“THE END: How Close Are We?” Part 3 - Pastor Raymond Woodward

we have been in a little series called the end for the last couple of sessions we've been together and we want to conclude tonight and pastor is going to be teaching but I believe God's going to speak it was just a couple of days before his crucifixion in Matthew that Jesus sat down with his disciples on the Mount of Olives and as they overlooked Jerusalem they had a question for him and their question basically was the title of this particular series Jesus master the end how close are we here's the reference in Matthew 24 and three as he sat upon the Mount of Olives the disciples came unto him privately and they said tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world in his answer to them Jesus pinpointed a particular generation of people and said those people will witness a rapid series of startling astounding events and those events will pile on and they'll accelerate and they'll intensify and it will all culminate in his second coming Jesus said he would return at a time when these signs of the times were happening more frequently and with more intensity than ever before and Jesus also said that people wouldn't even notice because they'd be so busy so preoccupied so successful in so content so distracted they wouldn't even notice the signs of the times now like some of you in this room I've been around the Pentecostal church basically all of my life and I thank God for my heritage but it is possible to be a Pentecostal to sit on Pentecostal pews to attend a Pentecostal church to be in Pentecostal prayer meetings to hear Pentecostal sermons to come to Pentecostal altars and it is still possible because of the treachery of the era we're living in to totally tune out to what God is actually doing can you imagine I meant last time can you imagine if we could transport ourselves back to the decade that I received the Holy Ghost and got baptized in Jesus name that was 1974 I was 12 years old I remember the prayer meetings and the preaching I remember the songs and the sermons about the coming of the Lord and I remember that any time anybody ever preached about the rapture it literally shook us it's not that way anymore you can talk about the rapture of the church so you're blue in the face and at best you might get a polite nod from many people and at worse you get open opposition because if they don't like it they'll just go find some other preacher they're a dime a dozen everywhere online on television on radio and they can find somebody to explain away the conviction that they're resisting and that's the era we live in Jesus did say it would be at an hour that we didn't think that he would come and if you could imagine going back 40 50 years and passing to our elders who preached to us who preached and prayed this church into existence if you could pass them what we've read and seen in the media in the last three months you want to believe they'd be on their faces saying Jesus you must be comin soon but Jesus is also the one who said when it begins to accelerate people will tune out and fall asleep and so we already heard it in the media we've got unprecedented volcanic activity in Hawaii we've got the worst earthquake or volcanic interruptions and and all of the mess and the earthquakes in Guatemala that the Thompsons have seen in more than 30 years of ministry there we've got North Korea things happening there we've got Israel things happening there we've got all kinds of political stress much of it focusing on the relationship between America and the European Union which is a focal point of endtime prophecy I don't know how it's all gonna pan out I don't know what's gonna happen in every specific step but I just came to church one more time to say let's not lose sight of the big pit in the little picture of our everyday work life because Jesus is coming soon and the signs of the times are beginning to accelerate and intensify I told you twice and I'll tell you again because it startles me and it shakes me according to LifeWay research only 1/3 of Protestant pastors even believe in the rapture anymore and if you go outside Protestant groups even less believe it but Jesus talked about the rapture and the Apostles talk about the rapture and the Bible teaches there will be a rapture and the Apostolic Church in our generation still preaches and teaches and believes that Jesus is coming soon and that's why we do everything we do just because we're not expecting it or don't want it doesn't mean it's not going to happen and that's why Jesus ended his discourse on the Mount of Olives with this plea disciples please be ready because in such an hour as you think not that's when I'm coming back it's a Wednesday night we've had a busy day it's a busy week it's a busy season it's summertime and we're getting all kinds of things done around the yard and some of us are getting ready to take some well-deserved time and be with our families over the summer months in the nice weather there's nothing wrong with that that's wonderful God wants us to enjoy living for him God wants us to enjoy our families but if we do all of that and we miss having our kids and grandkids our spouses and our parents and all of our loved ones ready for the rapture then we've missed the biggest thing on God's calendar so I would ask this great church I'm going to shift gears into teaching for a few minutes but I'd ask this great church I'd ask you to shake yourself and just lift up your hand and your voice and say God I want to be ready you might not feel the intensity of it because the devil wants to lull us to sleep and distract us Hollywood's got all kinds of entertainment to preoccupy your mom so you never think of what's real only of what's on reality TV but in the middle of a generation like that I lift up my voice and I say Jesus I want to be ready Jesus I want to go in the rapture Jesus far above everything else I must be saved I need I have to I want to it's my heart's desire to get to heaven and make my eternal home with you God don't let me be lulled to sleep by the busyness and the preoccupation of the end times in Jesus name let me review this very quickly we talked about kind of an overview of prophecy in the end times and this isn't every piece but these are the big pieces right now we are looking every day every week every month at the signs of the times that are happening all around us and while we are here at church they're unfolding while you go to work tomorrow they're unfolding every single week something is happening and it's not that these things have never happened there have always been earthquakes there have always been volcanoes there have always been all of that but the intensity is moving off the charts Jesus is coming the very next event on God's calendar is not something earthly it's not