Revelation 20

let's turn in our bibles now to the 20th chapter of the book of revelation john saw i saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand we've mentioned that this bottomless pit in the greek is abuso which literally means shaft and it would seem from the scriptures that this is the place where angelic kind of beings are incarcerated we read that the beast the antichrist will come out of the ibuso chapter 17 of the book of revelation when jesus was at gadara and met by the demon-possessed man the demons begged jesus that they would not that he would not send them to the abuso before their time it is interesting that satan will be bound and placed into the abuso the angels coming down from heaven having the key to the abuso or the bottomless pit a great chain in his hand back in the ninth chapter of the book of revelation there was another angel a star it was called fall from heaven having this key to the abuso when he opened it the earth was invaded by demonic hordes that created great havoc upon the earth demons were turned loosed out of the abuso back in chapter 9. and so satan now and so he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and satan and bound him for a thousand years and he cast him into the abuso and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season so now this place of demonic spirits houses satan it's interesting that god has allowed satan the freedom someone has asked if god is going to ultimately bind him and put him in the abuso why didn't he do it a long time ago and save us all of the misery and suffering that he is brought upon the earth and if he is once chained and shut up in the abuso then why will god allow him to be released again interesting is the fact that satan does serve a divine purpose god allows him the freedom in order that he might serve god's divine purpose it's so easy for us to say i love you lord with all my heart lord you are first lord i love you more than anyone or anything else those words are easy to say but oftentimes they are said but not with real sincerity when we avow our love for god oftentimes god allows us to be put to the test to the extent of how much we really do love him satan is god's instrument often in testing the love that we have for god we see a classic example of that in the story of job where when the sons of god were presenting themselves to god and satan came along with them and god questioned him where he had been and he said going to him fro throughout the earth up and down god said if you consider my servant job he's a good man he loves good hates evil satan said yes but you've put a hedge around him you won't let me get to him and you have blessed him and prospered him anyone would serve you if you prospered them like you have job he has no needs no ones you've so blessed him take away the hedge let me at him i can make you cur i can make him curse you and so god allowed satan to strip job of his possessions god put the restriction on him leave his life alone satan's philosophy concerning job that he had developed was that job was a mercenary he was only serving god for the prophets for the perks that god gave him take away the perks he won't serve you it is true that god gives to his children many wonderful perks am i serving him just for the perks just for the blessings just for the benefits or am i serving him because i really love him with all my heart and god allows it to be put to the test job was put to the test and having been stripped of everything his family his wealth his fortune job lay on the ground he said i came into the world naked naked i will go out the lord is given the lord is taken away blessed be the name of the lord and in all of these things job did not curse god nor charge god foolishly but satan was used as an instrument of god to put job to the test and often is used as an instrument of god to put us to the test let us say that i say to my son son and that was when they were growing up i can't say anything to them now i say sir now but uh son i'm going down to purchase a desk i'll need help to get it upstairs into my office i want you to stay here in the yard till i get back because i have a lot to do today and as soon as i get back i want you to help me put the desk up in my office so don't leave the yard and if i would take then a great chain and go out in the backyard and chain him to the tree and then head for the office supply and get the desk when i got home there he is chained in the backyard i go back and i unchain him and i say my i have such a wonderful son he is so obedient he stayed in the backyard the whole while i was gone i'm so proud of that boy my neighbor might be saying you should have heard him screaming and the things he called you while you were gone but if on the other hand i say son i'm going down to get a desk i want you to stay in the yard while i'm gone don't leave i want you to hear when i get back and as i take off my neighbors out watering island and i say mr jones would you mind just sort of keeping an eye on my son jeff i'm sort of curious says what happens when dad's not around i told him to stay in the yard and i'm just curious when i'm not around just what happens and so i go down and get the desk and as i get home i stop by mr jones and say well how did it go he says oh mr smith you've got a fine son you don't have to worry about him he stayed in the yard the whole while you were gone but not only that that little kid up the street little jimmy he came over and he said come on let's go over to the school and shoot some baskets and your son said no i can't go i've got to stay in the yard dad wants me to stay here he wants me here when i get back oh come on let's go you can get back here before your dad does he'll never know you're gone come on let's go your son said no dad told me to stay here and i'm going to stay here till he gets back ah come on you just chicken and your son popped him in the nose the kid went home with a bloody nose mr smith you've got a fine sign and i could then be justly proud that my son obeyed me though the opportunity and the freedom to do otherwise was there still he get obedient and so with god he leaves us free and he even has little jimmy the devil that comes along