[Music] you w [Music] w [Music] [Music] w [Music] w w [Music] w [Music] [Music] [Music] like a flower in the midst of a graveyard is the place where my soul longs to be just to rest in the arms of my savior the darkness surrounds me fix my eyes on the light of your promise I believe believe every word that you say I'll remain in your love and your mercy all of my days and Lord all I want it oh you're are you're the one that I Delight it forever I the by and you you're my peace in the midst of the chaos where you have me where I should be though I sail through the eye of the Tempest your voice G to [Music] see I know beauty is f in the waiting and I know that you're form in my heart Hallelujah God you were faithful finish what you start and Lord all I want is all you up you're the one that I delighted forever I in you all I want is oh yeah you're the one that I Delight in Forever our in [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you my desire it's just to know you more take this life holy make your might High just to know you more take this life only make it your and Lord all I want is oh yeah you're the one that I Delight forever iight in you all I want it oh yeah you're the one that I deloted forever I abide in you oh I want this oh you are you're the one that I Delight in forever I abide in you [Music] [Applause] [Music] thousand Generations Falling Down In Worship sing the song of Ages to all have gone before us door who will believe will sing the song of Ages to your name is the high highest your name is the greatest your name stands above the mall all CLS and dominions all clouds and positions your name stands above them all and the angels Christ holy all creation Christ holy you are lifted holy holy holy [Applause] [Music] forever and if youve been thee sing the song Forever if you are compl and if you bear his name sing the song Forever till the end we'll sing the song forever and amen and the angels cry holy all cre Christ holy you are lifted High holy holy forever your people sing Oh to the King of Kings holy you will always be Ho Holy forever Jesus your name is the highest your name is the greatest your name stands above them allall [Music] above all RS in dominions all hearts and positions your name stands above the wall oh Jesus your name is the highest your name the greatest your name oh it stands above the All Above All the and in all power and positions your name oh stands above the allall and the angels cry holy all creation in Christ holy you are lifted in high alling forever he people sing ho to the King of Kings holy you will always Bey holy forever you will always be holy [Music] forever amen you will always be holy forever in every season in in and out of season whether we feel it or not he is Holy amen feel free to grab a seat just for a brief moment we're going to continue worshiping not only through song teaching but also through giving we have a goe boxes on the back wall where you can give or a link will appear on the screen where you can give in our app another thing I want to make you aware of that's really really important is our prayer if you have prayer needs feel free to please take advantage of that in our app we have a team of people who would love to pray over the needs of this body and just lift those up to the Lord and I think that's something that is very very special and something to take advantage of so we're going to do a new song this morning um you know so when I first heard this song I I was just caught up into heaven with all of the the angels and the ELD singing Holy Holy and worthy are you Lord worthy are you yes Lord and I I thought of this passage in Revelation 5 and it says the it's the book with the Seven Seals starting in verse one I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back sealed up with Seven Seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals and no one in heaven or on the earth or under the Earth was able to open the book or to look into it then I began to weep sparing I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into to it and one of the elders said to me stop weeping behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah the root of David has overcome so as to open the book and its Seven Seals amen [Music] amen and then it's it fast forward to verse 13 and every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the Earth and on the sea and all things in them all creation essentially I heard saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and Dominion forever and ever we got to remember that amen As we sing Holy forever there is no other name by which we are saved there is no other name greater than the name of Jesus no other name who else is worthy of all of our praise all of our adoration he knows the decrees he knows what's going to happen he's not afraid he's not worried so take heart remind yourself through this song it might be unfamiliar to you but it is such a truth one of my favorite lines in it says I am an instrument of exaltation you know some people are like I can't sing I can't play we were made to worship we were made to exalt we were made to give adoration to and sometimes that's misplaced a lot of times that's misplaced you know I see people all the time super excited like on Super Bowl Sunday you you know I saw you sitting over there quiet but after at the Super Bowl party you were you were cheering pretty loud right because his our Focus his she too is possible our Focus can be misplaced when we think about who we serve and who he is and his worthiness I can't I can't I can't hold it in there's just there's it's bursting out I can't there aren't words adequate to describe and so as we sing this next song just this it's old truth but it's unwavered Truth All right so let's pray Lord who else is worthy but you who else is worthy Lord of all of our adoration Lord of all of our intentions Lord of all of our Focus you swallowed up death for all time lord reconciled us unto you made us a people Lord Kingdom priest to you Lord to reign with you that Lord would you help us to remember whose we are but who we are in you Lord we love you name I pray [Music] amen I am an instrument of exal [Music] I was born to lift your name above all names You Hear The Melody of all creation but there's a song of Praise that only I can bring who else is worthy who else is worthy there's no one there is no one only you Jes who else is worthy who else is worthy there is no one only you Jesus you are the infite god of the ages yet you chose to make my heart your dwelling place you healed my broken amen Show Me Your Glory so I have songs of thanks not even Angels Sing who else is worthy all our praise who else is worthy there is no one only you Jesus who who else is worthy who else is [Music] worthy there is no one holy you Jesus who else is worthy who else is worthy there is no one ho is Jesus who else is Worthy who else is worthy there is no holy you [Music] Jesus you are [Music] is no is the Lamb of God anointed one who was and is and is to come Seated on the throne of holy holy rightous one who shed his blood to prove move to us the Father the love Jesus Christ be lifted up Ho Holy Lamb of God anointed one who was it is and to come you SE it on holy holy holy rightous one who said his the on this world Jesus Christ he lifted up who else is worthy who else is worthy oh there is no one only to Jesus who else is worthy who else is worthy there is no Only You Jesus who there is no only you there is no one there is no one only you [Music] Jesus who else is worthy who else is Worthy there is no one only you Jes sing it out there's no one who else is worthy who else who else is worthy there is no one only there is no one there is no one only you Jesus there is no one only you [Music] [Applause] [Music] Jesus you can have it all Lord every part of my world [Music] take this life and breathe on St that is now yours you can have it all Lord every part of my world take this life and breathe long this heart that is [Music] yours oh the joy I found surrender in my ground at the feet of the king who surrendered [Music] everything and all the peace that comes and I'm Bren and by your own F in Grace I will lift my voice [Music] say you can have it [Music] all every part of my world take this love and breathe on this heart that is now yours girl can have it all Lord every part of my world take this mouth and breath this heart that is now your [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] there is no greater call and giving you my all I lay it all down I lay it all down there is no greater love no higher name above I lay it all down I lay it all down there is no greater call than giving you my all I lay it all down I lay it all down there is no greater love no higher name above I lay it all down I lay it all down oh oh [Music] you can have it oh Lord every B of my take this paath and breathe on this heart that is now [Music] you can have it all Lord every part of my [Applause] word take this mouth and Brea all this heart is now your you can have it [Music] all every part of my world take this life and [Music] Brea it's all that is [Music] [Applause] amen amen good to see you guys here at the house of God welcome to C Cho is Anaheim glad you are here today yes if you're joining us online you can access which we're about to go into right now on our website which is our announcement so would you open up your bulletins and on our website cca.org or if you want to get a step ahead of the game get the calvary Chapo East Anaheim app on this app you can not only follow along with interactive sermon notes with a message from Pastor Bob that's about to to follow right now but also you can register for the events and for the activities I'll mentioned today you can find details about them and more uh you can find resour on how to how how how how to have a quiet time with the Lord and even submit prayer requests so encourage you guys if you don't already have the calary Chapel East Anaheim Anaheim app Anaheim app you can get it my goodness all right so today there's a few things I want to highlight for you number one is that is we have an adventure kids training and fingerprinting at 1:00 after second service today so so if you want to get involved in children's ministry we require fingerprinting and training and this is a great way to get two for one all done in one day so we love you to be part of what God is doing in the next Generation uh everyone's talking about Generation Z but there's also generation Alpha and there's a new a new generation God's raising up uh to know him and to make him known and God is doing such a sweet work in our adventure kids and we'd love for you to be a part of sewing into them so we'd love for you to consider being a part of our training and fingerprinting today at 1:00 also our missionaries from Romania in town the zarian family they're here and we have an update from them today at 5:00 if you guys don't know this already you when you give to Calvary CH PR Anaheim you're automatically also giving to our missionaries sharing the gospel around the world including the jarian family and God is doing great things over there in Romania and we'd love for you to know about them so you can praise God with them and also hear about what God wants to do this coming year so we can pray for them as well so at 5 o'clock you can hear a little bit about uh what what God's doing who they are and we love for you to be part of that also if you are a techsavvy person who would say you're tech savvy let me see your hands here okay I don't know what that term quite means but techsavvy well our Tech ministry that's my second way want you to consider being involved with them God's using them with video to sound and all kinds of ways and we' love for you to consider being involved in our Tech Ministry and you can find out more from them at at a table in our Courtyard and there's a variety of ways from sound design although to the lighting to video Visual and to even just stage setup and tear down we' love for you to consider to be a part of our Tech Ministry also we have a homeschool Community here and we'd love for you to know about the classes that are happening this upcoming school year as well as when they are when they're happening so if you go on our app our website even in the bulletin you can find the details about that we'd love to support those of you who are raising up your children in the way that should go through homeschooling and that's a resource for you also we have a open invitation for you to join a community group uh we have sted our spring season of it on May 6th and if you're not part of a community group we love you to prayerfully consider joining one we have pretty much a group meeting every evening there not church and we'd love for you to join one of those groups to dive into Fellowship into God's word we're going through Psalm 23 together and God has just raised up an amazing community in our midst that we love love for you to be a part of that growing community so please consider joining a community group you can go to our app or our website to browse the group that fits best for you whether you allergic to pets or not what day of the week you want to meet at where in where in Orange County there's probably most likely a group that meets just for you we'd love for you to be part of that group and finally uh we'd love to invite you out to our Wednesday night service every Wednesday night at 7 p.m we have a Bible study and worship and Pastor Bob is leading us to the Old Testament and we'd love for you to be a part of that study but also we serve a dinner at 5:30 and if you want to know what that dinner is if you walk by faith not by sight but you eat by sight not by faith we love for you to sign up for text alert so you can let you know the menu because every week is different you can text ccea do 714- 695 965 Z and you will get uh the menu to to you but also when events change or things happen that are new that are newsworthy we want you to know about this is the first way we communicate to you so we'd love for you to sign up for text alerts so we can get a hold of you that way so that is all for my announcements now Pastor Bob by the way the jadran uh will be in the gymnasium at five as Josh mentioned and this is kind of your chance to get to know your missionaries but there is something I did want to mention uh that wasn't in the bulletin I don't think and that is that uh their daughter Ellie is with them on the mission field and she's an adult if you haven't met her you you need to meet her and and she's in her 20s and the Lord's really called her into the mission field which is always exciting for us as parents to see our children not only know the Lord but walk with the Lord and want to serve the Lord especially in capacities like we've been involved in so we want you to know about her she already is supported by our church but she's going to be looking for additional support to go full-time in the mission field and there's going to be a brief amount of time about her at 5: so if you're not aware of that we definitely want you to meet her and hear what God's doing through her current Ministry like you to open your Bibles now to the Book of Revelation Revelation chap 1 you know where we are if you've been coming if you're brand new welcome we're glad you're here if I haven't met you I hope to get to know you even today I'll be out in the courtyard right afterwards I love meeting people in the first week or maybe it's been years and we've never met I want to change that so do me a favor and come by but Revelation chap 1 and we're going to look at verse 7 verse 7 you say Pastor Bob we're slowing down well this is a big verse I don't mean long I mean it's big if you think about what it's talking about you'll agree Revelation 17 behold he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him so it is to be aen father we are wanting to take the time to hear what you would say say to us about your coming about being ready for your coming about believing your coming and knowing what that looks like according to scripture so would you open our eyes to see wonderful things this morning would you meet us in this place and do more than Lord just educate us would you motivate us to live in light of the fact that you are coming soon in Jesus name I pray amen you can be seated well if you've been here you know that I have been hammering not me so much as what the text says I hope that the theme of the book of Revelation singular is the person of Jesus Christ and yes there's a lot of Prophecy in it yes there are a lot of of visuals in it and symbolism and things that we'll be studying about the end times but it is primarily and essentially the book of the revelation of a person and in the verses we just studied last week we have title after title after title of who Christ is we're going to be seeing him again again and again later on in this chapter a unique vision of the glorified Christ that uh John is told to write the things that he has seen while the theme of the book is the person of Jesus Christ it is also this book is also the revelation of the Fulfillment of the great promise Made To Us by that person that is of course of the coming of Jesus Christ and the word Maranatha was a word that early Christians used to greet one another kind of like well you know how they' use Shalom for hello and goodbye or maybe Aloha hello and goodbye well Maranatha Believers started using that because Maranatha means the Lord is coming the Lord is coming and it's good for us as Believers to remind each other of that back in the 70s and 80s my friends and I who were excited about Christ coming back I hung out with a lot of Christians and we were attending Calvary Chap and hearing all these prophecies we used to say to one another hey I I'll see you later yeah I'll see you here in the air is what we would say referring to the Rapture I think that we should bring that one back because we need to remind ourselves or just say marinata he is coming and we need to remind ourselves of how important that is so put this down at the beginning of your notes if you're taking him don't lose sight of Christ's return don't lose sight of it it's easy to do this is the