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Revelation 7
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Alright. Live from Bremerton. It's Monday night. Welcome. We are studying Revelation chapter seven tonight. We're going to worship the lord first and we've had a meal together and so if you're joining us, it's Revelation chapter seven. Father, we come before you and we thank you for this night. We commit this Monday night into your hands. And Lord, we know without you can we can do nothing, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And Lord, you're in our midst. And, Lord we we desire to worship you, we desire to study your word, we desire to fellowship, to pray and Lord we intercede on behalf of Sally, we pray that you would heal her body Lord, deliver her from cancer and comfort James give them wisdom give the doctors nurse everybody wisdom and Lord be a comfort unto Linda as Joe's gone home to be with you and so we commit this this body of believers those who depend upon you Lord we as we all depend upon you and we just know that our prayers come up as incense we know that you ever lived to make intercession for us so God we pray that you would intercede and heal bring healing Lord to those who are hurting in Jesus name we pray Amen. Received my side and now I am happy all day. Was it for the crimes that I had Amen. At the cross, praise the Lord. Alright. Thanks, Rob. Revelation chapter seven seven seven seven. Father, we thank you. Lord, please be our teacher, open the scriptures to our understanding, lead and guide us in all truth, Lord, and help us to have a sense of what time it is, the time and age in which we're living. Help us to be students of prophecy and to connect the dots as best we can. And by the power of your holy spirit, we pray that you would minister unto us, Lord, and help us to be looking up, watching, praying always that we'd be counted worthy to escape these things and to stand before the son of God. That's our prayer, Lord. We want the easy way out. We want the way of the rapture. We want the way of, the cross, so difficult for you, Lord, and yet a free gift for us, Lord. And we don't wanna make it harder than it is. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Do you guys wanna make it hard? No. Anybody wanna go through the tribulation period to show everybody what a super saint you are? Yeah. What a warrior you are? Anybody? No. Okay. Me either. I pass. Yeah. I pass. Uncle. Okay. So this is a parenthetic section of scripture. You remember when we looked at the outline of the book of Revelation, John's told in Revelation one nineteen write the things which you have seen, chapter one, the vision of Jesus, write the things which are the church age where we're at right now. We're still in the church age which started at Pentecost and continues to tell Romans eleven twenty five, blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. We're also in what's called the times of the Gentiles where the global governments of the world are are Gentile world rule and we're on the cusp of the rebirth of that fourth Gentile empire of the rebirth of the Roman empire which is gonna be an imperial kind of a government, global government. And we have Daniel two, we have Daniel seven, we have Revelation thirteen seventeen that says the world is gonna be divided into, first of all, Daniel seven twenty three, a global government, then Daniel seven twenty four dividing into 10 regions. And our president, president Trump, is working on one of those regions, the Northern Hemisphere. He spoke at Davos this week, and he let them know his plans of wanting to go from Greenland all the way down to the Panama Canal, Venezuela, the whole Central America, South America, North America. Some have called it the North American Union and we posted an article from Leo Homan tonight. Also 1936, right around that time frame, there was a think tank that developed what they called the tech rate and Iain Lama's grandfather was a part of that. Later the club of Rome divided the world into 10 regions, but the Technates, they saw a technocracy that was gonna be developed and unbeknownst to them, the bible talks about the world being divided at 10 toes, 10 horns, 10 crowns, 10 kings, And then the eighth one, the antichrist, would be the eighth when he subdues three of them and they give their sovereignty over to him. So that's that's the church age. And then after the church age, we have the next epoch or period or dispensation of time. It's called according to Daniel 09/25 through 27, the time of Jacob's trouble. It's called the tribulation period. The second half of it, some would call the great tribulation period. We know it's real, the 77 of Daniel, because Jesus confirmed in Matthew 24 when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet. What's the abomination of desolation? Second Thessalonians two when the antichrist, means in place of Jesus Christ, a one world global leader, the seed of the serpent, when he goes into the temple, the temple anybody talking about rebuilding the temple in Israel? Yeah. Anybody talking about getting the ashes of the red heifer and all the instruments, the priests, and everybody ready for a re inaugurating of Judaism, right? And that doesn't mean that God's planned this, but the men are planning it. And at the midpoint, like a Tic, his Epiphanes, he goes into that temple, declares himself to be God, demands to be worshiped as God. So the second half of the tribulation period is a Luciferian form of religious system, the first half an apostate Christianity, the horror of Babylon and that second half is instrumental in people having to receive a mark on the right hand of their forehead. They can't buy or sell without it. And what's laid in there is the worshiping, the worshiping of the beast, the unholy trinity, the unholy God, the father of Satan, of Lucifer, the serpent, the dragon, the unholy Jesus Christ, the counterfeit Christ, the antichrist in place of Jesus Christ, and then the counterfeit Holy Spirit, the false prophet. Then after the seven year tribulation period, which goes from chapter six unto eighteen, nineteen is the return of Jesus Christ at Armageddon. Chapter 20, the millennium, a Latin word which means a thousand thousand years and there's where you have the messianic kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus ruling and reigning from Zion, where you have the nation of Israel in the land, where you have David as a prince and Jesus king of kings and lord of lords, You have the gentiles that are coming in to populate with kings in various countries, but the dominant leadership is that of a Jewish leadership, is that of Jesus as king of kings and lord of lords and David as his prince. You and I are rule and reign as kings and priests, the kingdom of priests and that's for a thousand years. At the end of that thousand years, the devil who's been held in the abyss for a thousand years is loosed and he's going to tempt the Gentiles that are repopulating the planet generationally and many of them side with him and then in a very moment, very quick point in time, the Lord snuffs that out. They grab hold of the serpent, the devil, and he's brought with the Antichrist and the false prophet who've already been there for a thousand years into the lake of fire. And then we go into chapter twenty one and twenty two, the eternal state, and that's where new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem, and that's chapter twenty one and twenty two. So very exciting if you're a student of prophecy. If you are a Preterist, then it's not very exciting because a Preterist means the past. It means it already has all happened in the past at seventy AD. Now wrap your head around that with how much you've learned. Is there any way that could happen? Is there any way Jesus isn't gonna come and set up his kingdom? Did that already happen? Did Israel forfeit all these promises because they didn't recognize their Messiah and they crucified him? Paul dealt with that Romans nine, ten, 11. Right? Israel's past election, chapter nine, Israel's present rejection right now, rejecting him, and Israel's future restoration in chapter 11. So Paul dealt with that. So we so we see here that in the tribulation period that Revelation six through 18 is a trib, Revelation six through nine plus 17 is the first half of