Transcript for:
Ezekiel 12
Found the transcript but need the audio? View Episode
Alright. Live from Bremerton. It's Monday night. We are in Ezekiel chapter 12 tonight. Let's open in prayer. Father, we come before you, and we lift up this night unto you. And we ask that you would pour out your holy spirit upon us. We pray for those that are suffering, that are in pain, that are mourning. And I just pray that you be the God of all comfort as you are, Lord, and bring your peace that surpass all understanding to guard our hearts and minds, Lord. And, be with Betty as she couldn't be here tonight, and Cheryl and others might be watching. And just, edify, build us up, strengthen us, Lord. And thank you so much for the, baby shower for Brittany, Lord, all the gifts and all the people that poured out love upon her. She's so blessed by that. And, I thank you for little Calvary Bremerton, the way that the body, continues to love you, Lord, and to love one another. So we commit this night in your hands, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. My life is in you, Lord. My strength is in you, Lord. My hope is in you, Lord. In you, it's in you. Oh, my life is in you lord my strength is in you lord my hope it's in you lord in you it's in you I'll praise you with all of my life I'll praise you with all of my strength with all of my life Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. We are in Ezekiel chapter 12, sir. Ezekiel chapter 12. Shout out to anybody on Facebook that's watching. Welcome. Book of Ezekiel. Very exciting time to be in this book. Alright. Let's pray. Father, once again, thank you for the nice meal and time of prayer and fellowship. Thank you for Rob and Vicky opening their home and all the people that brought food and stuff. And I pray for Kathy that you help her to feel better. And, Brandon says, hi, Kathy. And, Lord, I lift up Leanne Crawford, and I pray for her family as she's lost a loved one, a very violent death, and I just pray you comfort her and the family and use this occasion that they've come to salvation, they've come to know you, Lord. I lift up, Jessica and Germ, thank you that we could see them last week. Lord, they're in a precarious spot, and I pray, Lord, that you'd raise up a standard. I pray they'd come to the end of themselves and cry out to you, and Lord, just be delivered from, just a self destructive lifestyle. Lord, I pray that you would, raise up a standard against the wicked one and, give them that desire within their heart to forsake all the the things that are pulling upon them, and, set them free, Lord. Set them free, we ask. We lift up Judy, and we pray for, Steve's sister Judy, all that she's been through. And God, pray you continue to heal her body and, Judy Kennedy, and just watch over, protect her, bless her. Continue to heal Thomas. And, Lord, we thank you for him. And, thank you, Lord, you're a God who heals. You're the same yesterday, today, forever. Be with Betty. Help Betty to slow down when she eats, Lord. Not suck things into her lungs. Thank you that they're able to, get that out of her lung, Lord. And and I've had that happen to me, and I I know I need to just calm down. Calm down. And so, bless, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I have a prayer request. Okay. Our neighbor next door Uh-huh. One who's he's been very gracious with our parking, Kayla, her boyfriend, his son overdosed. Oh. And he's been critical, and they've been in the hospital every day this week. And so we I told Vic, he came over and asked us if we'd look out after his house while he was gone. And they said it doesn't look good, but they're still hoping. And so I told him that we pray for him. Go ahead and pray, Rob. We'll agree. Agree with you. Dear Lord, we just praise your name. We just thank you for opportunity. We thank you for brothers and sisters who joined together in unity knowing that you are a God who answers prayer and who hears us. And, father, we just ask a special blessing on our neighbor's son, Lord, that you would just bless him and, father, just intervene in that time. He overdosed, Lord, but you are in a great position, and we just pray that, Lord, if you be your will, that he would pull through and that their family will rejoice and know, Lord. And most of all, we pray for their salvation. We just pray that that, Lord, you would come in a mighty way and only way that you know, father, in their lives that they would just come to know you, father. And we just pray that we would be an example, soften our hearts to them, and we just ask in Jesus' name that your will be done in their lives, Lord. Amen. Amen. Yeah. He's in heaven. He's in heaven. Praise the lord. He's a very good bible teacher, one of my teachers. Very good. Alright. Ezekiel chapter 12. God's instructing Ezekiel to make a metaphor, to make a sign, a picture. It's gonna be a picture, a sign of what's upcoming for the prince, for king Zedekiah, in that Zedekiah is gonna try to escape. He's gonna try and get through a hole in the wall or a gate, if you will, and to escape the Babylonians when they, finally are starting to break down the city. And, he gets as far as Jericho in trying to escape, but, the Chaldeans, the soldiers of the Babylonians, overtake him and, bring him back to Riblah where Nebuchadnezzar is there. And, Nebuchadnezzar is going to, take his sons, that of Zedekiah's sons, because he's trying to escape with his whole family royal, and he's going to kill. He's gonna execute each of them right before, king Zedekiah's eyes, and then he's gonna pluck out Zedekiah's eyes. He's going to make him blind and then take him back to Babylon where he'll, be exiled in Babylon. Now what the people are doing is they're listening to the false there's a little bit of an echo. They're listening to the false prophets, and the false prophets are saying, the Babylonians aren't gonna knock down the walls. The Babylonians aren't gonna get into this city. The Babylonians aren't gonna win this war. We have the temple. We have the city of Jerusalem. And God's going to raise up a standard against them and all. So don't listen to Jeremiah. Don't listen to Isaiah. Don't listen to Ezekiel. Don't listen to Hosea. Don't listen to the prophets, because, they're false prophets. And so the false prophets were able to get away with this. It's kinda like today where you and I are letting people know that Jesus is coming again. And many people don't wanna hear that Jesus is coming again. And, the false prophets say, everything's gonna continue as it always has. And we've got seven mountains, we've got seven hills, and we're going to take over America, we're going to make America great, and, we're going to enter into a, just a new age of the golden age, if you will, of humanity. And so you've got a mixture of new age, a mixture of Catholicism, a mixture of Protestantism, of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, all these different religions coming together. And the Pope lets everybody know, this week that all these religions lead to the same God. And America's not gonna be judged. America's not gonna cease to exist. And Jesus isn't coming again. We've got a utopia that we're building. We've got a, you know, the third Reich that Hitler tried to do. You know, we're gonna have a thousand year rule and reign. We're gonna usher in the return of Jesus, but he's not coming again in judgment. You know, we're not gonna have a tribulation period, and, the church is replaced. You know, Israel. Israel needs to be pushed into the sea. And so you've got all kinds of different people with different ideas. And the number one thing people seem to be mad about is what? The rapture. For some reason, people are angry about the teaching of the most beautiful doctrine the Bible calls the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior. And people don't like the doctrine of the rapture. Churches are not teaching the doctrine of the pre tribulation rapture. And so same sort of thing here. The false prophets say, no, no, the rapture is not going to happen. Everything is going to continue. We're going to be just fine. And, we're going to come into the artificial intelligence age, and things are going to be made better, and more food, more money, more everything for everybody. And, that's what sells. That's what people wanna hear. And so if you if you, try to get people excited about the soon return of Jesus for his church, you're met with a huge opposition. Eric McTaxis recently went after people that think along these lines. And, they call it escapism. They call it, your unwillingness to vote, your unwillingness to fight, your unwillingness to secure, the country, to take it away from the Democrats, the Liberals, the people who are trying to destroy it. And so you lazy Christians just keep looking up at the sky, waiting for Jesus to come. And and you know the word rapture isn't even in the Bible, by the way. It's not even in there. They try to say that too. And you need to let them know the word Bible isn't in the Bible. The word Trinity isn't in the Bible. And Jesus taught concerning the rapture. And he taught differentiated between the rapture and the second