Latest / LOH Church Archive / 05/20/26 Pastor Doug Daniels

Transcript

05/20/26 Pastor Doug Daniels · LOH Church Archive

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(Music)
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Well, good evening, Lord of Hosts Church. Good evening, Lord
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of Hosts Church. Oh, I know you guys can do better than that.
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Good evening, Lord of Hosts Church. Jesus is in the house.
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Give Him praise.
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(Music)
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(Music)
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(Music)
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Thank you, Jesus.
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We have victory by the power of Your precious blood.
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(Music)
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Our slates have been wiped clean. We've been made new,
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resurrected by the resurrected King.
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(Speaking In Tongues)
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You can just pray on your heavenly language right now.
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(Speaking In Tongues)
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(Speaking In Tongues)
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Wow, thank you, Holy Spirit. This was as clear as day, but is
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there anybody in this room that's dealing with estranged
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family members? You have strain in your relationship with a
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family member, father, brother, sister, uncle, sister, parent,
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is there anybody in this room, maybe that's you watching
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online, that you have an estranged family member, and I
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feel the Lord says that he's going to repair it, and it's
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right now in this atmosphere. But before you start clapping,
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this is the other thing that he said. This is a season, as
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Pastor Hank mentioned, of rededication. But it's not
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rededication of our actions, it's rededication of our hearts.
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This is not a season about external acts or deeds, but this
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is about your internal motives and the things that we've
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harbored inside of our hearts.
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And the Lord says, "If you will come and confess, "I will make
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everything new." So this is altar call for the bold and the
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dangerous. If you're willing to be vulnerable, say, "Look, you
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know what, pastor? "Please pray for my heart. "I desire for my
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heart to be made new." And you that are watching online, you
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can join with us because the spirit is not limited by
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physical space. There's no time and space in the heavenly realm.
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So even in this place right now, in your living room, in your
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car, wherever it is, hopefully you're not looking at the phone
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while you're driving in your car, but you're listening. The
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spirit will touch your heart too if you will just be willing to
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say, you know what, God, deal with my heart first. I give you
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my heart back and I promise you that strained relationship, that
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brokenness in the family, God is going to restore it. It's a
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matter of principle. When we give our hearts to God, then it
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gives him authorization to fulfill our heart's desires. And
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I know that every person that is in this line and on camera, your
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heart's desires for your families to be made whole, amen.
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Pastor Keith, would you mind praying for the online while I
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go down here and pray? But right now in this moment, before I
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come down, just release it, whatever you're harboring,
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whatever the situation is, I know a lot of you have tried out
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of your own strength to make things right. You've tried out
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of your own strength to do the right thing, but this is not
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about the season of your own strength. This is about God's
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grace, which is I can't, therefore you must. Amen.
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Lord, I thank you.
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You are the God who heals the brokenhearted. You are
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the one who restores and places the spirit in the power of love
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and replaces the power of hate and darkness. You replace the
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voices of jealousy and fear with the confidence of faith and
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assurance. You replace the joy of the Lord, which is our
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strength. For those watching and those listening, Lord God, open
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their eyes to see your peace that's now flowing into their
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hearts, that they might know and be assured inside with the
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confidence that you, Lord God, are the restorer and the
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finisher of the work that you have begun even now in their
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hearts now and forevermore. I thank you for it, Lord. Amen.
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Father, we thank you that we have given our hearts to you,
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Father. And therefore, you are a God that should not lie, but you
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are fulfilling our heart's desire. You are meeting our
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every need. And you said, Lord, that yes, this decade was about
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the children, but it was also about the people. A reuniting, a
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reconciliation, a reconnecting. Father, I thank you that every
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work of discord, every work of divisiveness, hardheartedness,
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bitterness, it is broken from this moment forward as we invoke
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the power of your blood over each and every person, over
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every family member, for you are the God of generations. And you
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are restoring it all back into yourself. Receive that now
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online. And I declare that this upcoming holiday season, as we
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go through the rest of the year, is gonna be the best one yet
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that you've had with your family. Amen. All right, well,
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Pastor Doug is gonna have a powerful message tonight. If you
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can just shake hands in the room, meet somebody, ask them,
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"Hey, what's your favorite snack?" I don't know. Thank you.
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(Music)
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Amen.
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This is a series, I guess, turned into that, a series of
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don'ts. I wondered about that, I thought, you know, how can you
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make it a series of don'ts? And yet, I guess God started it. You
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know, the commandments start with don'ts. So I guess I'm
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carrying that on. So does anyone remember? The first don't is
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don't be a thief. Don't be a thief, Ephesians chapter four.
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The next don't was don't be stingy. Second Corinthians nine.
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He who sows bountifully reaps bountifully. The next don't was,
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"Don't be a fool." Mark 10 tells about the rich young ruler
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walking away just before he could have heard the desire of
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the heart of God to be blessed beyond measure. But he walked
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away. He was a fool. And the last one comes from Deuteronomy.
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We'll go back to the Old Testament. In Deut it says, in
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chapter 8 it tells us, God is getting the people ready to
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march into their promised land. Now they aren't there yet. He's
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telling them about the process of getting into his promised
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land and becoming a great nation. And in the midst of
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that, in verse eight, he says, "Beware that thou forget not."
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Don't forget. Don't forget. Well, you might
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say, you might be in a place where you're saying, "I'm still
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believing for this promise. "I'm believing for that promise." And
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so were they. But God was already warning them, don't
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forget. And some of us are walking in blessings and
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empowerment and a place of God's overflow in our life. But don't
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forget. Don't forget. Beware, be alert, figure it out. Don't
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forget. Don't forget. Don't forget. And then he says it and
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concludes in verse 18 with this. "But thou shall remember the
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Lord thy God, for he has given the power to get wealth, to
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establish his covenant, to bring his truth." Don't forget, it's
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not all about you, it's about him. And when you make it about
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him, he'll make it about you. The more you make it about him,
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the more he makes it about you. Because that opens the door for
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him to bless you with every spiritual blessing that heavenly
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places in Christ Jesus. Beyond measure. But don't forget, don't
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forget where it all begins, where it all started from. His
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blessing, his benefit, his desire to do good for you. You
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can put the giving information up on the screen. If you need an
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envelope, you can ask for one. Be prepared to give. Be quick to
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give. Be ready to give. And don't be a thief. Don't be
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stingy. Don't be a fool. And do not forget, because the more you
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remember, the more you activate the power of His blessing. You
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can stand up with me and we'll pray together and decree.
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Father, I release the authority of the name of Jesus Christ over
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each and every giver, here and online, that they might receive
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the benefit of the power of your hand upon their giving, because
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they remember you and identify with your blessing, your
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promises and your power. And now Father God, restore unto them
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your wealth, your riches and reveal to the world that you are
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God. And I declare it in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. You may give.