and tries to tempt us towards disobedience and when i remain true to god in spite of the temptations then as paul said god has created us for the praise of the glory of his grace that is he receives pleasure glory in my obedience to him especially in light of the fact that the opportunity to do otherwise was there not only the opportunity but satan was there trying to exploit the opportunities but i've remained true and god says oh i've got a fine son and so god said concerning job so that is why god has allowed satan the freedom in order that we might be tested to prove our love and our commitment to the lord the genuineness of that love and that commitment in a moment we will look at why god allows him freedom again after his being bound for a thousand years in the abuso now in verse 4 it is important to note that john is observing not one but two companies those who hold to a post-tribulation view often use this verse as one of the great proof texts of the post-tribulation position because john said i saw the thrones i saw thrones and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto them and i saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of jesus and for the word of god and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with christ a thousand years but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection so because john saw this company they don't make the correct distinction here they lump it all as one where john is actually talking about two companies that he sees in heaven notice i saw thrones and they that sat upon them and judgment was given unto them who are they these people on their thrones are the church back in chapter 3 verse 21 to him that overcometh i will grant to sit with me in my throne even as i also overcame and i'm set down with my father in his throne paul writing to the corinthians said know ye not that we shall judge angels how much more the things that pertain to this life the psalmist wrote let the saints be joyful in glory let them sing aloud upon their beds let the high praises of god be in their mouth and the two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to bind their kings with chains their nobles with fetters of iron and to execute upon them the judgment written this honor have all his saints praise ye the lord daniel speaking of the antichrist said i beheld in the same horn the antichrist made war with the saints prevailed against them until the ancient of days came and judgment was given to the saints of the most high and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom jesus said to his disciples verily i say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of israel so the first group that john observes is the church the overcomers seated on their thrones judgment is given unto them but notice he sees a second group notice he says and i saw the souls of those that were beheaded for the witness of jesus he saw the second group which were the martyred saints who had come up out of the great tribulation had not worshipped the beast or taken his mark back in chapter 6 verse 9 and when he had opened the fifth seal i saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of god and for the testimony which they held and they cried with the law voice saying how long o lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth chapter 7 verse 13 one of the elders when john saw this great multitude in heaven no man can number singing of salvation through jesus the elder said to me what who are these that are arrayed in these white robes and where did they come from and john said sir you know and he said to me these are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb therefore they are before the throne of god they serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them so there is the second group those that are martyred during the tribulation period by their refusal to take the mark of the beast or to worship him or his image so john is actually seeing not one but two companies separate companies the church sits with jesus on his throne these martyred saints from the tribulation stand before the throne of god they are in his holy temple we are told in chapter 7 worshiping him day and night continually so john tells us that they lived and reigned with christ a thousand years now that's both companies jesus christ is going to return to the earth we will be returning with him paul said and when christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory he's returning to the earth to claim the earth as gods he redeemed the world through his death upon the cross he paid the price to redeem the world he's coming back to claim that which he purchased on the cross we will come back with him and he will reign over the earth for a thousand years during which time in the first part of the chapter satan will be bound he will be in the abuso and we will not have to be dealing with him during this thousand-year reign of christ the earth will be restored to the adenic glory as it was before the flood as it was in the garden of eden the earth the whole earth will be a paradise they will there will probably be an equalizing of the climates there will be no more hurricanes there will probably not be any polar ice caps we do know that under the polar ice caps uh there are forests or were there one time for us under the ice caps the coal deposits tell us that we do know that in the frozen arctic circle in siberia in that icy tundra they have found the remains of mammoths that were frozen in place when they were cut open the digestive tracts had parts of tropical vegetation so we know that at one time the climate of the earth was vastly different than it is today that there did it there there didn't exist the polar ice caps but there were tropical animals roaming around the area of the north pole without the polar ice caps of course the the amount of the land surface would be covered more with water there would be a a difference between the present percentage of sea and land but without the polar ice caps you would not be getting these tremendous radical changes of climate there would be much more sun the earth of course presently is tilted at 2 3 and a third degrees which gives us our our seasons