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1 Corinthians 15:20,28 -Order Out Of Chaos- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2024-11-10
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First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 through 28. Would you please stand? Yeah. As we read God's holy word together. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man death by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits afterward, they that, are Christ at his at his coming. Then come at the end when he have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he has put all things under his feet, but when he say it, all things are put under him, it is manifested that he is accepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject under him that put all things under him that God may be all in all. Father, thank you for your holy word. Thank you that we can come out from the chaos of this world and come into a place where we can focus upon you, almighty sovereign, and that you're absolutely and completely in control. There isn't any circumstance that comes into our lives that doesn't first go through your providential filter, Lord. Satan has to get permission to come through you to us, Lord. And Lord, if you remove that hedge of protection, it's it's for your glory, it's for our good to help us to grow. But Lord, we know that in many cases, that hedge of protection's there to protect us, our families, our children, our nation. We pray that hedge of protection would stay up, Lord, and that you would expose the lies of the wicked one, all the strategies and schemes to destroy. You've come that we might have life, that we might have it more abundantly, Lord, we wanna enter in. And these truths that we're studying this morning, we pray that you would be our teacher, that you'd help these truths to sink down deep within our hearts, that we'd look at your soon return and the resurrection, the rapture, We look at it as good news, Lord. Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and savior. So blessed, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please be seated? Order out of chaos. Been chaotic. Pretty chaotic the last few years. And, it looks like it feels like, hey, there's some order being reestablished. I don't know. So if there was no resurrection of the dead, if Christ be not risen, then our present lives would be empty, vain, and miserable due to the chaos of this life. We're able to deal with some of the chaos because our hope is the resurrection that everything, you know, the worst the enemy could do to me would be to kill me. And Jesus said, don't fear him who can kill your body, but fear him who can not only take your body and your soul and cast it into hell. So I'm looking at the sovereignty of God no matter how much chaos the crazies try to throw at us. So God provides order out of chaos. The salvation order number one, the salvation order. Verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. So Jesus is the first fruits, the example, the sign, the harvest of the harvest to come. So his death upon the cross of Calvary during the Passover. So back in Exodus when the Lord, was going to deliver the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, And the Lord instructed Moses to take a lamb and to take the blood of that lamb and put it upon everybody's doorpost that believed in the shape of a cross, and the angel of death would pass over their home. This is illustrative. This is typical of one day Jesus would go to the Cross Of Calvary. And as John the Baptist recognized, this isn't just another Passover service as Jesus was crucified on Passover, but this is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And so after Passover, that night after Passover, when did Jesus, when did he raise himself from the dead? Three days later was the first day of the week. First day of the week is the first fruits. The next festival would be that of first fruits. So you have the, seven days of the Passover celebration. You've got the feast of unleavened bread, and what does unleavened bread speak of? Unleavened bread speaks of our sanctification of no sin. So Jesus is meeting with his disciples and it's the feast of unleavened bread and he makes a new covenant. He takes the he takes the bread, the matzo cracker with no leaven in it. And he's got the wine. There's four different cups of wine, and and he inaugurates, you know, this do in remembrance of me. And so that that cup speaks of or excuse me, that that bread speaks of communion. It speaks of he's cruse he's been crucified or he's gonna be crucified, and then he's gonna sanctify me for the purpose of fellowship, that I might enjoy fellowship with him. And none of that is possible unless he raises himself from the dead. So that's the feast of first fruits. So Jesus is the first fruits which speaks of more to come. There's more to come because of his resurrection. We have hope that the rest of us are gonna be resurrected also. So in Leviticus twenty three nine through four, you can read about the feast of first fruits, where Jesus raised himself from the dead on the first day of the week, signaling the salvation harvest to come. Now, the in this in this celebration, they have what's called the wave sheet. The wave sheet would be a guarantee of more to come. It wouldn't be the entire harvest, but you'll read there in Leviticus that they have this wave sheath. And with that wave sheath, is depicted in the city of Jerusalem. In Matthew twenty seven fifty two, the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many. This is first fruits. Jesus, the first fruits. And then the wave sheath waved with those guys, the graves are opened. And then, verse 21. For since by man came death, so the chaotic fall of man. Adam, our first federal head, fell, he sinned, and then chaos broke out. That of sin. Sin causes chaos. In Genesis one one, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And then it says in verse two, and the earth was without form and void. What happened? In Isaiah forty five eighteen, it says that God didn't make the earth in vain or empty. In Ezekiel chapter 28, we're gonna see that the earth in the beginning God created in the heaven and the earth was without chaos in verse one. And angels were singing according to Job 34 or excuse me, Job thirty eight four through seven. They were singing when God created the earth. And Ezekiel 28 describes the earth as a mineral garden, much like when we get to heaven on into eternity where they have the streets made of gold and it's brilliant, shining bright, and the pearly gates and all that. That's how in Genesis one one, the earth appeared. And then Satan in the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 is Satan, and when iniquity was found in him, his five valuable statements in Isaiah 14, I will be as the most high God. So you got this angel, you have angels, the next rank is seraph, the third rank is cherub, m is plural. So you got the cherub angel named Lucifer, son of the morning. God made him come above the rest of the angels and that he guarded the over the throne like a worshiping. He was a worship leader type thing. And then you have these seraph angels that are underneath the throne or the cherub cherub and the and the serapha around it, and then the other angels of rank are like Clarence. He's waiting to get his wings, know. And so they're they're not you got Michael the archangel who's in charge of all the angels. Okay? So Lucifer gets puffed up with pride, and Revelation 12 tells us that one third of the stars angels fell with Lucifer and are in rebellion to God. And Salilinski, Rules for Radicals, has dedicated his book In Rebellion to God, for those to Lucifer, you know, the first radical. So they see themselves as in rebellion to God. So anyway, there's a gap and not a gap for the evolutionist, for time. They need time for the world to evolve. No. The the fossil record would indicate that man was living with the dinosaurs at the same time, and then something occurred when man fell, death