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Do their job. Hallelujah. We don't have a Micah here, do we,
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tonight? In the room. Micah. Micah. Micah? Oh, come down
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here, Micah. I forgot. Matthew's son, Micah. Hey, God has a word
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for you, Micah, tonight. and he says, "You have a calling, and
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you have a destiny on you, and you're gonna do great things for
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God." And he's instructing you tonight to always keep close to
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him. Stay close to your own natural father, because he'll
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guide you, he'll direct you. God will use your daddy to guide
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you, to direct you, to show you what to do. You follow him
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because he's an example of Jesus in your life. And when you
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follow dad, you're gonna be led towards God in a closer
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relationship. And this is jumping away in the future, but
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God's saying he's already prepared your life's mate, the
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one that someday you're going to marry when you get older. Dad
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doesn't want me to talk about that yet, I know. It's a long
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ways off. But time goes fast. And he's prepared the one that
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you will connect with. And she's someone you're not going to have
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to drag along and move along into. She's going to be as
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excited about the faith, about the destiny of God in your life
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as you are, and what you intend to do. So you just keep
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following Him. You keep pressing towards a mark. You keep doing
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what Jesus instructs you to do. And you can hear the Holy
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Spirit, because He talks to you. And you have ability to listen
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and see. And you have perception that's beyond your years. And
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God says He's going to use that in a special way, because you
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have what the Bible talks about, I believe, the gift of
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discernment of spirits. And that means that you can discern
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things in people and things in the room. You can discern things
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and understand them where other people don't have that gifting
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necessarily. So it's a special thing, it's a special calling on
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your life. You'd be blessed in Jesus' name. Everyone say Micah.
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Micah. Be blessed. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for coming
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tonight. Hallelujah. Praise God. Well, this has been, that last
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song, just kinda, the anointing was so strong on that, and then
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the transition and everything. I'm almost ready just to say
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we've had church, pack it up, but how many of you wanna hear
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something about Revelation tonight? Okay, I'll try and,
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we're moving through. I didn't think this series would take
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this long, but I'm trying to just give you a broad overview
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of Revelation so that I develop a hunger for you to study and
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learn of the things of the end times because it's important to
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know it. And we'll talk a little bit about that tonight. But I do
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want to start, I can't review everything that we've covered in
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the past because then if I do, I don't know if it takes up the
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whole new message, we never get anywhere and make it ground. But
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I do wanna just go back to my chart again, the end time event
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timeline, and talk about where we're at right now for someone
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that might just be tuning in tonight for the first time. I
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want this message to stand on its own and mean something to
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you, even if you haven't heard the previous messages. But let's
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just look at where we're at, if you'll put that on the back
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screen, please. So, we've talked about Revelation 1 through 3,
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that's the church age that we're living in right now in this
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present time, and it's described in this Revelation chapters 1
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through 3 with the seven letters to the seven churches. John
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wrote this book of Revelation while he was on the, exiled on
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the Isle of Patmos. And then we move to Revelation 4 and 5, and
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that is discussing the rapture of the church. We'll talk a
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little more about the rapture tonight the difference between
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the rapture and the second coming because there's still
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confusion in the minds of even clergy about those two events
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and they get them interchanged and a little bit mixed up and
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then it's confusing for people. But after the church is
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raptured, we have the seven year tribulation period. That's
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Revelation six through 18. And that's what we concluded last
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week on May 6th, I think it was. So if you wanted to go back to
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April 29th and May 6th, you could see what we talked about
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concerning the seven-year tribulation, the judgments that
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fall during that period of time, but also God's grace and mercy
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that's shown through the tribulation. And then tonight
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we're going to start on Revelation 19. We can't cover
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the full chapter, but we're going to read part of it and
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talk about the second coming. And that's really where we're at
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tonight. In the future, when we have time, I'll be going into
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the thousand-year millennial reign, what happens there in the
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great white throne judgment, and then the new Jerusalem or new
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heaven and new earth in Revelation 20 through 22. So
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that kind of gives you an update as to where we're at on the
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timeline. As a preview to what we're going into tonight, the
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second coming of Christ to earth, we're going to see, first
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of all, that Jesus returns from heaven as a conquering king.
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He's accompanied by the armies of heaven, which will include
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us, those of us that are saved and either die in a safe
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condition and go, our spirit goes to heaven, our bodies
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remain here, and then when the rapture of the church happens,
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our bodies are resurrected. Or if you're alive, when the
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rapture happens, then you'll go to be with him then. That's the
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army of heaven that's coming back with Jesus that we're gonna
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talk about tonight. And then number two, the kings of the
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earth and the armies of the Antichrist gather at the Valley
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of Armageddon, which is also called the Valley of Jezreel. We
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showed a picture of that last week. And that is the final
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catastrophic conflict that happens in Israel. So where
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Jesus is the conquering king and defeating the armies of the
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Antichrist. And then we also see that it's not a prolonged
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military conflict. It isn't even going to last as long as this
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current war that we're in now, which has been what, two or
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three months? This battle is going to be over very quickly in
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the same day that it starts. And Christ will defeat the opposing
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armies instantly with the word of his mouth. So I wanted to
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continue to clarify a little bit about when we discuss the second
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coming, as I mentioned, which is Christ's physical return to the
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earth. And it is a distinct separate event from what we
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refer to as the rapture of the church. And like I mentioned,
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even clergy sometimes use those terms interchangeably and talk
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about the second coming and they're really referring to the
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rapture. Well, some people I do understand talk about the second
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coming happening in two phases. And that kind of makes sense too
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because the rapture could be the first phase of the second
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coming, but Jesus really doesn't come to earth at the rapture.
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He's coming in the clouds. So when the second coming happens,
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we will be with him and he actually ascends to earth at
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that point. So it's just a distinction that I wanted to
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make sure we all understand here since we've been studying this
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quite a while. So let's just review another graphic that I
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want you to see, which kind of breaks down the difference
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between the rapture and the second coming and compares the
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two, if you'll put that up on the screen next. I'm not sure if
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this is gonna be readable from where you're at. So, this says
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rapture versus second coming, it kinda got cut off up there, but
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that's what that's saying. Left side referring to the rapture.
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Basic, couple scriptures that are key explaining the rapture,
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1 Thessalonians 4:16 through 17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51 and 52.
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In this, number one, Christ comes for his own. We talked
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about that. Christ comes for the bride. He's the bridegroom
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coming for the bride. And as we look at what happens during the
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second coming, Christ comes back with his own, that we will be
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accompanying him at that point. We'll talk more about that.
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Number two, Christ appears in the air, as I've said. Christ
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comes as a loving bridegroom, number three. And only his own
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see him when he comes. We know that as far as the second
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coming, we're gonna look at that scripture tonight, the Bible
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tells us that every eye shall see him. So when he comes back
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on the white horse and we are following him as the army of
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Christ, every eye in the world will see Christ come back at
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that point in time. So number five here says it's a time of
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great joy for believers. Of course, that's true. Number six,
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a secret disappearance. Number six, on the opposite side, a
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public appearance because every eye is seeing him. Now, as far
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as number six on this particular graphic, calling it a secret
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disappearance, I don't know that I can 100% doctrinally prove
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that. I didn't put this slide together that I found this and
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felt it applied. That's one that it makes sense that it could be
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a secret disappearance. First Thessalonians 4.17 says, "When
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we are caught up with Christ in the air, "together to meet the
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Lord in the air, "we shall always be with the Lord." So
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that word caught up was translated caught up from a
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Greek word that is harpazo. And that harpazo means to seize, to
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take away by force, or to snatch. And it's a powerful,
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sudden, decisive action. If you look at Matthew 11, 12, that
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same word, harpazo, is used there when it talks about take
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it by force. Until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers
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violence and the violent take it by force. So it means it's a
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forceful, sudden action. That same word is used on the caught
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up or take up or snatching away or the catch up or what we refer
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to as the rapture. So 1 Corinthians 15, 52 says, "This
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will occur in a moment in the twinkling of an eye." So we know
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it's gonna happen quickly. So maybe it possibly will be a
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secret disappearance. I mean, one second you are here and you
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might be in a restaurant with other people and you're gone.