the tribulation period, Revelation 10 through 14, the middle of the tribulation period, and then Revelation 15 through 16 plus 18 is the second half of the tribulation period. So where we're at in chapter seven is parenthetical in that John's being called up and so it's a heavenly vision of what's been happening during the tribulation period that's that's already gone through the seal judgments of chapter six. And so now three three reasons for the tribulation period. One is the end of wickedness. Two, a revival. Number three, to humble Israel. It's it's called the time of Jacob's trouble where god's gonna humble the nation of Israel and according to Zechariah thirteen eight and nine, how many become the true Israel of god? What percentage? One third. One third. Two thirds perish fighting with God. And and so this is called a time a purpose of that of humbling the nation of Israel where they would make a national confession, where they'd have a natural sorrow, a godly sorrow, where they recognize they already crucified their Messiah, and then whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved is when they say blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, and Jesus intervenes and returns for them and and rescues them from all the powers of darkness. So after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Now I know what some of you are thinking, see pastor Rick, the earth is flat. Right? Isn't that what you were thinking? Anybody wanna go there again? Anybody wanna go there? Are you that intelligent? Do I need to ring the globe out? Do I need to bring the verse in Job that says it's a sphere and in Isaiah, hung it on nothing? And, oh boy. So this is quadrants, this is north, south, east, and west, right? So basically describing all over the globe, everywhere, every direction, in every direction the angels went. So I'm glad we got out of kindergarten there. And a big a big part of the problem is AI is doubling down nowadays, and they just won't let this kind of stuff go. So I'm glad that we can let it go. I don't know why you brought it up. Who brought it up? Okay. And so after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds. I can hear people, our enemies saying, see Pastor Rick, see, I told you, I told you of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor in any tree. And so I would say stop the blowhard snow. So this is calm before the storm. Everything's calm. Big storm's coming. Huge big storm's coming. So you got seal judgments and you done yet. He's just getting started with the seal judgments. Right? And getting started, you know, we've already have one fourth of the population already dead, wiped out. These guys have a utopian vision. The Elon Musk that say that, you you know, you get you've got a universal basic big income coming, you know. Nobody's gonna have to work. You've all know Harari and them saying you're not gonna die. You can take your brain and put it in with the chips and God's dead. We just haven't buried his body yet. They're blasphemous statements. They're they're prideful statements that they make. And and it's so interesting that in chapter six, but just as the Lord gets started, we finish up watching them in the holes in the ground, trying to hide from the wrath of the lamb, you know. And just fascinating how quickly they're gonna their knees are gonna be knocking together like Daniel five when Belteshazzar saw the handwriting upon the wall. And that finger of God there saying, many, many, tekel, eufarsen, you've been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Your kingdom is taken from you, divided from you, and given to the Medes and the Persians, you know, as in a moment. And it can happen so quickly, but they think they're so incredibly invincible. But there's a little calm, a little calm before the storm and a lot of times people misconstrue that the calm before the storm means maybe there won't be a storm. No, there's a storm brewing, big storm brewing. So I saw another angel ascending from the East having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. So you got four angels going out there to hurt the earth and the sea and everything but he's gonna say in the next verse, not, don't do it yet. We wanna seal the 144,000 before we proceed, alright? And and we wanna put a mark from God upon them saying hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And so they're gonna get a seal from God. Two reasons for the seal. One is to protect them, and and the other is to mark them out for service. These guys, as they do their service, when we transition with their service from verse eight unto nine, when he said, after this, I beheld a multitude to which no man can number. The implication here, the the context is these 144,000 have been busy serving the Lord. In chapter 14, we have more details about them. And then in verse nine, we've got a revival as a result of their service, as a result of them sharing the everlasting gospel with the whole world. And the devil can't touch them. The Antichrist can't touch them because they have the seal of God upon them. And chapter 14 has these details like they're virgins and they're just pure and they're just totally sold out for God and they're never, you know, given into the world, the flesh, the devil, and all that, but they have a seal upon them. You and I as as the church have been sealed. We talked about in Ephesians chapter one. We have the wedding excuse me, the engagement ring on. And that engagement ring, because of the betrothal and the hope of the fetching and then the marriage ceremony. One day the with the fetching, we're gonna be that which has been redeemed, has been paid for and marked out by the seal of God upon us. God's gonna come for that purchased possession. He's gonna come for us. And second Corinthians one twenty two talks about us being sealed also, you know, as the church, part of the church. So we're marked out. The devil looks at us and says, hey, those people belong to the Lord. Look at that seal upon them. And and then you've got a counterfeit trinity. So in Revelation thirteen sixteen through 18, the devil says, well, I'm gonna give people a seal. I'm gonna put a mark upon their right hands of their foreheads. Right? And I'm gonna show that they'll worship me. They'll bow down and worship So he's he's just a complete counterfeit, but this is genuine, this is real, and this is the Lord's doing to put the seal upon his servants of our God on their foreheads. And so this remnant of the 144,000. So we have a one third remnant in Zechariah thirteen eight nine. You've got also this 144,000, 12,000 for each tribe as as in addition to Jews that are being saved during the tribulation period. And the the important thing one important thing here to see is that this is not the church. Another important thing to see is the church has not replaced Israel. Because if the church has replaced Israel, then why do you need 12,000 from each tribe? What's the point in the tribulation period to identify 12,000 Jews from each tribe? You know, what's the point? Because basically, Martin Luther and Augustine and all these are saying, no, it's the church age. God's replaced Israel with the church. Well, not true here. So when I heard the number of them which were sealed and there were sealed a 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. So used to be when I first became a Christian, there'd be these people that would knock on the door and they'd give you a magazine, and they were trying to become one of the 144,000. Anybody know that story? Is that still happening? They still do that? Yes. Do they still say they wanna be one of the 144,000? Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. I don't think that they will. That's some working, Yeah. That's why they're going door to door because they wanna be. Yeah. Then they had what was called Armstrongism, Harold W. Armstrong, and he thought that his group was a part of the hundred and forty four thousand. People wanna be a part of an exclusive, you know, super, super group of people. Right? Higher up than everybody else. Who else had some inroads to the hundred and forty four thousand? Anybody else? You remember? So from time to time, I think it's just simpler to just look at it and let it read and say what it says. Now pastor Chuck used to talk about the lost tribes, the lost tribes of Israel. It doesn't look like they're lost. It looks like God knows right where they're at. And so they used to try and say, well, we're we're looking for the lost tribes of Israel, and the Danish are the lost tribe of Dan. Nobody knows where those tribes are. Right? And then Chuck would go through a few other ones, and then he'd say, it's foolish, you know, stuff like that. Alright. So it's always funny. So so all the tribes of the children of Israel, of the tribe of Judah now it says all, we circle all. When we get through this list, there's gonna be 12 listed. There's gonna be two that are not listed. And so some will say, well, what about the other ones that aren't listed there? We're gonna try and understand that as best we can. And all the tribes of the children of Israel. And it says, of the tribe of Judah, this is the kingly line, and my grandson is named Judah, and the name means praise. This is a tribe that Jesus came through in the kingly line. So the tribe of Judah were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed 12,000. So remember Jacob had these 12 sons that were born. We're sealed 12 thousands. Of the tribe of Gad, we're sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Asher, my little grandson Gideon is Gideon Asher, we're sealed 12,000. I know you guys like these details. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed 12,000. As of now, I don't have any grandkids named Naphtali, but that could happen. You you never know when they're gonna be finished. Alright. And of the 12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed 12,000. So Manasseh comes from Joseph when the children of Israel came down into Egypt and Jacob was there. Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. So sometimes when you list the tribes, you list the tribes, one of them is Joseph, and other times you list it as Ephraim and Manasseh, the two there were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Levi, this is the priestly tribe, were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Joseph, so here we come to Joseph, were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Benjamin and Joseph came from Rachel. Leah, and you have concubines involved too with other ones, but Benjamin were sealed 12,000. Now some would say, alright, what happened to the to the tribe of Dan? The tribe of Dan isn't there, and we don't see Ephraim, and so what what happened to them? And so some have tried to identify it this way. In Deuteronomy, the Lord has indicated that if you're idolatrous, if you're sinful and all, that he he would punish you. And in Judges chapter 18 verse thirty and thirty one, the tribe of Dan was getting involved in idolatry, heavy idolatry. In first Kings twelve twenty eight through 30, Jeroboam, with the 10 northern tribes being separated from Judah, was concerned that the people would always go back toward the temple and that he would never be able to gain this separation from the mother church, the mother temple if you will. So they took golden calves and they put one at Dan and one at Bethel, and the people wouldn't have to travel as far to go and worship during the various festivals, the feast days and stuff. And so it introduced an enormous amount of idolatry in in those regions. And so the idolatry, the judgment of Dan and Ephraim, some say this is what happened, Dan and Ephraim weren't mentioned here. Now in Genesis thirty five twenty two and twenty six, we have the first list. And Hosea four seventeen says, leave Ephraim alone because they're given over to idolatry. But the beautiful thing is that in Ezekiel 48 verse 30, we have the last list and it includes them all. All of them. Ain't that great? And also there's symmetry. When the Lord uses 12, it doesn't mean you're leaving out two. It's just part of how he talks the 12 tribes of Israel. There you never hear people say the 14 tribes of Israel. There's a symmetry involved even though that at times maybe the tribe of Levi might not be mentioned because they're you're giving out the land and the Levites aren't gonna get any land, the Lord's their portion, and so there's times where the Bible omits one or two of them. Alright. So that's that's what's happening there, and and so these 12 tribes and so how do you picture them during the tribulation period where they're invincible, the antichrist can't touch them? How do you picture these 144,000 in their ministry going about their ministry? Street preachers. Pardon me? Street preaching. Street preaching? Religion. Real bold. Do you think they spread out all over the world? Did they stay in that general region? Did they use technology? Do they need technology? Did they hang out with the two witnesses? Moses and Elijah a little bit? Okay. All the above. And then you got the angel flying over with the everlasting gospel. Right? And fulfillment of what Jesus said in Matthew 24, you know, 14, you know, that the gospel would go all over the world, right, before he would return. I'm excited about that. When it talks about his return, it's his second coming, and we know that he can come presently. We don't need any kind of event to happen before the rapture would happen. The rapture is imminent. So although the gospel hasn't been spread all over the whole globe right now, when when he's saying before he returns, it's speaking of the second coming. So during the during the tribulation period, we're gonna see the greatest revival the world's ever seen, the greatest spread of the gospel the world's ever seen with the help of a angel flying overhead and these 144,000 on fire apostle Paul evangelists, you know, nothing able to stop them and getting that gospel out there. So and with the antisemitism that's raising its head today, we we just applaud god's plan that he's he's going to make some superhero evangelist. And the reason is god's long suffering, not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. Right? He doesn't want anybody in the tribulation period to go to hell. So in our in our present dispensation, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we have when the rapture takes place, the church that which restrains the evil is gonna be removed with the removal of the church and the holy spirit's gonna still be here and the holy spirit's still gonna be ministering a ministry of regeneration. He's still going to cause people to be regenerated and come to Christ during the tribulation period. And now we come to this revival. And so after this after this, I beheld and lo a great multitude, which no man could number. So we like to call that an innumerable multitude of people. Right? A great multitude. We don't know the exact numbers. If if it was here down on earth happening now, somebody would have to come up with a number because all these churches are about numbers, nickels and noses. Right? And nobody could just let it be a great number, you know? Close to 3,000 at Pentecost. Very exciting and god does use numbers. He does use arithmetic. There's, you know, addition, there's multiplication, and there's subtraction. Right? Sometimes he subtracts and I I like that when great grace is upon the church and the church multiplies, you know, that's an exciting time and Vicky and I and and others, we've been saying for several months that the fastest growing church in the world right now is where? Iran. In Iran. And what do you attribute that to? The persecution of of the Muslims. Yeah. The persecution that's come against these people and the seeds that were sown during the time you had the Egyptian Coptic priests that were using satellite, broadcasting. They were able to broadcast, and they were broadcasting in that whole Middle East region before Obama went in there with ISIS and wiped them all out. They were able to broadcast the gospel and get the gospel into all these these countries over there, you know, and so very, very exciting. It's not just there. We hear in Brazil, there's a great out outpouring of God's spirit. There's tremendous persecution against the church in Nigeria and in China and other parts of the world, but we're watching the Lord save many, many, many people. People are losing hope in their governments. They're losing hope in the world. They're under persecution. And, and when that happens, people tend to look up to God. When they finally have to, they tend to look to God. In a time of prosperity, you