"End Times - Longing for What?" Bible Prophecy Update | Revelation 18:9-14 | 9/19/2021

doesn't help in time of need lord as we call out to you lord we can relate with the psalmist when we think about a world we live in that says where is your god but lord we know that you're coming back we know that you live inside of us we know that you have a plan we know that you're going to judge evil and your judgment is coming to this earth so lord as believers help us to trust that to trust you and just teach us lord teach us in your ways in jesus name amen amen you could be seated thank you okay before we if you actually can turn with me if you can revelation 18 verse 9 revelation 18 9 if you're not sure if you're not familiar with your bible it's the very last book of the bible just in case you don't know okay as you know we had larry elder here with us um a few weeks ago and he's he was obviously running to be the next governor i just want to say don't be discouraged i went to the concession speech that larry elder gave and was probably one of the classiest concession speeches i've ever been to the way he handled it the way he is realizing they only had a few weeks to gather together and all that and and just the grace that he showed it was just it's just unbelievable um if you don't know this already larry elder did pray to receive jesus christ as his personal lord and savior and he didn't want to publicize it bef while the election went on he didn't want people to think oh he did it to get votes and all that for the evangelical votes so he chose not to reveal that until after the election but uh so i want to play a little clip and by the way i was told oh goodness what happened i was told thursday let me get this back in order oh good it didn't go too far um thursday that huntington beach i guess voted for him 68 percent in huntington beach voted for larry elder don't tell me a church that can't make a difference hey everybody uh bloodied but unbowed i want to thank everybody on my campaign team for their hard work all my volunteers all the people that showed up at our rallies all over the state from oroville down to san diego all the ones who turned out all the ones who made phone calls all the ones who planted signs all the ones who knocked on doors we all did this together and we scared the be jesus out of them they had to spend a hundred million dollars they outspent us five to one they were scared they brought in all the heavy lumber they brought in obama they brought in bernie sanders they brought in uh elizabeth warren and notice one thing in their ads they never said gavin newsom had done a good job for the people of california that's because they couldn't they didn't defend his record on crime they didn't finish record on homelessness they didn't defend his record on the way he ignored science and shut down the economy of the state and shut down in-person education for our kids they didn't defend his record on fire management on water management on power all they did was yell and scream this is a republican takeover and unfortunately it worked because not only did i have gavin newsom as my opponent i had the main stream media as my opponent that allowed a reporter to refer to me as the black face of white supremacy this is a kind of double standard we had to put up with for for the entirety of our campaign and we still scared him so everybody who worked so hard everybody came to my rallies everybody came up to me crying telling me that i've given them hope for the first time it was not for naught for somebody who only campaigned for almost eight weeks who'd never run for anything before except for a third grade class president i think we did an excellent job we all should hold our heads high we are bloodied but we are unbowed we may have lost the battle but we certainly have not lost the war so uh everybody just decompressed a little bit i'm going to decompress a little bit and then we're going to get right back into the fight because we have a state to save and we have a country to save larry elder [Music] awesome awesome awesome yeah so don't be discouraged i don't think we've uh seen the we're gonna see him again that's for sure so uh god is doing a great work in his life personally and uh just a blessing to be a part of that you might say pastor do you think there was some shenanigans in the voting i'll let you answer that question i get in trouble every time i open my mouth and so so that's let you decide so we are live online so how you guys doing in revelation chapter 18 verse nine title of her message here this morning end times longing for what longing for what during the end times we're going to read the people that will be here during the time of tribulation that's a seven year period called the tribulation period we will not be here as a church we'll be raptured we'll be taken up to to meet the lord in the air amen to that but there will be little hell on earth you think things are bad now i hate to tell you it's going to get worse and it's going to get a lot worse but we who are alive and remain as believers will be caught up together with the lord in the air then there'll be seven years of tribulation during that seven year period towards the end of the tribulation period is where we're looking at there is going to be a one world economy a one world government a one world religion they're all going to work together the antichrist will be over the one world economy one world government the false prophet will be over the one world religion they're going to work hand in hand it's going to be very very materialistic they don't want anything during that time that they won't want anything to do with god it's anti-god and it's all self and and money and materialistic stuff and we're gonna we're gonna read about that so that's what's gonna happen during that time um what else here let me go back and look at oh thank you that's what you have these things for right so uh god is we're gonna read will bring sudden judgment upon that system god will judge it and punish it and destroy it as we're going to read here in our text so it's a wicked system we won't be here it will be judged i believe