occurred. So the animals and people began to die. Right? And so that's fall. That's part of the chaos if you will. So Satan was cast down to the earth and he created the earth. He caused the earth in that interim there to be wasted, chaotic, destroying and ruining everything. That's why it says the earth was without form and void. And the holy spirit hovered, tohu vabohu, if you look at it, hovered like a like a mother hen over the earth, and then the Lord took and defined in six days, the planet began to create the planet, created the planet in six twenty four hour, didn't need the time, six twenty four hour days. Right? And so he brought definition. He brought everything back into order, if you will. And that's where Adam and Eve stepped into a vegetable garden. But they turned out to be carnivores, didn't they? Alright. So anyway, they're in a vegetable garden. And everything's just perfect. Right? And and then until Adam sinned And trans Adam Eve sinned. She is beguiled. Adam's transgressed, a different word for missing the mark. He stepped over the line. He knew what he was doing. How often you and I step over the line and say, God, I know that I'm not supposed to do this. God, but you know that Eve, she's so soft. She's so nice. I can't live without her, Lord. So I'm gonna step over the line so I can be with her rather than you, Lord. And then the Lord guards the tree of life, lest they would live in their sin forever. Can you imagine a decrepit body, how bad your body'd get? Oh, year after year. I mean, I'm ready to go home now, man. It's embarrassing. It's so embarrassing. And you see these people that are all this Botox, all this stuff, their faces are so messed up. Man, my hope is Jesus is gonna come for me, man. He's gonna come for me soon. And I love growing old with my high school sweetheart. I don't expect to look like we did when we were in high school, you know. I know that, hey, this is this flesh is a tent. It's wearing out. It's that person inside there is that beautiful and she's still a knockout. She's still beautiful. Amazing. But some some folks just don't wanna let go. I'm ready to let go because this is a chaotic crazy world, and I've got a new body waiting for me, a mansion made in heaven. And that's where I'm looking because I'm living in a place that's a it's a bunch of misfits, you know. We're not what we're gonna be. He's begun the good work in us, but he sure hasn't completed it just yet, but I have hope. So in six days, God created order out of chaos, describing his creation as very, very good. And so Adam was given everything. He's given Eve. He's given Eden. He had dominion. He's our first federal head. He's in charge. Take dominion over the earth, over the animals, and over everything. He had fellowship and he had eternal life. If if he would obey God and not eat of the tree of knowledge and good and evil, he fell, she fell. That's called the fall of man, a fallen nature. God told them, the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. So let's define death. What does death mean? Death means separation from God. Death also means in the physical realm of our body, our soul separated from our physical body. So those that we love, they're separated from us. They've gone on before us, and to be asked of the bodies to be present with the Lord, so their their soul and spirit are with the Lord. Awaiting a new body or already in their new body. But our body, their body is in the ground corrupting from dust to dust. It it shall return. And the Lord's able to take our DNA, our makeup, whatever, and perfect it. Adam was finitely perfect before he fell. But when he fell, sin entered into the DNA, entered into his life, and so he wasn't immediately dead physically, but he was separated from God. And in that separation, he could see his nakedness, he could see the chaos, he could see that what he did was wrong, and he tried to cover over all that nakedness by being religious. He became religious. He went to the church of fig leaves. Let's cover it up. Let's do a cover up. Let's go to church and smile and wear it all like a pharisee, and, and you guys aren't like that. You have a transparent pastor and you're transparent. We don't want to try to cover our sin like David did. We wanna confess our sin, knowing he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, continually cleanses me of all unrighteousness. So I don't need to be outside of fellowship with God as a believer. I can have moment by moment fellowship with God because Jesus is that bridge. Jesus is that mediator. Jesus is the one that took that separation and bridged it with his own life so that I could enter in. I can in fact, I can boldly come before his throne, not of judgment, but his throne of grace, unmerited favor to find help, to find mercy in my time of need. I can draw as near to the Lord as I wanna near. I have access. I've never been put on hold. I never am confused. Where is he? He's there at all times. He's promised he'd never leave me nor forsake me. He's just a prayer away. Just one prayer away, right there. One whisper away, he's there. Lord, forgive me. He's right there. Now, Peter, you know, he's he's he's he's pretty amazing to step out of that boat and to walk on that water. Pretty amazing dude. Would you do that? Would you step out of that boat to walk on water? And then people focus on, well, while he was drowning, he sunk. Well, remember that prayer that he prayed as he was sinking? I think it lasted twenty minutes, didn't it? He prayed all over the world. It it Lord, save me. And the hand reached out and grabs him, pulls him out. Right? I mean, it doesn't take much. It's just just call upon the name of the Lord. Just call. Call to me and I'll answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which you know not, he said. Jeremiah twenty nine eleven. I know the thoughts that I think towards you, say the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. And that's the beauty of the blessing of the relationship we enjoy presently. But Adam, he was he was cut off. He was cut off for a time there, and the Lord didn't let him persist or continue in that fallacy of a religious relationship. So the Lord took Adam and clothed him in coats of skins. The Lord explained the gospel to him, that the virgin bore son of God, the seed of the woman, that his heel would be bruised, but that one day he would crush the serpent's head. So Adam and Eve could see Jesus, God's son, that one day he'd be crucified, buried, raised from the dead, and and that they could continue in fellowship with the Lord. And they in turn, Adam and Eve would teach these things to Cain and Abel. Abel got it, Cain didn't get it. Cain didn't understand. He thought he could be religious. He could work his way. He could offer the work of his hands. But Abel understood without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. It's impossible that the blood of bulls, of bullocks, of animals would take away sin, but righteousness is imputed to Abel and that he's looking future that one day the lamb of God would come. God's only begotten son. Father, we have the wood, we have the knife. Where's the lamb? Abraham says to Isaac, God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice. Jesus said, Abraham rejoice to see my day and he saw it and he was glad. Paul tells us to the church of Galatia, and the gospel was before preached unto Abraham. All the old testament patriarchs were looking future that one day God would go to the cross and die for them. And that faith they had in that future event was imputed to them as righteousness. You and I look back historically to the cross, and our faith that Jesus went to the cross, buried, raised himself from the dead, and come in again for us is imputed in our account as righteousness. And so, salvation by grace through faith alone is the only way. And Adam fell, but God made a way for us to experience this fellowship. And so chaos ensued, the nakedness of existence, the guilt, the blame, the suffering of watching Cain kill their son, all of that a consequence, a result of Adam's failure, our federal head. The cursed federal head by man came death. Then in Genesis five, we see, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died, and he died. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. Seth lived nine hundred and twenty years, and he died. And Enosh goes through a whole list. They died. Why'd they die? Of the fall of man. The chaos that ensued because of sin. So the cure, the order out of chaos is what? Salvation. We just described salvation for the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament believer, the New Testament believer, it's always been by grace through faith alone, not of works, lest any man should boast. So by man came also the resurrection of the dead. So not just the fall, just death, they died, they died, they died. Then our second federal head, our last Adam, because see when Adam sinned, Adam relinquished control or what we would call dominion as a federal head over the earth. So what Adam was Lucifer, the serpent who beguiled him, who deceived him, who messed with him, became the prince of the power of the air. The little g god of this world. So we're fighting not against flesh and blood, but against spirits and principalities of the air. So what kind of authority does, you know, this Lucifer, this fallen angel, enjoy? Well, in Matthew four, Jesus is tempted, and he's taken after forty days of fasting, and he's taken by the devil. The devil comes and tempts him and says, if if you are the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. So he's appealing to his physiological hunger and craving for food. He need he's the God man. He's fully God. He's fully man. So let's appeal to his appetites as a human being. And Jesus said, it is written. So how's Jesus counteract the temptation of the wicked one? He goes to the scripture. He quotes the scripture. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. So he said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Not just the written word, but the spoken word, the rhema. It might be okay for another guy, no sin and eating some bread when you're hungry, but for me to use the free exercise of my deity that I've set aside as a man and take that temptation and live selfishly, No way. Not gonna do it. And so Jesus refused that temptation. Then Satan says, well, I know the scripture too. I know that your people at the end of the age, they're gonna they're gonna be calling 911 when they're in trouble. They're gonna go to Psalm 91 verse one. Right? They're they're gonna call it crawl in there, the in that place where the Lord can watch over them and care for them. But I'm gonna read a little further in Psalm 91 and, hey, he'll give his angels charge over you, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jump off this temple. Show everybody signs and wonders that you're the one. Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God. It's written. I'm not gonna tempt him. Well, you don't need to go by way of the cross. You don't need to suffer. Why don't you come over here and I'll show you all the kingdoms of the world as in a moment. If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you all these kingdoms of the world. By way of shortcut, I'm gonna be God, Satan's saying. And you, you can be a little God, you people in the book of Revelation. Right? When they believe the lie, Elon Musk chip in their head, and you're gonna live forever. Right? They believe the anti Christ who comes along. So many people thinking they can be God, they're never gonna die because they reject the truth. God's them give gives them over to a strong delusion that they would believe the lie. The lie that Satan said to Adam and Eve, you shall not die. And Jesus said, it is written, thou shall worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. And he says, be gone Satan, and he's gone. So illustrating that Satan does have authority. Illustrating that Satan knows the Bible better than you and I. And he'd love to trick us. But if you know the bible, if you know the writer of the bible, if you know Jesus, he's gonna have a hard time with the holy spirit helping you and I to recognize we're being deceived and to just simply and and here's a very important point. Don't rely on natural reasoning when the devil's tempting you. Go beyond natural reasoning because sometimes sometimes you have to walk by faith, not by sight. It may not make sense. Now, typically, God's, will for our life does make sense rationally. He's not always it's not always irrational, you know. Work and you get paid and you pay your bills. Right? You're not just waiting for the ravens to bring you food. But at other times, circumstances are such that you've exhausted every avenue, and now you're filled with worry and anxiety, and you go to Matthew six and you remember, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteous, all these other things be added unto me. I've been working real hard like a bird. God provides for the birds, but the words birds work hard. They're scurrying around to get that worm. Right? And I've been working real hard. But Lord, I lost my job. Well, pray. I got another job for you. Don't lose heart. And so we sometimes we're our human reasoning reaches its end, and that's where faith kicks in. That's where alright, I don't know how God's gonna do this, but but he's gonna. So I'm gonna worship him now before the election. I'm gonna worship him. I'm gonna believe in him. And if Kamala gets it, I'm gonna wake up worshiping again like Job. Naked came out in the world, naked I'm gonna go, the Lord gave it, the Lord take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. No matter what. It's real easy to praise the Lord right now when everything's going really good. But what are we gonna be like if something bad is allowed to happen again? How long is this gonna last? I told you I'm not gonna quench it. I hope it goes past Christmas. I want a really good Christmas. I might even dress up like Santa Claus one day. When I first got married, the Lord answered my prayer and gave me Kathy. And I was ecstatic. And then, two months into the marriage, she got pregnant. And boy, I was we're 21 years old. And man, that's just so amazing. And then we were brand new Christians, only been Christians a year, and started a little business and God's began to provide for us and we're healthy. And, you know, some of you, the first time you got pregnant and tried to have a baby, you lost the baby. We were able to have that baby, and we're just ecstatic. Just this is amazing being a Christian. We're sober. We're we're just entering into such a glorious season in our life. We had no idea before. And I remember praying this prayer, Lord, this is so easy. I I just barely get this prayer out of my mouth and you're answering these prayers. Being a Christian is so easy. And then I made this bad prayer in my pride. Lord, make me the kind of Christian that worships you in the storm. And all hell broke loose. I wish I'd have never prayed that. I could've enjoyed the honeymoon a little longer, you know? And, but that's who we really are, isn't it? Who we really are is when the pressure's on. They say you don't know what flavor Christians are until they're put in hot water like a tea bag, you know? And so I'm hoping for growth in my life. I'm hoping that I'm not a whiner. Been a whiner my whole life. I want to reach a place where I'm not a whiner anymore. Nobody likes a whiner. Grow up. Kathy tells me that all the time. Lord, it's a woman you gave me. So the cure, the order out of chaos. By man came also the resurrection of the dead, the second Adam, Jesus. Verse 22, present Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive, saved. Saved. He conquered death. John six thirty nine, this is the father's will which he has sent me that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing. He's not gonna lose you. You're not gonna lose your salvation. He's not gonna say, oops, we made a mistake. I'm gonna blot your name out of the book. All that the father has given me. He said earlier, he said, no man can