got a lot of lukewarmness, a lot of lukewarm professing believers, basically around for the loaves and the fishes, the benefits thereof. But once things get a little tough, you see many, many, many fallen away and given into the way of the world. So after this, I behold and lo a great multitude, which no man could number of all nations, all nations. So we we are not a people as Christians that hate. We're supposed to even love our enemies. So I don't know anybody that hates Russian people or hates Iranian people. I mean, there are people. I I shouldn't say I don't know people, but people get this whole prejudice thing of blacks against whites and whites against blacks. And Jesus said that there would be nation rising up against nation, ethnic group against ethnic group, warring and fighting. We're watching our own CIA be inspired by the devil to, create strife in Minneapolis. You know? We're creating strife of liberals against conservatives, you know, and progressives. And and I got I got, you know, I got nothing against these people. Go ahead. Go to bed. I wanna go to bed. Quit you know, get off the street and go home. Take care of your families and all. But you'll watch how George Soros and a lot of these NGO groups stir up the masses of people and throw gasoline on it and invade churches. You know? And they talk about how they gotta get louder, Don Lemon or whatever they yesterday. And so they're trying to throw gasoline on it. They're trying to create a problem. And if we could understand that that Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump, and the Ayatollah of Iran, and the premier of China, they're all friends. They're all buddies, and we're not in their club. And they have drinks together. They do stuff together and the whole thing, but they have to play this huge charade to lessen the population. They call it war. Right? And and greed steps in there, but you got bankers above them and all, and you got the devil above them. But Jesus, some somehow we like to impose upon our Christianity, our brand of Christianity that we need to teach people in Texas to hate the Muslims. We need to stop the Muslims from coming to Texas. And the fastest growing church is where? Iran. So what don't you know in Texas? Why why can't you do that? Why can't you look at it as a a mission field? You don't have to go all the way to Iran to share the gospel with them. They're here. They're coming from all these Muslim nations right in your backyard. You know? So overcome evil with good. Right? What nut job would ever wanna continue as a Muslim when they have your Christianity? You have something so much better. And so the gospel's powerful. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. But if we hate him, we're never gonna reach him with the cross. We're never gonna reach him with Jesus. And we're not a part of the Catholic crusades of of, you know, go and send in military after after different people groups and such. The only reason reason we would have to resort to that is because we're operating spiritually in the arm of the flesh. So it's our external religion against their external religion. It's just religion against religion and we're missing the heart of the matter which is Jesus died for every single person. Amen. No matter where they come from. Because they all come from him, and we all have the same blood. So here we see of all nations. So I don't know what nation you might hate, but God doesn't hate them. Of all nations, kindreds, people, tongues, and they stood before the throne and for and before the lamb. That's exciting to me. Life became unbearable for them on on the earth. They reached a place where death was better than than an eternity in hell. That was the decision they had. Spend eternity in hell or prove your faith by being willing to refuse the antichrist, refuse the false religious system, and follow me. And they chose to follow the Lord. And so notice these people of all these different tongues so at Pentecost, we had, like, 16 different ethnic groups or or linguistic groups, different languages speaking the the speaking in tongues and speaking and praising and worshiping god in their native tongues, and people were blown away by it. And so verses nine to 11, we see a a revival that's taking place right here Before the throne of god. So, they're before god's throne up in heaven. That's the location. They've already died. Revelation 20 verse four says later, they will will see that many of them died because they lost their heads. They refused everything that the devil was sending send in their way. And we call these the tribulation saints. So again, four types of saints by way of review. The first one is what? Old Testament. Old Testament saints. So who would Old Testament saints be from when to when? From Adam and Eve all the way to when? When's it cut off? John. John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, right? So, all the way to John and then New Testament saints. Present right now. Yeah. Still being assembled, right? Which we would call the bride of Christ, right? Amen. Now, John's a friend of the bridegroom, Right? And so at the marriage supper of the lamb, John is gonna be there. John the and Abraham and all the old testament patriarchs, they're friends of the bridegroom. So we are the bride of Christ made up of, you know, Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bonder, free, male, female, no distinction. And and the nation of Israel is the wife of Jehovah. And so notice it says there the and they're before the lamb, So the Lord Jesus represented there. Still described as the lamb. The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. They're clothed in white robes. What's that signify? Salvation. Salvation. Purity. And and how did that those robes get white? Washed in the blood of the lamb. Right? Washed in the blood of the lamb. So unspotted, unblemished in chapter 19, unspotted, unblemished bride of Christ. These these saints here are the tribulation saints, they've got white rubs that speak of speak now that would we wouldn't attribute that to, hey, that's the church. See, white robes. No. The white robes signify salvation. And then it says, palms in their hands. What would that signify? Palms in their hands. Celebration. Celebration? Yeah. Worship? Worship? Remember Jesus on Palm Sunday riding in? They had they were celebrating the arrival of their king, right? Hosanna. Hosanna, save now, save now, save now. And so, also it speaks of victory, speaks of overcomers, and waving these palm branches. If the Seahawks win the Super Bowl, you could take some palm branches out there and shake them. I don't know if anybody would understand, but I would. I'd be watching. I I know those nuts. I know those nut jobs. They're my nut jobs. Yeah. I told them that. I told them that. Camera's shining on you. Who are these nut jobs? Oh, they're from Bremerton. Yeah. Yeah. And they cried with a loud voice saying salvation. Hosanna, Hosanna, save now. Save now. To our God who sits upon the throne and under the lamb. So to God the Father, God the Son, and to the lamb who sits upon the throne. They're they're they're they're just worshiping. The angels are worshiping. And all the angels stood. Look at that. Numerable multitude angels are standing. We had a young girl, Brianne, give her heart to the Lord Sunday. Right, Brianne? Ray Ray Anne. Or sorry, Rayon. Rayonie? She's, yeah, Rayonie. Rayonie. She's got a new name the lord gave her. It's Brianne. But anyways, Rayonie? Yeah. Rayonie. Alright. So the bible says there's rejoicing in heaven among the angels when one sinner repents. So I get very, very excited when somebody gets saved, a little tiny Calvary Bremerton, especially a child. Right? Anybody. It doesn't matter. I'll take anybody. And but the picture in heaven is there's rejoicing in heaven among the angels. So does that mean the angels are the only ones worshiping? Or is Jesus there rejoicing among the angels, right? I think all the above, right? I think the lord's pretty jazzed and pretty excited and it says and the angel stood round about the throne and about the elders, so representatives of the church and the four living creatures And they fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God. Look look at how exciting it is when people get saved. All of heaven, everything's clicking, everything's