god created us in a way as believers to desire justice we want things to be right don't we i know i do i don't like going to a movie watching the bad guys get away i just don't like bad guys need to get caught need to go to jail and and so we don't know if we're going to see this side of the rapture judgment and punishment for liars and cheaters and all these people that are evil and wicked we don't know that i hope so i pray so i hope we see it but we might not but what we're going to read here is that god will bring justice god will the bad guys will get caught and the bad guys will be punished and that's what we're reading about this one world economy that will take place it's called babylon the great so let's stand please as i read just these verses to you so revelation 18 i'm going to read verses 9 to 14. revelation 18 9 to 14. verse 9 the apostle john writes and the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning standing at a distance for fear of her torment saying at last at last that great city babylon that mighty city don't miss that for in one hour your judgment has come and the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her for for no one buys their merchandise anymore merchandise of gold and silver precious stone and pearls fine linen and purple silk and scarlet every kind of citron wood every kind of object of ivory every kind of object of most precious wood bronze iron and marble and cinnamon and incense fragrant oil and frankincense wine and oil fine flour and wheat cattle and sheep horses and chariots don't miss this part and bodies and souls of men for the fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you and you shall find them no more can we say the last two words at all lord you said in your word that we're to make application in this wonderful book and lord we know that this is futuristic this will happen in the future but yet again you you said that we're to apply the book of revelation so lord i would ask that you would give us application for our lives personally we pray lord with the simple teaching of your word that your holy spirit would instruct and speak to us so you know the notes i have here lord but i pray that you'd go beyond notes that there would be a special work of your spirit just speaking to each one of our hearts god so prepare our hearts again for this message that you have for us in jesus name amen amen you can be seated i find it interesting 911 we just looked at the 20-year anniversary of 9 11. and some people believe that this chapter revelation 18 is a fulfillment of this chapter and this is why i just want to throw this out there i don't believe that but there's many that believe this because in verse 2 of this chapter it says babylon is fallen and it repeats it is fallen so they look at it as the tower was fallen and the next one is fallen so they use that verse 8 it says will be utterly burned with fire as we saw the twin towers utterly burned with fire interesting verses 9 and 10 it says the kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning standing at a distance for fear of their torment so people were tormented and they they saw it from a distance we watched on television the fire and the torment so they look at that then it says in verse 10 that we just read in an hour your judgment has come and the towers were destroyed within an hour both towers were destroyed and judgment came i personally don't believe this chapter is a fulfillment of 9 11 here in this country one of the main reasons i don't believe that is because this is still futuristic this will take place during the time of tribulation that time's not here yet i believe that time's going to be soon and close but i believe also that the 9 11 and the destruction that took place was a wake-up call for this country and for the world and i said this on last sunday i believe the wake-up call people woke up but then they hit the snooze button and people just went back to sleep spiritually speaking it's a shame to see where we're at so we see that timeline i believe this is the end of the tribulation period before jesus christ comes back at his second coming so there's a timeline in there even goes right into the second coming of jesus um so there's where it fits i believe uh in the timeline of things here um another thing so again please don't miss this this is a commercial babylon it's a commercial system that's greedy that's materialistic that is evil that wants nothing to do with god this is the judgment that we just read so again as a church we won't be here where will the church be during this time in heaven right i believe that with all my heart i know there's people even in this sanctuary that you know they have a different eschatology meaning end time understanding they think we're going to go through the tribulation period my question is how well are you sleeping at night because i don't think i would sleep very good if i thought i had to go through everything that we're reading all hell will break loose here on this earth it'll be evil demonic and those that come to christ will need to get their head chopped off for their faith so you might say pastor you're an escapist yes i am an escapist i want out of here so there's i'll agree with you there okay other thing i like to mention every sunday because i know there's new people here constantly people watching online the book of revelation is the only book in the entire bible that promises us a three-fold blessing we're blessed when we read it we're blessed when we hear and then we're blessed when we apply it so we just read it we just heard it read so we can say amen and we'll have a double blessing we can walk away being blessed but there's one more there's application so god wants us to apply this so let's try to do our best as we open up this text to bring some application for our lives so back in verse 9 as we look at this text a little closer the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning i personally believe that not only is it a system [Music] this uh this economic commercial one world system that's going to be but you see a physical burning you see smoke you see i believe it's