come unto me except the father which sent me draw him. You were drawn to him. I wasn't looking for him. No way. The father draw him and I'll raise him up the last day. And whosoever comes to me, I'll know why he's cast out. You come to him. You exercise your free will and you came. He's using his influence, his election, his predestination is foreknowledge of you, and he's wooing, he's drawing you by his spirit. We see Saul of Tarsus trying to resist God, but we see God intervening. God abandoned, you know, apprehending Paul, Saul of Tarsus. Jesus said, you didn't choose me, but I chose you to his disciples. Isn't election a wonderful wonderful doctrine that God chose winners like you and me, that we win? All of us are losers apart from Christ. Without me, you can do nothing, Jesus said. Paul says, can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I'll raise him up at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which sees the son and believe it on him may have everlasting life and I'll raise them up at the last day. Jesus said in John five twenty eight, Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. Lazarus, come forth. And some commentators, they differentiate and they say, good thing he didn't just say come forth because then everybody would have come forth. He stipulated, Lazarus, come forth. And shall come forth, they that have done good. In John six, good master, what was we do, Ephesim, do to be saved or to enter an eternal life? And Jesus said, this is the work. People wanna work their way. This is the work that you believe. That's not a work. That's a believe. And so he says here, Marvel not of this for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and they and shall come for they that have done good. Good means they believed. It's good if you believe. It's how you get in. It's by faith. It's not by doing good deeds. Be very careful of a works gospel. Under the resurrection of life and they did have done evil, there's only one sin that keeps you out of heaven. Blasphemy of the holy spirit. God's gonna ask the question on the day of judgment to the unbeliever, what did you do with my son? You're never gonna face that judgment. You're never gonna be at the great white throne judgment. But he's gonna ask the unbeliever, what did you do with my son? And boy, listen to the excuses. Some of them are even gonna use the Christianese. They know the right words to say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name and do many wonderful works in your name? We we heard the formula. And what does he say? It's not a religion. It's a relationship away from me. I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. Oh, bummer. Christianity is a relationship and you can know Jesus and you know that you know that you know that you know him because his spirit bears witness with your spirit that you're a child of God. So they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation. So there's two resurrections. The first and the second. The second resurrection in Revelation 20 is for the wicked dead. And they're raised before God, they're gonna ask that question. The only way you don't get into heaven is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You rejected Jesus. That's the only reason anybody goes to hell is rejecting Jesus. God doesn't send anybody to hell. They go to hell by rejecting Jesus and choosing hell. It's a choice. I said this a couple weeks ago, I'm a say it again, it's kind of profound. It's hard for me to fathom. It's hard for me to fathom the mind of the unbeliever. I don't understand why he would say no. What what do you have to lose? If we're wrong, you can still have all your wretchedness. You know? But if we're right, what if we're right? But one guy said this way, he said, if God opened the doors of hell and said, alright, you're free. One guy said, they wouldn't leave hell because they hate God so much. Is that possible? Is that really possible that people choose hell because they hate God? That's mind boggling to me. It's just mind boggling. At a certain point, I'd say, uncle, uncle, uncle, okay. I'm tired of fighting against you. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I'm sorry. I don't understand why that that that can't work in their heart. And then they give account to while they're in their body what they did whether good or bad. So as a graduated punishment, he's going to punish according to Luke 12. Knowledge brings responsibility too much is given much is required. Those that heard the gospel, raised in Christian homes, taught the bible are gonna be more responsible on the day of judgment than those that everybody's so worried about that live out in the jungle never heard. Supposedly never heard. God provides order out of chaos. Number one, the salvation order. Thank God. Satan's running around like a roaring lion trying to mess everything up, but we've got a savior. And secondly, the sequential order. Verse 23. He's a God of order and things work in sequence. Verse 23, but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits afterwards, they that are Christ at his coming. This word order in the Greek is a military term. It speaks of sequence of soldiers or troops marching in a procession or battle. So Veterans Day, Marines, happy birthday Marines. One troop division at a time. Jesus is the first fruits and then a sequential order of troops, division of troops, five phases of the first resurrection. Jesus is the first fruits. The second phase is the church. So watch this. Five stages. Number one, Christ the first fruits. Second stage, he says, they that are Christ at his coming. Now, three different Greek words for coming. This here is in the Greek, which speaks of his presence, the presence of of Jesus. The second, use of coming is the word epiphany, which speaks of his glorious second coming, where he's going to destroy the antichrist with the sword of his mouth and the brightness, the epiphany of his coming, his Shekinah glory. Every eye is gonna see him. When Saul of Tarsus was walking to Damascus, the Lord appeared to him as a light brighter than the noonday sun in a desert. Not like Washington here. I think it's behind that right there, know. That's a sun break. That's a sun break. Yeah. No. This is a desert, brighter than the sun. Oh, it makes me think of Palm Springs right now. Oh, man. No. I love it right here. Right here. Epiphany, his glorious second coming for Israel. And then there's the third use of coming, and this is a beautiful, amazing word. It's the apocalypse. What's the apocalypse? The book of Revelation. His unveiling to the unbelievers. Oh, if I had a race car, I'd call it the apocalypse. They've got this Dodge with six wheels on it. They call it the apocalypse. I'm so in love with it. I just wish I get more nickels and noses in here, man. The unveiling before Christ rejecting sinners. So two state the second stage, let's come back to that, is the bride of Christ, the church, those that are in Christ, a key phrase there. So not the old testament saints. The second phase of the first fruits, Jesus the first fruits. Then it's first Thessalonians chapter four, where the Lord will descend from heaven. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with Donald Trump, the Trump of God. I promise I wouldn't say that. Alright. With the Trump. The trump is the blowing of a horn at the end of the feast of first fruits. Right? And it's the takia gedea. It's not like these poor commentators say, it's during the trumpet judgment. Cecile and the trumpet. Jesus coming back again for his church during the last last trumpet judgment. No. That's a different trumpet. It's a takia gedea. It's the long blast. There's several blasts of the horn, but this one's long blast. The trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Those in the church age from Pentecost to the present, the church age. The church age ends when? The rapture. Romans eleven twenty five. Blindness in part has happened unto Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. When the fullness are you holding us back? Are you here this morning and you don't know Jesus yet? You're holding us back. We've got to wait for you to get saved until the fullness of the Gentiles come in and then there's a rapture. The rapture is the caught away. And so he says, the dead in Christ rise first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up, harpazo, together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we ever be with the Lord. John 14. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also me. In my father's house are many mansions, many dwelling places, may maybe new glorified bodies. Right? Get a house too. Right? And a fig tree and all that. I know in the millennium, but what kind of dwelling place? Do I wanna be an unembodied spirit in heaven? Has he gone there to prepare a really nice body for Rick to dwell in? Because this is a tent. This tent's, you know, wasting away. So I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare in my father's house, many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. So there he is in the clouds. Right? The Parousia, his his presence that where I am, there you may be also. So we have an imagery here which you guys have learned. You should be really good at this. Four stages of a Jewish wedding. You presently are betrothed to him or engaged to him. How do you know? He's given you the earnest, Ephesians one, the earnest of his spirit, the down payment. He's given you the Holy Spirit as an engagement ring. You are marked out. You belong to him. Right? And you have the oil. You're filled with the Holy Spirit, the engagement in Matthew 25. So you are at the betrothal where he has marked you out the engagement, and the second phase is the fetching. Matthew 25, he's gonna come at a moment. You don't know when he's gonna fetch you and take you to his father's house, a Jewish wedding. The third phase of a Jewish wedding is the Bema Seat Judgment, is the ceremony. The ceremonies in heaven at the father's house. And Jesus gonna lavish you with gifts. You're gonna come back in the fourth phase in Revelation 19 with clean garment all decked out because the fourth phase is the marriage supper of the lamb at the home of the bride here on earth. Right? Ain't that glorious? Ain't that a glorious truth? Why would anybody not wanna study that truth, doctrine of the rapture? Especially pre trib. Come on. I get excited. The third stage of this first fruits is the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11. They're believers. And for three and a half years, twelve hundred and sixty days, forty two months, they torment the earth dwellers. And I like the distinction, the earth dwellers. Where's your citizenship? In heaven. Right? He's he's gonna clean up this earth before you come back here for a thousand years and rule and reign with him. And so the two witnesses are there and it says in Revelation eleven eleven, and after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them so they got executed by the antichrist. And they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them. Everybody's got a phone. Everybody can watch in real time all those low flying satellites that are all over the planet, the surveillance system, the beast system, and they're all watching that these two witnesses that tormented them are just lying in the street of Jerusalem, in the city where Jesus was crucified. And they're just laying there mocking, and they they throw a party. They throw a demonic Christmas party celebrating these guys, and they give gifts to each other. The Antichrist overcoming them and who can war with the Antichrist and then, uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. They're all watching. Crazy. That's the third stage. Don't live for the uh-oh. The fourth stage is the old testament saints. In Daniel 12 verse two, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And also again in Isaiah twenty six nineteen, this is the resurrection that Martha hoped in. She believed in a general resurrection. Mary and Martha when Lazarus was dead. And Jesus had to bring it a little closer. I am the resurrection and the lie. He that believes in me, though he are dead yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. And then he says, believest thou this? Oh, yeah. But you should have been here sooner and Lazarus wouldn't have died. Oh, yeah. If you'd have just gotten here sooner. Just gotten here sooner. And he's grieving. It says, and Jesus wept. Why did he weep? Did he weep because Lazarus was dead? What did he know he was gonna do? I suggest to you, he wept because of the unbelief. How incredibly hard it is to get people to believe. Just breaks your heart. Breaks your heart how how we underestimate how it grieves the Holy Spirit when we won't believe. The children of Israel failed to enter in to God's rest because of unbelief in the book of Hebrews. Without faith, it's impossible to please God for they that come to him must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Let's be men and women of faith as we sprint toward the finish line, as we finish our course. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God as we're in God's word, as we study his word, as we're permeated and soaking in the word of God and studying prophecy, there's gonna be a Shekinah glory on our face. We're gonna reflect the glory of the Lord because this earth isn't our home. It's lost its it's lost its shine. It's lost its brilliance. We're looking for Jesus and nothing else compares. The fifth stage is the tribulation saints. Now again, very important to distinguish between the saints. Don't lump them all together or you won't be able to track and understand eschatology. The old testament saints, now we come to tribulation saints. The tribulation saints are not the church. The church is not in the tribulation period. These are tribulation saints. And they're saved because they show their faith with one decision, they refuse the mark of the beast. So they're beheaded and they're seen in Revelation six and seven, an innumerable multitude of people beneath the throne of God saying, how long oh Lord, holy and true before you judge those who tormented us, killed us and all. You've got the 144,000 sharing the gospel. Everlasting gospel, the 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe as evangelist. You got an angel overhead sharing the gospel. You got the two witnesses sharing the gospel. People are getting saved during the tribulation period. Lots of people. And so Revelation 20 verse four, you've got these old or excuse me, tribulation saints where he says, I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. They held to the word of God and which had not worshiped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived in reign with Christ a thousand years. Order out of chaos. The first resurrection in sequential order. And we look at those old testament saints, they remind me of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, we're not bowing down to your image. You figure it out, Nonnegotiable. Well, you're not gonna be able to keep your job. You're gonna lose your retirement. You're gonna lose your life. Hey, to be absent the bodies to be present with the Lord. We don't fear death. It's just our moving day. Well, I saw this little clip. I don't know where I was on social media, but this is hilarious. I thought, I might be able to use that. But there was this guy in Ireland or Scotland or whatever, and everybody's standing around the grave there, and he made this recording. And there's this recording coming from the hole with the casket, and he's he's going, let me out. That is hilarious. And he's and he's saying stuff and these people are they're laughing like crazy. Boy, that take away the tension of a funeral, wouldn't it? No. Now I I could picture a believer doing that, but I've been to funerals with unbelievers. They're anything but like they're not like that. They're drinking and trying to not have to deal with the reality of death, you know. But god, wouldn't that be great? I'm I'm thinking how how I could maybe get a recording like that for