not this is this is the outside in the sense of those that didn't believe. The unbelievers are in the lake of fire. And he says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify. Jesus told us in Acts chapter one, you're gonna be my witnesses. Mhmm. A witness is one that has a testimony. It's a martyr that testifies. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. Amen. Testifying these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David. He's the babe of Bethlehem, the son of man, and the bright and morning star. So his humanity and his deity, he's identifying himself. This is a testimony of who I am. I'm the bright and the morning star. He's the star of Jacob out of Numbers 2four 17. He's the bright and morning star of Revelation two twenty eight. And so this speaks of his Shekinah glory, brighter than the sun. There's no need of the sun in the new Jerusalem because the Lord lights it. The spirit so here's an invitation. Spirit. The spirit and the bride say, come. So who's the bride? That's us. The church. This isn't Israel. Right? This is the bride of Christ. Israel's the wife of Jehovah. The church are those in Christ Jesus, the bride of Christ. So the spirit, the holy spirit, and the bride say, come. Now Yeah. This Holy Spirit comes along to a person that Pericles the the function of the Holy Spirit is with, in, and upon Yeah. The preposition. So it comes alongside with, to bear witness of Christ. So I I am hit with the church's responsibility, which is what? To preach the gospel. Yep. Share the gospel. Church preaches the gospel. The Holy Spirit's alongside to convict from the gospel. You know you're a sinner. The Holy Spirit shows you the provision, the cross. Jesus died for you. The Holy Spirit gives you a measure of faith, and you respond in faith to that invitation, and that's how you experience conversion. That's how you come to be born again. So the invitation persists here. The spirit and the bride say, come. Let him that hears say, come. Let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. So freely we receive, freely we want to give. Amen. Isaiah 50 five:one. And also the invitation to Matthew eleven twenty eight-thirty, Jesus said, come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn to me, for I'm meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest under your soul. For my yoke is easy, which means kind, and my burden is light. Jesus bore the burden. He bore the burden of sin. The father poured out his wrath upon him. Amen. You're not according to law. It's love. Salvation is a free gift. For I testify unto you every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in the book. So we're told, first of all, over here that the book isn't sealed. Now we're told, don't add. Don't add to the book. Don't add things that aren't in here. Stay away from imposing upon the text things that aren't there. There's a warning here. Yeah. And so the YouTube prophets better beware of adding under the plagues that are written in the book, which means the lake of fire. It's indicative of an unbeliever that would do that. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. So the unsaved, indicative of the unsaved, that would add to it or take away this book. Yeah. And so don't And more you take study it, the more it becomes clearer and clearer, especially when you look into Daniel and Ezekiel and you don't try to make it symbolic. Yeah. You don't wanna interpret it unless it's absolutely certain it's a symbol, but you wanna take it literal. You wanna you wanna interpret it little and teach it literal. This is the literal word of God. Now is it true that you could take away from this book by not teaching it, by not studying it? Can you take the 66 books of the Bible and say, I'm not gonna teach that book during my twenty years of being a pastor, thirty or forty years. I'm not gonna take the flock through this. Is that taking away? Is that a taking away from the truth? Yeah. You know? Aren't you getting the full counsel of God, as Yeah. Paul They're not sharing it. You've got to take people from Genesis to Revelation through the Bible. You know, mean, why would God put it here? Why would he include this book and promise a blessing to those who simply read it? You know? Yeah. And then he says, he who testifies these things saith, surely I come Quickly. Amen. And quickly means suddenly the rapture, the imminency, at any moment he might come. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Mhmm. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all now. The Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi, and it ends with the word curse. The New Testament, the 27 books of the New Testament, book of Revelation, the last book in the canon, ends with grace. Yeah. Right. God's unmerited favor. Yep. It's about grace. We're in a dispensation of grace and that God's unmerited of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. Right? Amen. So don't miss out on on on getting to know Jesus. Yeah. The apocalypse, the revelation of Jesus Christ is laid out here Yeah. For us in these 22 chapters. He says, I'm the alpha, and I'm the omega. I'm the beginning and the end. The volume of the book is written of him. It's all about Jesus. Amen. Right? Yep. All of life is about getting to know Jesus. Yep. And being judged in what you did with Jesus. Right. So And if you're thirsty, it's because you haven't come to drink. Yep. That's haven't living come water. To know Jesus and drink in the living water. Amen. If you can't hear, it's because you don't have ears to hear because you don't have a relationship with Jesus. So you pray, but you don't hear anything back. You don't have eyes to see. Spiritual eyes, we walk by faith, not by sight. So the spiritual eyes to evaluate the times in which we're living Mhmm. And to have discernment and to understand, as Vicky alluded to, the very most important thing for us during this time is to remember that Satan is the author of confusion. Yep. God does not want us walking in that confusion. So the confusion goes away with when we focus on Jesus and our relationship with him, knowing that if I die today, where would I be? Yeah. In heaven. To be absent the bodies, be present with the Lord. What's the worst the devil can do to me? Kill me. Yeah. But Jesus said, don't fear him who can kill your body, but fear him who can not only kill your body, but cast your soul into hell. Yep. Jesus is the one that we're to fear. And the problem in the world today, in America today, is we don't fear God. We would use the word respect. We don't respect Jesus. Mhmm. The fear of the Lord's beginning of wisdom, the fear of the Lord's beginning of knowledge. When we come back to the place where we exalt Christ in our hearts to be enthroned in our heart, we'll begin to hear again. We'll begin to see. We'll begin to weep over the sin that has so blinded us as a nation that we think we can vote our way out of this. Yeah. It's absurdity. Yeah. Doing it in the arm of the flesh. So we don't wanna do that. We wanna trust in Jesus. They're gonna make me crazy, man. It is 2024. Yeah. So, yes, so that's awesome. Thank you so much, pastor, for what an awesome understanding and description of what we were reading of the this very last book of of the Bible in Revelation 22. And so yeah. So then the next episode, I think we'll we'll we'll then touch base on on what what the world is obsessing with and refer you back to this episode on what you should be looking at and actively participating in, in comparison. Many things in plain 2020 I know, whew. More to talk about. Three eyes on Jesus. Yep, yep, that's the focus right there. So thank you again so for being here with us, we for having me. Sorry love about my voice. We love to hear and God's hear what truth is compared to what's going on in the world. But, so we will continue this again in another episode as we we start the 2024 in January here, and we continue on, Lord willing. So thank you again so Thank you. Praise the Lord. Amen.
About This Podcast
Be Not Deceived Podcast with Vicki Wiederrich
Be Not Deceived is a podcast dedicated to looking at Biblical truth and comparing it to the lies the world and the devil is telling to cause deception in the church and in our society at large in the present day. The devil is trying to deceive as many as possible, but God always wins!
