Foundations

i'm gonna ask you to stand right now if you would and um in a moment i'm gonna read the scripture it's too short for us to do our responsive reading today but we'll stand in honor of god's word and so listen before we do that everybody i'm very excited and what's the word i'm just going to share with you i'm going to share with you exactly what i shared with frank turek last week privately he is where you going next week with your series i heard about it i said we're going to start a series called futures it's been on my heart and my mind for a long time ever since we opened up back in may because i began meeting people i still am at this church and now there are tens of thousands of people who are joining us online live and they don't have a clue and you may not have a clue as to what does the bible say about our future the future christ returning the millennium the judgment upon earth the second coming of christ the antichrist book of revelation the rapture the global players in the last days as the bible mentions them these things were revealed in scripture not to confuse you they were revealed in scripture making a grand assumption that by the time you looked at bible prophecy you would have read for example your old testament and then gone right into the new makes perfect sense if you do that a lot of people haven't done that so i told frank i said you can pray for me frank because there's a gigantic burden on my heart because i'm going to be speaking to a whole lot of you that these things are new but they're ancient in the bible but you've never been taught them at the churches you attended and so for a lot of you this is brand new and so it's going to be a pretty lengthy series but i promise you this and i've repeated this to friends this has been a disciple-making church for 30 years and just when i thought like all right we got a lot of people settled in they know exactly what they believe and ministries happening we're moving forward then a whole bunch of you newbies come along and um it's like lord and i believe god has been saying now now it's time for you to disciple them too and so that's where we're going as a pastor we're going to walk through the prophetic teachings of the bible you're not going to be afraid you're not going to be freaked out because i want you to keep this picture in your mind like you're a little lamb getting picked up and i want to be holding you as your under shepherd under jesus and i want to be telling you right in your ear now this is what the bible says and that revelation to you ought to bring you comfort it ought to bring you joy it ought to bring you excitement and for some people it ought to bring you to you a wake-up call depends on where you're at but listen i want you to be bold i want you to be strong i don't want you to shy away from the conditioning that may have been upon you at the previous ministry that you were involved in and i think you'll see why so i think if you give me a couple of sundays you'll start to see hey this is not weird this is exactly what i need to know and by that i think you will grow and so we're going to start out very easy today very simply we're again as i mentioned we're calling it futures that's the series today we're going to be looking at a message entitled foundations and i'll read this passage to you it's isaiah chapter 45 verse 21 and this is god speaking declare what is to be presented let them take counsel together who foretold this long ago who declared it from the distant past was it not i the lord and there is no god apart from me a righteous god and savior by the way that's exclusive he's the only god and he's the only savior there's only one there is none but me verse 22 turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for i am god and there is no other that's the word of god he knows the future he's the god you love he's the god you pray to he's the god that sustains you but listen he's also the god that has written the future down in advance it's called bible prophecy and then one more passage and we'll we'll visit this again in length at the end of our message today it's the very heart of not only the bible it's the very heart of bible prophecy first corinthians 13 11. paul said when i was a child i spoke as a child i understood as a child i thought as a child when i became a man i put away childish things he's talking about throwing off the yoke of unbelief and coming into the maturity of belief for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now i know in part but then i shall know just as i also am known and now abides faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is what church love again father we pray that you would move in our midst today and lord if there's anybody here and well i know there's a lot of people here that are saying let's do this let's go for it and there are a lot of people also listening right now that they've been conditioned to not get into what the bible says regarding the future and therein they have been robbed and there's a reason why 27 to 31 percent of your bible is about the future bible prophecy so father we pray for a great blessing upon this church upon each individual lord the hundreds of home groups that are meeting us right now online together and all those who will hear the going forth of this message we pray that you'd bring us together in your word as one in jesus name and all god's people said amen you can be seated foundations it's where we begin in our future series in our desire to be like jesus as a believer it's our hearts desire to be like jesus our greatest pursuit as believers is to be like him it's certainly the very goal of every disciple the bible tells us in matthew 22 34 but when the pharisees heard that jesus had silenced the sadducees there was a debate and argument between the sadducees and the pharisees regarding resurrection and jesus let them know the truth they gathered together then one of them that is a lawyer asked him a question testing jesus and saying verse 36 teacher which is the greatest commandment in the law and jesus answered and said unto him you shall love the lord your god with all of your heart with all of your soul and with all of your mind this is the first and great commandment and the second is like it's you shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets i want you to mark those last few words all the law and the prophets that's very very key if you have a bible will you hold it up even if it's on your smart device hold it up that's wow that's beautiful okay this book listen this book that is written in in a paper and ink or on your device this book is a book that has proven itself to be bulletproof and the reason why that's true is what jesus said a moment ago that all of this leading power and reality of the believer to love god and to love your neighbor like you do yourself all of that if passionately pursued sums up the law in the prophets the entire word of god now look everybody please be careful i am not saying that if you are just a really loving person you know how people are there's some people they were just born loving people i was not born that way but some people are born that way they just love everybody and listen that doesn't mean it's christian love that doesn't mean it's god's love that can be more of a personality trait no one is born with this virtue that jesus is talking about this morning it is a divine love for god which god allows you gives you to have and it's a divine love for others that means that you and i can love somebody who's actually trying to kill us who hates us that you have a gut-wrenching compassion for them even though they mean harm to you do you hear what i'm saying it is an unearthly unnatural not of this realm kind of love it's not that you have a good constitution or a sweet disposition it's transcendent god's love you see what is that through the bible prophecy because i told you we're starting basic and this is the foundation friend everything that you're going to be hearing in this series you must remember this verse the foundation is god loves me he has hope for me and god expects my faith to grow faith hope and love that should be at the top of your notepad as we go through this study everything there will be our building point the first thing that we see this morning jot it down if you would regarding our foundations and the futures series is this the future of faith mark that down number one the future of faith you say what on earth does that mean the future of faith i want you to understand that what i'm about to say here's a disclaimer up front is not bombastic i am not exaggerating this is not what pastors are supposed to say on a sunday morning it's 100 true and it's this your faith is the greatest possession you have you need to know that now listen if your life has been cruise easy smooth no bombs up until now then that doesn't make much of an impact to you but if your life has been normal like the rest of ours and you've been smacked in the face a few times spiritually speaking or maybe physically speaking uh god's promises to you mean everything and that means that you exercise faith to cling on to god's promises listen faith is an absolute necessity listen in our lives but it's very critical as to where it is applied because every human being exercises faith every one of every single one of us but for me to say to you your faith is the greatest possession that you have don't take that lightly you lose that and you lose life you give up on that and you lose your hope you give up on that and you lose your future very very critical very important that we begin to build this series upon the statement regarding the future of faith for us as individuals the bible says in hebrews 11 verse 1 now faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen look look at it on the screen mark the verse down hebrews 11 1. this is a very very cute uh seemingly benign verse it's it it appears on your little memorization scripture cards you'll see it posted in someone's instagram and it's such a sweet sentiment oh no it's not it is an absolute bold declaration of a reality that some people look at it and say i don't get it and some people look at it and will say i can't live without it this is absolutely spectacular faith according to the bible now faith faith now what i am going to lean upon in my life and what i'm going to make as the foundation of my existence is wrapped up in my action of faith please hear this never have faith in faith and i know you can go to the christian books not it not this one you can go to a christian bookstore and buy books on having faith in faith ladies and gentlemen that's false teaching oh guys sorry verse back up on the screen you want to be able to you want to be able to make sure that your faith faith demands that it is it is pointing toward a a subject a person place or thing i'll be honest you have faith in a person a place or a thing now faith is the substance that word substance is something you can hold and touch see wait a minute i thought faith by nature something that's ethereal you can't grab it you can't touch it in a normal realm of science that's true but in the realm of faith with god there's a bigger truth and that bigger truth is faith takes you to the promises of god where you can grab them and don't tell don't ask me how this works but you could have a doctor give you a pill because you're sick and that doesn't work but faith can be exercised in christ jesus and there's a presence that comes near to you that you can't buy there's no pill you can't have somebody bring it it doesn't arrive in a box it is his presence him in his word him in his comfort him in his promises it is foundational it is awesome and we need to know this as we move into this series faith is the substance i can touch this thing this person or this promise that i have faith in how so of things hoped for this is an awesome statement it's not like oh i have faith and i really hope i hope i hope i hope oh i hope i hope guess what happy to report that's not what the word means you know like i hope there's no traffic going to work today that's not what the word means this is a hope this is a hope that okay you see this platform i'm standing on it's wood beneath me i have total hope that the people who built this it's going to keep me up hear that here did you hear i use the word i have no doubt i have total hope in this okay that's the word it is an assured guaranteed fulfillment hope for watch the evidence of things not seen the truth proclaiming that my faith in christ is so dependable upon him not me him listen listen my faith dependability on him causes me to have great faith because of him so uh pastor i don't have much faith and then i listen to people tell me well what's going on they actually have tremendous faith but they're really saying is i don't understand what god's doing in this situation i'm willing to totally yield to whatever he wants to do i just wish he would tell me a little bit about it that's huge faith even the person who says i don't believe in god anymore he broke my heart this is what happened and then the other thing and that's the other thing and i'm mad at him that's the wrong attitude and that is the wrong place to be but that's great faith think about it they have the faith to believe and to confess that god's big enough to have fixed their life situation by now that's great faith it's misimplied at the wrong moment of time but the truth is god's at work evidence of things not seen you need to hang on to that verse and put it right up there in their note-taking of our study faith by definition listen everybody faith by definition assumes a future you all know that right write that down faith by nature assumes the future every one of us have faith in something in someone i hope it's christ i trust it's christ but to even speak about faith it assumes that there's a future in other words faith is something that is used yes regarding the past as we shall see yes in the current but also for the future that's a that's an assumption listen it's a logical assumption it's reasonable you can defend that and so the goal of this series is to establish that very thing that all that you hear is to build your faith not scare you i'm going to i'm going to quote my good friend dr ed heinsohn wonderful statement dr ed made god did not give us bible prophecy to scare us he gave us bible prophecy to prepare us and that's a great word so number one under this point is this past foundations build faith mark that down this is a very very important part of your life believe it or not past foundations i'll explain that build faith again the book of hebrews chapter 10 verse 9 by faith he abraham dwelt in the land of promise as a foreign country dwelling in tents with isaac and jacob the heirs with him of the same promise that's faith wow for he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is god the life of abraham what do we know we look back at abraham's life watch this it's pretty cool abraham was given a promise by god about the future and everything about abraham's life though you and i now are viewing it in real time in the past builds our faith this is why it's so important that you and i study the life and do by what's called biographical studies of great men and women of god before us you should be doing that in your time by the way i i can't believe i'm about to say this but amazon prime if you have amazon prime and you go to the christian section they have remarkable documentaries about martin luther king john huss uh john knox uh william tyndale they've got treme uh richard wolmbrandt most recently dietrich bonhoeffer and it's i've seen them all very accurate very well done i'm impressed why do we even look at such things because those who have gone on before us those who are to us in the past are great people to learn from and we start with abraham when i study and read and learn from the life of abraham or any old testament uh example what does it do it builds my faith why because everything about them this is why we love them but we don't have to see it everything about their life is based upon the promise god gave them ladies and gentlemen are you sitting down that's called prophecy see you think prophecy is the dragon with ten horns and this beast rises under the sea and i'm and and you run out of church we'll get to those parts they're pretty cool but i'm going to really get you ready for it but when the bible says in genesis 3 15 for example when god says that from the woman the messiah is going to come from eve that is the first prophetic eschatological statement in the bible salvation it's not the statues ten toes or the dragon god's first prophetic message is salvation after this adam and eve fumble salvation will come to you and that's the entire bible announcing to you it's all prophetic if you think about it it's beautiful past foundations build faith by the way please mark this in your mind if your faith today in your mind is something like a fallback or it's something i go to when things get tough it's my spare tire it's my what's the word break glass in case of fire you know this faith you know i'm good i'm good let me ask you something do you need more faith i do now very personally in the last how long has it been so nine months almost nine months of craziness 10 months of craziness has your faith been strengthened are you growing have the things of god and the promises of god become more real to you i'm going to assume that's true because you're here think about it and you come at a cost and i'm not talking about getting sick it's flu season can i say this um it's flu season we're probably going to get the flu this season it's called flu season so what i would you're gonna every year there's been a flu season every year for like the last 10 000 years but listen with all of this and all that's coming think about it in the world around us you're going to need a greater faith so how do i get a greater faith you're right this is the right spot because you're going to have such an appreciation for the bible you're gonna have such a dependence upon the bible and you're gonna say you know what wow god loves me so much he told me these things in advance he didn't want me to be scared he wanted me to be prepared past foundations build faith secondly current foundations build faith you see what is that that is putting into practice what we know what we believe current foundations build faith and what i mean by that is um that you today have god in his bible as your go-to foundation where do you go to when your world is rocked where do you go to when you see something happening on the news or uh in your family or in your life where do you go do you go to the bible because listen we can do that now in our current foundation situation building faith because we learn