me, you know. Because I want people to have a celebration of life. Right? So I don't know how we would add to that, but what a great idea. Let me out. You know, and he's talking to him from the grave. Oh, man. It's hilarious. But you gotta be a little tweaked to think that's funny, I guess. So, God provides order out of chaos. Number one, the salvation order. Secondly, the sequential order. And thirdly, in the spot that you love to hear me say, and finally, the sovereign sovereign order. Verse 24. Then come at the end. The word end is the Greek word telos and it means the very end. It means the end of the millennium. Notice the verse. When he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God, even the father. Jesus is gonna deliver up the kingdom to the father when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. And so at this point, I become a believer in politics. I believe that I am a believer in Jesus as king of kings and lord of lords. I'll do the best I can with the constitution republic. I don't wanna see communism or socialism or what other ism, but I am a monarchist. I believe in a king. Exclusivity of Jesus Christ. Jesus rules and reigns upon the earth as almighty sovereign for a thousand years. Won't that be great? And and a hundred year old guy is like a child. Just like a just getting started. My grandkids are so funny. I don't want them to grow up. They make me laugh. I just love their their youthfulness. Just and as they're growing up, I'm so proud of the ones that are getting older, but I told them the other day, we're we're talking about their mommy gonna have the seventh one on Thanksgiving. And I said, yeah, that that that little guy's coming on Thanksgiving. He's gonna come out like a turkey. They they just looked at me like, trying to process. He's king of kings and lord of lords. Every knee is gonna bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord. Even the demons believe in him and tremble. We know who you are, Jesus. Have you come to torment us before our time? They not only know who he is, they know their destiny. Do you know your destiny? Are you gonna spend all eternity with Jesus? Can you leave it with him? Can you trust him with your future? Can you trust him in your presence and knowing he's I got this covered, Rick. I got this covered. This work that I've begun on you and Kathy, I'm gonna complete it. I finished that which I start in everybody's life. He's never gonna say, oops. Oops. I messed up on that one. Nope. There's no oops with God. In Revelation five ten, and has made us under our God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. You you and I are gonna be a part of his government. Can you imagine that? Priest Rick, king Rick, prince Rick, doesn't sound right. I just want Kathy to call me Lord, just once. Just once. Revelation 20 verse six, blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years, the millennium. All of the satanists, they they they dream of a third rike or a fourth rike or, you know, we're gonna we're gonna have utopia upon earth. We're never gonna die. Satan is a counterfeiter. He's a liar. He's deceiving the earth dwellers. It's gonna be the most miserable failure that men have ever experienced, that of the tribulation period. They're not even gonna get to the eighth year and they're dreaming of a thousand years. Right? And you and I are gonna be ruling and reigning. Jesus is gonna take and reverse the curse. He's gonna restore the planet to an identity condition. He's going to cause the curse with animals, the lion, and the lamb, and the wolf, and little child leading them, and no more, adder's den, the the snakes, the poisonous snakes and all. You know, I would never ever ever move to Australia with all those poisonous stuff they have. Good lord. You know? Florida? You can have it. They got pythons there eating crocodiles now. People introducing pythons and mosquitoes, genetically altered mosquitoes that Bill Gates puts out there, you know. And they're as big as Volkswagen's all these bugs that they got. People got to put nets around their porch to sip their tea, you know. Man, we got it made here, don't we? There's no poisonous snakes. I can walk the yard. No snake's gonna get me. Nothing. There sometimes they tell me about these black something spiders and all that. Well, Kathy kills those, you know. No fear in Washington, man. I've never feared a drought in the state of Washington. I've never feared that I'm not gonna have enough water to drink. You know? And yet, I think our nut job governor declared a state of emergency last year. Didn't he? I mean, oh, that fits you. That fits you. You're going out. The same formula came in, you know, a nut job of all nut jobs. You know? Amazing. Jesus went first to the cross to reestablish order out of chaos. The cross comes before the crown for Jesus, the cross comes before the crown for you and I. We have the privilege in the midst of the chaos to suffer for his name's sake. To remind people of the cross, to remind people that my life is not my own, that I've been purchased by my savior. That it's a privilege to go away rejoicing that we're accounted worthy to suffer for his name's sake. Why? To remind others of his love. To remind others of the cross. Others of what how much he loves them, that he was willing to suffer for them. They see his suffering in the suffering that we go through in real time, not looking back in real time. Paul said, I bear about my body the marks or the stigmata of the Lord Jesus. And he wanted to fill up those sufferings. He wanted to you remember when the Lord called Paul? He told Ananias the prophet, show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake. He's a chosen vessel unto me. Oh, great. My best life now. No. Show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Paul considered it a privilege. He's he considered he looked at his old life, and he said he counted it all as dung and as refuse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. What if you were going down the road of life and you thought you're a really good person, you're going to heaven? And then one day, the Lord intervenes. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who art thou Lord? I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. Can you continue to kick against the goats? Paul was resisting the Holy Spirit. Paul was haunted by the face of Stephen when Stephen was stoned, and he looked up into heaven, his face shone bright like that of an angel. He was haunted by that face and hearing the voice of Stephen, the Lord, look, the Lord is standing. Jesus is standing, not seated at the right hand of his father, standing giving his witness, giving his martyr, Stephen, a standing ovation. One day the lord's gonna give you a standing ovation. He's gonna say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I'm gonna make you ruler, kings and priests. I'll make you ruler over much. Kathy says, yeah, I know. He's gonna have me be a street sweeper. I just know it. Poor thing. You know, she really says that stuff. I just know it, you know. Honey, whatever he asked for us is perfect. And I say, you know, honey, would you marry me again? Can we go to Jerusalem and have Jesus, you know, officiating? Would you marry me again? Rick, it said till death do us part. That's all you get. That's all you get, buddy. Oh, bummer. The title deed to the earth. When our first federal head, Adam, when he forfeited dominion, he forfeited the title deed to the earth. So when I speak in terms of redemption, it's not just, you know, like a like a piece of paper paying for your sins, it's also taking possession of that which we lost. And so he looks at the earth as a as a field and this field, what makes it better than any other planet out there in these galaxies he has, the universe. The thing what makes it valuable is you. You are that treasure within that field that he would go and sell all that he has so he could come back and purchase this field. You're that treasure. You're that pearl of great price. And so he's not only paid for your sins and he