first of 30 times in the book that the holy spirit will tell John to use the word behold behold and so I want to take a moment and consider how important that word is this word behold is pretty much like a hey check this out don't miss this it's a word that might be called a verbal flare that's going up stop what you're doing and really pay attention it's sort of like the chaar being blown in the Old Testament to say hey everybody you need to be aware something is happening the significance of Christ's coming cannot be overstated and that's one of the reasons I believe we should take the time on this one verse we'll be talking a lot about his coming both at the Rapture and at the second coming while we're studying this book but you see when Jesus was giving his last message on Earth he could have spoken about anything he could have spoken about marriage or about love or about truth he could have spoken on any subject he wanted but his last known address to call it that he happened to focus on his coming and being ready for his coming it was that important there in Matthew 24 he's answering questions what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age and then in Matthew 25 Jesus talking about this same subject gives us three pictures Parables or word pictures to help us understand what the kingdom of heaven will be like remember he talks about there being 10 bridesmaids or 10 virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to come they're expecting him to come but because he delays listen to me cuz it's you you're one of the two I don't know if you're the foolish or the wise you decide that but you are you are there because you're here at church I assume you believe he's coming I trust all 10 of them believe that they were showing up for the wedding they were waiting for the bridegroom they were dressed in wedding gear but the Bible says while there were 10 only five of them actually went into the wedding five foolish five wise but all of them slept while he delayed that's a warning church that means even the True Believer even the believer that has the Holy Spirit even the believer that believes he's coming and could come at any time and is waiting or at least appears to be waiting or hangs out with people that are waiting is going to fall asleep or and be in danger of it that's why Paul the Apostle says time is to wake up salvation is nearer to us than when we believed I don't know when you got saved I got saved 53 years ago praise God in 1971 I got very excited about Christ coming then very excited and I should have been but he hasn't come yet but guess what here's the thing I think about hey all I know is I'm 53 years closer to Christ's coming and no one has ever lived in all of history closer than you and me right now that is an incredible privilege that we take for granted there have been people who thought for sure he'd be coming in their lifetime Chuck Smith was one of them Paul the Apostle was one of them you say why do you say Paul the Apostle cuz Paul said then we who are alive and remain not you I'll be dead all of us that are still alive will be going up they expected Christ's return in their lifetime do you I believe we should be expecting it but the danger is Believers will fall asleep there were 10 bridesmaids then he talks about three servants Master gives each of them some talents differing amounts it says basically occupy be bu busy until I come back and then based on what they did with those talents it's going to affect their involvement in the Kingdom very important lesson for us and then at the end Jesus gives what we call the sheep goat judgment and we have 10 bridesmaids we have three servants but we have two flocks and you're in one of the other there are sheep and there are goats and by the way all of them think they're going into the kingdom all of them but he's going to separate the Nations as a Shepherd separates his flocks there are those who truly believe and then there are those who are deceived and will not be going into the kingdom there's lessons for us about the second coming even those of us who are confident he's coming who are waiting for his coming who believe we're going in we need to know what he has to say about it so don't lose sight of Christ's return it's interesting that it says behold he is he is coming not it the tense is present tense in Greek it doesn't say he will come future tense he's coming and in other words right now he's coming that's the picture it speaks of his certainty of coming and the imminence of his coming which I believe every believer should live with an understanding of remember John the Baptist Who Bore witness to Jesus who he was he baptized him said Behold the Lamb of God the next day who takes away the sin of the world John who heard God speak this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased audibly and who saw the dove a light on him and knew that this was the one he bore witness and said go follow him and some of his disciples did it but later when John was arrested and in prison he began to have some struggles what if this what if I made a mistake oops send some of his disciples to go ask Jesus one question are you the are you the coming one is the term in Greek it's the same word that's used here are you the coming one the title of the Messiah is the one who's seen us coming right now James says don't grudge against each other don't waste time judging each other why cuz the judge is at the door he's that close he could be walking in any minute he hears everything you're saying don't you understand how imminent his return is so put this down keep your eyes wide open for his coming Luke 12 and: 40 Jesus said you to be ready for the son of man is coming in an hour you do not expect and Luke 12 35 tells us how to be ready he said let your loins be girded about and your lamps or your lights be burning now what does that mean how do you g your loin where are my loins anyway to understand ging of the loins you have to think about the kind of clothes they wore in those days men wore clothes that were robes I don't know how many of us still wear men still wear robes any guy still wear a bathrobe okay I did this morning so but but here's the thing when you have a long flowing garment and you want to run or you want to do some work they would have to hike it up you know and and tie the thing tight so it wouldn't fall down and trip you is the idea so you Peter would say G your minds for Action in other words get ready to do something with what I'm about to say it's it's a metaphor for Readiness in the book of Exodus when God told his people how they were to eat the Passover he said Remember the night that the angel of death passed over and they put the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost a symbol of obviously of who Christ would be eventually the true Passover and God said when you eat that Passover meal you're to eat with your sandals on that was not normal you were to eat standing up that's not normal you were to eat with your staff your walking staff in your hand and you to eat with your loins girded folks this was a to-go meal when Jesus said you want to be ready for my return you are to be ready to leave you are to be ready to go that's the idea and at the same time you're to keep your lamps burning that's about your witness you are the light of the world city set on a hill cannot be head no one takes a lamp and hides it under a peck measure you're to be ready to go but until you go occupy with the business that I've given you at hand and that's the Great Commission sharing the gospel with a lost world Max Luc says there is a secret to wearing a vest he said it's a secret every father should tell his son it's one of those manly things that has to be passed down from generation to generation it rates up there with teaching your son to shave and use deodorant it's a secret every vest wearer must know if you own a vest I hope you know it if you own a a vest and you don't know it here it is button the first button correctly take your time don't be in a hurry look carefully in the mirror and then match the right button with the right hole if you do if you get the first button right the rest will follow suit excuse the pun if however you don't get the first button right every button thereafter will be buttoned incorrectly the result will be a lops side vest put the second button in the top hole or Slide the second hole over the top button and well it just it just won't work there are certain things in life done only one way buttoning a vest is is one of those being ready is another according to Jesus being ready for his return is a vest button principle According To Jesus you start wrong on this first move the rest of your life will be cockeyed then he said this not not everything is vest button truth the church you attend isn't the Bible translation that you prefer isn't the ministry you're involved in isn't but being ready for Jesus's return is a vest button truth get this right the rest will fall into place put this down recognize we've got his word on it that he's coming for we are told behold he is coming March 