Skip to content Stand Alone Messages: What in the World is Going On? Oct 22 · 55 min ...more
Stand Alone Messages: What in the World is Going On?
October 22, 2023 · 55 min
Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
Series BRAVE Church October 22, 2023 · 55 min · BRAVE Church
Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub ...more Show the full description Show less Speaker: Jeff Schwarzentraub
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Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub serves as president of Pastor Jeff Ministries, a national and global ministry designed to equip believers and challenge them to take
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0:00 Our father in heaven, we give you all the glory, all the honor, and all the praise for who you are. And Lord, we ask in these minutes that we're together that you would speak directly to us. Father, because we as a0:10 people believe that every time that your word is faithfully and is accurately proclaimed that you speak to our hearts. And so our prayer this morning is speak Lord. We are ready to hear what it is you have to0:22 say. Lord, do a work this morning that will not only be important for right now, but Lord for all the time going forward until we meet you face to face. And so now for all those who have gathered0:34 who desire to hear the Lord speak directly to you, who will believe what he tells you and who will by faith put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word0:44 amen. Amen. On September eleventh 2001, I was living in Dallas, Texas when I got a phone call from my friend early in the morning that I was getting ready to go run with saying a plane0:56 just flew into 1 of the buildings in New York City at the World Trade Center. And I remember thinking to myself because I had no concept of that, that some private pilot probably got off course and didn't have a picture1:08 of what it looked like and I said, hey, listen, I'll jog over, we'll watch it on TV, wanna see what it is. And I remember putting on my shoes, jogged the half mile over to his house, we were getting ready to go run. And1:17 as I was standing there watching the TV, for those of you that were alive, you'll remember what was taking place as all the news stations were focused on the building that was burning and people were actually jumping to1:28 their death rather than face the burning that they were gonna have and you're watching this atrocity. I remember seeing the second plane come into the second tower and as soon as I saw it turning and going into the1:38 second tower, I knew we're at war. I didn't have a concept for this, but questions begin to arise in my mind like what in the world is going on? What's happening?1:50 And you'll remember if you were alive at that time, the church services on that weekend tripled in size, which lasted for all of 3 weeks and then everybody went back to normal. But there's times in our life where we2:01 begin to ask those questions. In 20 20 was a time where I was asking the Lord, what in the world is going on? Never seen anything like it. Never seen groups say the things that they're saying. Never watched people cower2:12 in fear at such a pandemic kind of level. And as I'm studying the word and I'm watching the scriptures and I'm seeing the news, everything seems to be a dichotomy of what I'm reading here in my bible and2:24 what I'm seeing people live out in the world. And I asked myself, what in the world is going on? And then this October seventh when Hamas crossed the wall in Gaza and came into Israel and murdered at least2:36 1300 people that we're aware of, I began to ask the question again, what in the world is going on? Now as your pastor, I don't think it's fair that every time we have a school shooting or something2:48 take place in the news or a political election that that's all I preach about and we change the word of God to talk about every single current event, but because of what's going on in our world, I wanted to preach to you2:58 today about some things that you can bank on both now and in the future going forward so that when you're asking yourselves the question, what in the world is going on that you can have at least 4 anchors to hold3:09 onto so that you can steady yourself in the midst of chaos. And I think it's important that we talk about that today. And to do that, I'm gonna be in Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2, if you have your bible, I'm gonna3:21 encourage you to open to Psalm chapter 2 today, and we're gonna answer the question, what in the world is going on? Because when we see things in the news, sometimes we're amazed or we're surprised, and God wants us3:32 neither to be amazed nor surprised at what we see. I wanna tell you from the outset, Jesus Christ is still on his throne. He's still ruling and reigning the universe, and none of this is a surprise to him. And none of3:42 this stuff we'll see going forward is a surprise to him. God is the 1 who's in charge of all things. Just to give you some scriptures, you can write these down. In John chapter 16 verse 33, Jesus told us before he left3:53 this world, in this world, you will have tribulation, but take heart. I've overcome the world. In first John chapter 3, he tells us, do not be surprised4:05 that the world hates you. If you continue to live for God instead of living for this world, do not be surprised that the world hates you. Or in first Peter 4 12, do not be surprised that the fire4:17 fiery trial that you were enduring as though something strange were happening to you. This is used for your testing of your faith. And even Jesus in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew4:28 chapter chapters 24 and 25 says it like this. In Matthew 24, he tells us in verse 21 about the times. He says that there is coming and there will be a great4:40 tribulation such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now nor ever will. He says there's a time of tribulation coming that is so great that it's never been like that before and it never will.4:52 And then he says in verse 25, behold, I have told you in advance. Don't you like the fact that Jesus is not letting us be surprised or shocked? And and when you look at the world go from bad to worse, Jesus is like, I've5:04 been telling you this. I told you in advance it was going to be like this. That's why I'm giving my peace to you. My peace I leave with you. The only place you will find peace in this world is in a5:16 relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? So with that as a backdrop and we're asking the question, what in the world's going on? I want you to not be surprised by 45:27 truths that the Bible wants to highlight. And the first is this, don't be amazed or surprised. World leaders will collectively reject and abandoned God.5:39 Don't be surprised. Don't be shocked. Do not be amazed. World leaders will collectively reject and abandoned God. Notice what he says in Psalm 2. Why are the nations in an uproar5:51 and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us6:03 tear their fetters apart and cast their cords from us. What is he saying? He's asking the question, why is it that there's chaos going on all over the world? Why has there always been chaos going on? Why6:15 is it that there's chaos? And why is it that the heads of state, presidents, and leaders in the world are devising plans that go against the word of God. Why is it that they're doing that? Why is it that they go against6:26 God's anointed who are his blessed ones and the ones who follow him? And why are they