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And they think you got up and went to the restroom and they
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didn't notice it, you know, but you're raptured. So it could be
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a secret disappearance. I'm just not, I'm not gonna say that's
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100% Bible. That's somewhat speculation, but either way,
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you're gone in an instant, however that happens. We know
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that's true. And then number seven, the focus is on the Lord
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and his church at that point in time. And of course, when Jesus
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comes back at the second coming, the focus is gonna be on Israel
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and his kingdom. Jesus is coming back to defeat the Antichrist
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and his armies, and then set up his millennial kingdom on earth
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at that point in time. So that's the contrast there. And I just
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thought that slide kind of helped to understand that a
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little better. And so when people talk about the rapture
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and the second coming, if they're confused on that, that
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should help you to explain it a little bit better. But let's go
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ahead and look at Revelation 19 as we begin tonight. And I'm
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gonna start with verse 11 and read through verse 16. We're
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gonna read quite a bit of scripture tonight. And I think
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it'll help us clarify some of the details in the second
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coming. So Revelation 19, starting with verse 11, it says,
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"Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. "And he
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who sat on him was called Faithful and True. "And in
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righteousness he judges and makes war. "His eyes were like
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the flame of fire and on his head were many crowns. He had a
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name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed
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with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of
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God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
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clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth
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goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations;
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and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself
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treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of the
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Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name
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written, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." So Christ's second
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coming is a major doctrine in the Bible. I might have
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mentioned this last time. The second coming is mentioned more
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than 300 times in the 270 chapters in the New Testament.
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So it's a dominant theme. Next to the subject of faith,
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Christ's second coming is the most dominant theme in the New
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Testament. Scripture actually records 25 times when Jesus
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himself directly talked about his return to the earth. And of
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course, during this church age, the age of grace that we're
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living in now, we have people in the world that have scoffed at
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the possibility of Christ's return and say, "Oh, that could
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never happen." And really, due to his mercy, Christ has held
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back judgment on these scoffers, giving them time to come to
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repentance. For 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that. It says, "The
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Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count
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slackness. But he's longsuffering toward us, not
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willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
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repentance." So he's allowed that wickedness to run its
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course. But we'll see tonight in chapter 19, this is a timeframe
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when the wicked have come to their final end. This is the end
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for them. Christ's second coming is God's final judgment of the
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rulers of darkness. The time has now arrived when God reclaims
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the planet Earth from Satan's grip once and for all. And Satan
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will never have authority on the earth from there on. Revelation
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1.7 says, "Behold, he's coming with clouds, and every eye will
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see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the
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earth will mourn because of him, even so. Amen." That's
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Revelation 1.7. Every eye will see him when he appears. We
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talked about that earlier. Christ coming on a white horse
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will symbolize his glorious victory over God's enemies.
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Historically, victorious Roman generals rode white horses, or
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they would have the white horses pull their chariots at least,
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when they would enter cities coming back in triumph after a
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victory. And you'll remember that Revelation 6.2 also
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describes the Antichrist coming on a white horse. And we
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mentioned that he does this as a counterfeit to Jesus Christ.
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Christ will destroy the beast, the Antichrist, the false
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prophet, at the second coming. Now when Jesus returns on a
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white horse, he's representing righteous judgment, purity, and
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absolute victory over his enemies. Revelation 19.11, I
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want to read that again. We just read it. "Now I saw heaven
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opened, and behold, a white horse, "and he who sat on him
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was called Faithful and True, "and in righteousness he judges
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and makes war." So in this verse, John's seeing all of
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heaven open. He sees Christ seated on a white horse, ready
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for his departure from heaven, as a warrior and a king. Jesus
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is coming in righteousness to judge and make war, as we talked
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about. Now, Christ is described by a number of titles in the
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passage that we read. I wanna look at that just so that you
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can kinda see the titles that Jesus has in this chapter 19.
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Basically in verses 11, 12, and 13, and then finally in 16, it
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talks about him being faithful, being true. It says he has a
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name written that no man knew but himself. He is called the
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Word of God. And finally, King of Kings and Lord of Lords in
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verse 16. And we'll talk about those in just a little more
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detail here. Number one, he's called faithful. That means he's
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trustworthy or one that can be relied on. He's faithful to keep
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all of his promises. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass
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away, "but my words shall not pass away." Amen. And number
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two, he's true. Verse 11 says this. He's genuine or true. What
50:26
Christ said is the full truth. It's the opposite of what Satan
50:31
tries to tell us. His job is to deceive and lie to us. That's
50:34
all he ever does is deceive and lie. But Christ tells us the
50:39
truth. Jesus promised to bring peace and social justice,
50:43
political justice to mankind, and he will perfectly deliver
50:48
what he's told us that he's going to do. Now, I think it's
50:51
interesting that Jesus confirms once again that he and his word
50:56
are faithful and true. In John chapter 114, John explicitly
51:01
reveals, and you'll remember this, Jesus is the word that
51:05
became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So Jesus is
51:10
the word that became flesh. So in other words, you could say
51:14
the word and Jesus are really the same. And what Jesus
51:19
declares is true. So that means his word is true. And what Jesus
51:24
says is going to take place, it will take place. He's called
51:28
faithful and true. And this kind of relates back to what I was
51:32
sharing earlier. I talked about the fact that Bible scholars
51:36
estimate that the Bible contains over 3,000 prophetic statements
51:41
in the entire book of the Bible. And over 2,500 of those
51:46
prophecies have already been fulfilled to the letter. And
51:52
that excites me, just to think about that. With that kind of a
51:56
track record, there's absolute certainty that the next 500
52:02
prophetic statements or prophecies will be fulfilled.
52:07
It's amazing. One of our human problems is that God doesn't
52:11
always work on our time schedules. And we discussed the
52:17
fact that the Bible predicts, or predicted, I should say, that
52:22
Jerusalem was going to be a stone of stumbling in the end
52:25
times. How many of you were here when we talked about that, that
52:28
Jerusalem has been prophesied so many times about coming back and
52:35
being restored as a nation? And we looked at Zechariah 12,
52:39
verses two and three, and the prophecy that came from
52:43
Zechariah came 2,500 years ago, and that prophetic word that
52:49
came 2,500 years ago would not have been possible except for
52:54
the events that have happened during the last hundred years.