an actual city i know good friends of mine pastor friends of mine they think it's just symbolic it's i'm not dogmatic on this but i can't get away with keep saying it's a city it's burning it's it's so i believe yes it is a system but i believe it's in an actual place my personal understanding which i look at it literally i believe it's going to be in iraq it's going to be rebuilt and it's going to be the commercial center we already looked at the religious center looks like it'll be in rome so rome will have the religious center with the false prophet hmm who could that be well figure that out so then we've got the commercial babylon this demonic system headed by the antichrist but the the kings of the earth so the rulers there's going to be 10 rulers remember we've been looking at this there's going to be 10 rulers that'll rule the the world during that time one will be the antichrist he will be the dictator he'll be the one that they'll all bow down to whatever he says goes he will be empowered by satan himself right so it's evil right so the kings are weeping and that means that word means to wail out loud because they were one with this system fornication they were fornication means becoming one with something they're one with this whole system this was their world and their world is destroyed and so here uh they're weeping out loud they're watching her the burning standing at a distance many believe that could be a nuclear attack that that goes on this city and they're afraid to go near it because the radioactive material and and all that kind of stuff so that's speculation we don't know we're speculating that great city babylon the mighty city for in one hour your judgment has come we have the question one hour is that a literal hour and some say it just means an hour means suddenly and it could be i take it literally i believe it'll be an hour it'll take it'll just wipe out literally within an hour but again you can't be dogmatic we don't know for sure but i try to do my best to take it literally unless it tells me not to take it literally so within one hour but again the bad guys in this scenario the liars the cheaters this all this evil finally will be done away with god will come jesus christ will come judgment will take place why because jesus is going to come back and he's going to be the ruler the government will be upon his shoulders right he'll be called wonderful counselor mighty god the everlasting father the prince of say that again the prince of that's the new government i was talking to the lord this morning in my devotional time i'm like lord i can't wait for your government i'm tired of this government i'm tired of all this garbage is going on and as believers if you're a believer in jesus christ the bible says we're going to rule and reign with him as kings and priests i don't know if you can wrap your brain around that i'm like i'm just thankful you saved me lord i know what i deserve i deserve hell but yet you saved me from darkness now you're telling me i'm going to be like a king or a priest and listen everything that we do here on this earth will count for all eternity it'll count in the millennial kingdom it'll count remember jesus said i've you know well done good and faithful servant so i've given you a little now i'm going to entrust you with these great things so that's going to happen somehow some way we're going to rule over territories and all in the millennial kingdom and i just can't even fathom that maybe i'll have you know like a one you know a little quarter mile street maybe i don't know i'm not praying for hawaii because pastor chuck smith asked for hawaii so he's probably going to get hawaii so i won't be there i don't know how it works but sudden punishment will happen this system will have this system will be judged this demonic system one world government one world order type of thing and it's gonna it's gonna be judged as we look at this we look at the bible we look at current events we look and see what's happening today are we seeing bigger government are we seeing bigger government control are we seeing governments wanting to control people and businesses what do you think you think so you guys see that i'm sure you've seen this already australia listen outdoor gatherings are limited to two people exercise is allowed but no further than a 10 kilometer radius from your home browsing in shops is not permitted only one person per household may leave to do essential shopping and from tomorrow funerals are limited to 10 people this is a world pandemic it's a 100 year event so you can expect that we will have transmission from time to time and that's just the way it is we've got to accept that this is the new world order we've got a new world order just to just say they say we're conspiracy uh people here but that's just what they're saying is this gonna be this one world new world order that's well the bible tells us you know told us that years ago there will be a one world government one world ruler okay so then do we see government having more control well how about over the church australia we'll start requiring churches to use vaccinated certificates for entering into worship show your papers before you worship interesting how about this north carolina judges strike down voter id law claiming it's racist it's racist to ask for voter id that's racist is that crazy um we need id or a license to drive but we don't need it apparently to vote how about this the gospel coalition argues for vaccine passports to attend church so we even have other groups one with this as we're going to see that will take place that they'll be this one world church that's going to take place and they're going to be right in line with everything and then how many know david j harris jr can you just raise your hand if you're aware of okay so he put this on his uh facebook interesting these are this big pile here those are wedding bands that were removed from holocaust victims prior to being executed in 1945 before they executed them they had them take off all their rings and they piled them all inside those are all rings and this is what it says in here it says each ring