11th 1942 General Douglas MacArthur uttered those three words to the people of the Philippines while they were under enemy occupation he boldly promised I shall return and two and a half years later he kept that promise and they came and they liberated the Philippines listen Jesus Christ promised that he would return from the dead and he did Jesus Christ promised he would return from heaven and he will you have his word not do you know that this is one of the most repeated promises in the Bible the coming of the Messiah to establish the kingdom of God on this Earth there are over 500 verses in the Bible that relate to it one in 25 people have said refer in some way to the second coming that's amazing it's in all of our Creeds if you know the Apostles Creed if you ever recited like I did growing up the nyine Creed in the 4th Century at the Council of NAA the essentials of the Christian faith that while Jesus died and was buried he ascended into heaven and he will return to judge the living and the dead as a child we would say he's coming to judge the quick and the dead I never understood why he was going to judge the people that could run fast CU I was pretty fast at when I was the 50 D why is it going to judge us but I didn't know that meant those who were alive in the first coming Jesus Christ came to redeem man as the Lamb of God in the second coming he's coming not to redeem but to rule and to Reign Over mankind as the lion of the tribe of Judah as the King of Kings and the Lord of lords Matthew 25:31 but when Jesus said the son of man referring to himself comes in his glory all the angels with him then he will sit on his glorious Throne so Jesus is coming back to establish his kingdom we know that and by the way you say but what what's that going to look like well we know a little bit about it from what we are told by Christ and by in the book of Acts for instance we are told that his return will be something like SpaceX that is he will return to the same place he took off those Rockets do that acts chap 1 veres 9-2 this is his Ascension and after Jesus said these things he was lifted up while they were looking on and a cloud received him out of their sight and as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing behold two men in white clothing Stood Beside them and they also said men of Galilee why do you stand looking into the sky this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come notice in just the same way as you have watched him go into heaven Jesus Christ ascended bodily into heaven you could see him go into the clouds and they said it's going to happen in Reverse he is going to come back it's going to be with the clouds but it by the way it's going to be in the same place that he took off did you know that Zechariah 14: 3 and 4 in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the East and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a large Valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the North and the other half toward the South by the way one of the things when we go to Israel I like to point out to people that are on our tours when we're up on the Mount of Olives is this prophecy that God says the Messiah will come back to the very place that he took off from now we don't know the exact location actually on the Mount of Olives there are three different churches that have been built supposedly like this was the place obviously it can't be all three we don't know which one it is it doesn't really matter to me it matters that he went not exactly from what part of the mountain he went from we just know he's coming back and what's interesting to me up at the very top of the Mount of Olives is a hotel it's called the hotel of the seven arches we do have a picture of it I'd like you to see it a slide there it is that's has seven arches you can see and you can see how relatively close it is to the brow of the Hill while in 1964 when the jordanians were going to build this hotel they did a survey an archaeological survey and they realized where they were going to build it slightly beyond that was a fault line of an earthquake a fault line uh uh earthquake fault line in fact we have an image of the map that shows it here it is running right like that and the it's amazing to me the earthquake fault line for separating that mountain from north to south it's already there it's kind of like when Peter said that all the things in this world are some going to dissolve we wonder how's that going to happen actually God has built that power right into into the atomic nature of matter did you know that already it's already there he's just going to say Let It Go that earthquake I just find that fascinating to me when Christ comes back there will be this mountain that will cleave North and South but the earthquake fault is already there put this down this is cause to take courage what is that Christ is coming back it's caused to Rejoice really 2 Corinthians 4: 8 and9 Paul Paul said this as Believers we are often and now Afflicted he said in every way but we're not crushed we are confused we're perplexed but we're not despar we're persecuted but we're not forsaken we are struck down but we're not destroyed in other words as Believers we go through hard things but the fact is we know ultimately that we're going to win you know if you had talked to a member of the French underground during World War II these were the ragtag army of the French who didn't appreciate uh Hitler's armies coming in and occupying Paris and their nation and they were fighting against the Germans but if you had gone up to one of those guys and said how are you guys doing they would say great in fact we are confident we're going to win we we we're going to win well you might have said how in the world can you be so sure I mean you don't have very many weapons and there's not many of you how in the world can you say that against the third right and all of its forces they would have said oh no no what you don't understand is don't just look at us and this poorly you know equipped Army that we're part of that's not where our confidence comes from but right now even as we're speaking across the channel there's a huge Invasion Force that's coming together we don't know the day we don't know the hour but they're coming and we have absolute confidence we will be victorious folks that's the way a Believer is to live oh yeah there's things we don't understand there's things that discourage us along the way but we already have his word on it he is going to come and he is going to be the king of all the kingdoms and the Lord of all the he is in charge and he's coming I have his word and I trust him you see I don't know how many world conquerors you've ever met you say well none well if you met Jesus yes you have and by the way every time you look in the mirror if you're a Christian you're looking at one did you know that say what we are more than conquerors the Bible says through him who loved us and we ought to act like it we ought to remember that he will fulfill his promises so it is caused to take courage Romans 8 and verse 24 says for in hope we have been saved now by the way the Biblical word hope is a little different than the word we use uh the way we use the word hope just like other words we use the word peace to mean something less than what the Bible means peace in English usually means the absence of H just give me some peace I just need peace go away but peace biblically Shalom is something much richer than that Shalom speaks about every part of something that's complicated working in unison and in harmony picture some machine that's very involved but everything's smoothly working the way that it should that's the peace that God offers not just the absence of hostility but the very presence of God working things out same thing is with hope we use the word hope like well I wish it's true you know I I hope they'll marry me I I hope I'll win the lottery I didn't but I hope you know I'm hoping based on what I don't know just cuz I wish it no no the Bible when it speaks of our being saved in hope the word eliss in in Greek literally means confident expectation I know this is going to happen I don't know when remember the little boy is staring at the escalator in the store and people think he's too young to be alone where's his mom there's no Mom Dad no brother sister and they think he's lost he's just staring at the escalator finally somebody comes over and says hey did you lose your mommy no doesn't even look up just keeps staring at the escalator what are you doing he said I put my gum on the escalator uh Rail and I'm just waiting for it to come back I know it's coming I just not sure when we have a confidence because of Christ's promise he's coming we don't know exactly when but we have no doubt that he is and it should cause us to Have Courage Peter Marshall once said this it's better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail letter C on your outline Christ is coming with the clouds that's what the text says did you see it behold he's coming with the clouds interesting Luke 21: 27 here's what the text says