something that's just more of the same the very next important event on God's calendar is the rapture of the church and the church will be caught up together with him and we will join our loved ones who've died they will actually precede us in the rapture we will be caught up together with them and we will meet the Lord in the air we'll talk about this again in just a few moments but when we get to heaven there are two events that happen there first of all there's the judgment seat of Christ Christians are not judged as to whether they're saved or lost if you get to heaven you're obviously already there but we are judged for the deeds that are done in body it's called the judgement seat of Christ the other event that happens in heaven while the church is there is called the marriage supper of the Lamb the greatest celebration that's ever been held for God and his bride and then while that is happening here on this earth there's a seven-year period that the Bible simply refers to as tribulation sometimes the Great Tribulation that's how we refer to it and the earth during that seven year period it will be the wrath of God the wrath of the devil the wrath of nature the wrath of man it'll all be combined together it will be the worst time of trouble and turmoil that this world has ever seen people will pray to die and won't be able to die it is the most horrendous thing you could ever imagine I'm so glad that the Bible says that God has not appointed his church unto wrath but to obtain Redemption I am NOT anticipating the Antichrist I am anticipating Jesus Christ I'm not anticipating all of the wrath of the tribulation I'm anticipating the great joy of the rapture and the marriage supper of the Lamb Jesus will return and he comes the first time for his church and we go to meet him in the air but after that seven year period of tribulation is over here on the earth the Antichrist and all of his forces will attack for one final assault the tiny nation of Israel and God Himself will return from heaven with his church and he will intervene in what we call the Battle of Armageddon he will deliver Israel from her enemies once and for all and then he will set up his Millennial Kingdom and God will rule this earth with his church for a thousand years of total peace no crime no war no sickness no pain Jesus will live here among humanity and we'll talk about that in just a few minutes at the end of the millennium a thousand years the devil is loosed from the bottomless pit for a very short time and in just a short time he's able to take these nations of the world who've been blessed by the peaceful reign of Jesus for a whole millennia and he will take those nations and somehow will convince them to rebel against God the Bible references that as the Battle of Gog and Magog you want to believe that's going to be a very short battle it doesn't take God very long to wipe out the devil and his forces and then humanity stands all of humanity stands before the great white throne judgment it is the most dreaded date on the calendar of any man woman boy or girl because at that moment God opens the books he knows everything that you've thought or said he knows everything that you've done or intended to do and God will judge every human being who has ever lived in any generation and then of course it's eternity the Bible talks about the new heaven and the new earth but the Bible also talks about a place called the lake of fire and says that death and he'll were cast into the lake of fire just before we move on I want to remind you because this will be important in a few moments that the coming of Jesus to this earth will occur in two stages or two phases first he comes for his church and we go in the rapture then he comes with his church to set up his Millennial Kingdom and that's why you have verses like this in the scripture looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ the rapture is our Blessed hope and and people make fun of the rapture they say that's just an escape hatch that's a crutch for Christians who just can't take the pressure you know what I think I can take just about as much pressure as the next guy but when Jesus decides to end this I'm not staying one second after he ends this I'm ready to go when he calls the church home I don't want to be here once Jesus lifts his spirit and his church out of this world there's nothing there's no amount of money there's no amount of sin there's no amount of pleasure there's no amount of Fame there's no amount of anything that could convince me to waste my life and not be ready for the rapture in Matthew 24 many of the signs that Jesus gave are actually signs of his coming back to earth they're signs of his glorious appearing which is at least seven years from right now if Jesus came tonight many of those signs of the times they're not pointing to the rapture they're pointing to his glorious appearing when he comes back with his church and he sets his feet on this earth and he sets up his Millennial Kingdom and here's the point if that event is not going to happen for at least seven years from right now because Jesus hasn't come yet if that event is at least seven years in the future and we're already starting to see signs of that event even before the rapture has happened you want to believe that we are just inches away from the rapture of Jesus Christ what gives you a right pastor Raymond to stand up in a pulpit and say we're so close to the rapture I heard a preacher preach that when I was a kid on a Pentecostal Pew yes but all of the signs that we've seen had not happened yet there was no technology CNN and Fox News at all of the different 24-hour news networks they didn't exist back then when those faithful men of God stood in a pulpit and tried to get generations ready for the coming of the Lord but they exist now it's possible for every eye on earth to see him when he comes in the clouds all of that technology the mark of the beast it's all possible now and so we are living in a generation when there's nothing to prevent Jesus for coming back but furthermore I would tell you this how many of you in this room you're you're my age are older how many are 55 or above would you lift your hand how many remember your teenage years how many of you have ever said it seems like it was just yesterday exactly so if the rapture is 10 years from right now we don't have very long to get ready if the rapture is 10 years let's put it way off in the future if the rapture is a decade from right now we still need to get very serious about building God's kingdom and getting our family safe and getting serious about making our lives count for God I can't tell you the rapture is going to happen this week but I can tell you the rapture is coming at us like a loaded freight train it's barreling down on humanity the earth is shaking