but perhaps god will readjust because the bible says the earth is going to wobble like a drunken man and will be moved out of its place perhaps the lord will correct and we will not be in a 23 and a third degree angle on our axis in relationship to the sun but directly perpendicular which would bring not the seasons but an equal kind of daylight and night time and the whole earth could be like hawaii so you that have hawaii scoped out forget it it's mine but you won't need to be jealous because the whole earth will be like that there will be a renewed longevity of life there will be of course greater moisture in the atmosphere because of the evaporation of the uh oceans with uh more water and and not the the storms and so forth there will be a greater evaporation more moisture will be carried in the atmosphere which will give us more filters from the ultraviolet rays and all and the earth will be a beautiful place the whole earth will be filled with his glory and righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas we will be living with christ and reigning with christ over the earth now we've been reading about the great judgment that is going to come upon the earth we've been looking at the events we have seen how the earth's population has been decimated and there are scriptures that do indicate that only one out of ten people will survive the great tribulation period not very many one out of ten but if the earth's population is presently somewhere around the 5 billion mark that would still leave you 500 million people upon the earth and that's a pretty healthy number when jesus returns to establish his kingdom the first order of business will be to gather the nations together for judgment to determine which of those who survived the great tribulation will be allowed the privilege to continue living into the kingdom age now if a person has taken the mark of the beast he immediately will be eliminated he will not be allowed to enter into the kingdom age if they have been a part of his program they will not be allowed to enter the kingdom age it is at that time that the lord will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats and to those on his right hand he'll say come ye blessed of the father inherit the kingdom that was prepared from the foundations of the world but to those on his left you'll say depart from me ye workers of iniquity into everlasting darkness that was prepared for satan and his angels jesus will then begin the thousand-year reign and we will be reigning with him as kings and priests or a kingdom of priests over the earth we are told that annually we'll be going to jerusalem to meet with jesus great convocation annually as the church goes to jerusalem to meet with the lord now let us suppose that there are say 200 million people that passed the test when jesus returns and are allowed to live into the kingdom age there is a passage in in daniel chapter 12 where the angel is talking about the end of all you know of the gentile reign and the coming again of the lord to establish his reign and daniel asks the question how long o lord to the end of these things and the lord said to daniel from the time that the abomination which causes desolation is set up the man of sin comes to jerusalem causes the daily oblations and sacrifices to cease it'll be a thousand 290 days to the return of jesus christ in glory with his saints to rule over the earth now let us say that you are one of those that you're sort of a skeptic you don't believe these things that the bible says are going to come to pass except that you have sort of a well you know what the bible says but you just are not sure but once the church is taken out you'll realize it's true the sudden disappearance of the church so you know enough to know what's going to be coming the great tribulation so you get together supplies because you know there's going to be a famine you head off to the most remote area that you can find you try to set yourself up to survive the seven years you take advantage of the first three and a half years when everybody is hailing this new leader that has arisen to guide the earth and somehow you're able to survive that three and a half years of great judgment all the the meteorite showers all of the uh fires and and everything that's going to happen you're able to survive it and you are marking your calendar as you sit there in your cave and when you hear that the temple in jerusalem has been desecrated by this man of sin the sacrifices that were reinstituted have been stopped make the mark on the calendar and start counting off the days 1290 days and you will have made it survive but then you've got to survive the next 45 days when jesus gathers the people together for judgment you may survive the great tribulation but you may not survive the judgment but let's say you do you were able to survive without getting into the system of the antichrist the beast and all and and you did survive and now you stand before the lord and he says go ahead you can enter in daniel said blessed is he who comes to the 1335th day which means there will be a 45-day judgment period and you've made it you'll still be in your body however with jesus here and the radical changes that will take place in nature and in the kingdom of our lord sickness will be abolished handicaps will be abolished isaiah speaks of those glorious days when the lame will be leaping for joy the blind will be beholding the glory of the lord the mute will be shouting for joy no more sorrow no more pain no more suffering the kingdom of god has come there will be as i say a great number that will survive and will live on into this period isaiah describes it for us a little bit in isaiah chapter 65 beginning with verse 17 the lord said for behold i create new the new heavens the new earth the former shall not be remembered or come into mind and you will be glad and rejoice forever in that which i've created for behold i create jerusalem of rejoicing and are people of joy and i will rejoice in jerusalem and i will join my people and the voice of weeping shall be heard no more in her nor the voice of crying there shall be no more sense and infant of days nor an old man who has not filled his days for a child