from the past that god keeps his word to his patriarchs he keeps he kept his word to all of those biblical personalities that you read about and you love reading the book of uh psalms because david and others are lamenting and revealing their hearts and god comes in and you love all that because listen the past builds faith and it carries you right now to the present in this situation right now what do you go don't don't say anything but what are you going through right now a will freak you out and cause you to panic or b you're going to realize wow god's in control i don't understand what's going on his word's true you can trust them abraham did joshua did and i'm going to do it i'm going to do it you ever see somebody when they make up their mind i'm going to do it you ever see people jump off of like cliffs i i i don't i love heights i can go right to the edge of the empire state building i love i love that feeling it's like yes there's i love that i don't have i don't fear heights i just i just don't it's probably not good it's kind of over developed maybe but there's i cannot jump off a cliff i don't know why in the water i just there's something about that it's like i don't know i don't know because in my mind i my luck the biggest fish in the whole lake would be swimming just below the surface the moment i left the edge or there'd be a i'd notice that there's a you know sandbar right there something would happen freaks me out but there's some people you know that moment where they say i'm doing it let's go like you know some of these rides that there's used to be a place called disneyland it was once it was once in a in a galaxy far far away but i don't do rides i love airplanes and you can put me upside down and inside out and i don't care how fast or slow let's do let's do it airplanes god made airplanes makes perfect sense to me airplanes were built i don't see i don't get i don't get roller coaster rides ain't gonna happen you know why i'm standing in line and all i'm thinking about is who built this who were they were they on drugs the day they built this who designed this i need to talk to somebody i don't like it and so what happens we get right up there and i step out and my granddaughter goes by herself that's what happens papa you're a chicken that's right chicken right here not gonna go i don't have faith in that stuff but the moment somebody says i got it let's do it should we not be like that with faith god has never let you down you may have misunderstood what god has done that's most often our situation but he's never let you down never and you can build a foundation of faith on what's going on in the current world around us the world in the next couple of months the world will be discussing in davos the global economic world problem the world is in an unprecedented problem right now the world and they're going to be discussing the global economic community if you know bible prophecy you're saying oh wow i'm going to be watching this why because we're going to watch everything through the lens of what we know from the bible does any of this stuff in the news apply to my current situation and of course you can begin to see that religious freedoms and liberties and the direction of our nation and and world all of these things jesus said when you see these things beginning to come to pass when you just see the little bit of the sun peaking up on the eastern sky you know that my coming is at the door how awesome is that and you should be excited about that that ministers to us i look for every opportunity to insert this quote because it's so sweet to my soul it's blessed me many times but we talk about a current foundation and situation and how we need to have faith the bible tells us i'm going to give you this bible verse and then this quote the bible tells us in first chronicles 12 32 it's an amazing statement and this is what i pray for this church and from the tribe of issachar there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their families all these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for israel to take that should be a testimony of your faith and your family and your walk with god and this church we discern the times and the seasons in which we live according to the bible and that information causes you and i to know what we ought to do next as believers and that's going to bring you hope it's going to bring you strength it's going to bring to you faith and the love of god will settle your heart it's awesome that quote is from one of my favorite people in all the world can't wait to meet him samuel adams patriot founding father governor of massachusetts signer of the declaration of independence rebel well he was creator of the boston tea party right i mean he did a lot of fun stuff this guy uh we have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause and in heaven we have placed our trust numerous have been the manifestations of god's omnipotence in sustaining us we have been reduced to distress and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up let us still rely on humble confidence on him who is mighty to save good tidings will soon arrive we shall never be abandoned by heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection isn't that a great statement and and i love that because all that is biblical truth let's live our lives we are not going to listen we are not going to close the curtains and hide at a time like this we're the ones running around the ship throwing out life rafts to people well people are hiding in their cabin scared i had a lady come out i was doing a wedding last night in palm desert and there was some woman going through the foyer of the hotel and was talking to the the father of the bride and we're hugging we've known each other forever we're hugging and talking and carrying on and this woman comes up and she goes where's your mask the two of you where's your mask and he jumps right out of the gate and he said i'm good lady i already had it i i can't get it and i can't give it away i've had it and she starts arguing with him you don't know that and what about you and i looked at her and she was she had she was older than me um and i said she's she said do where's your you want a mask and i said no i don't want to mask i'm good and