coming. But, we live in the same sort of a time where people are blind to spiritual truths. They don't have ears to hear. They don't have eyes to see. They don't study prophecy. They don't study the Bible. And because they don't study the Bible, they don't have discernment, to determine between right and wrong, between good and evil. And the children of Israel are very idolatrous. They're falling pagan, deities, false gods and such. And, God is sending the prophets. Just as Jesus said, you know, which of the prophets didn't your father didn't your fathers kill when God sent them? And so he says, the word of the Lord also came unto me saying, son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and hear not, for they are a rebellious house. So how would you like that job? How would you like to live and operate in a rebellious time of history where people don't want to follow the Lord? They don't want to follow the Bible. They don't have spiritual ears to hear. Jesus said to the seven churches, 'He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the churches.' They don't have spiritual eyes to see what's happening. And it can be very, very frustrating for your eyes to be open and your ears to be open and to be seeing what's going on and to be incredibly frustrated that you can't get more people to get ready for the return of Jesus. Don't want Jesus. They don't want salvation. They don't sense the danger that's approaching the end of the age, the church age. As try as you may, they just can't see. Now, the flip side of that is if you're a Christian and you move to a community where there's a lot of people's eyes are open, a lot of ears open, it lends itself toward greater fellowship, more fun, and lots of good Christian stuff, Christian Disneyland. And so when you're in a community, the state of Washington or Oregon and some parts of the country, you have very few people that are awakened, that are following Jesus, less and less, people, if you will. So what does first Corinthians two fourteen say concerning the natural man? You got three types of men. What are the three types of men? Say it again? I say the natural man receiveth not the things of god for for they are foolishness to him. Neither can he seem yeah. They're foolishness. Okay. So he mentioned Thomas mentioned the natural man and his inability to understand spiritual things. He can't see them. He can't hear them. What's the next kind of man? First Corinthians chapter three. Carnal man. And what's the carnal man? What kind of man is that? Living in both worlds. In both worlds. So it's the Greek word sarcos, which is fleshly. So he's dominated by the flesh. Even though he has the holy spirit living and dwelling within him, he's a double minded man. He's unstable in all of his ways. And he gives in to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, the pride of life. And, part of the characteristics is immaturity, an inability to eat meat, to study the bible, listen to the bible being taught, very narrow, very short attention span, an unwillingness to be a student of the bible. Paul says in Hebrews chapter five, I think it's Paul. Paul wrote Hebrews, right? By this time you ought to be teachers, but, but you're still as infants. And so you're fighting over, I'm a Paul, I'm a Apollos, I'm a Cephas, you're factious, you're divided, Church of Corinth. And, I had to treat you as babes in Christ, Paul said. I had to teach you like little babies. And I had to keep giving you the melt, the very elementary, rudimentary, beginning stages of being a Christian. And yet, you'll hear people say, the reason we can't teach prophecy at this church is why. What is the reason of the pastors that they don't teach one third of the bible today? And the bible's happening right now. It's happening. But what is it they say? What's their what's their excuse? They don't wanna scare people. So they don't wanna scare people? Because what what's that mean? Articulate that. What's that mean? What how Offend. Offend them. Scare them. In what way are we offending or scaring people? Telling the Telling the truth? Where's their heart at? Where's their heart at? They love the world. So by you telling them the world's coming to an end and Jesus coming back, that offends them. It scares them. The idea scares them. We want things to continue as they are. So you have the have the church not teaching prophecy. And another one they say is, well, you know, it's too heavy. It's too heavy. It's too hard to understand, the book of Revelation. It's too hard to understand, first and second Thessalonians. Prophecy is just way above us. It's hard to understand. They also say not now. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. So the complacency and and setting it off. But when when should you introduce a new believer to prophecy? Day one. Day one. Isn't that what we were introduced? Immediately, when I got saved in 1980, it was all about prophecy. Jesus was coming again, and the rapture, and Ezekiel thirty eight and thirty nine, and all this prophecy and everything. They'll say, that's a little too much for a brand new believer. You gotta be with Jesus a little while before you can handle that. Now why is that false? Nancy? Right. Praise the Lord. So the very first epistle that's written in the New Testament is the letter by the apostle Paul to the church of Thessalonica. And they were only Christians for three weeks. And he introduced to them this heavy, heavy, heavy doctrine in chapter four of the rapture of the church. Three week old Christians being taught the rapture of the church. Come on. Come up with a better, you know, a better thing to deny people the beautiful doctrine of excitement of the rapture that Jesus is coming at any moment. Why would you lose that, you know, being the bride and your your lamp burning and looking up for the bridegroom to come, you know? It has to be, we're so in love with the world. We say, you know, Lord, don't come back yet because I'm gonna buy a bigger house. Don't come back yet, Lord. I worked my whole life and now I get to be retired. And I get to travel a little bit, you know. And don't come back yet, Lord. I want to get married. Don't come back yet, Lord. I I got children. I want to raise these children. I don't I don't want these children to die in the tribulation period. Well, he's not telling you you're going to die in the tribulation period. You mean raptured. You mean heaven. You know? And Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. You know? It should be a pretty good place. So a metaphor here. Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see and see not. They have ears to hear and they hear not, and they are a rebellious house. So my objective, I'm looking at an audience of people, I have to take into account there's a natural man, doesn't know, doesn't have an affinity or an ability to hear the things of the spirit or see the things of the spirit. The solution for that man is the gospel. The best way I can get through to that guy is the gospel. If he doesn't hear the gospel, then I gotta pray that the Lord soften his heart, give him ears to hear, and that his scales come off his eyes because there isn't a whole lot I can explain to this person that he's gonna understand until he's born again. Because the natural man, it's impossible. And then you have the carnal Christian, but you have the third type of man, which is the spiritual man. Right? So you have fleshly, carnal, and spiritual. So who is the spiritual man? Thomas or Steve? Who's the spiritual man? Born again. Born again? Well, the carnal man's born again. Carnal man's born again. There it is. Obedience. It's the Christian that's obedient to the word of God. So so you remember how we use the we sing the song, I could only imagine. Where's that taken from in first Corinthians chapter two? I can only imagine, eye has not seen, nor ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. So that's the song. I could only imagine. I can only imagine because he stopped reading. Continue reading. What's it say? I can only imagine. Keep reading. Things because God has revealed them to us. There we go. What say it again, Rob. We know these things because God has revealed them to us by his spirit. So we don't stop there and say, oh, it's too heavy. It's too heavy. It's oh, man. It's just too beyond us. No. He says, but God has revealed them unto us by his spirit. That's the spiritual man. That's the one that's listening to the Lord, obeying the Lord in the word, and God is communicating to that man the things of the spirit. God has given him discernment when COVID comes. God has given him discernment during the time of voting. God's given discernment concerning food and raising children and teaching him right and wrong. God's given him discernment concerning the prophetic time clock. Israel in the land. Israel, you know, ready to ready to rumble in Ezekiel thirty eight and thirty nine. Giving him discernment about Babylon, Revelation seventeen and eighteen, Babylon's being rebuilt. Giving him discernment and insights concerning the one world economic system. Giving him discernment and insights, opening his heart and mind to a one world