represents a destroyed family never never forget nazi tore down statutes does that sound familiar banned free speech does that sound familiar blamed economic hardship on one group of people does that sound familiar instituted gun control and again sound familiar and then this post that he just did it says almost fall don't forget to turn your clocks back to 1942. asking for papers interesting stuff very interesting beck in her text the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her so not only are the kings of the earth but the merchants those are those that are selling the goods the wholesale dealers the merchants they're going to weep for no one buys their merchandise anymore and then it has a list of all these things so um things that are sold during that time and there's most of this is like luxury stuff you've got your jewelry department gold and silver precious stone and pearls and you've got your fine clothing department you've got fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and then you've got your building supplies and your your furniture every kind of citron wood you got ivory objects of precious wood bronze iron marble then you've got your perfume department and your colognes cinnamon incense fragrant oil and frankincense then you've got your your alcohol and your your fine meat department you've got fine oil and flour wheat cattle and sheep then you've got your transportation your cars your horses and chariots all this is going to be destroyed and this is their world and they're weeping and mourning again they're they're crying out loud because it's all gone it's all destroyed this system will be very it'll be everything about self it has nothing to do with god nothing to do with others not helping others as christians it's not about self it's about god first and helping others none of this is going to be during that time god will be out of the picture others they don't care it's just me me me i need this i need that it'll be very materialistic it'll be uh it'd be it's gonna be almost intoxicating people are just gonna be intoxicated by this whole thing it's like a frenzy of oh me i need this i think of advertisement advertisers they're pretty good at making us think we can't live without something right they're good your iphones i think about iphones after like a year or so all of a sudden they're no good anymore you have to have the new model right better pixels better this you got camera there you know and i've i've fallen into that many times i need to have the new one and it has this and this and and many times i don't use the new features but i have to have it and they're good at convincing people it's gonna during this time of tribulation it's gonna be totally out of control i think about the the hippie movement when they're in the in the 70s the early 70s who was a part of that is anybody was like part of the hippies i want to see pictures of that too wanna you got guys rubbing their head with no hair they're like yeah i used to have it you know it used to be down to here but think of this check this out they were listen they were rebelling against materialism and government remember that they were they didn't want anything to do with you know they didn't need a fancy home or anything right they could just sleep on the floor literally there's a friends of mine they slept in public bathrooms they slept in churches they they would go over to friends homes right and just say hey can i camp out can can i chill right here right and say yeah come on in well i got 14 friends with me let's just hang out and they were just all spread out on the floor and but but listen they didn't they weren't caught up in the materialistic world at the time they didn't care about having fancy cars back then remember you you know you read about it they'd hitchhike or they ride bikes and they'd walk and they it was like they wanted to rebel against the system but you guess what it was a it was a good recipe for the jesus movement because that's what the jesus movement hit they were primed for jesus they detached themselves from all that you know the what the world had to offer and jesus was like you're just you're ready come on in and you see pictures of just hundreds and thousands of young kids coming to christ and there was a powerful jesus movement i believe we're seeing a little jesus movement going on in our midst it's a powerful thing to see jesus christ drawing people to himself we have a lady here i won't point any fingers i won't try not to look at the person i'll look up at the ceiling but uh so she prayed and committed or recommitted her life to the lord on sunday and this sunday she just brought just stuff that's just wrong in her life that she wanted it thrown away destroyed and she goes what do i do with it i said give it to me i'll take it and so we destroyed it it's destroyed it's in the you know i won't tell you where it's at but it's destroyed hopefully it's all destroyed but it's it's a part of repentance we repent we say no i don't want this thing and it's not that the material world is evil it's it's our heart towards the material world that's evil amen that's that's where you know the evil comes in is where is our heart interesting verse goes perfectly with this in proverbs 11 4 it says riches do not profit in the day of what wrath that's what's going to happen during that time their riches won't profit them anything it'll all be destroyed but what profits but righteousness delivers from what death we're righteous because of what jesus christ did for us at the cross we're giving him his righteousness is brought into our account amen i love what paul the apostle said philippians 4 11. he says not that i speak in regards to what need he's like i don't need anything that's not why i'm writing this for i've learned in whatever can we say that together state i am i am to be what content that is great when you're in that place when you are content no matter where you're at no matter if you're rich or poor it doesn't matter your your life is found in christ the lord used this verse in my life when i was living in the state of michigan and i read this and i'm like um paul says