her husband walks up and he says gentlemen is she bothering you and it was tremendous because he said listen she's wearing her mask if the mask works she's fine that old man said that if she's wearing her mask if the mask works she's fine now if the mask works she's fine do you hear him going with this what is said out in the world around us may or may not be true but what to god people could you imagine if that woman would have walked up to us and said both of you are you sleeping with your own wives are you doing drugs are you cheating on your income tax do you speed you better get your act together you know what i'm saying wouldn't it be great if we had a terror of sin like that put on your mask how about this put on christ put on jesus put them on put them on everybody's worried about something that listen 99.96 you're going to recover from not sin it's 100 fatal sin will kill you it's dangerous [Applause] so when you look around and you realize because maybe this is news to you jesus is coming he could come back today that should cause you listen to put on christ you want to get ready put on christ you want to get super safe put on the blood of christ very important thirdly under this point is future foundations build faith future foundations that's what we're doing as christians man do you ever think about that we should think about this this should be common thinking for us every time you and i read our scriptures pray and go through a bible study like we are right now we are literally laying down a foundation regarding the future and this is amazing to me i've often told you guys i don't understand how it's going to work but what time you spend right here right now going through the bible right now will literally equate to dividends in eternity god is going to somehow take this morning because it's eternal long as this word is being allowed to speak and he's investing in you so that it will matter in the day of eternity we're not wasting oh man with the church a waste of time not if you listened okay if you're tweeting your friends and stuff then you blew it but if god's word is open god has promised the holy jesus said the holy spirit will teach us the word of god and so that's the key to church growth by the way you want a stable church teach the bible it doesn't listen it's a funny thing you teach the bible the church will be under constant attack it's good to see what kind of enemies you have at the same time that church will be invincible because the lord is at the helm it's pretty awesome pretty exciting the future you're building on the future the more you pour in the more deposits you make so to speak in your bible knowledge and growth isaiah chapter 42 verse 9 says behold the former things have come to pass that means there's things i've told you about in the past now look they've come to fulfillment and new things i declare before they spring forth god says i tell you of them you need to write that down friend listen if you're a muslim you don't have that in your bible or well you don't have a bible you could get a bible they're free write us let us know we'll give you a bible but the quran has no prophecies in it and whatever quote prophecies there are they're actually lifted right out of the new testament and inserted into the quran but even that's a stretch the god of the bible is the only one that tells you the future in advance you're not going to get any news about the future in advance from the tibetan book of the dead you're not going to get anything about the future regarding hindu out of hinduism or buddhism the god of the bible says here's one of the ways that you can identify who i am i'm going to tell you this in advance write it down and what happens when it comes to past god says i'm the one that's awesome absolutely awesome the bible says in matthew 5 17 jesus said do not think that i came to destroy the law and the prophets that's the entire old testament i did not come to destroy but to fulfill for assuredly i say to you till heaven and earth pass away one jot or one tittle one little calm or one little hyphen will by no means pass away from the law till all is fulfilled this bible every word is going to be fulfilled you can take that to the bank and here's a grave warning i mentioned this the other day in fact last sunday this was brought up in the closing of our message with dr frank turek revelation 21 verse 6 we're talking about faith faith in the lord jesus christ not in you faith in god's word not in a horoscope trusting in the lord not yourself revelation 2 6 and he said to me john is speaking it is done take note who's speaking to john i am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end i will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts he who overcome shall inherit all things the he who overcomes is the one who finishes their course that god has given every one of us have been given a different course and i will be his god and he shall be my son verse 8 but the cowardly and unbelieving and he goes on to list more the abominable murders sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death the point is look at the two leading descriptions of who inherits hell the cowardly and the unbelieving people who have no faith in god and people have no faith in god and it manifests itself in a cowardly life no trust no confidence in god they may have had confidence in themselves but not god it's a tremendous statement i want to give you three scriptures and then a little bonus one it'll be a fourth totally but three scriptures are you guys okay yeah okay three scriptures that that are proof positive uh that you can build your faith upon the past today and the future according to god in fact john 13 19 this is jesus speaking he says i tell you before it comes oh i love that i tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass you might believe that i am he oh my goodness and the last thing you ever want to hear in a critical situation i don't know if it's the contractor if it's the guy cutting your tile or if it's maybe you bought your wife the super and once it you know there's no other diamond like this one and the diamond cutter is going to cut i don't know or the doctor can you imagine the doctor can you imagine if you're awake and the the surgeon they got their