working, everything's right. You know, it's just this is what we did all this for. This is why we sent my son. This is what it's about that people would enter into this relationship. This is life eternal that they know thee, the only true god and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent in John seventeen three and it's just so amazing these angels standing there. In Acts seven fifty five, when Stephen was being murdered. You remember what happened? Jesus they Jesus would have been upon him. Right. Why don't you read that, Bernie? Read those about three verses there. And then seven fifty five. And then I'm then we're gonna turn to second Timothy chapter four. Okay? Semat second Timothy chapter four, I want you guys to see. So you're going Acts seven. Take about the first about three verses there. The picture the picture. Give the picture of of Stephen being martyred and what he what he saw and what Jesus did. And remember, he's a martyr. Right? The first martyr in the church. Acts seven. Yeah, buddy. You're going Acts seven. Verse 55. Fifty five fifty seven. Thank you, Vic. So the angels just stood praising God because of this multitude of tribulation saints that came out of the tribulation saved. There's just great rejoicing in heaven, worshiping of God. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed in heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand of God and said, look. I see the heavens open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. So these angels are standing in our chapter seven, and the father is seated at the throne and the lamb's there. But in the case of Stephen, Jesus seated at the right hand of his father stands up. And he gives Stephen a standing ovation. Right? Ain't that amazing? The martyr, the martyr who's gonna get the crown of life, you know, just in a second, in a blink, even faster than blink of an eye, be absent the body, be present with the Lord, come up here. Now watch the apostle Paul. And I I kinda wanna read the first 18 verses. It's such a great testimony. And I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's talking to a young pastor. He's talking to to Timothy. And this chapter here is his last chapter. This is Paul knowing the time of his departure is at hand. His ministry is about over here on earth. He knows he's gonna lose his head. So he says, charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. So if you were to leave a guy a last message, young pastor, any pastor, any Christian, preach the word. Be like the 144,000. Preach the word. Be diligent. Don't don't don't laissez faire. Don't mess around. Be diligent. In season, out of season. Be ready at all times. And then he says, reprove. Now, wait a minute. That's not psychology. I can't reprove. Mhmm. They'll get their feelings hurt. Rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and what doctrine. Give them the word of God and allow the word of God to to be that which heals them, that which cures them, that which helps them. For the time will come, oh boy, I don't like this time. When they will not endure. So if I'm a young pastor and they tell me this, there's gonna be a time, Rick, where they just won't endure sound doctrine. They won't endure it. Well, can't I change that? Is there somehow I can change that? If I fight with them for thirty years, can I get them to change? Or at a certain point, I say, you know what? I'm done trying to change them. I'm done. I'm gonna focus on the ones that show up and continue to pour my life into them because there's no reaching. There's no reaching these people that won't endure sound doctrine. They have no appetite for it. They don't want it. They don't want it. But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. So they're gonna be the ones in charge. They're the Laodicean, the people rule church, the apostate Laodicean church that determines what kind of pastors they're gonna have and what kind of messages they're gonna have because they're gonna be the ones that pay them to tell them what they want to hear. We call them hirelings. They're gonna scratch you where you itch. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned onto fables, fantasy. Have you ever seen anything so pathetic of the fables and the fantasy, the little lullabies on Sunday mornings in the churches now? It's so imbecilic. So like like, I used to hear a guy that I worked for used to say, the guy drinks his bathwater. You know? What's that mean? I don't know, but I guess some kids drink their bathwater. And they want Fantasy Island. They want fantasy. But watch thou in all things. But you so in contrast to them, you, Timothy, but watch thou. Be ready. Watch. Be aware of the times you're living in, but watch thou in all things. Endure afflictions. They're not gonna like you. Timothy wound up being beat to death. The people of Ephesus just beat him to death. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. So he may not have had the Ephesians four gifting of evangelist, the office of an evangelist. He gives some, you know, apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, teachers but you can still do the work of an evangelist. I don't consider myself to have the office of an evangelist but I do like Philip. Philip the evangelist. He definitely is one But we all of us do the work of a herald, an evangel. We proclaim the good news to people. And so make full proof of your ministry. So allow your ministry to bear fruit. Allow people to see the full proof from the time that that we recognize God was moving and working in your heart when you're a little boy, when your grandmother, Eunice and Lois, were ministering to you the scriptures, the holy scriptures, till the time that you began to be discipled by by by me, Timothy, and the time that you've been ministering, make full proof of your ministry. Just take it to the very end, to the very finish line. For I am now ready to be offered. So Paul personally, it's his time to go to be offered. And the time of my departure, this word departure is like taking a tent down. This body I have is a temporary body, and I've been using this temporary body, but it's time to break camp because my citizenship's in heaven, and I'm gonna be leaving here. And I have fought a good fight. So Paul was a part of the Ithmian games. Paul I could see Paul watching the seahawks. I could see him watching some sports. I could see him as a sports fan. And because he has the imagery of the Ithmian games there at Corinth and where the Greeks and the Romans and them would wrestle and run races and things like that. So he he uses it to show the spiritual effort and diligence and emphasis upon reaching the finish line. So I fought a good fight. He's not a shadow boxer. When Paul swings, he wants to hit what he's swinging at. I've finished my course, the imagery of racing, and it's not a sprint necessarily. Some might for some, it might be short. It might be a sprint. But for most, it's a marathon run. I have kept the faith. There's the most important. I didn't give up. I didn't lose the faith. No matter how many people rejected me, I never made it caused me to reject or to leave the ministry that God's called me to, the calling he's placed upon my life. I kept the faith. And without faith, man, it's impossible to please God. He says, henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness. And so we we remind ourselves the crown of righteousness five crowns. Right? An incorruptible crown that fades not away, a crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, a crown of rejoicing, and the crown of life twice twice mentioned. So Paul's saying there's a crown of righteousness because the righteousness of Jesus which the lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but on all them that love his appearing. That's you and me. Those of us that are looking for his appearing, are you watching for him to appear? He's got a crown of righteousness for you. He's got a robe that's white, bright, unspotted, unblemished, waiting for you to wear. Right? And washed in the blood of the lamb. And there's no condemnation. The devil's such a liar. Jesus did it all. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. Hey, there's little time. I'm in prison. And if you can, you know, take a visit. Come visit me. Now notice what he says, for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. So he had a guy named Demas that used to serve with Paul, break bread with Paul, serve alongside him. It's getting a little tight, a little dicey, a little little difficult to associate with Paul, guilt by association. Just like when Jesus was apprehended, that you grab a hold of the shepherd, you smite the shepherd, the sheep's the sheep scatter, and so all of the disciples scattered that night because they were all afraid of being guilty by association. You were with them. Your your speech betrays you, the maiden said to to Peter. And Peter starts cussing. Peter starts cussing. It's like he saw Hillary or something. He starts cussing. And I know not the man. I don't know him. And for Demas and, you know, it was so strange about that. The third time that Peter did that in that one night, and then it says, and Jesus looked at him, eyes locked. What kind of look do you think that was? If it was me looking at someone that I told that would happen to, I'd say, see, told you. I told you. I'd be like that. Not Jesus. Jesus looks with love with love. Like, Peter, I know you've given up on yourself. I know this is the hardest moment you've ever lived. But, Peter, I'm gonna meet you there at the shore there in Restorea. In fact, Jesus told him, Peter, Satan desires to have you. He desires to sift you as wheat, to beat you. And but I'm praying for you, Peter, that your faith fail not. And when you're converted, strengthen your brethren. When you come back around, when I restore you, then I'm gonna use you in leadership to strengthen the other disciples around you there. So fear can be so permeating of those around you, the 10 unbelieving spies, their unbelief, their fear permeated the rest of the people. And Caleb and Joshua are like, hey, let's go take it now. Let's take it now. And a lot of times and you gotta wait thirty, forty, fifty years for people to get it. And that's a hard thing. Alright. So Demas has forsaken me having loved. Notice loved this present world. I think that's a big part of the problem we're running into. Too many people love with the world. They're in love with their stuff. They don't want Jesus to come back. They've got lots of plans. They want Mega to work. They want it to work. They they want normal to come back. And they love the world. And departed unto Thessalonica. And then he's got a list here. Creesons went to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Luke the physician. Right? Only Luke's with me. Take Mark, John Mark, who at one point, Paul and Barnabas had a big altercation about, and but now Mark's useful to him, John Mark, and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry. And what a blessing that is, that at one time you could be at odds with somebody, and then you reconcile, work it out, and now you're working alongside each other once again. And Antiochus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloak that I left at Troas with with Carpus, when you come, bring with thee and the books. Paul likes to read, maybe commentaries. I don't know. And the parchments, the word of God. Right? Bring them. Bring me a coat. Alexander now now watch how he names people. He's naming people. He's marking people that have caused trouble so that other people don't run into the same trouble. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Vengeance is mine. I'll repay, saith the Lord. Of whom do thou beware also. You stay away from him, Timothy. This guy this this guy that works with the metals, these idols unto Diana, great as Diana of the Ephesians, be careful of this guy. He's an evil, evil dude. Of whom doubt beware also for he has greatly withstood our words. At my first defense so remember the angel stood? Remember the angel stood for those tribulation saints that came to Christ? You remember the Lord Jesus stood for Stephen? Watch this. At my first defense, no man stood with me. And I love the fact that at some of the times that Kathy and I have gone through, the hardest times watching so many people leave the church, a few times in droves, I mean, tons of people leaving. And we had to make full proof of our ministry. We had to try and say, guy, are we supposed to be here? What what happened? You know, what are we supposed to do? There's always been those that stand with us. There's always been those that that say, you know, pastor Rick, the holy spirit's still here, and they'll they'll stand with you. But all men forsook me. In Paul's case, I pray God that I may not be laid to their charge. He's interceding that they won't be punished by the Lord, spanked by the Lord for that. And what are we talking about? Unfaithfulness. You wanna serve the Lord? You gotta be faithful. That's the number one criteria, is just be faithful. He's not asking you to build a mega church. He's not asking you to build a mega ministry or mega anything. He's asking you to be faithful in that marriage, be faithful with what he's given you to do at your job. Be faithful. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men. Do it with your whole heart as unto the Lord. Be faithful. At my first defense, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray to God that it may not be laid to their charge. Everybody was disliking him on Facebook. He didn't get any likes. They were all ostracizing him, hating him. Just oh, he was just public enemy number one. Not withstanding, the lord stood with me. You know, when Jesus stands with you, that's all you need? You don't need anybody else. If the Lord says, hey. You're in my will. If he says, hey. I like what you're doing. I like that you stood up for me. I'm gonna stand for you. Doesn't matter what people say. It's not a popularity contest. It's not who can get the most likes, who can go on YouTube and tell everybody about what dream they had or what vision, gain a following. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. Not just stand with me, but strengthen me. In Acts 18, Paul was worried he's gonna get beat again. He got beat at Lystra in Derbe. He got stoned there. Left for dead. Right? And now he's going into a really, really dangerous place called Corinth. And the Lord appeared to him in the night and said, Paul, I have many people in this place, and I will not allow any man to set upon thee to hurt thee. So the Lord said, I'm gonna I'm gonna protect you, Paul, for the space of eighteen months he spent there in Corinth planting the church, the church of Corinth there. He spent three years in Ephesus planting the church there and so the Lord strengthened him that by me the preaching might be fully known. So God's saying, you know, in the tribulation period Paul I'm gonna use an angel. In the tribulation period, I'm gonna use two witnesses, Moses and Rick or Moses and Elijah. Don't know which one yet. But you guys don't know. It could be. Right? Got my 140 I got my 144,000. I never heard that one before. That's just from the Lord. But here, Paul, I'm dependent on you. I'm dependent on you, Paul, that the word's gonna get out from you. I I want I want you to go and make disciples of all nations. The great commission, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, the holy spirit, along with you always even to the end of the age, the church age. And he says, the preaching might be fully known that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. His first time he went to prison there and all, they say that Nero let him loose. He was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, the devil there. Right? And then his second time he was incarcerated, this was the time of cutting off his head. And some feel that when Paul was sharing with the house of Caesar, Caesar's palace, that many of the in Philippians, you'll see that many of the people there that worked there got saved and soldiers getting saved that are around him and chained to him and all and some say that he actually had a chance to share the gospel with with the emperor, you know? And and eventually will but it actually made Nero go insane. Made him made him be be filled with a a demon, a antichrist spirit of antichrist demon, and Nero went on his rampage of killing Christians. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and he shall. So that's kind of language like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. We're not careful how we answer the o king. Our god is able to deliver us and he will deliver us. But even if he doesn't deliver us, we still will not bow down to the old king. Very important that before you ever face those kind of circumstances that you seal within your heart that you're gonna be faithful to Jesus. And in that moment, he's gonna give you the words to say, but you there's certain things that we know that are absolute nonnegotiables. When COVID happened, it was an absolute nonnegotiable. I didn't need to ask you or your opinion or anybody else's opinion. I knew that we would not close the church. That's a nonnegotiable. That's not any man's decision. We're gonna obey god rather than men. And so there's certain things where I might not be sure about. I might not know the right way to go and ask god for wisdom. But there's other things. This is a no brainer. I don't even need to use any more of my short supply of brain cells. This is a no brainer. Fully knowing that the Gentiles might hear, I was delivered out of the mouth of lion, and the Lord delivered me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. So the devil can't send me to hell. Devil can't take me to hell. God's gonna preserve me to his heavenly kingdom. I'm his. To whom be glory both now forever and ever. Amen. Amen. And so the angels stood with the those in Revelation seven. The Lord stood with Stephen, the first martyr. The Lord stood with the apostle Paul, and Jesus said in Luke 21 that you and I are to pray always in 2136. Pray always that you would be accounted worthy to escape this tribulation period, to escape these things, and for you to stand before the son of man. Right? Location, location, location. Be raptured. Stand before the son of man. So the angel stood round about the throne and about the elders, verse 11, the four living creatures and fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God. Very reminiscent of chapter four. Thou art worthy, o lord, to receive glory, honor, and power for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And the four and twenty elders laid down their crowns at the feet of Jesus, right, Worshiping God. Verse 12. Saying, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. Worshiping him, praising him. And one of the elders answered and saying unto me, who are these who are aired in white robes? And from where did they come? Who do you think they are? Is that the church? Is John it's the church. Look. It's the church. They did go in the tribulation period. I recognize Barnabas there. I can see Timothy. I see I see doctor Luke. Wouldn't John be able to recognize the church? At Ephesus? And watch what he says. And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest not? And he said to me, take these are they who came out of the great tribulation period and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Distinction. These are the tribulation saints. They're not the church. John doesn't recognize them. Do you get it? Yeah. Therefore, are they before the throne of god and serve him day and night in the temple? And he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. Now they're there before the throne of god, and they serve him day and night in the temple. Day and night. This is the millennium. Because in chapter twenty one and twenty two, in the eternal state, there's no need of the sun. This is day and night. Therefore, are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in the temple, and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them? And so for a thousand years, Jesus is gonna dwell among us in the as king of kings and lord of lords, and and there's no temple in the eternal order. There's no night and day in the eternal order. This speaks of the millennium, the millennial temple. Right? They shall hunger no more, neither thirst. So there's the indicator that part of what brought a lot of these people to their deaths was the seals opening and the famine in verse three of chapter six, the plagues, the war, all the various ways, and resisting the antichrist, resisting the religious system, all the above. So he's letting them know you're not gonna hunger no more. You're neither gonna thirst. Hey, woman at the well, I've got water you can drink of, you'll never thirst again. A spiritual thirst. I've got food you can eat. You want the loaves and the fishes? I got food you can eat. You can eat my flesh and drink my blood. You can you can have a spiritual. I'm the bread of life. And so we man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Anymore neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. And so they're they're not gonna be out in the elements anymore. He's gonna preserve them and protect them. For the lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them. So now we're at Psalm 23. The Lord is I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside Hill waters. Hill waters. He restores my soul. With his namesake. With his namesake. So he's the good shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. He's the great shepherd of the sheep. Jesus, the great shepherd. And so I'm gonna feed him. I'm gonna lead him. And the living fountains of waters. And in John seven thirty eight, Jesus stood up and he opened the scroll. He said, if any man thirst, let him come into the globalists and drink. They got really good water for you. If any man thirst, let him come into me and drink. He that believes in me, as the scripture said, out of his belly shall flow torrents in the Greek. It's torrents of living water. Speaking of the holy spirit, the holy spirit's gonna be like a torrent inside of you, flowing, and you're not gonna be operating on on fumes, you know? Huge resource of the holy spirit without measure. Right? And in John four, the woman, she's thirsty. She's got five different husbands. The six guys she's with, she's just living with, you know? And there's a thirst within her for relationship, for intimacy, for love, for meaning, for purpose, and she can't find it in men. I know one woman that did. But and so he said, I have water you can drink of, you'll never thirst again. And so it's that spiritual thirst that has to first be satisfied before we can love on the human level as husbands and wives, as friends. We we we've got a Romans eight verse 20 says, all creation was subject unto a vanity or an emptiness, and that by reason of him who subjected the same and with hope. And so what that means is you've got a god shaped hole in your heart that only a relationship with Jesus can fill and fill and refill and keep filling, keep filling, keep filling. And so fountains of living waters, and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. So let me ask you a question. Is there are there tears in heaven? Wipe away all tears from their eyes. He's saying the crying stops. The crying stops. The weeping stops. The suffering stops. The tears. Your precious, precious tears will never go unnoticed. All the things that you've suffered through, that you've agonized through in this life have not gone unnoticed before God. Who wants to read Psalm 56 verse eight? Psalm 56 verse eight. Who wants Psalm six verse six? Okay. Bernie's got it. I found it. 56. Psalm six verse six. Bernie. Psalm thirty nine twelve. Anybody? I'm 56 what? 3912. 46. You're getting 568. Psalm one sixteen verse eight. Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? I alright. Only one One sixteen verse eight. Okay. Psalm 42 verse three. 40 what? 42. 42 verse three? On the night. Psalm 80 verse five. There's a whole lot of crying going on. Psalm 80 verse five. I'll do 80 verse five. Okay. Psalm one twenty six verse five. I'll do one twenty five. What did you say? One twenty five verse One twenty six verse five? Verse five. Thank you. Got it. How about Lamentations two eleven? Yeah. Okay. Alright and then we've got another one at the end there. Psalm a 141 verse two. Anybody? What was it again? Benjie's got it. Alright, Benjie's got it. Alright. So, we're going to look at these tears. Verse two. We're we're at Psalm six verse six for Bernie. Psalm six verse six. Guessing. Guessing. I am weary with my groin. All night, I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. Has anybody ever been in that situation of crying yourself to sleep, of drenching your bed with tears, your couch with tears? Yes. Right? You cry till you can't cry anymore. And I know big boys don't cry. Psalm 39 verse 12. 