paid the Goel price as a kinsman redeemer to to redeem us with his blood. But in that price of in that redemption, he's coming for possession. He's gonna repossess the planet by right of creation, and secondly, by right of redemption. So Satan is cast aside legally. So they sung a new song, Revelation five verse nine, thou are worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred tongue, people, and nation. He's creator, he's redeemer, and he's king of kings, and he's lord of lords. And every knee is gonna bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord. Verse 25, for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. He's gonna defeat the devil. Satan fell. You could see him fall from heaven. And the devil's a defeated foe, a defeated adversary. Revelation 20 verse 10, the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And so just the fallen angels. So when Jesus returns and he comes in the clouds, in the Shekinah glory, the brightness of his coming, and we're coming with him, he's going to come to the area of Basra, Southern Jordan, and he's going to destroy the Antichrist and the false prophet with the armies of the Antichrist that are converging on Petra, Basra, Mount Seir. Isaiah 63, his blood is all trampling out the vintage. Right? The grapes of wrath. And he destroys the antichrist, second Thessalonians two, with the brightness of his coming, the sword of his mouth, and the bodies drop dead. They don't get buried. No burial for the antichrist, the world's hero and the false prophet. And they're taken by angels directly to the lake Of Fire. But Satan is grabbed hold of by an angel and taken to the abyss where he's going to remain for a thousand years. At the end of the thousand years, the millennium, there are gentiles, there are unbelievers, children that are repopulating the planet who are only obeying because they have to, who have these desires inside, these natural desires that they wanna act out in and fulfill and be in rebellion against the sermon on the mount, the law of Jesus. Right? There's a code. He's ruling and reigning in righteousness. And the first chance they get, he tests their heart. He wants to show them their heart. And the devil's there to tempt, to tempt them, and they come in rebellion against Jesus. They wanna overthrow him and God brings fire down from heaven to destroy them as in a moment, and the devil's taken and he joins up with the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the wicked dead of the great white throne judgment. And so that's the picture. Jesus is gonna overthrow all of them and remove Satan as an adversary of us as he's going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Verse 26, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Death is abolished, ordered out of chaos. So as we continue to go through this this chapter, Paul's gonna sing it. He's gonna say, oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory? He's gonna just exalt that Jesus has conquered death. Right? We don't fear death anymore. How glorious, especially if you have a loved one you're separated from, and you know that they believe in Jesus, and you believe in Jesus, and it's just a moment. It's just this life is but a vapor. You're gonna be with them soon. You can be reunited. And Ivan and Donna explained to us that Donna had two children that that died after after birth and that they go to visit the gravesite each year. Imagine what that would be like. But knowing one day you're gonna see them in their new glorified bodies complete. You're gonna meet them. That's the hope that we have as believers. I was reading and, D. L. Moody, when he was dying, totally different than Voltaire or Anton LaVey, where their people that were in the hospice were describing the grave torment they were in, shrieking. Voltaire once boasted that in his lifetime, before his lifetime's over, that he would destroy Christianity and destroy all Bibles and all. And, the attending nurse said she never ever ever wanted to attend an atheist ever again because it was so horrific, the screams that were coming from him. Now, this isn't a day where typically, people didn't die in hospitals where you're medicated and, you know, you're not in your mind. Morphine. I can't tell you how many people I've been in the room and they're morphined up. I don't want to be morphined up. If I can choose, I'd like to die in my own home or car or something. And people sing songs in the room there even if I'm not awake, you know. But, Dale Moody, he said when he died, he was getting a vision of heaven. He was between heaven and earth so to speak. Now we gotta be careful here theologically. Alright? This is this is him, the family members that were there. And he shouted out two names of grandchildren of his that had died and as little babies that he'd seen them. He he's still alive and he's saying, see them. I see them. I see and he named them. Ain't that amazing? That's the account of a believer. But an unbeliever, they don't have that hope. Tradition says that when Lazarus was raised from the dead, resuscitated No. Raised from the dead, he was dead four days, That he never smiled again. Why would that be? Why'd you call me back? I was in heaven. So those that we're releasing to go be with the Lord, let them go. Let them go. We sorrow, but not of those who have no hope. We have hope we're gonna see them again. And I don't want the Lord to take Kathy or take any of my family. I I'm selfish. I want them for me. So we pray, Lord, nevertheless not my will, but thy will be done. Lord, do you know what's best? It's hard. It it it's really hard, but we have the hope of the resurrection. Death is abolished. Order out of chaos. In Revelation, that last enemy that's destroyed his death. In Revelation one eighteen, Jesus said, I am the I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. Jesus has the keys of hell and of death. In Matthew ten twenty eight, fear not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Absolute and complete sovereign. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And now he quotes from Psalm eight verse six and verse 27. For he has put all things under his feet, but when he say it all things are put under him, it is manifest that he has accepted which did put all things under him. So Jesus says, my meat in John four thirty four is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. So Jesus is gonna subdue everything and then he's going to come to that submission unto his father. He's gonna bring everything including himself back out of the chaos into order of submission under the father. Verse 28, and when all things shall be subdued under him, the great white throne and the second resurrection, then shall the son of man himself be subject under him that put all things under him that God may be all in all. So we come back to what? Harmony. Everything's put back harmonious before the fall of Lucifer, like before the fall of Lucifer and the fall of man, of Adam and all. The world in chaos. Order out of chaos. In Revelation 21, so again, if we if we look at the outline, sequential outline of what's ahead of us, because we study the book of Revelation. Right? If we look at verse 19 of chapter one, John gives us an outline of sequential order of the different dispensations or age, a timeline if you will. So he's told, John, write the things which you have seen. So John the revelator is taken up in a time machine. He's up and he's able to see the future. He's able to see everything. Right? The apocalypse, the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Yet future. As John's on the island of Patmos, and they tried to boil him in oil and he wouldn't boil, so the Lord allowed the John to be exiled there where he wrote the book of Revelation. So write the things which you have seen. Verse chapter one, John. Write what you saw in chapter one, the risen Christ. He saw the Lord risen in his glory. A picture of Jesus there in chapter one. Write the things which are church age. Chapter two and three, John wrote the seven churches and as they telegraph, as