52:58
If you had visited Israel, Ken, back a hundred years ago, I know
53:03
you're not quite that old, you probably couldn't have done
53:05
that, but let's just say you could have visited Israel a
53:08
hundred years ago, you would have looked at a desolate
53:12
nation, really desert, and you'd say, "There's no way that could
53:16
become a prosperous agricultural oasis that it is in that little
53:23
country the size of New Jersey." And they're one of the top
53:26
producers of agriculture. They export. You'd think they'd just
53:30
produce enough to keep their country going, but that little
53:32
nation produces enough to export fruit and ag products. And
53:37
technologically, they are so far advanced of other nations in the
53:40
Middle East in the way that they can produce and have very little
53:46
loss on their crops. There's a certain percentage. Pastor Keith
53:52
could tell me that as a farmer, or ex-farmer, or being involved
53:56
with farms. You know, when you harvest a crop, there's a
53:59
certain percentage that you lose. You don't get it all.
54:01
Well, the Israelis, I don't even remember the percentage, but
54:05
they are excellent at that, and they keep more of their produced
54:10
crop and send it off for export than any other nation like that.
54:15
And it's amazing what they do. So my point is that Zechariah
54:22
and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, you know, some people
54:26
think, well, they had pizza dreams because they prophesied
54:29
all this stuff and that could have never happened. Well, 78
54:33
years ago, May 14th, 1948, Israel became a nation again.
54:39
And those men that people joked and laughed about and scoffed
54:43
about and said they were stupid for what they prophesied, now
54:49
it's proven true. Actually, there were 12 Old Testament
54:54
prophets that explicitly prophesied the return of the
54:58
nation of Israel to their homeland. So it's kind of
55:01
interesting as you study that out. But have you noticed
55:04
sometimes that God's timetable is not our timetable? How many
55:11
of you ever found yourselves saying, you know, Lord, I give
55:13
you till noon on Friday to get this accomplished in my life,
55:19
and if you don't do it by then, I'm just gonna go ahead and take
55:22
it in my own hands because you're not acting fast enough.
55:25
(Congregation Laughing)
55:29
Well, remember when Mary and Martha's brother, Lazarus, died?
55:36
You can read about it in John chapter 11. The message came to
55:40
Jesus while he was at the Jordan River and they said, "Come
55:44
quickly, Jesus. The one that you love is dying." And Jesus didn't
55:51
respond immediately. He actually stayed at Jordan, laid on his
55:57
hammock, relaxed, got some sunshine, and worked on his tan.
56:05
I don't know what he did for sure, but the Bible tells us
56:08
that he stayed there in Jordan for two days. And then it was a
56:12
two-day journey to get to Bethany. So there was actually a
56:16
four-day lapse from the time that he got the message that
56:20
Lazarus was sick and dying to the time that he arrived. And
56:25
when he got close to Bethany, Martha heard that Jesus was
56:31
approaching, and she found out where he was at and ran out to
56:35
him. And she said, "Lord, if you'd only been here, my brother
56:37
would not have died." Because Lazarus had actually passed away
56:42
during those four days. Basically, she was telling
56:45
Jesus, "You're too late." So why did Jesus hang around for a
56:51
couple days at the Jordan instead of heading right to
56:53
Bethany to take care of this situation? Why didn't He respond
56:57
immediately? And I believe it's because His desire was to do
57:01
much more than just heal Lazarus. It was to show the
57:04
power of God in raising him from the dead. After he had been dead
57:08
for four days, that was even a greater miracle. And often God
57:13
delays His answers that He might do much more than what we're
57:17
even asking for. That's why Pastor Hank always encourages us
57:22
to give prophetic words time to breathe. Give them some time to
57:27
breathe. Don't call them faults just because they don't happen
57:31
in a week. Give them time to pass. We've seen things, Pastor
57:37
Anthony, that Pastor prophesied like 15 or 20 years ago that you
57:42
pulled up those old prophecies from the, I don't know if they
57:45
were the 90s or early 2000s or whatever, early 2000s anyway,
57:49
and we have record of those, and they just came to pass. But when
57:54
you guys heard them at the time, those of you that were in the
57:58
audience, you might have thought, oh, that's gonna come
58:00
next year or this year or whatever, but it took 10, 15
58:04
years sometimes for those things to come to pass. How would you
58:08
like to have been one of the Old Testament prophets and it took
58:11
2,500 years for Israel to become a nation after it was
58:16
prophesied? No wonder many of them were stoned as false
58:20
prophets. It's like, hmm. Well, as humans, we're very time
58:28
conscious, and we think everything has to be immediate.
58:31
We have to stop that way of thinking that if it doesn't
58:35
happen tomorrow, it's not going to happen. That's not true.
58:39
Well, back to Revelation 19. I kind of got off on that a little
58:42
bit. But looking at the titles of Christ again, if you want to
58:46
put that back up for me. So we looked at faithful and true, and
58:50
then number three, he had a name written that no man knew but he
58:55
himself. Revelation 19:11 through 12. I want to reread
58:59
that again if you'll put that up. Revelation 19:11 through 12
59:06
says, "Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. And he
59:11
who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in
59:14
righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a
59:20
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name
59:23
written that no one knew except himself." So it seems that John
59:28
was able to see a name on Christ, but we don't know if it
59:34
was written on his garment or what, but it was evidently
59:38
incomprehensible to him. He couldn't make out the name, but
59:42
it's evidently supposed to be a mystery until every eye beholds
59:47
his coming and people will find out what that name is. And then
59:51
number four, he's called the Word of God. That's in verse 13,
59:54
Revelation 19, 13 says, "He was clothed with a robe dipped in
59:59
blood and his name is called the Word of God." So Christ is the
1:00:05
eternal word who became flesh and dwelt among mankind. We
1:00:10
talked about that a little bit earlier. Christ is the word. He
1:00:13
is the complete personal manifestation of God and the
1:00:16
full final revelation of God. At the second coming, the one that
1:00:21
spoke the universe into existence will destroy the beast
1:00:26
and his empire by the word of his mouth. Now, number five, he
1:00:31
has a name written on his robe and his thigh, King of Kings and
1:00:36
Lord of Lords. Let's look at that. Revelation 19, 16 says,
1:00:39
"And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King
1:00:43
of Kings and Lord of Lords." This title is a summation of
1:00:47
Christ's rightful claim to reign and rule over all of creation
1:00:53
with absolute sovereignty. Here we see our mighty Jesus with the
1:00:57
title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's not only written
1:01:01
on his robe, Bob, but it's written on his thigh. Did you
1:01:04
know Jesus has a tat?
1:01:06
(Audience Laughing)
1:01:09
King of Kings and Lord of Lords tattooed on his thigh. And I
1:01:17
know some of you have asked us as pastors of the church, is it
1:01:20
okay for a Christian to have a tattoo? All I can tell you is
1:01:25
Jesus has a tattoo. So you can take it from there, what you
1:01:31
want to do. The Word of God is true. It says, "Faith that he
1:01:37
has written on his thigh, King of kings and Lord of lords."