politics is shaking all the systems that people have trusted in for generations they're all being ripped apart and revised and reinvented the morals of our countries are going downward so fast that we just shake our hands and in an hour like that Jesus is gonna step out on the balcony of heaven and say enough I'm going to get my church and you want to believe we want to be ready we're not rate until five minutes before the rapture to hope we see a certain sign and pray through one oh waste of your life that would be because everything you do for God it's gonna be rewarded a hundredfold in heaven so if we got 10 years you need to get serious about doing something for God Matthew's Gospel is astounding and he says so many things about this end of time no matter what it costs you personally no matter who you have to walk away from no matter what relationships you have to give up no matter what kind of career choices you need to make that might not be as good as another career choice financially you have to be ready for the rapture and that means you have to have an everyday relationship with Jesus Christ the rapture is life's most important appointment you cannot miss it you can miss your graduation you can be late to your own wedding you you can do all kinds of things we joke and say he's so late he's gonna miss his own funeral let me tell you you can miss just about anything in this life but you cannot miss the rapture it has to be on your priority list now in the last time we were together I think the thing that that stirred up more emotion than anything else is this that when the raptures here it's over as far as belonging to the church yes there will be people on this earth after the rapture because the tribulation has to happen then there'll be the Millennium but the same Bible that tells me that we cannot be saved unless God's Spirit draws us that same Bible tells me that God's Spirit is going to be removed from the earth during the tribulation so that the Antichrist can be revealed the new birth will be impossible during the tribulation because the Spirit of Christ that draws men and women to himself he will remove his spirit from this earth so there is no chance to be born again and to be part of the church after the rapture second Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul's writing in this little passage about the Antichrist and he says and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity doth already work only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way let me give you a hint for Bible study if you're struggling there are all kinds of websites where you can look this up very easily one's called Bible gateway there are many of them but if you're struggling with the meaning a verse look it up in another modern translation here's a good example of this verse the word letteth it means to prevent or to restrain or to hold back but you wouldn't know that if you don't study a little bit because it's King James it's 400 years old English language and and so let me read this verse to you these two verses from the contemporary English version just one of any new version I could have picked Paul said you already know what is holding this wicked one back the Antichrist until it is time for him to come any guess as to what's holding the Antichrist back it's the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost specifically in the Church of the Living God the Antichrist can't be revealed with all his plots and plans and schemes we'd have a Saturday night prayer meeting and we bind him and every other Church in the Apostolic movement would go too fast and in prayer the Antichrist couldn't get his program together but the Bible says his mysterious power is already at work but someone is holding him back and the wicked one won't appear until that someone is out of the way when God takes his church off this planet we have the expression in the English language it's kind of crude it's like hell on earth it is going to be hell on earth as soon as the church is taken out of here because the sweet Holy Ghost that we feel moving from vessel to vessel he's going to take this church out of here and he's gonna withdraw his presence so don't you be banking on well if the rapture happens I'll get really sorry I'll get really serious I'll really cry I'll really pray no you've got your chance right now to do all of that and to be ready for the rapture of the church furthermore if you don't have a love enough for the truth to serve God right now on this side of the rapture don't fool yourself by thinking you're suddenly going to get a love for the on the other side of the rapture in fact the Bible says exactly the opposite same chapter verse 10 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish watch because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved and because people would not receive the love of the truth for this cause God he's talking about the Antichrist for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie the lie is the Antichrist that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness yes it stirs up emotion yes we feel bad for people that aren't safe yes we're concerned for the loss and we should be but if we're going to do anything about it we can't hope that would be such a stupid way to interact with God's Word that God's Word says it's going to be this way and we hold out hope that it's going to be something different it's not going to be something different so if you care if you love them if you're concerned about it now is the time to pray now is the time to talk now is the time to witness now is the time to tug on their heartstrings because we gotta get as many people in God's church before the rapture because after those that don't receive a love of the truth they're going to receive the lie they will be the first ones lined up to receive the Antichrist and to brag on him and how he's brought peace to the world and you want to believe there's going to be some weird explanations for what happened to the church why all those people disappeared remember folks if you don't get anything else out of this little irritating series that comes into our comfortable existence in a beautiful City at the cusp of summer where we're just about ready to enjoy a little bit of relaxation and here's pastor preaching on the end times but if you don't get anything else out of this little three-part irritating series you remember that the Bride of Christ is completed at the rapture and when we go up in the air it's going to be eternal joy eternal bliss eternal peace with God forever but after that the bride is completed I don't care who has a different opinion or who's trying to give you some kind of false hope don't you listen to anybody who says don't worry about the rapture it'll all pan out afterward it will