stuff on and the guy the doctor he's going along and you hear him say oh wait a minute we didn't we didn't know this part we didn't see this what is that excuse me dr dr jones have you seen one i've never seen one other thing i don't think you'd want to hear that or if the guy's cutting your you know your tile and it's down to the last cut or something and the guy the guy says oh oh no he said it's like what what what what that's the last thing you want to hear like the airplane's taking off and the the pilot says to the copepod did you fill up the tank [Music] you want to hear that no you know what you want to hear you want to hear this you want to have someone come up and say this is the way this is the way it's going to unfold this is going to happen and then you're going to see this and then the other thing and then just when you think this is going to go this way and so buckle up but now you know isn't that what you want to know that's what i want to know people will say we don't know what's going on what happens when you die well i feel sorry for you because the bible is full of what happens to you when you die and the cool thing is we not only love and worship the one who knew how to live he knew how to die and then he came back and said oh this is how it's going to go and it's like okay i like that future foundations build faith yes we can get on an airplane fly to jerusalem i can walk you in front of the garden tomb it's empty it's pretty awesome you travel 15 hours 7 000 miles drive from jerusalem to the garden tomb or tel aviv to the garden tomb to see absolutely nothing it's the only pilgrims in the world somebody shows up what are you looking at nothing [Applause] there ain't nobody in there he's gone he's risen he's up he's out of here he's jesus john 14 29 and now i have told you before it comes that when it does come to pass you may believe that's john 14 29 you see that sounds just like john 13 19 yes he's repeating it over and over again because it's so important here's another one john 16 verse 4 but these things i have told you that when the time comes you may remember that i told you of them why did he tell them that to bring them comfort and your faith if it's in christ you should have that comfort and then here's the bonus revelation 19 verse 10 great verse revelation 19 10. john says i fell at his feet to worship him this is a fellow servant we don't know if it's another departed disciple or apostle or is it an angel but he said to me this heavenly this person in heaven said to john see that you do not do that i am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of jesus worship god for the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy he tells us the truth in advance the second thing point number two mark it down if you would is that the future is hope the future of hope the future of hope this is all foundational to our series the psychology of hope by the way is a very interesting thing because it's much like faith in a way it's not the same of course but it's it's it's like it it kind of has a the same kind of benefit to us but the psychology of hope uh it's interesting because uh you can only have hope listen everybody you can you can only have hope if you assume or believe that something exists or it's going to manifest hope so you have faith in what god has said that's awesome your faith should take you now to the next step and that's hope god listen god said it you know the old bumper sticker god said it i believe it that settles it that's that's a cute sticker from the 70s but it's true god said it that's faith i believe it but if i really believe it listen up how will i know it's true in my life i know it's true on paper but how do i know it's true that is active in my life i will have hope you need hope but i warn you today where's your hope getting back to that wedding yesterday i challenged both though the groom and the bride to be it was perfect everything was perfect it was in palm desert oasis swans were everywhere the desert at this time of the year it was 74 degrees the sunset was insane there was not one breeze so the candles were burning perfect everything was perfect she pulls up with her dad in a boat and everyone's watching and the cameras are going and you should have just the look on andrew's face was incredible it's just awesome and i'm looking around knowing what today's message was about and knowing that about this point right here everything about everybody watch listen everything about everybody it was the tale of two cities so to speak two people there were a lot of people there with incredible smiles and tears as they watched this picturesque storybook moment unfold and no one though had the beaming glory of andrew and as he watches his bride come and he's starting to cry and i'm i take advantage of that all the time i turn my mic off i'm kind of harassing him to try to get him get them breathe some air get back you know and you got to do that kind of stuff sometimes keep the service going and he's just overwhelmed and then i could see people out there listen most of them sadly most of them sadly were women and they're they're like this and maybe i was maybe i'm wrong maybe it's because i'm viewing last night through the lens of today's message but it looked like there was a lot of indifferent men out there didn't pick up on much of anything and a whole lot of disappointed heartbroken people women i'm generally speaking now but the contradiction was those that were wow and i thought about god's love and i actually used that i didn't mention it to them but it caused me to speak to the audience with a certain challenge about love and about faith and about hope and everything about that couple was heightened because it was their wedding day how did they ever get to the wedding day hope how did that happen faith they have they've committed they exchanged vows they said they love one another and they by faith made the commitment and then because they made the commitment there's this grand presence of hope and that's not much of a stretch to the christian life you've made this commitment you've given god your vows and you have hope in him not hope in the dollar not hope in the government not hoping your health not hoping anything else but him what a difference the bible