here's what Jesus said then they will see the son of man coming in a cloud notice with power and great Glory now when I used to preach this and didn't have slides where the text was on there I remember I preached that and some he said with Greg Lori and I said no that's not what the text said but I'm confident he'll be there too because he's coming back with the Saints according to the Bible put this down he comes to establish his Heavenly Kingdom that's very clear back in the Book of Daniel Daniel is called upon by the King Nebuchadnezzar who's had a dream to interpret his dream and this dream that he had was of these four beasts which Daniel then tells him have to do with World Empire starting with his own and it's very interesting each one of these Empires one succeeding the other now for us of course that was prophecy then but now it's history to us have already come and gone those four beasts were first of all a lion that represented Babylon and then a Savage bear that represented Persia which took over after Babylon then a leopard that took over after Persia Greece and then the final one well it's not even liken on to a particular animal it's just a beast that is so monstrous it has iron teeth and it's like nothing else before it in its strength a picture of Rome that destroys everything in its path now what's interesting then at the end of this stream there is one who is called the son of man who establishes an eternal Kingdom and we know that to be Jesus Christ he is coming to create a worldwide Eternal Kingdom unlike all the kingdoms of man that have just been beasts who have been out for themselves Daniel 7: 13 and 14 then picks this up in this Vision he said I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the Clouds Of Heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and he was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples Nations and Men of every language might serve him and his Dominion well it's an everlasting Dominion which shall not pass away his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed Matthew 25: 31-34 but when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him and then he will sit on his glorious throne and All Nations will be gathered before him and he'll separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he'll put the sheep on his right hand the goats on his left and then the king will say to those on his right come you who are blessed of my father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Jesus according to the Book of Revelation will come back physically to Jerusalem he will establish the capital of his kingdom in Jerusalem and he will rule and Reign for a thousand years this is of course where we get the word Millennium or we refer to the millennial Kingdom of Christ let me tell you a couple things we learn about the Millennium since it's referring to Jesus Christ coming back as king we know that when he returns according to the Old Testament prophets that creation itself will be set free from its bondage to the curse that is the full effect of the curse we know there will be unparalleled peace productivity and prosperity listen the Bible says even the Dead Sea will be resurrected he'll become fresh water fish will live there again nothing is lived there since time Immortal but that's going to change as a picture of what God's power that living water that comes from his throne can do he will remove the Lord will remove enmity between man and man nation and Nation the Bible says war will cease does that seem possible it's impossible except that the right person is in charge the Bible says the Nations will beat their swords into plowshares you know that's one of the mots of the United Nations they can't make that happen but when Jesus is in charge that will happen what does that mean it means the military budgets of Nations won't be needed anymore they'll be used for agriculture they'll beat their swords into plowshares in other words there will be food of Plenty with because there will be no need for that money being spent on War by the way there will be peace even in the animal kingdom the Bible says the wolf will lay down with the lion there won't be animosity there it says that an infant will be able to play at the den of the adder what does that mean play at a a serpent a poisonous serpent with a snake won't hurt the baby at all things will change no harm there will be unparalleled health and by the way longevity Bible says in the Old Testament if a person during that time dies at the age of a 100 they'll be considered a child did you know that that the lifespan of people will be as the days of a tree you say what does that mean you ever visited General Sherman the big tree it's 2,000 years old there's one that we have on Earth that's 5,000 years old in other words people will start living maybe back to the time of Genesis when people were living in the 8 900 years or longer there will be people born on this planet who will live for the entire Thousand Years perhaps that's what the Bible says because of Health the glorified Saints that's me and you who have gone up with Jesus in The Rapture and come back we are told we are going to rule and reign with Christ we're given responsibilities in direct correlation to our faithfulness of our Earthly lives that's the parable of the talents you are faithful over the five talents that I I gave you now govern five cities what yes he who is Faithful over a little will be faithful over much now I trust you to represent me because what I gave you that's why it's so important how you live your lives now your salvation is not based on works but your rewards are definitely based on Works don't you understand you're making decisions that's going to affect you not just for a thousand years but really forever and we will have according to the Bible glorified bodies that are like Christ now my grandchildren always want to know well what does that mean you know can we be invisible well Jesus was able to be invisible I mean he was listening to Thomas say I won't believe tell us I put my hand in his Jesus says oh let's talk about that Thomas why you were here I didn't know you were here I heard every word Jesus could materialize and dematerialize as not just Star Trek and Captain Kirk beam me up Scotty Jesus would beam my you know just transport I not I'm not saying for sure we'll have that ability but if our bodies are like unto his which the Bible says they will be that he will take this body and make it a glorified body like unto his own then that's very reasonable but we'll have glorified bodies that reflect Christ Glory that is mean by the way don't think we're going to be bored if you think you're going to be bored in heaven first of all you don't understand worship if you don't enjoy worship yet you you don't understand the blessing that is but here's another thing we're not going to just people sometimes picture like well we'll just be floating around on clouds you know eating sugar-free Bon bonss or something you know uh that's not what the Bible teaches at all we're going to be serving the lord we have an active involvement in his kingdom so here's what the scriptures teach about believers who are raptured we will return with Christ we will reign with Christ we will stay with and serve Christ in his kingdom and we're going to be married to Christ as his bride and we're going to share his glory remember what Jesus said it's the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom please don't misunderstand that he didn't just say it's my father's good pleasure to let you in to let you have a place no he's giving you the kingdom can I remind you as the bride what that means when I got married the moment I said I do and the preacher said you are now husband and wife legally everything that I had also became my wife's everything my apartment I made duplicate keys of all the keys that I had and I gave them to Becky the day we got married these are now yours legally and practically you don't have to ask my permission to go over to the apartment you live there you know you you have my last name we We Are One legally everything that's my she suddenly was the owner of the the fleet of vehicles that I owned okay it was a 72 Nova Nova means no Go in Spanish but by the way which was true half the time my I just didn't have much to give my bride but Jesus he owns it all he governs it all do you understand what that means you're not just getting into the kingdom he is sharing his glory with you that's why you'll Rule and reign with him because you represent him so let me just say this unless you're already aware of it whe whether you're a baby boomer a Gen X gen Z or gen Alpha in God's book if you're a Christian you're a millennial you're a millennial you're going to be a millennial Saint and you will be there for a thousand years with him amen put this down the second coming is not the Rapture the second coming is not the Rapture now there is a lot of confusion first of all there's a lot of debate about when the Rapture is going to happen there's a lot of confusion among Christians and even among pastors about both the