not pan out afterward you got to be ready and immediately after the rapture that's when that horrible period unfolds on this earth jesus said for then shall be Great Tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time add up all the Hitler's all the despots all the Roman emperors all the cruelty all the degradation of man but jesus said the tribulation is going to be worse than anything that's ever happened in the world's history no nor ever shall be again it's going to be one seven-year period when hell is unleashed the tribulation is described in scripture using these words wrath judgment indignation trial trouble destruction darkness desolation overturning shaking waist empty spoil devour burn distress punishment there's not a good word on the list but the tribulation is necessary because it's also referred to as the day of the Lord if you've ever been mocked by some cruel sinful person that's cynical about your love for Jesus and hates you because of your devotion to modesty and and they don't have any issue with so much of the sin and perversion in the world but they have an issue with you coming to the house of God and live in your nice little life if you've ever had any kind of persecution or mockery please know that the tribulation period is called the day of the Lord God is going to offend Kait his people and all of the wrath that's going to be poured out on this earth is God saying I let my people walk through valleys I let my people be persecuted my people they became martyrs for my name but there's something that's going to happen in retaliation if you would in judgment if you would God is going to open up all the judgment that's been held back for 6,000 years of human history and in one seven-year period he's gonna pour it out on this earth and you do not want to be here not on your life the purpose of the tribulation is twofold first of all God's going to pour out judgment on unbelievers for all their godlessness and every smug smirking perverse comedian that gets on late-night television and mocks everything godly righteous and mocks Christianity they're gonna be in the front lines of suffering and they won't know what in the world to do God is gonna vindicate his people the second purpose of the tribulation is to prepare the Jewish people for their Messiah he's coming the second time around and this time they're going to embrace him and receive him there is no purpose in scripture for the church going through the tribulation and that's why the church is not mentioned throughout most of the book of Revelation now if you diagram it out after the rapture of the church the tribulation takes place over the next seven years and then at the end of the tribulation Jesus comes back with his people if you were to diagram out that the tribulation and if you were to lay a little chart like this over top of the book of Revelation revelation is the most detailed account of the end times as far as the book as far as the Tribulation Period and revelation 6 through 19 those chapters give us an outline of what's going to happen during the seven years of the tribulation there are seven seal judgments there are seven trumpet judgments and there are seven vial judgments or bowl judgments when God pours out judgment on this earth each series of judgments becomes progressively worse there are also seven thunders there's another series of judgment we read about it in Revelation 10 verse 4 and when the seven thunders had uttered their voices John said I was about ready to write it down but I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered and John don't include them in your vision I think that's because there are some things that are so horrendous that are going to happen God didn't even want John to reveal them but what's here is bad enough first of all it's the seven seals a rider on a white horse the Antichrist comes to power then a Red Horse representing war a black horse representing famine and a pale horse representing the death and destruction that comes after a famine those are the first four seals the fifth seal we see persecution and martyrs being sacrificed these will be Jewish people that stand up for the truth of the Messiah and the Antichrist will wipe them out seal number six is great earthquake that happens in the world and then seal number seven is silence even in the realm of heaven like everybody's holding their breath as the seven trumpets prepare to sound the seven trumpets it's progressive judgment it gets worse and worse the first trumpet is judgment on the land one-third of the trees on earth are burned up all of the green grass anywhere on this planet burned up in judgment trumpet number two is judgment on salt water one-third of the oceans of this planet will turn to blood one-third of the ships and one-third of the fish in the oceans will perish trumpet number three is judgment now on the fresh water of the earth and one-third of the drinking water for this planet will be poisoned trumpet number four is judgment in the heavens one-third of the Sun one-third of the moon one-third of the Sun be darkened you say are you making this up is this science fiction you can read this in your Bible just as plain as they trumpet number 5 an army of what seems to be demonic locusts the Bible says they're loosed from the bottomless pit and for five months they literally permit every human being on the planet no you don't want to take your chances I'll just be casual about the rapture I hope I can pray through after you don't want to be here even if you could pray through which you can't you don't want to be here to have to endure all of this trumpet number six is an army of horsemen some cost scholars think their demonic some not but they go into a great war and and many many are killed and if you just add up one third here and one third here if you just add up the statistics that are given in this part by about halfway through the Tribulation Period one half of the planet that was living when the rapture happened and got left behind one half of them will be gone one half of them will be dead and then trumpet number seven there are great voices in heaven because we're reaching the midpoint of the tribulation and the tribulation is actually divided into three and a half years when it's man's wrath and nature's wrath mostly but the last three and a half years it's literally the wrath of God Himself poured out on the planet and around the middle of the tribulation several key things begin to happen and they accelerate and intensify the judgment that's being poured out on an unbelieving world Revelation chapter 12 and chapter 13 introduced us to what you might call an unholy trinity first of all there's the dragon this is Satan we're told he's cast out of heaven once and for all he's denied access to God's throne forever he can't even