tells us in ecclesiastes 3 11 he that is god has placed eternity in our hearts you know there's a book written what's his name alexander pope wrote on an essay of man he's the one that coined the phrase um hope hope springs eternal remember you've heard that before haven't you yes hope springs eternal that's from alexander pope's book but the bible says that he is he god has put eternity in our hearts you are designed to hope and you need to get this under your belt starting today god did not put that in you to have a expectation of hope so that you would be dashed and broken against the rocks he doesn't play with you like a cat might play with a ball of yarn you have that desire of hope coming and hope being fulfilled because that is an attribute of what it is to be a human god put that in you but misread you can be like somebody in that wedding bitter stone-faced not feeling anything because they've been hurt are you with me their guts have been ripped out a few times and then put back in there they don't feel anything anymore remarkable hope is a human attribute and i got to tell you i believe hope makes no sense without the existence of god this may be a weak argument to you but faith hope and love they actually exist amen and for me it proves the existence of god amen and you might say put that on the table let's cut it up and dissect it and see i'm sorry you can't do that exactly that way it's different hope is something we learned that is internal it's an internal rudder hope will guide you you know in your decision making we're we're going to go quick now because i got to end i see as usual run out of time hope internal rudder in your life listen if you have hope in god you're going to be less uh prone to making mistakes or preemptive or uh decisions in haste you know the guy that says man you got to buy this car right now because there's 10 people coming down right now to buy this car you know i like you you're my friend i'll sell it to you for you know i'm going to discount it just for you but better hurry up there's a family coming down right now to buy this car i told you guys what to do before when that guy does that they try to sell you a car like that or a washer or a dryer i don't care what it is you tell them oh my goodness you told another cup they're coming down now yes right now so you better hurry up they'll seal the deal well i don't want them to be disappointed if you told them they're coming down i'll see you later works every time [Applause] don't make decisions when you're hopeless when there's no internal rudder of hope in your life you're going to make bad decisions panic you may not be biting your nails and you may not be pulling your hair out but you know what because you're not trusting god and you don't have hope in god you're making one bad decision after another and if that's left unchecked you will sink into a depressed state watch out jesus said mark it jesus said in john 16 33 these things i've spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation difficulty hardships but be of good cheer he said i have overcome the world that's just not a statement that's a reality that's a fact that's true hope is also an external message hope external message from you and i as believers in this series i pray that the serious causes people to come to the knowledge of jesus because why it's going to equip you better to operate with external hope you say what do you mean external hope for you to live a life act an active life of hope i predict i'm not a prophet i'm just predicting as a human would say that in the days ahead because god is amazing his timing is always perfect that you are going to become some form of a missionary if you attend this church because god is going to take these studies and he's going to say i want you now to take the hope that you have within you and make it external let it be around you let people see it let people know it and i'm not talking about being a preaching fool i'm talking about living a life of hope because the world is going to experience some major shaking in short order and you're going to be there not because you're the rock it's because you're tied to the rock of all ages he will sustain you internal rudder external messaging is our lives and then thirdly under this point is the fact that hope is to be a projected strength man there's something awesome that when the bombs are bursting in air and everything's gone nuts and the boats upside down and uh you name it and and there you are your family your witness whoever you may be and when i say a projected strength that hope is a projected strength i believe people will seek us out right now they right now people are somewhat neutral the atmosphere will change you're going to be blamed for everything christians it's starting right now with the thanksgiving season the christian the uniquely christian holy american day and the world will turn on you and then all of your friends and neighbors and family will look to see how you deal with it and you know what because your hope is settled in christ and in these difficult challenging days you'll have a projected strength it's not you it's him and it's going to emanate they're going to see it and they're going to see it in you when you don't think they're seeing anything at all pretty awesome i like that and then third because we're at a time the future of love in the words of the famous philosopher tina turner she said what's love got to do with it everything everything tina everything love the overriding human experience need desire requirement priority is the single most powerful evidence for the existence of god and that is man is not fulfilled until he knows the love of god you can pursue people forever and never be truly deeply internally forever satisfied until you come into the knowledge of the love of god you can have the most wonderful husband and you can have the most wonderful wife and fantastic and all of that but all of it is a picture it's a hint it's just a little bit of seasoning compared to what god has prepared for those who love him and that is the love of god listen because it is absolutely essential that a human received the communication of love the bible tells us god is love three fast things and then we're going to stand in fact go ahead and