1:01:41
Amen. I wonder what color that tattoo is, if it's a deep blue
1:01:45
or has a red, you know. Everyone seems to have those deep blue
1:01:49
tattoos, you know. But I don't have any tattoos, but now maybe
1:01:53
Eileen will let me get one because I proved to you it's
1:01:56
scriptural. I wonder if Pastor Hank would ever get a tattoo. I
1:02:06
don't think so. But let's reread this text scripture in full
1:02:14
tonight. I wanna go back over this whole scripture and look at
1:02:17
a couple things in addition to what we've talked about already
1:02:20
as far as these titles. So I just believe we kinda gotta keep
1:02:25
digesting because there's a lot in this particular passage. It
1:02:28
says, "Now I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he who
1:02:32
sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
1:02:36
he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire
1:02:39
and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name
1:02:42
written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a
1:02:46
robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God.
1:02:49
And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
1:02:54
clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth,
1:02:58
the mouth of Jesus, goes a sharp sword, that with it he should
1:03:02
strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a
1:03:05
rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness
1:03:09
and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and written
1:03:14
on his thigh in a name written, "King of kings and Lord of
1:03:17
lords." So not only do we see those five titles of Christ
1:03:21
here, but we also see John describing Christ's appearance
1:03:24
at his return. Verse 12 tells us that his eyes were like a flame
1:03:28
of fire. This penetrating gaze that's described here in the
1:03:33
eyes of Christ will expose and exterminate all the
1:03:37
unrighteousness. Christ will wear many crowns on his head.
1:03:41
This denotes his royalty and his majestic position as sovereign
1:03:45
king of kings over heaven and earth. Verse 14 explains that
1:03:51
armies of believers will accompany Christ at his return.
1:03:56
Let's look at Revelation 19, verse 14. And in the armies of
1:04:01
heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on
1:04:05
white horses. This great army that accompanies Christ will
1:04:09
include believers from the church age, this age that we're
1:04:14
in now currently, the New Testament believers, people that
1:04:17
have died, been buried, their spirits went to heaven because
1:04:22
they were believers, their spirits are in heaven now. But
1:04:25
then when the rapture happens, their bodies will be brought
1:04:29
together with their spirits. There'll be a recreated body.
1:04:33
And then those of us that are alive on the earth during the
1:04:36
time of the rapture that go at that point are part of those
1:04:39
believers that are in heaven. The Old Testament believers will
1:04:44
be part of this army. I'm not gonna give you the verses now,
1:04:48
but Jude 14 and 15 and Daniel 12, one through two talks about
1:04:53
the Old Testament believers as being part of this group that
1:04:56
comes back with Christ. And then also the tribulation saints that
1:05:00
were martyred for their faith. During the tribulation period,
1:05:03
we talked about the fact that the gospel goes forth during the
1:05:07
tribulation. And those people that got saved during that
1:05:10
tribulation time were at the very end of the tribulation now,
1:05:13
talking about the Battle of Armageddon. But we talked about
1:05:16
the fact that God's mercy ran through the tribulation period.
1:05:20
And not only did God assign 144,000 Jewish evangelists to
1:05:26
evangelize the world, he sent the two witnesses, which we
1:05:29
believe are Moses and Elijah, to be on the earth 1,260 days
1:05:34
before they're killed. They were evangelizing, prophesying,
1:05:37
trying to get people saved. And then if that didn't work, we
1:05:40
also looked at the fact that God sends an angel that goes around
1:05:43
the entire earth in every nation, every tribe, every
1:05:47
individual, hears the gospel. But if they choose to refuse it,
1:05:52
after all that evangelism, they missed the rapture, they're in
1:05:58
the tribulation period, if they choose to refuse it, they're
1:06:03
gonna be there at the end, and this'll be the end for them. The
1:06:09
wicked that have chosen to refuse God are gonna see
1:06:14
judgment. They've made it through the tribulation. Some of
1:06:17
them shook their fist at God and were killed during the
1:06:20
tribulation. So some of those people are already dead. They
1:06:24
have no more chance. But the tribulation saints, those that
1:06:30
said, you know what, I'm not gonna take the mark of the
1:06:33
beast. I'm not gonna serve the Antichrist. I confess my sin, I
1:06:38
accept Jesus at this time. They might've been martyred at that
1:06:41
point in time. And then their spirit will go to heaven, but
1:06:46
they'll come back with Jesus when he comes at this time.
1:06:51
We'll all return with our glorified bodies. Hallelujah.
1:06:56
And guess what? We're all gonna be riding white horses. So God
1:07:01
evidently has a big supply of white horses that are ready for
1:07:06
this event. All the believers in heaven will accompany Christ at
1:07:11
this monumental time of the second coming. We're all gonna
1:07:13
be riding white horses. This is gonna be exciting. Some of you
1:07:17
might be thinking, but Pastor Doug, I've never ridden a horse.
1:07:22
Well, you will on that day. And you're gonna be okay. God
1:07:27
doesn't forget anything. He has this under control. If some of
1:07:32
you require horseback riding, training, I'm sure Jesus will
1:07:37
provide that free of charge during your time in heaven
1:07:40
before we come back. If you need those lessons. Your white horse
1:07:48
isn't gonna buck you off or take you on a wild chase. Nothing is
1:07:52
gonna slow down or hinder this great assignment of us following
1:07:56
Jesus back to earth on our white horses. You know, I remember the
1:08:02
first time I ever got on a horse and it's about the only thing I
1:08:06
remember from being, I was telling Eileen, you know, I was
1:08:09
about five years old at the time and I don't even remember much
1:08:12
about being five. I kind of remember the place that we lived
1:08:15
and this was an acreage. My brother had a small horse, it
1:08:21
was a Pinto horse, brown and white, and his name was Dusty.
1:08:26
And I remember it vividly though that they put me on this horse
1:08:30
and I was gonna just, I think they were just gonna lead me
1:08:34
around the front of the acreage there and there was a busy
1:08:38
highway right in front of our acreage. And all I can remember
1:08:43
is it was just me and the horse. I don't even know if I knew what
1:08:48
the reins were for a horse. I don't even know what I knew. But
1:08:52
all I can remember is that horse got spooked somehow and it took
1:08:55
off towards that highway. And it was a busy highway that was
1:08:59
going out. We were a quarter of a mile outside of the city
1:09:02
limits. And so there were cars that were moving along pretty
1:09:05
fast. And so that horse took off. Unfortunately, either my
1:09:11
dad or my brother-- I don't even remember who it was-- got the
1:09:14
horse stopped before I reached the highway there. And so
1:09:18
otherwise, I may not even be here today preaching to you
1:09:20
because that was a long time ago. But that was my experience
1:09:25
with Dusty. And hallelujah, well, back to verse 14. The
1:09:35
armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed
1:09:39
him on white horses, hallelujah. The verse describes those
1:09:43
returning with Christ as wearing fine linen, clean and white. And
1:09:48
that symbolizes the righteousness of Christ produced
1:09:52
in the lives of the believer. As his followers, redeemed
1:09:57
believers, are clothed in the garments of salvation and they
1:10:00
wear robes of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10 declares, "I will
1:10:05
greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall exult in my God, for
1:10:09
he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has
1:10:13
covered me with the robe of his righteousness." Hallelujah.