walk in there to accuse the Brethren anymore but somehow when he is cast out of heaven he is incarnated as close to an incarnation as there could be it's like he's incarnated in the Anti price and it causes the Antichrist to flip out up until this point about halfway through the world has loved him he's brought peace and it looks like despite all the things that are happening that he's the man for the hour but all of a sudden the Antichrist flips a switch and he begins to insanely persecute the Jews all that matters is wiping out God's people the Jews revelation 12 verse 12 therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in them but woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down to you he has great wrath because now he knows he only has but a short time to other characters that are introduced at this point in the Great Tribulation the next one is the beast from the sea this is the Antichrist in Scripture a sea represents the masses of people and the Antichrist apparently dies from some kind of wound and then after that it's like the devil energizes him it's like he almost does a satanic incarnation and the Antichrist breaks the treaty the peace treaty he had made with Israel he'd allowed them to rebuild their temple he'd allowed them to worship on the Temple Mount but now he breaks that treaty in the dead center of the tribulation and the Bible says it was given unto him to make war with the Saints that's not the church that's Old Testament Saints that's the Jews and to overcome them see the Antichrist can't overcome the New Testament church but he can overcome a physical earthly people and power was given him over all Kindred's and tongues and nations this is literally the dictator of the entire world and there's one more character introduced to us in the midpoint of the tribulation and he's maybe the most dangerous of all he's called the beast from the earth we know him in Scripture as the false prophet he works miracles to deceive the masses he puts an image of the Antichrist in the temple in Jerusalem and he forces people to worship it then he enforces what we know in Scripture as the mark of the beast and by penalty of death he said if you don't take the mark of the beast in your right hand or in your forehead you can't by yourself will starve you to death the Bible says about him he had power to give life unto the image of the Beast that the image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed now here's the most startling thing about the Tribulation Period you can find it right about in here somewhere around the middle the reaction of the humanity you would think it would be repentance oh god what have we done we missed the rapture we weren't in your church we refused the gospel we spurned the Bible you would think the reaction of humanity in the tribulation would be repentance but it's not repentance it's just more rebellion no matter how many judgments are poured out men will still blaspheme the name of God and refuse to repent here's their reaction to judgment if you think somebody's going to wait until after the rapture and then repent that's not going to be the spirit of the tribulation it will be hatred toward God and they blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and they repented not of their deeds it's about the midpoint of the tribulation 1/2 of the planet that remained after the rapture is now dead and there's just devastation everywhere but still humanity shakes their fist in the face of God and says we will not serve you and then after the midpoint of the tribulation somewhere in there seven bowls or seven vials of judgment are poured out the first bowl is grievious sores that afflict the bodies of everyone the the second Bowl is that the sea all the salt water on the earth it was one third before this time it's all of it turns to blood it's Bowl number three when it's poured out this judgment is all the rivers all the freshwater this planet is turned to blood bowl number four when it's poured out it's scorching heat from the Sun that burns the flesh of humanity bowl number five is poured out and there's darkness and pain on everyone throughout all the kingdom of the Antichrist when bowl number six is poured out we're starting to wind down armies crossed the Euphrates River and they begin to gather because they're coming to the Battle of Armageddon they're going to literally try in retaliation to god they're gonna try to wipe the nation of Israel off the map and then Bowl number seven there's again a great earthquake and hail that hits those armies as they're gathered in that battle revelation 17 and 18 spell out God's judgment on the Antichrist religious Kingdom his economic machine his political system and then finally revelation 19 tells how the Lord Himself will return this time with his church and he will interrupt the Battle of Armageddon and he will save the nation of Israel from certain annihilation under the hand of the armies of the Antichrist and when he comes back we will be with him the Bible simply says it this way I saw heaven open there's a battle going on in the valley of Megiddo in Israel all the nations of the world are raising their fist against God and their weapons against Israel but right in the middle of that battle John said I saw heaven open I saw a white horse and he that sat upon him I recognized him he was my faithful and true God and in righteousness he's coming to judge and he's going to make war his eyes were as a flame of fire on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is not unfamiliar to us his name is called the Word of God and the armies which were in heaven somebody say that's me they followed him upon white horses somebody say that's me clothed in fine linen white and clean somebody say that's me because when he comes back we're gonna be coming with him out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nation's and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he has on his clothing and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords and in that spectacular moment every soldier of every army it's gonna fall prostrate on the ground and they have to acknowledge that he's king of kings and he's Lord of lords but we get to acknowledge that tonight long before he ever takes his church long before he ever returns we're not waiting for God to come in judgment and say I'm King of Kings we proclaim him as King of Kings tonight I know it's teaching I know it's prophecy I know it's intense but I wish somebody that knows him as your king of kings and your Lord of lords would just lift up a praise to him because someday we're gonna be riding with him someday we're gonna be coming from heaven with him someday we're gonna help him set up a kingdom where there is no war and there is no racism and there is no prejudice and there is no