second coming and the Rapture listen to this this is a recent survey although the scriptures make it clear Jesus is coming back researchers found varying views on three aspects of end times theology the Rapture the Antichrist and the millennial Kingdom out of 1,000 senior Protestant pastors surveyed only a third 36% believed in a pre-tribulation Rapture where Christians disappear at the start of the apocalypse and those Left Behind suffer tribulation 36% also another third of pastors say the Rapture is not literal in in fact actually we're not talking Protestants now just Christians 90% of churches do not teach the doctrine of the Rapture in this world did you know that they don't believe it and one and five believe the Rapture happens after the tribulation very interesting we'll be talking a lot more about the Rapture in the days ahead and what the scriptures have to say about that but let me just say a couple brief words because I think it's important that you're able to distinguish between the Rapture and the second coming you need to understand another word that in English has a slightly different meaning than the way it's used in the New Testament and that's the word mystery now for most of us a mystery is a who done it I don't know nobody knows it's a mystery who stole the candy bar out of the pantry the father wants to ask the family ah no one's going to fess up so it's a mystery in other words a mystery for most of us means we don't know we can't know we'd like to know but that's not the way this word is used in the New Testament the word musterion which is translated mystery in the New Testament is has a very specific meaning and it literally means something that used to not be known and couldn't be known that now is known so it's not something that we're wondering about something now we has been revealed by the way Paul specifically says that the mystery of the church say what is the mystery of the church The Mystery of the church that wasn't revealed in the Old Testament that was was revealed to Paul is that the church consists of Jew and Gentile together read the book of Ephesians he talks about this this was revealed to him and he shared this in the New Testament We Now understand that Jesus said I will build my church but what that church was is described by the Apostle Paul Jew and Gentile together very interesting remember that the Rapture of the church is a mystery in the Old Testament it's not known it's not revealed what does Paul say in 1 Corinthians 15 behold I show you a Mysterion I'm going to reveal something to you that has not been revealed before we shall not all sleep but we shall all be metamorphosized changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet and he starts talking about the Rapture of the church and Paul describes the saints that are going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air in first Thessalonians Paul was given Revelation that we find in the New Testament that's why it's not in the Old Testament you don't see it yes the second coming but not the rapture but that the Rapture is mentioned by Jesus is very clear jot down John 14: 1 and 2 John 14 veres actually 1 through3 here's what Jesus said this is the night he was going to be arrested betrayed and ultimately crucified let not your heart be troubled believe in God or you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions or many Dwelling Places but if it were not so I I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am you may be also that's very interesting Jesus said I'm going to my father's house I'm coming to receive you to myself so you can be where I am in My Father's House these are wedding words by the way a man who was going to get married would go and actually build usually a room that's why he says my father's house has many room I'm bu preparing a room for us bride and groom in my father's house that's what would happen he would come and he would get his bride from her father's house where she's living and take her home that's just exactly the culture and so Jesus is describing the Rapture in those words that was kind of the first picture of the Rapture now I'm just going to say this briefly because we don't have time to go through it but I have back on the back table for you I think there's about 500 of them so when they're gone they're gone um but we purchased these for you this is from amir's Ministry Amir with behold Israel and it's probably the best pamphlet I've ever seen on the subject it's called The Rapture versus the second coming and you will it's a simple thing to read and he distinguishes what the Bible has to say about the Rapture versus what the Bible says about the second coming so you can see how they are different don't conflate them and make them the same event they are not and it'll help you so please take advantage uh of those one per family please and tell their tell till they're gone then you can take two okay you got put this down how you react to his coming remains to be seen remains to be seen so we know every eye will see him when he comes but then notice the reaction even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him interesting so every eye is going to see him you know uh The Walking on the Moon probably in our lifetimes physically one of the most incredible things that some of us have ever wi 1969 by the way 20% of the world watched that that was the most watched event in history in all of human history so far um but Christ's return you see until just in the last 50 years 60 years there wasn't technology that would even allow every eye to see something that was happening simultaneously but we now live in that age when that can happen every eye will see him now this word in seeing him or looking at him means to gaze with wide open eyes at something remarkable because what we're seeing really is the answer to a prayer I remember as a young Christian looking up at the sky I was spending some time I'm out in this field talking to the Lord I said God there's so many people that don't believe in you my friends don't all believe in you that you're even there and you're right there I just wish you would literally like I pictured it unzip the sky and say hello I said that that would convince a few people you know that would get their attention and I know you laugh at that but you know I'm not the first person that ever prayed that listen to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 64 and verse one oh that you would Rend the heavens and come down that's Revelation 1911 John says and I saw the heavens roll back like a scroll and one sitting on a white horse his name is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war that day is coming the billions of prayers that have been prayed I hope some of them by you some percentage by you thy kingdom come Lord I'm wanting you to come his coming will be universally visible as an event Matthew 2 4: 26 and 27 therefore Jesus said when they say to you behold the Messiah is in the wilderness don't go forth or behold he's in the inner rooms don't believe them for just as the lightning comes from the East and flashes even to the West so shall the coming of the son of man be now when Jesus was talking about this idea that there will be people saying hey the Messiah is over here the messiah's over there it's because one of the prophecies that Christ is coming back in the end times will be there will be many false christs who will arise and in the 20th century in the 21st century there have been many besides Jim Jones Charles Manson David Kesh Marshall Apple White those are more famous names some you may not know about Arnold Potter 1804 to 1872 he was a schismatic Latter-Day Saint leader he claimed the spirit of Jesus Christ entered into his body and he became son of the Living God by the way he died in an attempt to Ascend into Heaven by jumping off a cliff oh well sorry to see that Jones very that's his last name very this is in the 1800s also asserted that he was the second coming of Christ which resulted in his dismissal from Harvard and his entrance into an insane assult Jang jingpin 1973 woman referred to as Lightning Deng who began a new religious movement called the Eastern lightning which claims Jesus has returned to Earth already as a Chinese woman her and Oscar Romero Ortega her in that news in November 2011 fired nine shots from a semi-automatic rifle at the White House in Washington DC believing himself to be Jesus Christ sent to kill Barack Obama whom he believed to be the Antichrist I'm just I don't have time I have over 50 in the last 50 years of people who have claimed to be the Messiah these get more and more the closer we get to the Lord's return so Jesus said there's going to be plenty of people and some will have quite a following there's one group that 100,000 followers who who believe that Jesus Christ has already returned there are those who teach for instance among Jehovah's Witnesses that Jesus returned in 1914 you just didn't notice it it was a spiritual return those who interpret the Book of Revelation with the doctrine known as preterism that it's already already been fulfilled Jesus