1:10:19
Thank you, Jesus. There's so many things in this. I wish I
1:10:22
could have had time to go into it. Just, you know, we see Jesus
1:10:26
and it talks about his robe being dipped in blood. When he
1:10:29
came the first time as Savior, he was spotted with his own
1:10:36
blood. The time when he comes back at the second coming, the
1:10:40
reason it-- and we'll talk a little more about what happens
1:10:43
at the Battle of Armageddon, but he is splattered with blood
1:10:47
because of the battle. And it's the blood of others, not his
1:10:50
blood. And there's some significance to that, but I've
1:10:55
got to move on. Revelation 19, let's read 15 through 19.
1:11:05
Revelation chapter 19:15 through 19. I'm kind of reading
1:11:10
a lot of scripture tonight, but I think it'll help us to keep
1:11:12
this straight. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike
1:11:15
down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will
1:11:18
release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing
1:11:23
from a wine press. That juice flowing from a wine press is an
1:11:27
explanation of like grapes being trampled and in a wine press.
1:11:33
That's what's gonna happen during this great battle of
1:11:36
Armageddon. The blood is gonna flow. We'll talk about that
1:11:40
more, but where are we? From his mother, okay. On his robe at his
1:11:47
thigh was written the title, King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
1:11:49
continue on. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to
1:11:53
the vultures flying high in the sky, come, gather together for
1:11:57
the great banquet God has prepared. Come and eat the flesh
1:12:00
of kings, generals, and strong warriors, of horses and their
1:12:04
riders, and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and
1:12:07
great. Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their
1:12:11
armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on
1:12:14
the horse and his army. This passage explains that the beast,
1:12:20
the Antichrist, and the kings of the earth and their armies are
1:12:23
gonna gather together to make war against Christ and his
1:12:27
armies. Verse 15 explains that out of Christ's mouth goes a
1:12:31
sharp sword that will strike down the nations. Christ is the
1:12:35
warrior will simply speak and consume Antichrist and his army
1:12:39
with the word of his mouth. We as followers aren't gonna really
1:12:43
have to fight in this battle, Christ does it. It comes from
1:12:46
the word of his mouth, it consumes his enemies. And it's
1:12:50
verified in second, I love to have other scriptures that
1:12:53
verify what we read in the book of Revelation because it gives
1:12:56
us a little different look at it or more insight to it. And 2
1:12:59
Thessalonians 2:8 talks about this. It says, "Then the man of
1:13:04
lawlessness will be revealed." That's talking about the
1:13:06
Antichrist. "But the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of
1:13:10
his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming." That's
1:13:14
what will happen to the Antichrist. "And after Christ
1:13:17
smites the nations," according to verse 15, "He shall rule them
1:13:20
with a rod of iron. His rule over the nations will be in
1:13:23
total authority, demanding that every nation conform to his
1:13:28
righteous standards. Lawlessness will be handled swiftly and
1:13:32
justly." It's a monarchy at that point. Everyone reports to
1:13:36
Jesus. And if there's some unrighteous act or wickedness
1:13:40
that goes on during that millennial period, which there
1:13:43
again I'm getting ahead of myself, that's for another time.
1:13:46
But Jesus will put that down quickly and he's in control. The
1:13:53
rod described in Revelation 19:15 is made of iron and
1:13:57
biblical scholars interpret the rod of iron as denoting
1:14:01
absolute, unbreakable power and divine justice. And that's what
1:14:06
produces peace in the world. The word rod means to shepherd.
1:14:11
Psalm 23:4, we see the shepherd uses his rod to bring correction
1:14:16
and comfort to the sheep. We see the term shepherds used to
1:14:20
describe Christ several times in the New Testament. But I want to
1:14:23
look at three quickly tonight in John 10, Christ is the good
1:14:26
shepherd. He says, "I am the good shepherd." The good
1:14:29
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And then in Hebrews 13,
1:14:34
Christ is described as the great shepherd. First, he's described
1:14:37
as a good shepherd. This verse, he's described as a great
1:14:40
shepherd. Hebrews 13:20 says, "Now may the God of peace who
1:14:44
brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of
1:14:47
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant."
1:14:52
Hallelujah. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord
1:14:57
Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through
1:14:59
the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in
1:15:04
every good work to do his will, working in you what is well
1:15:08
pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory
1:15:12
forever and ever. Amen. He's the great shepherd who through his
1:15:17
grace and mercy provided himself as a sacrifice so that we could
1:15:21
live. And then finally, we see Peter instructing the elders on
1:15:26
how to oversee their congregation. In 1 Peter chapter
1:15:30
5, Jesus is referred to as the chief shepherd. 1 Peter
1:15:35
5, verses 2 through 4, he's instructing the elders at
1:15:41
that point in time on how to pastor their flocks. And he
1:15:44
says, "Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving
1:15:47
as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest
1:15:52
gain, but eagerly. Nor as being lords over those entrusted to
1:16:00
you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief
1:16:05
shepherd," there's the word, "The chief shepherd appears,"
1:16:07
Jesus, "You will receive the crown of glory that does not
1:16:11
fade away." So Pastor Keith, Pastor Anthony, Pastor Doug, we
1:16:19
have to shepherd our sheep. That includes Pastor Hank and Pastor
1:16:25
Brenda, it includes anyone that's called as a pastor. You
1:16:28
have to do it with integrity. Not lording over the people that
1:16:32
God's given you, but doing it not for, what does it say, for
1:16:37
dishonest gain. You know, there are pastors that are just in it
1:16:40
for the money. That's called a hireling. They're only in it for
1:16:45
the money. They don't care whether they feed the sheep.
1:16:48
That's why they don't care whether they give their sheep
1:16:50
truth. They'll modify the word of God just to try and make
1:16:55
their life easier. And what this scripture is saying is that if
1:17:02
pastors follow this teaching and they are treating their sheep in
1:17:11
a good way with integrity, being examples to the flock, there's a
1:17:15
reward. The Bible also says there's higher judgment, Pastor
1:17:19
Keith and Pastor Anthony. We are held to a higher level of
1:17:22
judgment. Someday at the judgment of Christ, if we don't
1:17:27
do what we should as pastors, we don't treat the people well,
1:17:31
we're gonna be judged for that. We're held to a higher standard.
1:17:35
But it also says, thank God, and I'm hoping we get that, there's
1:17:38
a reward, there's a reward for us if we treat our people
1:17:42
rightly, amen. So my whole point to this was, not to talk about
1:17:48
pastoring necessarily, but just to say Jesus is referred to as
1:17:51
the chief shepherd there, because the other pastors that
1:17:55
are on the earth doing the work of God, they're under shepherds,
1:17:58
really. Jesus is the chief shepherd. He's the one we report
1:18:02
to. Hallelujah. Well, I'm trying to see where to go here. Oh,
1:18:09
let's quote Pastor David Jeremiah. I think this is good.
1:18:12
He said this, you can put this up on the screen if you want to.
1:18:16
He says, "When Christ returns, and only then will the angels'
1:18:20
message to the shepherds be totally fulfilled, peace on
1:18:24
earth, goodwill towards men." Amen. That's when it'll happen.
1:18:29
At that point, when Christ returns, then the angels'
1:18:33
message, given so many centuries ago, will actually be fulfilled.