crime and there is no hurt and there is no abortion there is no perversion we're gonna get to do that because we serve Him now I love you Jesus just before that passage when the Lord and His Saints intervened to save Israel at the Battle of Armageddon just before that we see a prophecy in the very same chapter of the marriage supper of the Lamb because these aren't random people coming from heaven with Jesus it's the Bride of Christ his church that returns with him to earth and the scripture simply says John must have had one kind of experience he saw all of this he struggled to write it down he said let us be glad and rejoice and let us give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife she made herself ready and to her somebody say that's me was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints don't you ever let anybody tell you that living a righteous life isn't important God said my pride she's going to be a righteous bride she's going to be a pure bride she's going to be a holy bride and he said unto them unto me write it down John blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb somebody say that's me I've got my call to the marriage supper of the lamb I've got my invitation I'm not gonna lose it or discard it I'm not gonna get distracted and forget it I've got my invitation to the marriage supper of the lamb and I'm excited to go and be with Jesus forever I told you already Jesus second coming has two phases he comes first in the air for his church and he comes then at the beginning of the tribulation but now he's coming to the earth with his church at the end of the tribulation he sets up his kingdom for a thousand years and the scholars call it the millennium or the millennial reign in the Millennium the Antichrist and the false prophet will have been cast into the lake of ire Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years and Jesus and his church will be set up raining the earth for a thousand years from The Jerusalem that will no doubt be revised and renovated in so many spectacular ways and that thousand year period will give those living on the earth a chance to experience God's rule on the outside even though they're not saved on the inside no sin will be allowed for 1,000 years listen it will be a perfect environment but our God not ever never never has he ever forced anyone to serve Him and so the Bible says that when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and he'll leave the bottomless pit to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog and he'll gather them together to battle this time it will be a battle of the devil and humanity against God the number of whom is as the sand of the sea it seems like every human being on the planet just about after a thousand years of peace after a thousand years of goodness after a thousand years of no pain and hurt they'll still follow the devil mankind first learned this lesson in the Garden of Eden here's the lesson a perfect environment cannot create a perfect heart period and the human race will learn this lesson one more time just before the Judgment when every human being stands before God they'll learn it one more time in the Millennium after a thousand years of no sin on the outside the devil will still be able to tempt a huge multitude to turn away from God you know why because it can be perfect on the outside but you've still got a sinful nature on the inside and after that final very short battle between the devil's forces and God's heavenly army the devil will join the false prophet and the Antichrist in the lake of fire and God will stand every person who has ever lived at the great white throne judgment and here it is and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them and I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and the sea gave up the Dead which were in it and death and he'll delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works in other words no one escapes and death and he'll were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire every human being from every age will stand before God the righteous judge facing God on that final day when mercy is gone forever it will be terrifying it will be one incredible scene when every criminal and every King every popper and every billionaire will stand before their creator all alone to be judged you can only imagine the parade of history that will pass before Jesus on that day and on that day so many millions will hear the words depart from me you workers of iniquity depart from me I never knew you and they go to a place that the Bible talks about and you know whom talked about it most in your Bible it was Jesus himself because he doesn't want you to go there Jesus talked about hell no artist can depict it every depiction is grotesque and you might be offended but I assure you that no matter how grotesque an artist can picture it hell is worse than what they can picture the Bible tells us that hell is a place of unquenchable fire the Bible tells us that we will be conscious in hell anyone that goes there they'll know exactly what's going on it will be a place of unbearable eternal torment it will be a place of outer darkness it will be a place of intense weeping it will be a place of separation from loved ones it will be a place with no hope of release it will be a place when memory of every chance they had to serve God every chance they had to repent will torment them and it will be a place even where the lustful cravings that they gave their flesh over to and that's probably why they missed the rapture in the first place but those lustful cravings will torment them hell is one preacher said how much and how long you would have to suffer to pay for your own sins it would have to be constant unimaginable agony for an unimaginable era of eternity that's how much and how long you'd have to suffer to pay for your own sin because that's what you're really choosing to do when you reject the one who said I'll pay for your sin you might be offended at that gory grotesque depiction I'm not gonna apologize I don't want anybody in this room to go there I don't want anybody I know or love to go there Church we have a job to do yes every human being from every age will be at the great white throne judgment except for the children of God those who have experienced the new birth will never stand at the great white throne judgment you know why because our sins have already been paid for through the precious blood of Jesus and through our obedience to the gospel his death became my death through repentance his burial became my burial through baptism his resurrection became my resurrection through the baptism of the Holy Ghost I'm never going to have to stand at that terrifying horrifying great white throne judgment and I thank God for it however the bible does speak