whatever state i'm in i learned to be content and i wasn't listen i wasn't content because in michigan we have those really cold winters and i never got used to it people say well you just get used to it i lived there 30 some years i didn't get used to it i never got used to you know before i go to work i have to shovel the snow to get my car out i had to scrape my windows for the ice off the windshield and sometimes it was so hard you couldn't do it so you had to turn your car on and warm your car up so the heat would melt it a little bit so then you can i never got used to it so the lord used this and said really spoke to my heart uh did i call you to be here and i was like yeah and he goes why aren't you content it's like i don't like winners and i said lord help me to learn to be content no matter where you have me lord just tell me to be content and i would do okay for a while and god was stripping that away from me to you know stop complaining and murmuring and all and one the very last time i remember it i was there in front of my house and there was like we didn't get inches and we got like foot you know a couple feet of snow that particular time and so i pulled my car out into the street and it got stuck in the middle of the street so i had somebody helping me and they were driving you know behind the wheel and and then we were pushing back and forth i don't know if you're familiar with the rack and you that's and then you finally then you you push it off and you run and you get it going and it was just crazy but this time i was too close to the exhaust so the exhaust was going into my my mouth and my nose and i have asthma and so i couldn't i would literally go i couldn't breathe and my chest was all tight you know and i was like and i started complaining again and the holy spirit was like um i was like i'm sorry lord help me just to be content and i realized you know there's brothers and sisters in christ that are getting their heads cut off for their faith and i'm complaining about snow and cold and i i just really remember saying god i want to just stop this help me to just stop complaining i'm so sorry and the holy spirit just worked in that part of my life and shortly after that he moved me out to southern california i had and i thought i wish i would have repented years ago seriously but he says i know how to be a based and i know how to abound in other words when i'm poor or rich it doesn't matter everywhere in all things i have learned to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need so i i can be content if i have a lot if i don't have hardly anything why because i can do all things through who christ who strengthens me are all in all should be in the very one that saved our lives it shouldn't be caught up in this world in the things of this world paul says you know what i'm not wrapped up with all that back in our text verse 13 it says another things that will be sold during that time did you notice that bodies and souls of men that's human trafficking human trafficking will increase in the end times during the time of tribulation it'll it'll be they'll be on the market listen the holy spirit right now is stopping that kind of stuff somewhat but this is going to be in your face you can on the market just like we go to amazon and order you can go to amazon type you know just yeah i want to pick the picture who do you want just buy them they're for sale during the time that this was written the rome was the the was the government at the time and during that time a third of rome's population were slaves a third that means every day ten thousand slaves were auctioned off like furniture ten thousand per day you might say well pastor good thing that we're not living in that kind of a thing in this world today really did you know human trafficking there's 40 excuse me 40.3 million victims today of human trafficking 40 million victims today 25 percent are children 75 percent are women and girls they're sold as sex slaves around the world this is the world that we live in today it's going to get out of control again it's going to be so bad that'll be in your face open that they don't have to go in hiding anymore it'll be common ground not only human trafficking but we see that we're selling baby parts today fda brought fetal bought excuse me fetal organs heads and tissues for humanized mice project so we want to experiment and see if we can humanize mice so what do we do we take aborted babies and we take their body parts and the federal government's purchasing these body parts judicial watch has uncovered more documents detailing that evil activity of your federal government their trafficking the remains of unborn human beings killed by abortion that's sad it's gonna get worse guys i love wha i showed this on tuesday night so if you were here tuesday night you saw this but this goes so good with this ben carson says um if it's not a human being then why are you harvesting organs from it they say oh it's not a human being it's just a fetus well then why are you harvesting organs from it if it's not a baby it is a baby these are baby parts this is murder you're killing innocent babies back in our text last verse the fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you it's all going to be taken away and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you and you shall find them no more at all the word longing longed for means lusting after craving having a great desire for something even things that are forbidden it speaks of a desire to always want more more more it speaks of covetousness we want more we want more but in one hour it's all going to be gone judgment will come and god will take this all away and these people are going to wail and they're going to be totally lost their world will all fall apart the material world that they live in i believe it's a great reminder for us guys listen as believers in jesus christ to have an eternal perspective keep our mind on things above guys listen we're just pilgrims here we're just passing through this world is not our own we are citizens of what heaven we're to long for the things of him it's so much better when you