religious system. These are exciting, exciting events that are taking place and the spiritual man, the spiritual woman can see the one world government coming. And they're not trying to resist it. They're excited because prophecy is being fulfilled. But if you're not a spiritual man or a spiritual woman, it just goes right beyond you. And if you're a Christian, then you're a carnal Christian, a fleshly Christian, and that explains why you're not excited about the rapture. You're not excited about the soon return of Jesus for his bride, for the church. Because you're all in concerning the world. You want the world. And if you're a friend of the world, you're an enemy of God's. It's that simple. You have to choose. So we occupy till he comes, and we're about our father's business. And the great commission is to go and make disciples. And so if we're going and we're endeavoring and trying to go and make disciples, disciples are learners, we use the word of God, we preach to the unbeliever, the natural man. And we teach the believer so that the believer doesn't remain in an arrested state of development forty years in as a Christian. That there I hear you guys say all the time, all the time I hear people saying, you know, as we're going through the word, it's making sense to me and I'm growing. I'm growing in the word of God. Well, how about that? You know? We didn't have a program that we implemented that we we came up with that idea. We just simply did what the Bible says, which is teach the Bible. Read the Bible. Meditate over God's word and you will grow. And you'll have ears to hear. You will have discernment. So in second Thessalonians two, in contrast to you and I, being children of light in first Thessalonians chapter five, we're children of light that that day wouldn't overtake us unaware. But those that are asleep, they that are asleep, Jesus is going to come as a thief in the night. Right? But the folks in Thessalonians two, the reason they're given over to a strong delusion is why? They believe the lie. They rejected the truth. They believe the lie. Now they're given over to a strong delusion. They're living as a as a humanity in rebellion to God. And they can't see, they can't hear, they don't know the things of the spirit. Now they're being deceived by the antichrist. They're being deceived by the devil in believing the lie, and Vicky knows what the lie is. That you can be as god. Can you be further from god than that? Right. That you actually think that you're a god? And so he says, address this rebellious house. And so Ezekiel's gotta take into account, alright. Who's my audience? Who's here? And and so how am I going to direct this message? Sometimes the Lord, in Hosea 12 verse 10, he'll speak how? Through the prophets. And sometimes he'll speak through similitudes, which are types. Right, Vicky? Signs. So God is gonna give Ezekiel a sign, a metaphor, a similitude, a picture. So when you wanna, when you wanna minister to your two year old grandkids, they may not be able to handle words yet. So you give them a picture bible. You give them pictures. Right? So you're gonna you're gonna bring it down to the lowest common denominator you can to try and communicate, these truths. He says, therefore, thou son of man, prepare the baggage before removing and move by day in the sight, and thou shall move from the place to another place, in their sight. And it may be they will, and maybe they might, they might consider though they are a rebellious house. So he says, you know what? Get a backpack and and load up a big sack of all your stuff, all your belongings. Or we would say, hey. Get the U Haul. Grab that U Haul, Ezekiel. Take your stuff out of your house and move it over into that U Haul in the daytime and at nighttime. Let the people see that U Haul there and, let them get used to it and let it communicate to them that they're moving out of California to Washington. No. They would never do that, would they? Would anybody ever do that? Leave it. Leave it. I did. No. They want to go to red states. Right? But it's communicating that they're moving, that they're they're things aren't aren't you're not gonna stay the same. Now the false prophets are saying, you don't need to get a U Haul trailer. You don't need to move. Everything's gonna continue as it always have. Nebuchadnezzar's gonna be defeated. He's not gonna be able to destroy, you know, Jerusalem. So there's no sense in you guys getting all upset about this and moving. And, Jeremiah had previously, let him know that, in Jeremiah 2nine 10, that not only are you moving, but I'll tell you where you're moving. You're moving to Babylon. And not only are you moving, but I'll tell you how long. You're gonna be there for seventy years, in Jeremiah 20 verse 2nine 10. And Daniel, who was part of the captivity in one of the waves that went to Babylon, recognized, alright, we're gonna be here seventy years. And God says in Jeremiah twenty nine twenty eight, settle in. Build some houses and settle in because you're gonna be here a while, that generation. And so the metaphor, will they get it? Maybe some will. And when I preach the gospel, when I teach the word of God, I'm primarily trying to build you guys up as believers. But I'm also wanting to take into account that there may be somebody in the audience that you invited or that wandered in that's not born again. So I always want to seize the opportunity to share the gospel and before we partake of communion and see if there's somebody there, I wanna consider it. Maybe there's somebody here that one man sowed, another watered, and God's gonna bring the increase this day. And, and so I wanna, throw the seed out there. Now when I throw the seed out there, I know that there's a very small percentage, of people that are gonna respond. So I know that I'm gonna be rejected. I know, by and large, the majority of people are gonna reject me when I share the gospel. And, I'm gonna have the wayside soil that's in impervious heart. There's no way the seed's gonna get in their heart. They're not they're not open. They're not soft enough. God's gonna have to break up the fallow ground and soften their hearts, so that's through prayer. And then there's other people that are so in love with the world. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches are like weeds that are choking off the seed, and I can't get through them. They're they're not gonna bear fruit. It's not gonna happen. Then there's other ones that hear that becoming a Christian means my life's gonna be, you know, my best life now, and that I'm gonna get rich, and my teeth are gonna get whiter, and my hair's gonna grow back in, and all the fat's gonna burn off me, and all my kids are gonna obey me, and I'm gonna have a bigger house. But then the sun beats down and begins to scorch me. Those are the trials that come against my profession of faith. And now it's apparent that ledge of rock beneath the surface that nobody saw is a hardness of heart that, again, impenetrable. The roots don't go deep enough to get the nourishment in Christ to weather, to get through a season of trials. When Kathy and I got saved, we were on our honeymoon spiritually. And every single prayer that we prayed, God answered. And just amazing. Barely out of my mouth and God's answering prayer, you know. Lord, I need a job. There's a job. Lord, I need a new car. My car broke. There's a car. Lord and everything's happening. And then pretty soon, the honeymoon's over. And God says, alright, it's time to grow up, you two, and, I'm gonna give you some trials. And trials? What are trials? I want to be like pastor Chuck. He doesn't seem to have any trials. I want to just be cruising in the ministry, you know, cruising as a Christian. Look at Joel Olsteen. That's why I like him. He says that I can have my best life now. And the Lord says, no, I want you to grow. And so he gives you some trials, and those trials compel you to go deeper in your walking relationship with the Lord. And so we sometimes the trials as a young couple, they want to have a baby and they can't have a baby. And it breaks their heart. And their friends around them are all having babies. They're all having babies. Well, what's wrong with us, Lord? How come you won't let us have a baby? And you can't get pregnant, can't get pregnant. That's a trial. That hurts. That's Zechariah and Elizabeth. That's Abraham and Sarah. That's Hannah. Her heart's broken because Elkanah, her husband, has another wife named Penaya, and Penaya's pregnant all the time, having babies like Britney, you know. And then there's Jessica, my other daughter. She can't get pregnant, and her heart's breaking and breaking and breaking. And God denies many times because he wants to do unique work. He wants to do something different than the norm. And so he's going to bring forth a Samuel is going to come forth from Ahana. And, John the Baptist is going to come forth from Zechariah and Elizabeth. And Isaac is going to come forth from Abraham and Sarah. And so we have to trust the Lord. But you and I, as we share the gospel, we have to take into account different, groups of people in different times. And so, if we're