of a judgment for christians it will be called the judgment seat of christ i pointed it out to you earlier it happens at least a thousand and seven years before the great white throne judgment which is after the tribulation and after the millennium but we will stand at the judgment seat of christ we will not be judged for our sin our sins are covered by the blood but we will be judged for our service to God 2nd Corinthians Paul said for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that EF done whether it be good or bad the greek term for judgment seat referred to a platform in the center of Roman cities and at that platform and around that platform public gatherings could be addressed court cases could be judged justice could be administered rewards could be distributed and if the historical function of the judgment seat or the Greek word is Bhima if that's any indication when we stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ that judgment will take place publicly that's why Jesus spoke of you will be rewarded openly for what your father has seen in secret you want to be sure that what your heavenly father is seeing in secret is worthy of what you want to take to the judgement seat of Christ first Corinthians Paul said for other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ now if any man build on this foundation so you're already saved you're already in the church you're already one of his children your sins are already forgiven but now you've got a life to live Paul said if any man builds on this foundation of salvation you can build on it with gold silver precious stones you could also choose to build on it with wood hay and stubble and here's what Paul said every man's work will be made manifest because that judgment day the judgment seat of Christ will declare it because it will be revealed by fire judgment and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is if any man's work abide which he has built thereupon he shall receive a reward if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire I said it already if you get to the judgment seat of Christ you're in heaven you're already saved but God is actually going to pass out rewards based on his evaluation of us at the judgment seat of Christ and Paul teaches us that there are two categories of Christian works there's first of all our temporal investments he calls them wood hay and stubble because they don't last but also he said Christians you can be involved in eternal investments he pictures them as gold silver and precious stones and his comparison is pretty obvious wood hay and stubble you can buy that much cheaper it can be found laying around on the surface of the earth quite easily but wood hay and stubble will not survive the fire of judgment but gold silver and precious stones they're much more costly they're only found deep in the earth through a lot of hard work and they are not destroyed by the fire they're refined by the fire every Christian life begins on the same foundation of salvation in Jesus Christ but only the Christian life lived around eternal priorities built on eternal priorities will receive a reward at the judgment seat of Christ in Scripture gold represents God's glory silver is the medal of redemption precious stones represent the redeemed saints of God so it would be accurate to take a little lesson and tell you this that only deeds that are done for the glory of God the winning of souls or service to the church constitute a basis for reward at the judgment seat of Christ yes you got to have a house yes you got to have a career yes you got to have a good job yes you got to have some money yes you got to have a car I understand all of that but nothing of that world matters on Judgment Day when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ so with all you're getting in this world make sure you're getting some things that are eternal because what we do in time determines what we will be in eternity and I come to a close tonight with this John said after all of that the judgment seat of Christ after the tribulation after the marriage supper of the Lamb after the millennial reign after the great white throne judgment then we enter in to the eternal States and the Bible says as a tree falls so shall it lie whatever you are when you die that's what you are through eternity whatever you are at the moment of the rapture that's what you are through eternity John said in Revelation 21 and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more sea and I John saw the holy city 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 now 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 we have it now in a spiritual sense we reach and we pray and we worship and we sing we come to the altar and what we're reaching for is that kind of intangible presence of God but can I tell you there's coming today sooner than you think when God's presence isn't going to be an intangible that you're reaching for with your feeble frail flesh it's gonna be God living literally among his people and forever we're going to be with the tangible presence of God and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain the rapture is the great equalizer folks you can be sick down here while somebody's enjoying good health but rapture day instantly everything's healed instantly everyone's delivered instantly all tears are gone instantly all the issues and struggles and trials of life are over and he the sat upon the throne said behold I make all things new and he said unto me write for these words are true and faithful he ordained my great uncle Leonard to the ministry he was a precious elder in our apostolic movement and this precious african-american Bishop GT Haywood penned a song that we love I see a crimson stream of blood among many other compositions he sat down one day and he did some calculations an old elder GT Haywood he wrote these words after he did several hours of calculations he said if you calculate the new Jerusalem's walls are two hundred and twelve feet thick and 1500 miles high if you could set that City on the North American continent that city the New Jerusalem where we're going to live with Jesus forever it would reach all the way from Maine to Florida and all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the state of Colorado just one city if the main avenues were a mile apart and a mile above each other there would be no less than 8 million avenues in the New Jerusalem if heaven contained rooms that were each one mile by one mile by one mile high heaven the New Jerusalem would contain three billion three hundred and seventy five million rooms one mile by one mile by one mile high if we started with the time of Adam and Eve and spent one hour in each of those three billion three hundred and seventy five million rooms by now we would