they telescope to the end of the age, the church of Laodicea and all, maybe where the church of Philadelphia with a little little strength, but the church age, when the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, right, then the rapture takes place. So he sees the present tense, the church age, which you and I are still in the church age two thousand years. And then he's told to write the things which shall be hereafter. It's the Greek word, after these things, after what things? After the church age. So after the church age of Revelation two and three, we come to chapter four and John's instructed in verse one to come up hither, come up here to see the things here after. So the picture is the church in heaven in chapter four and five. The four and twenty elders in chapter four are worshiping the Lord. Right? Representatives of the church. And then in chapter five, who's worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals, the line of the tribe of Judah. We see the churches there worshiping as Jesus takes this the scroll and opens the seals. What happens in chapter six? The seal judgments. That's where the things here after after the church age, churches in heaven, after the church age. Then the tribulation period starts in chapter six. The seal trumpets and bold judgments. Finished in chapter 19 with the return of Jesus Christ with his bride, with Armageddon and all. And then in chapter 20, we have the millennium. We have the thousand year rule and reign of Jesus. The second resurrection, the judgment of the wicked dead after the thousand years, the devil's put in the lake of fire, the beast falls, all the wicked dead. Now you get into chapter twenty one and twenty two, it's called the eternal state. It's after the millennium. That's when Peter comes in and Peter describes the earth being destroyed like a nuclear bomb with fire. Everything's burned up. But there's a new heaven and a new earth coming out of the sky, coming down to the new earth. And you know, I've said this before, wouldn't it be trippy if while we're in the tribulation period, or excuse me, the millennium? That's a slip there. If we're there in the millennium, and we're ruling and reigning with Jesus, wouldn't it be a trip if we could go back and forth in our new glorified bodies up to heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem and all? But in 2122, it's coming down toward the earth. Right? Kinda like the moon there hovering over the earth and everything's been made right. So let me read out of Revelation 21 verse one. And I saw a new heaven and new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I oh, that's a bummer. There's planets though for surfing. Now, know that. And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. All the memories that you have of all the terrible things that have happened, somehow God does that. Is it Men in Black or Scott that thing? You don't remember anything? Yeah. Because if I remembered it, family members that were in hell, I couldn't be very joyous in heaven. Right? Somehow, there's a whole new thing that takes place. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There should be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Some of you live in constant pain. What's your pain level? It's a 10 right now, pastor Rick. Could you hurry up? I can't sit much longer. For the former things are passed away. So no more chaotic consequences of sin. Verse five, and he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. No more physical infirmity, no more mental infirmity, no more separation from God, no more mind trips from the devil. We're made whole. We're made right. We're perfected. And he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And he said to me, it is done. It is finished upon the cross of Calvary. He says here, it is done. I'm the alpha, the omega, the beginning letter of the Greek alphabet, the end letter. I'm the total the beginning and the end. It all is about me. The volume of the book is written of Jesus. It's all about him. The beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of water of life freely. That's a present tense a present tense invitation to you. You that are holding us back from the rapture. Jesus said, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believes in me as the scripture said out of his belly shall flow torrents of living water. God has made man for the purpose of fellowship with himself. When man sinned, when Adam fell, we all received an edemic fallen nature. And with that edemic fallen nature, there remains a void within our heart. That void within our heart of that emptiness as we go through life can only be filled in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The woman at the well, Jesus said in John four, have water that you'll never thirst again. Right? As the deer pass after the water brook, so pants my soul after thee, oh God. And yet, some people continue to go through life like Mick Jagger, I can't get no I can't get no satisfaction. Right? I tried I tried I tried. I tried drugs. I tried alcohol. I tried money. I tried women. I tried men. I tried we don't wanna go any further, do we? They try it all. And nothing fills the void. And you and I come along and the Lord gives us something that's so much greater than anything we've ever tasted. That no matter what suffering, no matter what wails, no matter what misery we go through, nothing is too difficult to go through because what we have is so much better. So much greater. A relationship with God. God provides order out of chaos. Some of you came from homes like me where they were alcoholic crazy homes. My mom was a rager. Screaming rager and lunatic. Right? Fortunately, I'm married to a woman that doesn't communicate in that way. My my nerves. My nerves. But you have a pastor that communicates in that way. It's hard, isn't it? It's hard. But the Holy Spirit calms our hearts. The Holy Spirit reminds us that this light affliction is but for a moment, and it's working a far more internal weight of glory while we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And so we have perspective. We hold things in perspective. It's just a light affliction. We'll be okay. We're gonna get there. Anybody here this morning, you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, but you want to. Just lift your hand up. Jesus said, if you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my father and the angels of heaven. If you deny me before men, I'll deny you before my father and the angels of heaven. Are you ready to make a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ? There's no in between. You're either formed against him, either saved you or not. You're the saint or an ain't. Anybody here this morning? No such thing as almost pregnant, almost a Christian. I pray for president Trump and his family. They might be almost saved. Well, king Agrippa, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Well, there's no such thing as almost. I wish you were all the way, man. Come all the way. Anyone here this morning? Father, thank you for this congregation. Thank you for building your church. Thank you that not even I can scare them away, Lord. I thank you, Lord, that they belong to you. And Lord, we all worship you. We adore you. We thank you for your love. We thank you for how your love just knits our hearts together, and we pray evermore, Lord, that we would be a powerful witness in these last days of your coming kingdom. We'd be a witness, Lord, of your love and the relationship that people can have. And Lord, we pray that you add to the church daily such as should be saved. We pray that great grace would be upon us, Lord. That we'd have a capacity to forgive one another, to care for one another, love one another, not hold grudges or any of that stuff, Lord, and just pray that you'd be glorified. Pour out your holy spirit to overflowing upon each of us, we ask. In Jesus' name.
About This Podcast
Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Sunday Service
Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