fishers of men, we need to ask the question, what kind of bait can I use? I don't want to be, compromising with the world. I don't want Christianize the world, but I need to recognize that these people are out there in the world. And so what can I use to get them willing to listen or to gather at least? And so sometimes we used to have, when we had a building, we don't have a building anymore, we have what was called a Super Bowl party. So we were never those who would cancel church for a Super Bowl party. We always had church first. Always the main thing, the main thing, the main thing. And then after that, if the wives have husbands that typically don't go to church, you have friends that don't go to church, and they want to worship the gods of the Super Bowl. Then, we had a big screen and we put it up there on the big screen and then you get some food and chips and all that other sort of thing. And you try to share the gospel. You try to share the gospel with that group. We did concerts. I got saved at a concert. Different ways to try and bait people, to get them to at least listen. And then you always, always, always, you never water down the message. Never water down. Never changes. Same message. Same message all the way. Never water down the message. It's always the same. Jesus Christ and him crucified for the mission of sins. And it's a miracle of God for God to pull the scales off their eyes. Only God can pull the scales. Only God can penetrate their heart. When I got saved, very apparent. Jesus in John 15, you didn't choose me, but I chose you. I thought I was choosing him. I thought it was me doing that, but he opened my eyes. He opened my ears. He opened my heart. It was the very first time I heard the gospel. It was a miracle of God. Later on, you find out you're walking through the herald iron side door, the iron side door. And on this side of the door is free will. It says, whosoever will, let them come. And I see that door. Whosoever will, the preacher's preaching, whosoever will, that's me. And I turn the door handle, and I go through the door. And when I'm in the room, I look back up over the door on the inside and it says, called, predestined before the foundation of the earth. Election. God chose me before the foundation of the earth. Ain't that amazing? Did he choose everybody? Isn't that a beautiful truth? So how would you explain that? Are you guys gonna figure this out? Are you guys gonna figure out Calvinism, election, and free will? Are you really gonna do that? Are you gonna try and figure out where election and free will cross? The call goes out to whosoever will, let them come. That's free will. But many aren't willing. Why was I willing? If knew who the winners were beforehand, wouldn't he choose the winners in his foreknowledge? Okay. So I'm a winner. A lot of us were losers when we got chosen as winners. Absolutely. We're all losers. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Only reason I'm a winner of chicken dinner is because he chose me, man. But why did my eyes open? Why did my ears hear? Why? It's a it's a work of God's spirit. Conversion is all God. Without his work of his spirit, dead men don't choose. He had to quicken me from the dead. Right? So he gets all the glory. For by grace are you saved through faith. Amen. Amen. So free will. Alright. Verse four, then shalt thou bring forth thy baggage by day. Now some of you are married to hoarders, there's a lot of baggage, a lot of stuff to carry. Just saying. Okay? This could take a while. This could take a while. So Ezekiel, he's just got to do his own baggage. Okay? Just one military duffel bag maybe or backpack. By day in their sight, baggage were removed and thou shalt go forth in evening in their sight as they that go forth into captivity. So you're going into captivity. They don't believe it, but it's going to happen. It did happen. And the false prophets are saying, no, it's not going to happen. So dig through the wall in their sight. So now you're going to dig through the wall and carry out through it. So some people are thinking they can cut a hole in the wall, and if the Chaldeans, the Babylonians ever come, I'm gonna sneak through my spot, and I'm gonna get out into the free area. I'm gonna get all the way over to Jericho, and I'm gonna be able to outrun their horses and and the whole thing. And so in their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders and carry it forth in the twilight. Thou shalt cover thy face that thou see not the ground. For I have set thee as a sign under the house of Israel. What kind of sign are you to a world that's perishing? What kind of sign are you? Salt and light. Thomas says he's salt and light. When they see Thomas, they see salt and light. What do you remind people of? When you go through suffering, when you go through sickness, and circumstances that are very, very painful to go through, What kind of sign is that to the unbelievers you're trying to reach? Hope. Pardon me? Hope. Hope? How is that hope? Regardless of the situations, that you still trust some hope in God. Think you did something wrong. So so if you handle it properly, then, yes, it can communicate to them that you have hope, that you're not trusting in these circumstances and all. Rob said what? That you're evil. Some some misconstrued as you must have done something wrong. These are who the bible calls Job's miserable comforters, and they're supposed to be ones to encourage Job. But Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, they are miserable comforters. Right? And Who needs enemies. Right? Yeah. With friends like that, who needs enemies? Job cursed the day he was even born. Bildad the Shuhite, he's the shortest guy in the Bible. And he was was he was not very friendly. And so these miserable, miserable comforters, and that's how some people are. They they evaluate your life. They see you going through things, and you are assigned to them of a of a disobedient person. There must be secret sin in his life. There must be things he's doing that would warrant God having to judge him so harshly, you know, so difficult. Now why is that theologically wrong? How is that theologically wrong? Jesus promised that we'd suffer. In this world, you will have tribulation, pressure. Right? Vicki's Vicki's a negative interpreter. She sees rain as negative. It's gonna rain on the just and the unjust. I see that verse in the positive in that I live in the state of Washington. I need rain for the crops. I need rain for the food. Right? So he doesn't just allow rain on the Christian farmer, he also allows rain on the unbelievers' farm. Right? So that they can have food. Right? Right. K. So but our suffering should have the greatest sign of our suffering should be the sign of the cross. You should remind people of the suffering Jesus went through. Not that you're a masochist or a martyr, but it's inevitable. All of us go through suffering. And when we go through that suffering, Paul said, if you're looking for credibility, authenticity of your profession of faith, what better way for you to suffer for the devil to mock and say, he's gonna bail on you, God. He's only here for the bennies. He's only here for the loaves and the fishes. Right? He's gonna curse you to your face. But people that are watching your life as you go through these difficult seasons that God ordains, that God allows, you're a sign of the cross. You're filling up the sufferings of Christ. He's still suffering. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Jesus is still suffering. Paul said to the church of Galatia, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. What's he mean by that? Scars that he whipped. Yep. It's the Greek word stigmata. The scars. He's he has scars on his body. So you guys that come back from war, and you're there with your grandkids or your kids, and I don't think very many military guys do that. But, you could say, yeah, I got this one from a bayonet. You know? I got this one over here, a little shrapnel from a, you know, a hand grenade that went off. You're you're in a battle. Life's a battle, and you're gonna be scarred. You're gonna get hurt. You're gonna have injuries. And and it should remind people of the cross and God's love God's love for us and that his son was willing to suffer. His son was willing to be beaten beyond recognition. And so Ezekiel's got a sign here. I don't know what kind of sign the world thinks or the church today thinks people need to come to Christ. I know you can't measure it biblically in the New Testament, this celebrity stuff. I I don't see Jesus as a celebrity. I don't see Jesus going and getting a medal of honor from the Roman government. I don't see Jesus everybody writing books about him, right, and appreciating him and loving him, putting a statue up in regard to him. He never had dinner with all those guys, never played golf with all of them, didn't have insider trading with them, didn't get wealthy from them. But today, that seems to be the mark of real holy people is that they're wealthy, that, they're famous, that they're successful like the world. So if you're going through difficulty, one of the things you can do is you