already fulfilled all it he came back and it's all that happened in 70 AD well see I have a problem with that because Jesus Christ is going to come back in every will see him so Jesus says don't believe it when they tell you he already came back well I I don't know how I missed it cuz every eye I think these two are still on my head they didn't see it at the Rapture Christ will only appear to Believers by the way Hebrews 9 and verse 28 Christ also having offered been offered once to Bear the sins of many that's the cross shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him Christ is going to appear to those who await him those are believers remember when Jesus rose from the dead he did not appear to unbelievers he didn't appear to pilate or to Herod or to the unbelievers in Jerusalem even the soldiers who were at the empty tube they never saw Jesus they saw the Angels they never saw Jesus he only appeared to Believers and this is specifically mentioned in Acts 10: 40 and 41 by Peter God raised him up on the third day granted that he become the visible not to all the people but to Witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God that is to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead very interesting so Believers will of course see him at the Rapture we'll see him face to face we'll be in his presence but unbelievers won't see him but at his second coming everybody will see him it's not a secret return put this down it will bring great rejoicing or great regrets when it says every eye will see him and then it says that that will include even those who pierced him you say well who is it that pierced him we don't have to guess well I think the Romans did it cuz they nailed him to the no it's not referring to the Romans because the Romans only acted on behalf of the Jews we know who pierced them because this is a fulfillment of a prophecy Zechariah 12 vers 9 and 10 it's the Jews Zechariah 12 9 and 10 if you want to jot that down but immediately after the tribulation of those days that's not it that Zechariah 12 I didn't think so didn't feel like Zechariah can we put up there there we keep going all right well let's see if I've got it and I will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of Grace and of Supplication so that they will look on me God says whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as One Mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping of a firstborn now this is a reference to the time during the Great Tribulation that Israel comes to Faith In Jesus as her Messiah God says I'm going to bring about a mour in Israel when they will change their view of Jesus instead of him being a false prophet a false Messiah after they accept the Antichrist as a messiah and find out oops Ro guy when he demands to be worshiped in the temple sets himself up as God and then starts to persecute the Jews breaking the Covenant then Israel will come to a saving knowledge of her messiah in the middle of the tribulation 144,000 Jews 12,000 from each tribe will be sealed by God God is going to bring his people to himself in the Book of Romans it says and all of Israel will be saved Israel is going to become a Christian Nation I know that sounds impossible but it's not it's going to happen you have it in the scripture so we are told that even those who pierced him will come to see him but it's interesting then it speaks of another group all the tribes of the earth that's Matthew 24: 29 and 30 if we have that one but immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the Stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken and then the sign of the son of man will appear in the sky and then here it is all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and Greg Lor is coming you know then too so in other words the repentant Jews will see him come back he's going to come back and save them read in Revelation he rescues them from complete destruction of the Antichrist and the armies of this world but then the rest of the tribes of the world they are Christ rejectors they even know that everything that's going down in their world both naturally and supernaturally happening is from God they cry out to the mountains and they say fall on us and hide us from the wrath of God and from the lamb they know where it's coming from and they blaspheme God they don't they don't come to repentance they reject him all the more and blame God for what they are going through very interesting so the Jews they have mourned their sin but the unrepentant people of this Earth they're not mourning their sin they're mourning their sentence that's about to be given to them proverbs 10 and verse 24 what the wicked fears will come upon them but the desire of the righteous will be granted put this down let your response to all this be an unequivocal amen Lord come that's what John says when he writes it amen or yes it's true so it's true Lord come it's like that Sunday school teacher third graders asked the class how many of you want to go to heaven everybody raised their hand but one little boy Johnny I don't know why it's always Johnny but it is he says Johnny you don't want to go to heaven when you die he goes oh when I die yes I thought you were trying to get a group up right now let me ask you do you want Jesus Christ to come back for you right now today do you I expect you to say at your church have you thought about the implications of it are you sure you want him to come back you see the reason I asked that is not because I'm doubting your answer but because of my own I was a new Christian a year old in the Lord I can still picture myself I'm sitting in the backseat of our youth leader car we had gone to breakfast I guess I don't remember that I just remember where I was Bas and sharing Associated heading up the hill and he said Bob do you would you would you like Jesus to come back to I said oh yeah and inside I go oh no I mean if I if yeah my nose would have grown because inside while I knew that was the right answer that he wanted to hear I also started thinking what would that mean for my life I'm still in junior high school I I haven't even gotten my license yet I'd like to drive now I'd like to be that International Spy I'm planning on becoming you know i' would like to have a girlfriend or maybe get married or a family or a how I there's lots of stuff I'd still like to do so I don't really want Jesus to come and interrupt all that now you laugh but the fact is some of us are here and saying well no that's not what I'm thinking but the reason it troubles me the thought of him coming back is because I have friends that I've never witnessed to well then go witness to them if you could identify some reason you don't want Jesus to come back you know listen if you go to your doctor and he does a physical and he hurts you during the physical or you have pain one of two things is true either he's not doing the test right or there's something wrong with you it's the way it is so if the idea of Christ coming back to dat bothers you then you need to deal with that because he could and you should be praying for it when you say thy kingdom come just not yet no yeah that's not going to work or maybe you're saying well I need to get right with somebody maybe it's your dad or your mom or some friend Jesus said if your brother has a against you drop your gift at the altar go get right that's their fault it won't work you have all your reasons but wait if there's somebody you're at odds with and you say I don't want Jesus to come back then go get it right well I really need to surrender my life then do it what are you waiting for I don't know put this down number two look for Christ in your own clouds right now you you say what you know um we're all different what kind of weather we like I uh my my second son Valor he's an artist and a photographer he loves it when it's cloudy I don't get that I know people that like the rain they like the maybe you good for you I like it like today sunny blue sky clear sky but here's something I've noticed in Scripture that God often reveals himself in unclear conditions unclear conditions you say what do you mean you read the book of Job well at least first couple chapters usually the last two but the parts in between you know what job wants more than anything he wants to talk to God wants God to show up and have a word about what he's allowed to happen in his life he's not being treated fair this doesn't make sense to him and his friends are wrong accusing him I need a daan an Arbiter to stand between us and get this right I don't think I could really you know argue with God but I'll do my best I've got some questions for God God says at the end of the book actually I have a few for you a couple chapters worth but do you remember when God finally shows up how he reveals himself it's in the Whirlwind don't think dust devil that's not what it was it was a storm God reveals himself in the storm that's why in the gospels we see Jesus revealing who he is to his disciples repeatedly in the storms when he sent them out on the boat he was up on the mountain praying for them he could