1:18:38
Well, let's read on to, we're gonna move on here. I'm getting
1:18:41
ready to conclude fairly soon here. Revelation 19, verses 17
1:18:47
through 19. It says, "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun,
1:18:51
shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky, 'Come, gather
1:18:55
together for the great banquet God has prepared. Come and eat
1:19:00
the flesh of the kings, generals, and strong warriors of
1:19:02
the horses, and the riders of all humanity, both free and
1:19:05
slave, small and great.' Then I saw the beast and the kings of
1:19:09
the world and their armies gathered together to fight
1:19:12
against the one sitting on the horse and his army. Here we see
1:19:17
a picture of what happens following the great battle of
1:19:20
Armageddon. It's a gross scene. It's intense. But it's what will
1:19:24
happen. John saw an angel standing in the sun. It doesn't
1:19:27
mean he's actually standing in the sun. It means the sun is in
1:19:30
the background. It's a bright sun. And John saw the angel
1:19:34
standing there in the brightness of the sun. And the angel yells
1:19:39
out with a loud voice, and he alerts all the vultures in the
1:19:43
air to come to the great supper. These vultures are assigned to
1:19:47
eat the flesh of the kings, the captains, the mighty men, the
1:19:50
horses, and all men, free and enslaved, small and great. Now,
1:19:55
we didn't have time tonight to discuss every passage of
1:19:57
Revelation 19 in detail, but you need to understand this. It is
1:20:01
gross to discuss it. But the last part of verse 15 states
1:20:06
that Jesus will release the fierce wrath of God, the
1:20:10
Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine press. I mentioned
1:20:15
that, like squeezing grapes from a wine press. And I think it's
1:20:19
Revelation 14, 20 that tells us that the blood will flow as high
1:20:27
as the horse's bridle. But can you imagine a 200 million man
1:20:33
army? You know, I attended the Promise Keepers, what was that
1:20:39
called, Eileen? 1997, I believe. There was a million men
1:20:45
estimated to be at the Promise Keepers march. Now it just
1:20:49
escapes me. It was in Washington, D.C. on the Mall.
1:20:52
What was that? The Million Man March, is that what it was? I
1:20:57
don't know if that's what it was. I don't think that's right.
1:20:59
It was a Promise Keepers event, if any of you heard of Promise
1:21:02
Keepers. It's kind of gone now, I think. But anyway, Pastor Hank
1:21:09
was at that with me and a group of probably a couple hundred men
1:21:13
flew out there and did that on a, and it was a Sunday, Saturday
1:21:17
event, I believe it was. We got back late Saturday night, we did
1:21:21
a one-day trip. But what was I gonna say? Oh, there was a
1:21:26
million men on the mall. And I'd never seen a million men in one
1:21:30
place before. And it was like amazing to me. I mean, it was as
1:21:33
far as I could see, there were men. A million men in one place
1:21:39
is a lot of men. There's going to be 200 million men at the
1:21:44
army at the Battle of Armageddon. And can you imagine
1:21:48
the amount of blood when 200 million men and their horses are
1:21:53
slaughtered? No wonder it runs as deep as the horse's bridle.
1:22:01
Well, the vultures are called at that point to a mighty feast.
1:22:08
The vultures descend swiftly upon the decaying flesh and the
1:22:13
army of the Antichrist, and they quickly devour it. The intense
1:22:19
carnage from this battle. It's amazing what that will be like.
1:22:24
But the Bible tells us these ugly birds will feed on the
1:22:27
decaying carcasses of millions of men and their horses that
1:22:31
attempted to fight for the Antichrist. Now, another point
1:22:34
to note here is that sin and wickedness is judged here, like
1:22:38
we've talked about. And the other thing that I think is
1:22:40
really interesting is there's, really it doesn't matter what
1:22:43
the classification of the person is that's involved in this
1:22:47
battle. It says that it made a point to say it's kings and
1:22:50
captains and mighty men and horses and all men, the free and
1:22:54
enslaved, the small and the great, they're all going to be
1:22:57
there. God's judgment is not reserved for a certain class of
1:23:00
people. If they failed to respond to God, they've
1:23:05
disobeyed God, never accepted his grace and mercy, they'll be
1:23:10
judged at that point in time. It doesn't matter what their
1:23:12
station in life is. And here during our time on earth, we see
1:23:17
individuals that maybe are extremely wealthy or they have
1:23:20
high positions, you know, and they get by for a period of
1:23:25
time, you know, and they, you know, we all know they should go
1:23:28
to jail for the evil deeds that they've done, but maybe they
1:23:32
have a way to buy it off or maybe because of their power or
1:23:34
their prestige or their name or whatever it is, they don't end
1:23:38
up in jail. They just keep on going. Well, that's gonna come
1:23:43
to an end at this point in time because there won't be anyone
1:23:49
that's excluded from this. It doesn't matter if your name is
1:23:52
Rockefeller or if your name is Smith. You're gonna be involved
1:23:56
in that situation and this is judgment time. It doesn't matter
1:24:03
what your class is. The good news is, of course, if we judge
1:24:07
ourselves now, we can be on the right side of judgment and we
1:24:10
don't have to think about these things. But it is important to
1:24:13
know what's going to happen. How many of you are enjoying just
1:24:15
kind of understanding the timeline? Even though we have to
1:24:18
talk about some things that aren't really comfortable, it's
1:24:20
good to know the timeline of how these things are going to happen
1:24:23
and what God's mercy and redemption and plan has been all
1:24:28
along to get people to turn. But if they refuse, they have free
1:24:32
will. It's their choice. God does not send anyone to hell. We
1:24:37
send ourselves there because of our own free will. And people, I
1:24:41
have opportunity after opportunity to receive God's
1:24:46
mercy. Well, as we conclude Revelation 19 with the last
1:24:50
three verses, I wanna read 19 through 21. And it says, "Then I
1:24:55
saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies
1:24:58
gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the
1:25:00
horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him
1:25:04
the false prophet, who did mighty miracles on the behalf of
1:25:07
the beast, miracles that deceived all who had accepted
1:25:10
the mark of the beast and had worshipped the statue. Both the
1:25:13
beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake
1:25:17
of the burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the
1:25:20
sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the
1:25:23
white horse, the mouth of Jesus. And the vultures all gorged
1:25:28
themselves on the dead bodies. The final destiny of this
1:25:33
satanic team is certain. Both the beast and the false prophet
1:25:37
are cast into the lake of fire. And maybe in the future we'll
1:25:41
talk about the lake of fire. It's an eternal burning fire.
1:25:44
It's not a consuming fire where people are just killed and gone.