long for him covetousness is ugly amen amen jesus said in luke 12 15 and he said to them take heed and beware of what covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses the one good thing about being a believer is the fact that he sets us free from these type of things when i was in the world i was very materialistic everything it was just you know i now and i realized after listen after i became a believer i realized i was so insecure i wanted these things in my life to show everybody how great i was and it even goes you know and thinking through this you know we went back even when i was a child and my dad would say oh you're nothing and you're stupid and you're dumb i wanted to prove to the world i'm not dumb i'm not stupid i am something so i would you know i worked hard and i got great things and then to impress everybody look what i have and i got this big house i got this nice car i got all the and then i realized i didn't have christ and i was so empty but the freedom that comes when you have jesus christ when your life is wrapped up in him it doesn't matter if you have a lot or if you don't have praise god if he gives you he blesses you with a lot praise god if you don't have a lot of things praise god it your life's not wrapped up in that your life's wrapped up in him amen what did paul the apostle say to timothy and tim first timothy 6 6 he said can we say this together now godliness with is great that's so true that's what happened to my life when i gave my life to christ i realized my contentment's in him godliness we can only be godly when god lives in us by his spirit and then there's contentment you're like i'm content with you what i was looking for in the world i found it all in him if you're looking for contentment in this world listen you will be disappointed this world cannot satisfy you you're not made that way god created you in a way where you will not be satisfied with the world believe me i've tried it sex drugs this that possessions money family everything and you're like yeah this is going to do it then you try that no no that didn't work okay this is going to do it no no this must do it education's going to do it this is going to and then you're going to try to get you know fill yourself with all the guess what it'll never work why because god created you with the god shaped void inside of you that can only be filled with him and once you have him it's like i remember the day it happened to me it's like god i'm content take everything away it doesn't matter you want to bless you want to give me things take it away from me it doesn't matter my life's not mine anymore my life belongs to you jesus amen and it's there's such freedom so godliness with contentment is great let's say it again great what great gain for you brought nothing into this world and it's certain you can carry nothing out and having food and clothing with these you shall be what content so as long as you have food and clothing be content with that if god wants to so bless you with more then praise god if not it's okay it's it doesn't matter you're not wrapped up in that you can't carry anything out right i've never seen a hearse with a u-haul behind it i've never seen that he's taking it all with him no he's not you can't take anything with you but listen please listen to this you can send it ahead right you can't take a thing with you but you just send it ahead with that eternal mindset you you send it ahead how do you do that are you helping out in the children's ministry you're sending all treasures ahead everything we do for christ it it it's stored there in heaven it's never lost it's never taken away it it's so you just send it ahead whatever we do we invest in his kingdom whatever we're doing for him it's just sending it ahead so you're not going to take anything with you but you can send all kinds of stuff ahead when you're when you're his servant amen but those who desire to be rich fall in temptation and a snare now listen please don't get this mixed up because some people look at this as oh no oh if i have riches that means that that i'm in trouble no it's the key word those who desire to be rich before i knew christ that was my desire i want to be rich i want to be successful i wanted a lot of a lot of employees i wanted to have that status i wanted that was my desire that's not my desire anymore god scrub that away from me it's not my desire my desire is to know him and make him known but beware because it goes into this because if that's your full desire that's the wrong desire put him first and everything else will be added to you so for those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men and in destruction and perdition be careful beware for the love of money is what of all kinds of evil does it say money is evil it doesn't say that some people misquote that do you know that the bible says money is evil doesn't say money's evil it's the love of money you can be dirt poor with nothing and you have that lust for money it's the lust of it it's just that strong desire money riches no it's the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith so that's a warning for some in their greediness and pierce themselves through with many sorrows but you this is all of us but you o man or god you o woman of god flee these things and pursue what righteousness godliness faith love patience and gentleness fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of what eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed a good confession in the presence of many witnesses in other words don't get caught up in that be content in the things of the lord this past thursday we were asked by the married couple's group to give our our testimony my wife and i to give our testimony how we met and you need to get the tape but there's no tape so you can't get it so forget it but let me tell you we had so much fun hanging out with the married couples it was just a blessing it was it felt like we were just sitting in the living room talking about jesus and you know sharing the stories of how you know how we met and it was just like i'm like honey why don't we share this more often we got to