stand right now i mean it it's deliberate you'll see if you get my notes online you'll see how this ending is deliberate god loves us this man let's be honest maybe you're here right now you know anything about god or you're tuning in oh god loves us you said it all works out fine right because god loves us uh it depends it depends on who's asking because the bible says that god loves us but he's angry with the wicked every day that's a verse in the bible too it's not as popular as the other verse listen there are people in heaven today and there are people in hell today and god loves both think of that so wait a minute if he loves both then why is there a hell can't he just wave a wand nope you mean there's some things god can't do yep he can't be unjust he can't sin he can't lie he can't be anything but pure people don't wind up in hell today because god doesn't love them in fact god says i weep over their death isn't that funny man there's people who die and they're so wicked that nobody weeps over their death some people are think good riddance you know can you imagine there's only one that weeps over the death of every individual and that's almighty god but the fact that he weeps over the death of the wicked doesn't automatically default them into heaven not at all the future of love these three things god's love for you will never diminish it's impossible wow we can't know that in in our you and i cannot know that in this world in fact when we love someone in those moments of insecurity we're a little bit fearful wondering do they love do they love me as much as i love them well you won't know unless it goes over time time reveals all secondly god's love for you will never fail you gotta remember that right now his love will never fail you i don't understand he didn't ask you to understand he asked you to trust them because he loves you and never fail god's love will never end you're going to be listen you're going to be in heaven hypothetically you're walking down the road in heaven you trip over you know i have my garden hose out there you trip over it and fall on your face i start laughing because i thought it was spectacular you get up you start cussing me out in heaven this little angel comes over grabs you by the ear opens this little cloud and throws you out no it's not going to happen it would be amazing though but it's not going to happen love failure aisle 9 no it's not going to happen it will never diminish his love for you his love will never fail you his love will never end here we go first corinthians 13 though i speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love i've become a sounding brass and clanging symbol and though i have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though i have all faith so that i could remove mountains but have not love i am nothing and though i bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though i give my body to be burned but have not love it profits me nothing now watch this let's do this together maybe just pay close attention to this are you with me at verse 4 watch just watch me and listen jesus suffers long and is kind jesus does not envy jesus does not parade himself jesus is not puffed up proud jesus does not behave rudely jesus does not seek his own he is not provoked jesus thinks no evil jesus does not rejoice in iniquity but jesus rejoices in the truth jesus bears all things believes all things hopes all things jesus endures all things jesus never fails but whether they are prophecies they will fail and whether they are tongues they will cease and whether there is knowledge it will vanish away for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when that which is perfect has come that's him then that which is in part will be done away when i was a child remember this from this morning i spoke as a child i understood as a child i thought as a child but when i became a man i put away childish things for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now i know in part but then i shall know just as i also am known and now abides faith hope love these three but the greatest of these is love church you remember that in this series god is going to speak to us about the coming invasion of israel he's going to name nations he's going to challenge you to be ready he's going to be speaking to you about the holy spirit in your life symbolizing the scripture as oil and letting your light burning and to be living a life that is constantly active now in relevant all the while heavenly ready father we praise you for your word we praise you for your truth we thank you god that in the name of jesus christ lord and savior redeemer king that we would be ready today to meet you lord i'm looking around this world and i'm saying today's a good day today's a good day we leave it all into your hands but i pray friend as i interrupt my prayer let's just remove remain an attitude of prayer today listen you need to review these this these three this trinity of discipleship faith hope and love do you know them do you enjoy them are they active in your life put your trust in jesus you'll never be disappointed look to him who is the author and the finisher of your faith and look up for behold your redemption draws near well hey thanks for listening and uh we appreciate you and of course we do in this time and in this age us being together and linking up together to get the word of god out is actually ministry being fulfilled and in fact if you would like to subscribe please do so hit the subscribe button tell your friends about us and listen if you'd like to help us get this out on a broader scale you can support us by hitting on the give now button and look we're going to continue on with or without you we're inviting you to join us no pressure but if you'd like to link arms in this venture you'd be greatly appreciated so listen keep praying for us we're praying for you god bless you and we'll see you back here real soon

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 144,214

Rating: 4.9212971 out of 5

Keywords: end times prophecy, jack hibbs, jack hibbs latest, real life with jack hibbs, eschatology, jack hibbs futures, jack hibbs sermons, jack hibbs live

Id: Z7rLuZ6yWXE

Length: 66min 18sec (3978 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 22 2020