will die being a hundred years old but the sinner being a hundred years old will be accursed and they shall build houses and inhabit them they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them and they shall build and another will not inhabit it they will not plant and another eat for as the days of a tree are the days of my people and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands and so he talks about this day when of course the wolf and the lamb will feed together the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and the dust shall be the serpent's meat and they shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountains saith the lord during this thousand years that jesus is reigning and we are reigning with him as kingdom of priest and as david described probably enforcers of righteousness we will be the church in our glorified bodies those that live through will still be in these natural bodies and during this period of ideal weather conditions ideal living conditions no more sicknesses no more diseases no more floods tornadoes hurricanes earthquakes you can imagine in a thousand years under those ideal conditions how rapidly the population will develop here on the earth there will be no more abortions either and you can imagine how rapidly under these ideal conditions the population will grow and so we read that we will live and reign with christ for a thousand years but the rest of the dead that is the unsaved will not rise until the thousand years be fulfilled but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished for this is the first resurrection there will be two general resurrections the first resurrection began with jesus christ it will end when the last of the martyred saints is brought on into glory the first resurrection has covered a long period of time but the rest of the dead they will not live again until the thousand years are finished so blessed and holy is he that has a part in the first resurrection because upon him the second death will have no power but they will be priest of god and of christ and will reign for a thousand years but when the thousand years are expired then satan shall be loosed out of his prison back in chapter 2 jesus said in verse 11 he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit say to the churches for he that overcomes will not be hurt of the second death revelation 1 6 we are declared that he has made us kings and priests unto god to his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever chapter 5 in heaven we're singing for thou hast made us unto our god kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth so this thousand-year reign when we live and reign with him upon the earth but at the end of the thousand years satan will be loosed out of the abuso and he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth gog and magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the seas and they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city and fire came down from god out of heaven and devoured them here to me is an amazing thing which reveals the heart of man the bible tells us that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked now our sociologists today try to say there are no bad boys it's environment and if you can just change the environment if the person just has the right opportunities there is that innate spark of good within all of us and all we have to do is fan that spark and everybody will be good that's exactly the opposite of what the bible says the heart is deceitful above all things desperately wicked and who can know it the depravity of man the social scientists like to deny that but the bible teaches that when these people have lived on the earth for a thousand years under the ideal environment the reign of jesus christ during this reign they will be forced to live righteously they will not have an opportunity to give vent to their evil desires we'll be there to see to that be there with extraordinary powers in our glorified bodies so it will be ruling it says with a rod of iron the reign of jesus will be an iron-clad reign righteousness will be something that will be enforced upon all men and for the thousand years we will see how wonderful it is when people live in righteousness there will be no prisons there will be no judicial systems there will be no police departments no need for them as jesus reigns with an iron-clad reign people living righteously will see the benefits the blessings of living in harmony with god but when satan is released again for a short time it will be a demonstration throughout all of eternity of the desperate wickedness in the hearts of men the amazing thing is that satan is able to gather an army so large that it is like the sands of the sea innumerable that seems so difficult to comprehend how people who have been living under this ideal reign of christ will be deceived by satan to rebel against the reign of christ but throughout all of eternity god's righteous judgment will be demonstrated no one can say well it was my environment that caused me to be evil i was deprived that whole argument will be put down forever because the desperate wickedness of man's heart will be revealed as they try again to overthrow jesus once the demonstration is made they gather together then god destroys them with fire from heaven it's all over in a moment there's no battle it'll be over in a moment but it shows the desperate wickedness of man's heart and the absolute righteousness of god's judgment when he judges wicked men for their rebellion against him for the rebellion will still be in their hearts they'll not be able to express it during the reign of christ but yet they'll live under the blessings and the benefits that's the thing that i that hurts me about the united states you go back to the founding of this nation you go back to the founding fathers you go back to the founding principles and it was intended to be a nation that would honor god and respect god a nation that would seek after and follow after god and because of that god blessed america and america became strong america became prosperous but just like the nation of israel when they became prosperous they forgot god they forsook god and so our