have visited less than one quarter of the rooms in the New Jerusalem we're bound for something that is so far beyond anything we could ever imagine but it only happens for these people and as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment in the same way Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many everyone say once you have one death Jesus was only offered once and in the very same way unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation that's only gonna happen once you have one life Jesus died once to save your one life and he's going to come back the second time and the rapture only happens once whatever you do you've got to be ready for the rapture only unto them that look for him will he appear John winds up his book by saying he which testifieth these things saith surely I'm coming quickly and the last cry of the last chapter of the last book in your Bible comes from the church itself when we say even so come Lord Jesus I am privileged to be the pastor of a wonderful church privilege to serve with great men and women on our pastoral team and our staff privilege to pastor some of the greatest most sacrificial most generous most kind most prayerful most worshiping people in the world so proud of this church but when Jesus comes I'll trade all of that in one second because this is all for that we're not doing this so we can have another church on another street corner in another area of town to preach some little feel-good message that helps people through their finances and their parenting role we are getting a bride ready for the King of Kings and the Lord of lords in any moment any moment Jesus help us to break through the lethargy of the last days help us to break through the apathy of the end times because any moment you could step out on the balcony of heaven and say Gabriel pick up that trumpet I'm about ready to shout and when I shout I will descend from heaven with that shout and the dead in Christ will rise first and all my people that remain there gonna be caught up it's the rapture it's the next great thing on God's calendar and I've just done this series felt so compelled so strong such a push and the Holy Ghost to do it because it's so easy to slack off into maintaining the routine of Christianity but we're bound for a city whose builder and maker is God this is not the ultimate this is not the end this is not the best this is not the most I thank God that we can feel the Holy Ghost but you've never felt anything like you'll feel one split second after Jesus gives that shout your body will be healed your mind will be clear you'll be free from depression you'll be free from pain your body won't be old and akin anymore one millisecond after Jesus gives that shout everything changes for the people of God for all the ages of eternity so do not let this ungodly immoral sexual sensual era don't let it lull you to sleep and make you think that you need to just go have some fun in sin for a season it's not worth it because we're too close to the end of everything we're too close to Jesus and Gabriel it's time blow the trumpet I'm gonna go get my people enough persecution enough mockery enough heartache enough problems and of trials enough pain enough tears enough funerals enough cemeteries I'm gonna go get my people and it will all be over and it is going to happen sooner than you think lift up your hands and please lift up your voices and let this great church pray and a rock or hibachi sabaha de Carabas [Music] I'm not go to buy yes yes how about Jackson short everybody identical of unless Jesus help me recapture the urgency then I felt that first decade I was born again when I was just a kid Jesus help me recapture the urgency of our pioneer preachers that birthed this movement Jesus help our church recapture the urgency they used to have prayer meetings where people groan and cried and travail because their loved ones were lost and they knew they weren't ready god help us as a church God we're not gonna go in the morning we've got a great hope in front of us we're not gonna go in the morning we've got all of heaven and all of eternity to look forward to but God help us to be serious about it don't let us fall asleep don't let us get lulled into complacency don't let the treachery of the age deceive us God we're not unaware you've preached to us through your word you've talked to us through your word you've given us your word you've given us your warning you've given us your exhortation and God I pray that you shake us somehow so we can still do everything we have to do we still have to go to work tomorrow we still have to pay our bills we still have to get the car repaired we still have to paint the house we still have to do whatever it is that we're doing but Jesus in the middle of it helped us to live with one eye on the eastern sky help us to live with one-half of our heart over there with our loved ones it with you God help us to live in this day in anticipation of that day Jesus help us to be ready mo yes suck I don't know about you sir the only thing I can say is if you would stand right now and in prayer I'd like you to just shake yourself and shake this room shake this service shake this atmosphere not a little wimpy prayer will dismiss in a moment I just want you to shake something shake shake it in prayer shake this room shake this atmosphere God shake us and wake us God shake us and alert us God shake us and revive us God shake us and prepare us shake us awake shake us awake [Music] [Applause] so total ihara baka yo yo yo robbery de la cosa haba haba haba FLK las casas de Carabas Casa God stir up the pioneer generation in us stir up the pioneer spirit in us God stir up the spirit of our patriarchs you preach the rapture so often and so firmly stir that up in us don't let us fall asleep after knowing what we know and hearing what we heard God stir it up in us a rabid raccoon rabbi yes shaman Dana basa just one more push in prayer precious Saints just one more push in prayer before we go back and reteach a server sister sabaha show rebel a de la boqueria bias yes [Music] I worship You Jesus [Music] they both couldn't be Gus sister listen devil that's the bride praying that's the church praying we're gonna get out of here before too long you're going down but the church is going up Jesus we glorify you thank you for our Blessed hope thank you for our exciting hope thank you for our eternal hope thank you for our joyful hope yes

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 129,145

Rating: 4.7452116 out of 5

Keywords: the, end, how, close, are, we, part, three, pastor, raymond, woodward, preaching, preach, sermon, ccc, capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international

Id: vSSPGLPRRYk

Length: 69min 44sec (4184 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 13 2018