39 verse 12. Hear my prayer, oh lord, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace and my tears for I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were. Psalm one sixteen verse eight. I got it. For you have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumble. Did we give anybody Psalm 42 verse three? I got it. Okay. My tears have been my meat day and night while they continually say unto me, where is thy God? So, they're taunting you. Psalm 80 verse five. I got 56 verse eight. No, not yet. Not yet. That's That's right. Gotta do yours last. Psalm 80 verse five. You have fed them with the bread of tears and you have made them drink tears by the bowl spill bowlful. Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah. Lamentations two eleven. Me, I have cried until the tears no longer come. My heart is broken. My spirit is poured out in agony as I see the desperate plight of my people. Little children and tiny babies are fainting and dying in the streets. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet and he's watching what's happened when the Babylonians have destroyed Jerusalem. He's describing what it's like there and the weeping over his people. Now, Psalm a 126 verse five. Psalm a 126. They that sorrow and tears shall reap in joy. Shall reap in joy with joy. Now, God notices every teardrop, Every teardrop that falls. And we see in Psalm 56 verse eight. Shannon's going to read. Thou tellest my wanderings. Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? Nothing goes unnoticed. All the things, all the suffering, everything you've given up, every sorrow of heart that's happened, your prodigal kids, your family, friends, all these things, the way that Jesus has been rejected. You know, it's really Jesus being rejected. It's really the devil coming after you to hurt you, trying to get at you through your kids, through your family, through all that. The various ways that the devil tries to break your spirit and get you to quit, get you not believing all. And the Lord the Lord says, I've taken all your tears and I've stored them up in a bottle. I've written them in a book. Now turn to Luke chapter 12. Are we gonna do Psalms one forty one? Sure. Go ahead. Mandy, may my prayer be set before you that thencends. May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening stuff of life. You read that again? Okay. And louder. It's such a good May my prayer be set before you like incense. May the lifting of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. So you're weeping and he's collecting them, and now you're praying and your prayer is coming up to him like incense to the throne of God. You see that? Now watch this. In Luke chapter 12 beginning with verse four, and I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid. So you're thinking of these martyrs, these people that died that are beneath the the numeral multitude of people beneath the throne of God. What the devil used against them to leverage them was, if you don't take this job, you're gonna lose your job. Right? You're gonna lose your house. You're gonna lose it. No. You're gonna lose your life. If you don't blaspheme Jesus, you're gonna lose your life. And he says, and I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body. See, they're threatening your body. And after that, they have no more that they can do. They did you a favor. You're that's moving day. You're moving out of that body. But I will forewarn you, whom you shall fear, Fear him who after he is killed has power to cast into hell. Yeah. He's saying to you, fear him. So fear God. You should have a healthy fear of God. And then watch this. Watch how he illustrates how precious you are to God. Your tears are in a bottle. Your tears are in a book. Your prayers are as incense. And he says, are not five sparrows sold for 2 farthings? And not one of them is forgotten before God? So earlier in Matthew, it says you can buy two sparrows for 1 farthing. That's the going price. You can buy four, another two for, you know, farthing, but you get one thrown in for free. Watch what he says here. Are not five? So the normal rate is two sparrows for 1 farthing. But five sparrows, you can get for 2 farthings, which means one's been thrown in for free. Hey. If you buy five if you buy four, I'll throw one in for free. Give me two farthings. And not one of them is forgotten before God. See, think in terms of one's insignificant. It's a freebie. It's a throw in. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Pull that one off. That's how much he knows about you. In Psalm 39, it says his good thoughts concerning you are numbered more than all the grains of sand. God thinking on you, thinking about you. He says, fear not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men you think of these tribulation saints. They have a choice. They gotta confess Jesus before these men, or they can keep quiet. You think of the Christians in Iran right now? They are vocal. They are loud. They're willing to die right now. They're not backing down. Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man confess before the angels of God. You can see Jesus standing up saying, this Stephen's mine. Look at Stephen. This is one of mine. But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. Oh, shameful that'll be. Away from me, I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. And whosoever shall speak a word against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him. But unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him. The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That's the only sin that'll get you into hell is the blasphemy of the holy spirit rejecting Jesus. And when they bring you under the synagogue and under the magistrates and the powers, be not anxious how or what thing you shall answer or what you shall say. For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that same moment what to say. Ain't that sweet? Ain't that sweet? That's so sweet. And he says, living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears before their eyes. So Jesus said pray always that you be accounted worthy to escape these things and to stand before the son of man. Right? Let's pray. Father we thank you. Thank you for the picture up ahead of this great revival of people that refuse to back down. They refuse to live for another second in a fallen world. They want more, Lord. They want you. They want the new heavens, newer. And so, Lord, they like a seed, they're willing to go to the ground and die that Lord they'd bring forth much fruit. And so Lord we count the cost, we evaluate where we're at, and Lord we're watching, we're on tiptoes, we're looking for your soon return, And Lord, we don't want to get lost in the weeds, we don't want to get lost as Demus did with our love for the world that pulls us away. Lord, we want to be loving our first love. We don't want to be like Ephesus, they leave their first love. We don't want to be like Laodicea, this lukewarm. Lord, we want to be like Stephen and the Apostle Paul and and others that demonstrate their faith with taking their cross up daily and following you, who are crucified already and you living through us. So, Lord, we ask that you would give us the courage and you would give us the faith and the love and the kindness and the wisdom and the ability, Lord, to share the glorious gospel as you're counting on us during this church age to be preachers of righteousness. And as Noah preached for a hundred and twenty years, Lord, and eight people got in the boat, Lord, we're thankful that we're in the boat. We're thankful that you're in the boat with us. We're thankful we're in Christ Jesus. And, we know that you're long suffering, not willing that any would perish, that all would come to repentance. And, we lift up our sons, our daughters. We lift up our family members who've been resisting. And, Lord, if it takes the tribulation period for them to finally come around, Lord, I pray that the seeds are sown, that the seeds are watered, and, Lord, we're reminded of you that they that sow in tears are gonna reap in joy. I pray that we see them on the other side, Lord. Save them now, Lord. Save them now. But if not, Lord, let that tribulation be a great time of harvest, a great time of bringing in a harvest, Lord. In Jesus' name, 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.