can ask yourself the question, Lord, am I in your will? Is it your will for me to go through this? And you need to listen when you ask that question. And then you say, Lord, how is your son treated? How is Paul treated? How is Peter treated? Lord, I'm in a good place. This hasn't happened to me because I've done anything wrong. It's happened to me possibly because I'm doing something right. Because all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's a promise in your promise jar. Right? It's there. And so you recognize that some of these adversities, some of these things that come into our life, they may be a result of disobedience. And Peter said, if you suffer, don't suffer as an evildoer. You don't wanna suffer that way. But if the suffering comes and finds you because you're standing for righteousness, then that's that's a noble thing. That's that's that's a sign to other people reminding them of the cross, reminding them of Pontius Pilate saying, I find no fault in this man. He's an innocent man. And so we ask ourselves, well, Lord, how is my life picturing Jesus? How is my life portraying Jesus? What characteristics of Jesus do I possess that other people can read me? Not listen to what I'm saying, but read me. What kind of vibe do they get from me? When they see my wife, when they see my kids, what kind of life are we living? Is it a life that is a sign of the cross? Is it a life a sign of joy and gladness and love, contentment, faithfulness? The fruit of the spirit. People should be able to see. Years ago when my mom was decorating her house, it was invoked to have this on the coffee table, a plastic fruit. It'd like grapes and oranges and all these plastic fruits up there, you know. And you remember that? And the shag carpet, like neon green and golds, gold colors and stuff. And she had she went to Tijuana and she'd buy these hanging lamps, Mexican wrought iron lamps, wrought iron everything, and pottery and all that. I can just see it. Yeah. Big big huge earthquake hit. I woke up one morning, and those lamps were going, you know, like that in the living room. And it was a big one. And you learn to just lay in bed. It's almost over. It's almost over. It's And almost but anyway, that plastic fruit. And it doesn't cut it. Plastic fruit doesn't cut it. You ever tried to eat some of that plastic fruit? And a lot of us go through the Christian life with plastic fruit. No? People wanna see the real deal. They wanna see real fruit. They wanna see love. They want to see kindness. Right? Vicky's going to tell us. The adjectives the fruit of the spirit is love. The adjectives describe the love, which is love, patience, kindness, joy, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, patience, meekness, self control. And that's what people need to see. That's the fruit of the spirit. That's something that they cannot do in and of their own strength. Not over a lifetime. Not over a lifetime. There may be some characteristics somewhat there, but, it's only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we're able to mirror who Jesus is in that fashion. So what sign are we? Are we looking up? Are we a sign that people read and they say, Jesus is coming soon? Look at these people, how excited they are about the soon return of Christ. Look how excited they are about this global government that's forming. Rather than trying to fight the global government and defeat it, they're excited about it. What's that say? What's it say about the currency that's coming? Don't I can't say I'm excited about it, a bunch of criminals. But, but I am excited because the bible has taught Revelation thirteen sixteen through 18 that everyone's gonna receive a mark on the right hand of their forehead. You can't buy or sell without it. That's pretty exciting to use that as bait to share the gospel with people as an inroad, you know, in a one world religious system. So Ezekiel says, and I did so as I was commanded. As Thomas said, obedience. Right? You do as you're commanded. Do what you're supposed to do. And, I find that the biggest trouble in my life is trouble that I bring upon myself, not persecution from others, but trouble I bring upon myself because of disobedience. And so, can't blame God for that. I brought forth my baggage by day as baggage for the captivity. And in the evening, dig through the wall with my hand and I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bore it upon my shoulder, you know, in in their sight. So he's got a crowd. He's got an audience now. And, you get a crowd, you get an audience. Now you get to share the gospel. Now you get to give a message. Right? So we as Christians, we're a peculiar people. We're strange. Pilgrims and sojourners passing through. We don't always need to emulate the world to get the world to listen to us. We can be strange, strangers. We can do things that are unorthodox, that are creative, that people haven't seen before, that garner curiosity. They're curious. What is it you guys are doing over there? You know? And, I'm glad you asked. So in the morning came the word of the Lord unto me saying, son of man, say it not the house of Israel, the rebellious house said unto thee, what doest thou? So they're curious. They're curious. Ezekiel, what's this? What are you up to now, man? And say thou unto them, is this is this some of that Ezekiel bread again? We don't want any of that Ezekiel bread, buddy. We're tired of that smell. No. Not that. Not this time. Say thou unto them, thus saith the Lord God, this burden concerning the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel that are among them. So this is heavy duty. He's done all this to get their attention. They're rebellious people. They don't see. They don't hear. Now the Lord's given him a way to be creative, to gain their attention. And in that creativity, there's a message that needs to get out. And this message is, it's a message of judgment. I'm warning you guys once again, if you fight against Nebuchadnezzar, you're gonna lose. If you wanna live, surrender unto God, and Nebuchadnezzar is his instrument of judgment against you. But if you surrender to Nebuchadnezzar, if you give up, you'll be able to go to Babylon and spend seventy years there. You'll be able to build houses. You'll be able to go there with your families. But if you persist in rebelling against God, then you're gonna suffer the consequences. So he needs the leadership. He needs the king to demonstrate that leadership in submission unto God so that others will follow that humility and that leadership. It'd be great if those at the top would do that. But unfortunately, in many cases, they're the last to get the memo, and it's very sad. So he's speaking of Zedekiah. Say, I am your sign. As I have done, so shall it be done unto them. So I am your sign. As I have done, this picture here. Now, one of the ways that the gospel is communicated today is through the arts, through movies. Movies are being made. Lots of movies are being made presently communicating the gospel. These are signs. Right? So one that I think maybe we all should go see or watch on television is one that affects us here in Bremerton called Just an Average Joe. What is the movie The Average Joe a sign of? Rights being taken away? Do you know who we're talking about? Coach Joe? There's a movie about coach Joe now. Standing up for God. Standing up for prayer. Right? Was he forcing any of the football players to pray? No. No? Free will. Do we have that right in this country to exercise our freedom in that way to pray? Yes. And the courts prove that we still do because he won. Right? Nine years. Nine years of fight. Now how much help did he get from the churches here in Bremerton? Zero. Zero. Any help now? No. Anybody saying, boy, that was a really good fight. I wish we'd hung in there with him. Right? Nope. Very sad indictment in regard to this community. Now Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse is gonna hear about this in the movie and all, and he's gonna commend Joe for what he's done. He's gonna recognize him for what he's done. But in our community, there's no statue going up. There's no flag going up. There's no in fact, he had to move away because when he came back and got his job back, the football team ostracized him. What a sad, sad. And you know what the Christians on Facebook were doing? They were angry because he got a million dollars. Well, Robbie told me that money just goes to the lawyers. Now you might make some money from the book and the movie now, praise God, and get as far away from here as you can, Joe, and take care of your family. Move to Christian Disneyland. Greg Laurie makes movies. He makes movies. Lost Son, he made a movie. He made a movie about Steve McQueen. He made a movie about, Calvary Chapel and Lonnie Frisbee and all that. And, it communicates the gospel. It's a good a sign, a good way to communicate to people. Music, musicians, Christian musicians communicate. Artists, didn't artists of old paint the Sistine Chapel and paint use their painting ability to communicate spiritual truths to people? Right? Alright. So big blob of marble there. What do you do with that blob of marble? Well, there's an angel that wants to be released from that big block of marble. I'm going to release that angel. Okay. So I say among your signs, I have done so, so it shall be done unto them. They shall move and go into captivity. Jeremiah 2nine ten, seventy years they're going to go into captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth. They shall dig through the wall to carry out through it. He shall cover his face that he set not the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. This is a prophecy. Now we're gonna look at the fulfillment of this prophecy. Okay? So who wants to read second Kings chapter let's all turn there. Second Kings chapter 25, and then you can put your finger in, Jeremiah fifty two four through 11. So turn to second Kings 25. This is the historical account of Zedekiah trying to flee Jerusalem. Ezekiel's writing this before the captivity's taken place, letting them know prophetically how it's gonna go down. So in May, God's gonna set a trap in second Kings twenty five one through seven. You guys there? Yeah. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign in the tenth month and the tenth day of the month that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all of his host against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, and they built forts against it roundabout. And the city was besieged under the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. There we go. And on the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. July sixteenth, five eighty six BC. Jeremiah 38 covers it. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden. Now the Chaldeans were against the city roundabout, and the king went the way toward the Arabah, king Zedekiah. And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army were scattered from him. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon, was at Riblah, Nebuchadnezzar, and they pronounced sentence upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of bronze, and carried him to Babylon. Now let's turn back to our text before we read 52. Gonna read it again. And the prince that is among them, Zedekiah, shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight his baggage and shall go forth. They shall dig through the wall to carry out through it. He shall cover his face, so he's gonna disguise himself, that he might that he might not see the ground with his eyes. My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in by my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he die there. So there's a riddle for you. Why wouldn't he see it, though he's gonna die there? He's blind. Right? So now turn to Jeremiah chapter 52. This is the kind of stuff I love in the Bible. This is what Peter said. We were eyewitnesses of him. We handled him. We saw him glorified on the Mount Of Transfiguration. Hung out with him three and a half years. But we have the more There you go. There's a proof text for you. There's proof right there to to show people that the God that you believe in is a God who stands outside of time, who spoke about this one world government, who spoke ahead of time about this one world religion, who spoke concerning, you know, the rapture, the return of Christ, the nation of Israel, and the land. And so we're Jeremiah fifty two four through 11. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, the tenth month and the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar, of Babylon, came and all of his army against Jerusalem, and he encamped against it and built forts against it roundabout. And the city was besieged on the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was great in the city, that there was no bread, for the people of the land. Then the city was broken up and the men of war fled and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden. Now the Chaldeans were by the city round about and they went by the way of the Arabah. But the army of the Chaldeans, pursued after the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all of his armies were scattered from him. Then they took the king and carried him up to the king of Babylon at Ribla in the land of Hamath. There he gave judgment unto him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. He slew also all the princes of Judah in Ribla. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah the king of Babylon, bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. Can it be any more plain than that? Fulfillment of prophecy? Jesus is coming again. And even though there's scoffers in second Peter three that say, where is the promise of his coming? All things continue as as before. And what's the illustration that Peter uses? That of the ark. You guys are willingly ignorant. One day is a thousand years, thousand day years is one day with the Lord. Noah was building the ark for a hundred and twenty years, and the people were willingly ignorant. Here's a here's here's this huge barge that they're building in the shipyard, but there's no water anywhere. Hasn't rained yet. He's a nut job. He's a nut job. And the people won't get into Christ. They won't get in the ark. That's the safe place to be because judgment is coming. Hundred and twenty years, they're mocking Noah and Noah's family. But Noah and his family had enough sense to get in the ark. Right? To get into Christ while they had time. Once that first rain drop dropped, the door was shut. The Lord shut that door. Jesus is the door. Jesus is the ark. The animals had enough sense. You talk about a rebellious people with eyes, they can't see and ears they can't hear. God put into the heart of the animals to come two by two to get into that ark. That's crazy. That's just crazy. And so the obstinance of people I I I've never been able to understand unbelief. What do you have that's better than what God's promised in you? What could you possibly imagine that comes even close to what God has already done for you? You know? And he's got so much more he wants to do into eternity. And I'll scatter toward every wind all that are about to help Him in all his bands, I'll draw out the sword after them. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall scatter them among the nations and disperse them in the in these countries. And so Psalm nine verse 16 speaks of this judgment. And they shall know, but it's too late. It's a life of regret. It's a life of missing out. Oh, I should have believed. It's too late. The rich man in Luke chapter 16, he regrets. He regrets. The dogs came and licked the sores of Lazarus at his at his garbage cans each night, and the rich man and Lazarus died. And the rich man's in torment, and he's looking across the gulf, he sees Lazarus in Abraham's bosom being being comforted. And the rich man says, you know, he says, hey. Send Lazarus over here to touch my, touch my tongue with some water because I'm in grievous torment. And Abraham's like, no. There's a gulf between two. We can't go over there. You can't come over here. So you're in Hades. You're in Sheol. You're in a holding compartment, a holding place within the bible would call hell. And the rich man's in a place of torment, but the old testament believers are in a place of comfort, paradise. Jesus told the thief on the cross this day, you'll be with me in paradise. And so he says, well, send somebody back to tell I have brothers. I got five brothers. Send somebody back to tell my brothers they don't wanna come to this grievous torment. The rich man's regretting that he didn't prepare himself before death for his eternity. Regret. Regret. Regret. And the lord Jesus says, no. They have Moses and the prophets. They have the old testament. They have the bible. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe the one be raised from the dead. People just don't get it, do they? Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and the religious leaders conspired to kill him. What don't you guys understand about this guy? He just raised Lazarus from the dead. He was dead for four days. Do you know anybody that can cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the lepers are cleansed, the demons are cast out, and he's raising Lazarus from the dead. That's really hard to stomach. It's really hard to deal with people so hard hearted and so blinded to the truth that it would deny the resurrection. But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence that they may declare all the abominations among the nations to which they come, and they shall know that I am Lord. So he's gonna leave a witness. He's gonna leave a remnant there. According to Romans nine twenty seven, blindness departed has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. But there are Jews still alive today who are Christians, and, they're believers, and they'll bear witness of these promises. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, eat thy bread with quaking. So another sign. Here's another sign. Eat your bread with quaking and drink the water with trembling and with anxiety. So it's not what the false prophets are telling you. What's coming is is a time that Jesus said, the world has never seen nor will ever see again. A time of tribulation, great tribulation, where over half of the population, 8,000,000,000 people on the planet, and over half of the people are gonna die in a very short period of time, through the seal, the bowl, and, trumpet judgments. So quaking, the water trembling, great anxiety, terror is coming, judgment's coming. Do you fear judgment? Do you fear the judgment that's coming? Are you able to sleep at night? Why is it you're able to sleep at night? Why is it you don't have that fear of impending doom? Peace that surpasses all understanding. Steven says he has a peace that surpasses all understanding. How is it you can have that peace that surpasses all understanding when the news said that NATO is Washington DC, the Biden administration, is coaching Zelensky to send missiles deeper into Russia. And Putin says, if you do that, that's a declaration of war, and we're gonna take out your submarines, we're gonna take out your naval fleet, and we're gonna hit your military bases in America. We live right here by Banger. Why aren't you afraid? Why aren't you guys afraid? The one thing men all their lifetime fear is death. Why don't you fear death? Eve's got it. What is it? She's got hope she's going to heaven because Jesus demonstrated power over death. Destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up. To be asked on the bodies to be present with the Lord. If I die, as soon as I die, it's my moving day. I'm just moving. I'm moving out of this body into my new glorified body. Right? And so we don't fear. He hasn't given us the spirit of fear but a power of love and a sound mind be to asked for the bodies to be present with the Lord. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Right? I'm going to heaven, like Evie said. So these people are filled with anxiety and trembling, and they're taking all the gummies they can, and they're smoking all the pot they can, and they're trying to calm down. They're drinking alcohol. They're self medicating. They're just shaking. My mom used to her fingers used to go like that, and she'd have her cigarette. You know? And then she'd take a new one, and she'd put it in there and try to light it. Poor thing. She was in the day, they used to give moms with four kids tranquilizers. And then they take that tranquilizer I think my friends used to abuse those tranquilizers. They used to call them quaaludes. So you take ludes with a beer. That was a big high. Then they'd be passed out. They'd pass out, man. Brutal. That's the way many women coped in those days. Men and women self medicating, trying to deal with anxiety, the terror that takes place. When we went to California on our trip, one thing that was apparent was the bars. There's so many bars. They're even building bars along the beach now so that the parents can come with their kids to the beach, get drunk, and send the kids out to the water to go have fun. It's it's amazing, the way that people are dealing with, in some respects, they're partying. In other respects, it's a coping mechanism to deal with the anxiety of life. And say unto the people of the land, thus saith the Lord God, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of of Israel, they shall eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with consternation that the land may be desolate from all that is in it because of the violence of all that will dwell in it. So they have a siege around them. There's a very limited amount of food. There's a famine taking place. The sword's gonna come in, pestilence coming in. And so the food that you do have and what you're eating, you're not gonna enjoy it. It's not gonna be like me with a big tomahawk rib eye. And food is like a drug. And when I get filled with anxiety, I look for chocolate. Chocolate calms me down. And, that's where I find that peace is when I have my chocolate. So we all have our weaknesses. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate. And ye shall know that I am the Lord. So it's too late. You're out of time. You know, the globalists that are hiding in their billion dollar bunkers in Revelation six trying to hide from the wrath of the lamb. It's too late. Nobody cares who your new plaything is. Divorce your wives, and now you're to be a Hollywood superstar. No. Too late. Everything's come to naught. You can't ransom your own soul. You can't ransom anybody because it's the price of blood. It's the blood of Jesus Christ, and, you're not gonna be able to make it. So, and the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel saying, the days are prolonged and every vision fails? So the false prophets have a proverb that, oh, it's never going to happen. It's the scoffers of second Peter three:three through nine. The scoffers, oh, when's the promise coming? Like we talked about, oh, it's not going to come. And you guys want to look at some oh, it's 08:00. Better get this done. You guys got to go night night. So you know those verses, right? People that scoff, everything's gonna continue as it always has. What's that called when people say, everything's gonna continue as it always has? There's a term for it. That's one of the terms. Who wants Jeremiah seventeen fifteen? And I got a good one for you. Zephaniah one twelve. Zephaniah one verse 12. And this bible study knows where the book of Zephaniah is. And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men that are settled on their lees. What's it mean to be settled on your lees? And somebody else, I want you to read second Peter three. Second Peter three, three three through nine. Okay. We wanna talk about what's it mean to be settled on your lease that say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will do evil. Complacency. You're complacent. You're indifferent. Jesus seemed to be more angry that people that were indifferent than he was people that were 100% rebellious against him. Right? Is Lee's the same as laurels? Laurels? Jesus. So do you do you, do you have a vineyard? Do you make wine? Anybody make wine? Wine knows here? Anybody have a wine cellar? Oh, come on. So your wine, as it ages, right, the leaves are the dregs. In other words, the dregs, the bitterness. You You ever had something turned to vinegar that separates? So you've settled on the lees. The lees, you gotta take and repour it into a filter to filter out the sediment, to filter out the solid part that's gonna ruin the taste, the sweetness of the wine. So you've settled on the leaves. Your teeth are gnawing. Your teeth are grinding because you're drinking vinegar. Right? You've settled on the leaves. The lambsen punished the men that are settled on their leaves. So you don't care. You're like the leaves that ruins everything. You've settled it. It's it doesn't matter to you. So Jesus says it a different way to the church of Laodicea. I'd rather you're hot or cold if you're what? Lukewarm. So anybody like warm hot cocoa milk? Anybody like cold milk? Yeah. Nobody likes milk that somebody forgot to put back in the refrigerator. Right? That's kinda got the bubbles, the floaties in it, you know? Starting to get starting to get thick there, right? You ever done that? Poured that? So if you're like me and there's milk, I don't drink milk anymore. But I did the other day. But we never used to use, when you have roommates or even me. I'll just say it. I don't even use a glass. I just go in there and grab it. Now, that can be dangerous because there can be, like, floaties in there. You can have grandkids that do that before you and there's floaties now, you know? No. They can be solid. There can be milk that's souring. And so, anyway, you've settled on your lees that in the heart the Lord will not do good neither do evil. So you're just like, you know, you don't care about prophecy. You don't care about any of it. Hey, everything's gonna continue as always has. I remember when they used to talk about the rapture. I watched the Left Behind series. Nothing's gonna happen. Nothing's gonna happen. It's it's all gonna continue. Now, I've seen the stock market go up and down, up and down, up and down. You know, just stay right there. Don't don't panic. You don't need to buy gold or silver. You don't need to store up any food. You don't need to, you know, have any tangible assets. Just just keep everything in the stock market. Trust the government. The government's here to take care of you. You know? Get your flu shot and your booster. Just just continue to trust them. Don't worry. Don't worry. We're here to help you. Alright. Second Peter three three through nine. Above all, you must understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, where is this coming? He promised. Ever, ever since our ancestors ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation, but they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word, the heavens came into being, and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By the same word, the present the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends. With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow to keeping his promise as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. So why is it taking so long for the rapture to happen? Another word, another term would be long suffering. Long suffering. He's long suffering. In Ezekiel 33, he says he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn, repent of their wickedness. So God's not trying to speed things up to get as many people to hell as he can. He's stalled things. He's long suffering. He's holding out for as many people as possible to come to grips with the fact that they need Jesus, that they'd go to heaven. He doesn't wanna judge. He doesn't wanna judge them. But if they refuse Christ, it's their decision. So in Revelation chapter nine, when the tribulation period is happening, when he's pouring out his wrath, in verse twenty and twenty one it says, and the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship demons and idols of gold and of silver and of bronze and of stone and of wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk. That's the epitome of dishonoring God is that you would he's made you with eyes that you can see, ears that you can hear, where you can function, but now you're gonna worship idols that can't see, that can't hear, things that you make with your own hands. You refused to repent. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, which is their drugs and the occult, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. So half the planet is wiped out with God's wrath being poured out, and the people refuse to repent even then. They're so, as the word here was, they're so rebellious. There's a rebellion against God today. Rebelling against God, wanting to make it a woman's choice to murder babies. That's rebellion against God. And, population reduction murders, rebellion against God. Alright. Verse 23, tell them, therefore, thus saith the Lord God, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel, but say unto them, the days are at hand and the effect of every vision. It's coming to pass. He's saying time's up. All the prophecies that I prophesied are coming to pass now. It's not up in the future there. It's not like you put it on cruise control. Oh, well. I think I'm gonna get saved during the tribulation period. All I know to do is, I'm gonna live it up right now, and, when I find myself in the tribulation period, I'm just gonna refuse the mark of the beast. You ever heard people say that? Yes. Well, if you can't choose them now, what makes you think you can choose them then? Yeah. You know? It's only gonna get harder. This is the easiest ever gonna be to receive Christ. This is the easiest ever gonna be. So the days are in hand, the effect of every vision. So it's payday. For there shall be no more any vain vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. I yearn for that day where when a politician's mouth, whether it be a king or a prince or whatever, that their lips move and they're telling the truth. I yearn for the day of truth. I yearn for the day where the media and all the lies are exposed and no longer do I have to listen to the idiocy of the stupidocracy that we're living under, and these brain dead people with their proverbs and their their ideas and and, you know, fables and and it's just mind boggling. Mind boggling, the stuff that that's out there. And he says, one day there's gonna be truth again, for there shall be no more any vain vision. The the YouTube prophets. There's so many of these people speculating and it never comes true, and yet nobody holds them accountable. For there should be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of the Lord. For I am the Lord, I will speak and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass, and it shall be no more prolonged. For in your days, O rebellious house, will I now remember, he's speaking to his own people, not speaking to the Babylonians. He's speaking to his own nation, the nation of Israel. Oh, rebellious house, will I say, the word and will perform it, saith the Lord God. Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say the vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesied of the times that are far off. Noah preached for a hundred and twenty years. These people, they won't get it. Therefore, say unto them, thus saith the Lord God, there shall none of my words be prolonged anymore. It's crunch time. It's time to happen. But the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. So we would say the same thing. Time's up. It's there's so many things happening right now that point to the tribulation period. And Jesus said, when you see these things begin to come to pass, look up for your redemption draweth nigh. We're at the end of the age. We're at the very end of the church age. According to Romans eleven twenty five, blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in, which is the church age. And after the church age, after the rapture, then there's another epoch of time called the seventieth seven of Daniel, the time of Jacob's trouble where God is going to, cause the nation of Israel to be deceived by the Antichrist who's going to sign a peace treaty with the nation of Israel, a seven year covenant. At the midpoint of that seven year covenant, he's going to go into the temple, declare himself to be God, demand to be worshipped as God. That's the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Twelve hundred sixty days after that, forty two months after that, three and a half years after that event of of him going into that temple, the return of Christ. Jesus is going to return. The rapture of the church, we don't know the day or the hour. Come at any moment. And, but the tachometer the tachometer is maxing out. It's he comes quickly. Behold, I come quickly. When the events start to happen, it happens quickly. And so watch for events to take place very quickly now. Very, very quickly. A convergence a convergence of of events, of prophecies being fulfilled presently because it's time. It's time for the return. So we don't see this doom and gloom. We look at we're looking up knowing that the rapture of the church is at the very door. And, we don't need to worry because we have oil. We have the holy spirit living and dwelling within us. So we're not the five foolish virgins that, delayed receiving Christ. When you receive Christ, the oil of the spirit, the holy spirit comes into your heart and life, and you're ready. And so be prophetically ready. Be students of prophecy. Be looking up, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great god and savior, Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you that we could be here tonight. Thank you for the great food and fellowship. Thank you for the faith that you increase as we study your word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And Lord, I didn't hear any psychology tonight. I didn't hear any doctrines of demons. I didn't hear any fables. I didn't hear any fairy dust or feel any fairy dust. We just simply studied your word and Lord, we're invigorated, we're strengthened, we're, excited, as Lord, our heart is aligned with yours and as your spirit bears witness with our spirit that we're children of God, that we're marked by the Holy Spirit. We have the engagement ring. We know that the hour, the time of our redemption draws nigh, Lord. You're coming for us. You've bought us. You've marked us. You've sealed us, and Lord, you're coming for us. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alrighty. Oh, Mike, let's pray for Mike. Lord, we come before you. We lift up Mike. He's congested as Kathy is. And, Lord, keep Mike away from those COVID cruises. Everybody getting COVID on those cruises, Lord. And just help him. Help Kathy also with all the phlegm and all the antihistamine she needs and and Mike, and and remove that stuff before it goes down into their chest, Lord. And it's so hard to get it out of there. And I just pray that you'd, give us the right kind of herbs and medicines and and saline solution, whatever whatever the doctor orders, Lord. Just remove all that and, be with Judy Kennedy again, Lord, as she's had a great, great ordeal. And Leanne Crawford, Lord, her family once again. Be with Cheryl. Give her a good night's sleep with her doggy and all the chaos down that way. And, the family that experienced over by the church there on Mount Lake that experienced the murder, Lord, we pray for that family. We pray for the people in that area there. We pray, Lord, all that the devil means for evil, that you'll turn around for good, Lord. Raise up a standard against this wickedness and evil. Lord, you tell us in your word that iniquity will abound, and the love of many will grow cold. We don't wanna be in the many, Lord. We wanna be the few. We wanna be those that continue to love in the face of adversity, in the face of wickedness in this wicked times, Lord. Don't let it change us. Lord, empower us. You change us. You change us from within, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
About This Podcast
Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Home Bible Study
Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, lead our home Bible Study session in worship and teaching the Word of God. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes released on Tuesdays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