see them a long way off struggling at the ores the waves the winds were contrary they couldn't get across and he comes to them walking on the water in the Fourth Watch of the night the last watch it's dark they think it's a ghost Jesus often reveals himself in un clear times Paul in Acts 27 is on his way to Rome and the ship well I wouldn't have wanted to be on that ship Not only would I be seasick but it's the ship's going to go down I mean it's going to be a shipwreck literally but the Bible tells us he says there Luke records it that they could not see the Sun or the stars for many days because of the storm clouds and storm and darkness there was no light but then Paul says but an angel stood by me last night and he told me yeah the ship's going down but we're all going to make it it's very interesting to me how often God reveals himself in unclear times Psalm 1811 he made Darkness this is God he made Darkness his hiding place his canopy around him darkness of waters thick clouds of the sky let's remember how often God revealed himself in clouds didn't he do that isn't that what he did up on Mount Si it was engulfed in clouds the Bible says God LED his people through a pillar of cloud for 40 years he protected them through through that same pillar of cloud protected them from their enemy got in between them the tent of meeting the cloud would fill it the Tabernacle the temple the cloud would fill it the cloud of God's glory no man could even go in there couldn't see anything anyway on the Mount of transfiguration a cloud overshadowed Jesus Moses and Elijah obscured him from their sight very interesting clouds constantly are connected with God revealing himself Charles Haden Spurgeon Saturday afternoon 1865 it's going to preach the next morning at the Metropolitan Temple to thousands of people and he's out looking at Clouds sat Saturday afternoon and he sees these white clouds going by and you know he says he says uh it made me think of Christ coming he's coming with the clouds and he's going to rule he's going to rain and he's going to judge and people will be sent to their Eternal Destiny just like we're studying today then he thought of another verse about clouds let me share it with you it's Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 4 He Who Watches the wind will not sew and he who looks at the clouds will not reap in other words the farmer who's trying to make excuses and being lazy about doing what he ought to be doing says Ah it's too windy today to throw some seed a Cloud's going to rain on us and we go out there and he says too many times as Believers and as preachers we're too concerned about what people's reaction is to our ministry talks about the cloud of people the crowds and he says OU know we shouldn't do that I don't want to regard the winds the change I don't want to regard the clouds the circumstances that are going on I I want to I want to I want to share the gospel even if it's windy in a storm maybe the storm he says he'll take it and it'll plant somewhere you know who knows God could God could bring fruit even during those those hard times and then he mentions this let me just read a little bit of his sermon if you want to read it all by the way and I commend it to you it's on my Facebook page this is part of it he said what clouds rest On The World At Large right now in his day what black clouds of Catholic Superstition Islam and idolatry but what are all these things we do not care about them at all Brethren some say he said I'm getting very enthusiastic about the Latter-Day glory and the coming of Our Savior Jesus Christ I believe there is nothing that Comforts a servant of God more as to believe that his master is coming I hope to see him I should not be surprised to see Jesus Christ tomorrow morning he may come then because in such an hour as you think not the son of man comes he who yearns to watch for Christ will never be surprised when he comes blessed shall that servant be whom when his Lord comes he shall find Busy about his duty then he said this sometimes clouds are very very fearful things to Mariners to Sailors they expect a storm when they see the clouds in darkness Gathering a cloud to many of us when it forb boess a tempest is a very unpleasant thing but the most terrible thing in nature are not terrible to the Saints and he does a whole sermon it's entitled what are the clouds about one part of one verse you think I'm bad nahm 1:3 here's what it says in nem 1:3 his sermon is on this the clouds are just the dust beneath his feet the dust beneath his feet and then he says this there is nothing terrible now because it is only the dust of my father's feet did you ever know a child who is afraid of the Dust of his father's feet no if the child sees the dust of his father's feet in the distance what does he do he rejoices because it is his father and he runs to meet him H we need to know the Lord reveals himself in the clouds now in our lives the things that don't make sense the things that seem to obscure him God wants you to be looking for him listen the very first game ever played in history by man was hide and seek say what oh you remember their eyes were open they saw they were naked and they hid themselves God's counting to 100 he says Adam where are you can I tell you something that call because the word Adam just means man Adam is just man not just one man mankind where are you Echoes down to this very moment In This Very Room where are you if because of your sin and your shame you're hiding he knows where you're at he wants you to come out he's basically saying altion free free free come today why because soon he's going to say ready or not here I come you need as it says in the Old Testament God says return to me that I may return to you oh Israel but I would say it this way return to him so he may return for you come to him so he may come back for you because as Saints the Bible says we are waiting for the revelation of Jesus Christ and I hope you are excited about that day you're praying for that day and most importantly you're living in the light of that day because that day could be today I told first service and I'll tell you I hope I don't see you Wednesday night but I hope I see you in the air between now and then it could be today let's pray Lord you know who in this room are yours you know those that would be taken and who would be left you know who your coming would cause fear trembling a sense of loss and Lord you want to put your finger on that as a symptom Lord you know those that are living in a sin that they are ashamed of and Lord you would use your soon coming to reprove us that we would recognize it's time to repent it's time to get right with you it's time to share our faith it's time to gird up our loins it's time to let our lamps be burning and not hide them anymore forgive us for not living ready for not shining the gospel Lord cleanse us set us free from those things and set us on fire for you help us to have eyes only for you watching for that time when you'll come back for us in Jesus name amen let's all [Music] stand Jesus is the highest your name is the greatest your name stands above them all all thrs and dominions all powers and positions your name it's stand above them all oh Jesus your name is the highest your name is the greatest your name oh it stands above them all above all the Roes and dominions all powers and positions your name oh it stands above the allall and the angs cry holy all creation cry holy you are lifted High holy holy forever he people sing oh ho to the King of Kings holy you will always be holy holy forever you will always be holy holy [Music] forever prayer room is open you have some unfinished business I hope you do some of you not not I hope you have problems but I hope you're willing to let the word of God touch you you know the Bible says the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword what does that mean well it means it cuts both ways sometimes it'll it'll cut to the heart and cause people to repent other times it'll annoy them and offend them you don't walk through a big crowd of people with a sharp sword and not see some reaction if you're bumping into people with it you you can tell there's the sword it's people are bumping up and getting upset and so when you hear the crisis coming back and you hear me say are you ready how does it make you feel and you say well I don't like that I I just want to be happy and not change anything but if you're here and you're saying I realize the Lord is telling me I'm not ready for whatever reason our prayer room would is wide open we'd love to pray with you about whatever it is that that troubles your heart whether it's guilt shame or fear whatever it is cu the Lord does not want you to live in fear Bible says perfect love casts out fear your bridegroom is coming what bride goes oh my wedding day I don't know that I'm ready no get ready it's going to be the best day of your life it'll be the best day of your eternity if I haven't met you come meet me out in the courtyard the rest of you enjoy the rest of your day and your week God bless you [Music] for [Music]