nation has forsaken god and just as the nation of israel when they forsook god god turned them over to their enemies so the time of judgment will come when god will turn the united states over to their enemies you can't escape it isn't it interesting the very thing that made us strong the very thing that made us great men are rebelling against and look how they're trying to attribute the success and the greatness of america to democracy or to the free enterprise system and so what are we wanting to send to the world to change the world send to them the free enterprise system surely that will make everybody good send to them the ideals of freedom and democracy but what freedom they're taking away our freedoms more and more they're taking away your freedom i have the most obnoxious eucalyptus tree in my front yard possible every day i have to sweep up a bag of eucalyptus leaves out of the yard every day of the year that thing sheds all year long it is a nuisance i applied to the city of newport beach for a permit to remove the eucalyptus tree because i'm just tired of raking up and sweeping up a bag of leaves every day the yard always looks trashy i've even taken pictures one hour after i've swept and show all the eucalyptus leaves two hours the more leaves but will they allow me to remove that eucalyptus tree no my request was denied freedom free america oh praise god for freedom what freedom they're encroaching every day more and more upon our freedoms and yet we are wanting to export freedom to the world it's crazy it's mixed up satan is going to draw the people together in one final rebellion against god and forever god will be justified in the judgment that he is meted out against the ungodly so we read in verse 10 and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone now last week we saw the beast the and the false prophet cast into the lake of fire and brimstone that was a thousand years ago or a thousand years earlier than this scripture notice the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are not where they were destroyed not where they were annihilated but where they are after a thousand years that's where they are and the false prophet are and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever you say oh chuck you really don't believe that do you can't you sort of explain that away somehow the idea of forever and ever is a little difficult to swallow isn't it let me tell you why i'm not going to mess with it over in chapter 22 verse 18. for i testify unto every man that hears the words of this prophet the prophecy of this book if any man shall add unto these things god will add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and if any man shall take away from the words of this book of this prophecy god shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book you think i'm going to mess with it you've got to be kidding i'm going to tell it to you straight as it is told to us i'm not going to try to modify it i'm going to leave it just as it is and i saw the great white throne and him that sat upon it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away there was found no place for them there's going to be a new universe peter talks about how this whole thing is going to be dissolved melt with the fervent heat the elements dissolving the earth and the heaven flee away from the presence of the face of him on the throne i saw the dead small and great stand before god the books were open another book was open which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works now god keeps accurate precise and complete records everything you've ever done or thought has been recorded it's an interesting thing and i don't know they theorize that sound goes on it just continues now we know that sound travels at about 727 miles an hour but if they say that it just continues that everything that has been said is out there somewhere and if you could only tune in on it you could play back your parents oohing and awning over you as they first saw you there in the crib as light is traveling and seems to go on they say that sound does the same and there are have even been attempts by scientists to try to somehow tune in the sounds it would be exciting if we could actually tune in and actually hear the voice of jesus talking to the people by the sea of galilee that ought to really sell if you could get a cassette of that you can be sure god's recorded it all the books will be open they'll be judged out of the things that are written in the book now there is this mention of the book of life and throughout the bible there are several mentions of the book of life it is interesting to me that in the many times that the book of life is mentioned half of the times there is the reference to people being blotted out of the book of life when moses asked the lord to forgive the people and if not then to blot his name out of the book the lord said to moses whosoever has sinned against me him will i blot out of my book david in psalm 69 speaking for the messiah the prayer of the messiah the prayer was let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous jesus in his message to the church of sardis in the third chapter promised that those that overcame would be clothed with white raiment and i will not blot out his name out of the book of life but i'll confess his name before my father and before his angels and then as we just read in chapter 22 if any man shall take away from the words of the book and of this prophecy god will take away his part out of the book of life you say well you mean you actually believe that god takes people's names out of the book of life you're trying to get me in trouble i'm not going to mess with that i'm not going to take away i don't want to add to it i just it's there the warning is there why would the warning be there if there wasn't a danger if there wasn't a possibility and so they're judged according things written in the books according to their works the sea gave up the dead which were in it death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire first of all the beasts and the false prophets became the first to inhabit this place later they were joined by satan and now after the great white throne judgment