share with the singles we got to share with everybody this is just a god story what god did and i can honestly say as i stand up here in front of everybody i can say i'm content with this stuff i love doing that that brings me contentment godliness with you know with contentment is great game that that's what i love to do i love sharing about the lord i love making him known i love doing what god has called me to do and let me tell you it brings great contentment and i pray that you've found that with christ because it's important one more scripture reference is before we close this is jesus speaking he says do not lay up for yourself can we say that treasures on earth where moth and ross destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves what i love the sound of that treasures in heaven do you know there's treasures in heaven waiting for you where neither moth nor rust destroy where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also your heart will follow when i was in the corporate world they offered the place i was a place i was working at i was going to be 51 owner but they offered a 401k plan and they would you could take six percent of your check and put it towards a 401k and they'll match 100 of it it was a great program i loved it and it was in the early 90s and i would watch this thing like double and triple and it was just getting it was huge just kept growing and growing before my eyes and and so it was just like that was my treasure i didn't know the lord and guess where my heart followed i i was watching the stock exchange constantly seeing where my treasure is going is it going up is it going down and it's just that where your treasure is in other words naturally your heart's going to follow there you're going to be like you're going to be consumed and that's what was going on but but now it's jesus i could say he's my treasure and when you make listen if you make jesus christ your treasure your heart's going to follow you're going to want to be in church you're going to want to be in fellowship you're going to want to learn more about him you're going to want to talk about him you're going to want the things of him you're going to you're going to desire to to be around people that love the lord your heart's going to naturally follow but if you are caught up in the world you need to come out from there because it's empty it's empty eternity is forever and ever and ever and i want to be and i want you to be the in that place where when we see our maker face to face he'll say to every one of us well done good job good and faithful servant welcome into the joy of the lord i've entrusted you with a little bit but here there's all kinds of stuff for you again he just wants to he wants us to be caught up with him listen my life before christ if i really look at back at it i was miserable i used to wear a mask a face smiling face everybody thought i was great and doing good and you know outwardly it's like i had it all you know it is all this stuff but guess what inside i was miserable i was miserable why i didn't have christ in me that void in me wasn't filled with with joy and peace and love his spirit working inside of me now i have and i'm sure many of you here have christ in you that hope of glory the hope that goes way beyond the grave a hope and joy that listen to this nobody can take that away from you but if we get caught back up into the world and the things of the world guess what it brings depression oppression worry anxiousness and all that crazy stuff and maybe this is a message for you today he's calling you out from babylon there's the world system that you're you've been so entrenched in he said come out of there come out of there and can i tell you this from one that was there just totally just engulfed in all that one day in christ was better than all my life before christ one day i used to think those christians are boring all they talk about they go to church all the time they talk about the bible all the time everything is jesus this jesus said that's what i thought i'll never forget the day when i had to tell my dad you know that i became a christian and i was like so nervous because my dad was like upset with my sister because she was a jesus freak and he was like you know and so i had to sit him down and i didn't know what to say and he i said dad i need to tell you something i made a special appointment and he sat there and i sat down i'm like i don't know what to say so i looked at my dad and i go dad i'm a jesus freak that's what i said and the look on my dad's face he goes no don't say that and i say the funny thing is dad i'm a jesus freak and i like being a jesus freak i said i thought those people were crazy but now i'm one of them i love jesus and it just babies it baffled him he's like no please come on son please anything but that basically that's what he said anything but that oh okay for sleeping around and all this other stuff and getting drunk and partying all that you want that person yeah dad i'm not that person anymore my life is in christ and sure it took him a while he got upset he didn't want to hear it but thank you jesus i was one that before he died i was able to lead him in a prayer to accept jesus christ as his personal lord and savior guess what my dad became a jesus freak how do i know because at his deathbed when he went into the presence of the lord my sister was singing a worship song my dad started worshiping jesus and he went to be with the lord and times longing for what well we just read what they're gonna long for they're gonna long for things that are just empty things that don't last things that will be destroyed my question is what are you longing for are you longing for jesus is he your treasure if not make him your treasure because guaranteed if you do your heart will follow let's pray

Channel: Calvary Chapel of the Harbour

Views: 5,210

Rating: 4.989418 out of 5

Keywords: Christian church, church in huntington beach ca, churches in huntington beach ca, hb, Huntington Beach CA, seal beach ca, in person, Prayer

Id: HWrN6Y7dX94

Length: 44min 17sec (2657 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021