1:25:49
No, they burn forever. Forever torture and pain. After the
1:25:56
Lord's completed His judgment, He'll establish the millennial
1:25:59
kingdom on the earth, and those that return with Him will be
1:26:01
made priests of God and reign with Him during that millennial
1:26:05
kingdom. But that's the subject for another time. We'll talk
1:26:08
about the millennium and what happens during that time. I'm
1:26:13
not sure, is it Eddie or Brandon that comes tonight? Whoever it
1:26:15
is, you can come now. We're going to wind up here. But I
1:26:19
want to close with this. I want us to think about the tremendous
1:26:23
contrast between the second coming when Christ comes back
1:26:29
with the church and contrast that to the first time that
1:26:34
Jesus came and how he rode into Jerusalem in a lowly state
1:26:38
sitting on a borrowed donkey. And I think you have that
1:26:41
picture for me there of Jesus coming in on the donkey. That
1:26:45
first ride didn't last too long. It was a fleeting moment of
1:26:49
glory on his way to the cross. The cheers soon turned to
1:26:53
hateful cries. They yelled at him and they said, "If you're
1:26:57
the son of God, save yourself." And they yelled, "You claim to
1:27:04
save others, "but you can't save yourself, Jesus." And the man
1:27:09
who was king for a short time suffered and bled and died. It
1:27:13
was all part of a merciful master plan that God put in
1:27:17
place to save the world. John 3:16, "For God so loved the
1:27:21
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
1:27:23
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
1:27:26
life." That was the master plan. The Jewish people would not
1:27:32
accept Jesus as their Messiah, even though he fulfilled all
1:27:35
their prophecies about a suffering Savior. Isaiah
1:27:39
foretold this. Let's look at Isaiah 53, verses 5 through 7. I
1:27:43
want you to see this. It says, "But he was wounded for our
1:27:46
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The
1:27:50
chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we
1:27:54
are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned
1:27:59
everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the
1:28:03
iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
1:28:08
yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the
1:28:12
slaughter and as a sheep before its shearer is silent, so he
1:28:16
opened not his mouth. That's Isaiah's prophecy from Isaiah
1:28:20
53. The first time Jesus rode in, he rode into town as a
1:28:24
suffering Savior sent to redeem fallen men. He rode in on a
1:28:29
donkey but carried out a cross. He had a hero's welcome but he
1:28:34
died a criminal's death. But at the second coming of Jesus,
1:28:39
Jesus is gonna ride again. The next time Jesus rides, he will
1:28:45
fulfill Isaiah's second set of prophecies concerning the
1:28:49
Messiah. Let's read that. That comes from Isaiah 9, verses six
1:28:52
and seven. It says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son
1:28:56
is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and
1:28:59
his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
1:29:03
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
1:29:08
government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of
1:29:12
David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it with
1:29:16
judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the
1:29:21
zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." The next time
1:29:26
Jesus rides, things are going to be 100% different. He'll no
1:29:31
longer be a temporary king riding on a donkey. He'll come
1:29:35
in the clouds in great glory as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
1:29:41
He's not coming as king for a day, but he's going to be coming
1:29:44
as king for all eternity. He's coming on a white horse carrying
1:29:49
a sword. He'll have crowns on his head and fire in his eyes,
1:29:53
and he's coming to rule and reign. Yes, he's going to write
1:29:57
again, but we will be with him as part of the army of Christ,
1:30:02
and it's going to be an awesome day. God's going to restore all
1:30:06
things to their original perfect state, erasing sin, death, and
1:30:10
suffering, and there's only one way to enlist in that army
1:30:15
that's accepting the shed blood of Jesus Christ and making him
1:30:19
the Lord of your life. You know, you can't participate in this
1:30:22
second mission of Christ if you refuse to accept what he did in
1:30:27
his first mission. You can't reign with him in the future if
1:30:32
you don't let Jesus redeem you from sin right now. You won't
1:30:38
ride with him in the future if you haven't bowed your knee to
1:30:41
him in the present. Philippians 2, verses 8 through 11 says, and
1:30:45
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
1:30:48
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the
1:30:52
cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the
1:30:56
name which is above every name. And at that name of Jesus, every
1:31:01
knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and
1:31:05
of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess
1:31:09
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. The King is
1:31:12
coming. It's up to us to determine on which side we'll be
1:31:18
the next time Jesus rides. Will we come with him back at the
1:31:24
second coming? Will we be part of that army? You can determine
1:31:27
that. Or you could be one of those left behind in the
1:31:33
tribulation period, or even at the Battle of Armageddon, who
1:31:37
knows? Shaking your fist at God saying, "You know what? I don't
1:31:41
believe." But how can you not believe? When 2,500 prophecies
1:31:49
have already come to pass, believe me, He's coming again.
1:31:54
He's coming in the rapture to take the bride of Christ with
1:31:57
Him. And with all my heart, that's where I want us to be. I
1:32:03
don't want to be left behind. Like someone said, I want to go
1:32:07
in the first load. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Why don't we stand?
1:32:12
Father, thank you for this opportunity to open your word.
1:32:18
Thank you that we have a better understanding, hopefully, of
1:32:22
Revelation chapter 19, and the fact that you're coming again a
1:32:26
second time to this earth to rule and reign in righteousness.
1:32:30
And Lord, you're so merciful, but yet you are a righteous God.
1:32:36
And you say you will judge the wicked. We all deserve judgment,
1:32:42
Lord, but thank you for the mercy of Christ that you came
1:32:46
the first time, you gave your life as a humble servant just so
1:32:50
that we could have eternal life with you. What a sacrifice, what
1:32:54
a Savior. We thank you for that tonight. And I'm gonna ask the
1:32:59
tech team if you'll put up on the screen a phone number. If
1:33:05
for some reason we have someone watching tonight and you're not
1:33:07
100% sure that Jesus is your Lord, you're not 100% sure that
1:33:11
you've made the decision to serve Christ, I'm gonna ask you
1:33:15
to call that number and our prayer team will pray with you.
1:33:19
All you need to do is call on the Lord and he will save you.
1:33:24
and determine that you will follow Him and His will for your
1:33:29
life. And all things are made new, the Bible says. That's a
1:33:34
new birth experience, and you can experience that right where
1:33:36
you're at, watching online. You can call our number 24 hours a
1:33:41
day and receive Christ, and that's the most important thing,
1:33:44
the most important decision you could ever make so that you can
1:33:47
be on the right side of judgment. If we judge ourselves
1:33:50
now, we don't have to be judged in the future. And thank you for
1:33:53
that. Hallelujah. And you know, I just want to say this, when
1:33:57
the transition happened tonight and Pastor Anthony was
1:33:59
ministering, I'm just so proud of those of you that responded,
1:34:04
'cause sometimes it's not easy to do that, but to say that you
1:34:07
have some offense, or I'm not even sure what the word was,
1:34:12
with those in the family. I think it's Matthew chapter 6.
1:34:18
The Bible tells us that if we are not willing to forgive and
1:34:23
lay those things down, Jesus won't forgive us. We cannot
1:34:27
carry unforgiveness in ourselves. And there were many
1:34:31
of you up here, and I don't know if you're carrying unforgiveness
1:34:33
or if you were just here because you have a tender heart. I don't
1:34:35
know. Only Jesus knows that. But the fact that you were willing
1:34:39
to respond to that and say, you know what, I don't want any
1:34:42
ought with my family. Jesus is proud of you. And we're proud of
1:34:47
you. So thank you for that. And I'm done tonight. Thank you for
1:34:52
coming. God bless you. Don't forget to be in the house
1:34:55
Sunday. Dr. Bob Rogers will be here, and it'll be a great day.
1:35:00
And Mr. Pentecost himself will be in the house, so don't miss
1:35:03
that. Thank you for coming tonight have
1:35:05
a wonderful evening.