of god they will be joined by those whose names are not found written in the book of life death and hell were cast into the lake of fire and it says this is the second death now if you have a part in the first resurrection you will never face the second death death from a scriptural definition is the separation of a man from god the separation of a man's consciousness from god if you live without a consciousness of god if there is no place for god in your life there's no communion no fellowship with god no thought of god then according to the scriptures you are dead already you one day will die physically but you're already spiritually dead when you stand before god at this white throne judgment your name is not found written in the book of life you'll be cast into the lake of fire this is the second death now we read just a little bit ago blessed are they who have a part in the first resurrection over them the second death has no power if you are born twice you'll die once jesus said you've got to be born again that which is one of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the spirit of spirit don't marvel that i say you've got to be born again you've got to have a second birth a spiritual birth born twice you'll die once born once you'll die twice you'll die physically and then you'll be cast into the lake burning with fire the second death that eternal separation from god the eternal separation from god this is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire that to me puts at the top of priorities to make sure that my name is in the book of life how does that happen by my confessing jesus christ as my lord and my savior and living my life for him surrendered to his lordship now it isn't just saying well jesus is lord jesus said in that day many will come saying lord lord open to us didn't we prophesy in your name cast out devils in your name did marvelous works and he'll say depart from me he works with iniquity i never knew you jesus said why do you call me lord lord and yet you don't do the things that i command you you see lord is not his name it's his title he is my lord which means i am his servant i live my life to do his will and the importance of knowing jesus as lord surrendering your life to him as lord confessing him as lord for if you will confess with your mouth that jesus christ is lord and believe in your heart that god has raised him from the dead you'll be saved but it has to be a true confession your name will be written in the book of life now someone has suggested that because god is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that in the beginning from the foundations of the world he wrote everybody's name in the book of light but it's a question of being blotted out of the book of life which i said the bible refers to four times over i don't know that's an interesting concept to consider perhaps so i don't know i'm not saying you know gospel truth kind of a thing but it's something to consider maybe so all i know is that i am thankful my name is written i know it is the blessed assurance that jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine era of salvation purchase of blood born of his purchase of god born of his spirit washed in his blood this is my story this is my song father we thank you for redeeming us from our sin washing and cleansing us lord from the defilement and the pollutions of this world claiming us as your children lord we gladly confess you before men as lord and we thank you lord that you've promised that one day you'll confess us before your father as your sons your bride and lord we look forward to that day when you present us faultless before the presence of your glory with exceeding joy we pray father that tonight your holy spirit will assure our hearts of the truths of these things and may we not try to diminish or take away nor may we not try to add to these things but just accept what you have said as truth and believe it in jesus name amen shall we stand the pastors are down here tonight to pray for you [Applause] you know where you stand before the lord and if you don't you need to you don't want to leave this up in the air you don't want to leave it a question mark because things are rapidly closing out the opportunities to know the lord and to serve the lord are coming to a close the whole program's about to be inaugurated the times of the gentiles basically have been fulfilled the lord could take his church at any time the first resurrection you say well i'll wait and go you know give my life during the tribulation i won't take the mark that's one thing i won't do i won't take the mark they can kill me i won't take the mark but if you can't live for the lord now with the strength of all of the believers with the power of the holy spirit how in the world are you going to die for him if you can't live for him now how are you going to die for him then think that one over now now's the time to live for jesus now's the time to give yourself fully and holy pastors are down here to pray with you and if you'd like tonight to just really surrender yourself fully to the lord we encourage you come on down let them pray for you if you have other needs they're here to pray for other needs also just to minister to you this evening so we invite you to come forward when we're dismissed blessed assurance jesus is mine oh what a poor taste of glory divine air of salvation purchase of god born of his spirit washed in his blood this is my story this is my song praising my savior all the day long this is my story this is my song praising my savior and now on behalf of the word for today the broadcast ministry of pastor chuck smith we thank you for joining us in today's broadcast for more pastor chuck's studies and biblical teaching resources visit our website at pastorchuck.org you can contact the word for today at the word for today p.o box 890-820 temecula california 92589 or email us at infopastorchuck gmail.com we'll return with more of our verse by verse bible study in our next broadcast with pastor chuck

Channel: Chuck Smith TWFT

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Id: sAaV14Drjuc

Length: 66min 51sec (4011 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 25 2021