saying, let's cast off our fetters. Let's get rid of all this biblical Christianity God stuff. Why is6:38 it? Well, it's because world leaders will collectively reject and abandon God. It's what Jesus said would happen. It's what God tells us, and we we know why this is. We understand why this6:50 is. The Bible makes clear in second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4, in the case in whose case the god of this world, that Satan himself, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving7:02 so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. Why is it that the leaders in our world make the decisions that they make? Because they're7:13 blinded to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord. They are blinded to the gospel that Jesus died for their sins and rose from the dead. They are blinded to the truth that every word7:25 of God's word from Genesis 1 1 through Revelation 22 21 is of the Lord, and not 1 word of his word will pass away. The grass withers and the flowers7:37 fade, but the word of our Lord God stands forever. Amen? That's what we need to understand. And so if you're looking to a leader who is not born again, they don't see the light of the7:49 gospel of Christ. Why is the world in chaos? Why are the nations in an uproar? Why is it all turned upside down? Why do people think you know, people always think it's a debate between right versus left. It's no longer a8:00 debate of right versus left. It's a debate of right versus wrong. You understand what I'm saying? I mean, we're we're no longer we're we're calling good evil. We're calling evil good. That's why. And he said, why is it8:10 that way? He's asking the question. The answer is is because world leaders will collectively reject and abandon God. Now I know this because I read my bible. And even in the last 3 years8:22 as I read my bible and I see different news stories about different groups of people, what they say is opposite everything that the bible says. I mean, if you believe the Bible from Genesis 1 18:34 on, here's what you will learn, that at the beginning, God is the only eyewitness to creation. So he's gonna tell us exactly what he does, and he's gonna create the world in 68:46 literal days. The rest of the bible affirms that. Exodus 20 verse 11 says, for in 6 days he created the heavens and the earth, and he rested on the seventh day. It's just fact. Anybody that doesn't believe8:58 that God created the world in 6 literal days is getting their authority from somewhere other than the Bible. That's just that simple. K? God created the world. What else did he create? He created 1 race of people. It's9:10 called the human race. There's only 1 race according to the Bible. God only created 2 genders despite popular belief, male and female. And how did he9:22 create them? In his image and gave them dominion and gave them purpose and gave them uniqueness. Then in Genesis 2, God designed marriage, and he designed that between a man and a9:33 woman that they would come together and be together only until death do they part. Amen. Now our culture doesn't believe any of that. You need to understand, as I taught when I taught through the book of Revelation,9:44 evolution is not a science. It's a theology. It's a theology that says, since there can't be a god, since the bible can't be true, we're gonna try to put the pieces together in some way that might make sense to us9:57 because there's no way that there's a God that designed all of this and created all of this. To which we say, he did, and you're gonna meet him soon and give an answer to why you've been rebelling because it's a fool10:08 in his heart that says there is no God. Right? That's the world that we live in. So when it comes to the world's news, if that's your source of truth, I promise you10:20 you're getting it wrong. And I could stand up here for the next, I I think all day long, and talk about the news and the media and what they're saying. We could talk about BLM. We could talk about Antifa. We10:32 could talk about COVID. We could talk about vaccines. We could talk about stolen elections. We could talk about anything you wanna talk about, and I promise you that my worldview is opposite of everything I hear on the10:44 news every single time. Right? So when it comes to what took place on October seventh with which what which happened when Hamas came over the10:55 wall and killed 1300 Israelis, I don't care what the news has to say. I wanna hear about what God has to say. So I wanna talk to you a little bit about Hamas. There are plenty of people11:07 out there that know a lot more about them than I do. I've done some research over the last couple weeks just to kinda figure some things out. Hamas in Arabic really means force or strength. That's what their name means.11:17 And you need to understand they are a terrorist organization set to destroy Jews. They're hell bent on destroying Jews and to take and occupy their whole land. And I'm not making it up. I mean, you can get on the11:28 Internet and read the Hamas covenant, which I knew nothing about until this week and read it. And the very first paragraph in their statement says, that's why we exist. We'd love to kill all the Jews and we'd love to11:39 take their land. They are a terrorist organization. That's what they do. Now, it's interesting because the Arabic word means force or strength, but do you know what the word means in Hebrew? Do you what Hamas means?11:50 Means violence. Means violence. If you if you know your bible and you go back to Genesis chapter 6 when God was so grieved because of all the wickedness on the earth and they only did what was evil and God was gonna11:59 destroy the whole world in a flood. In Genesis 6 11 it says, now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the earth was filled with violence. Literally, now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God and the earth12:11 earth was filled with Hamas. That's what it says. God destroyed the world because of Hamas. Hamas is dead set against the Jews. Make no mistake about it. Now,12:23 here's what we need to understand because somebody is like, well, who who do we side with? Because I'm watching all these rallies on college campuses and around capitals and there's so many people for Palestine and I'm a12:32 Christian and I'm for all people because how many know Jesus Christ died for the world? Amen. He died for all people. So so where do we land this? I wanna go back to the Bible so that we can say, what12:44 does God say about the land? It's because we need to know what he says before we draw our line in the sand and say anything. So if you believe the Bible, God's gonna give you an answer to this. If you go back to12:56 Genesis chapter 12, God made a covenant with Abraham. His name was Abram at the time. He came out of Ur of the Chaldees. Ur of the Chaldees would be modern day Iraq. God called him from there. And in Genesis13:08 chapter 12 in verse 1, now the Lord said to Abram, go forward from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. So God's calling him to a piece of13:19 land. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great. And so you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the 1 who curses you, I will curse. And13:31 in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. It's called the Abrahamic covenant. Now this covenant is also established in Genesis chapter 15.13:43 If you want to know what the land looks like, it says in Genesis chapter 15 verse 18, on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your descendants, I have given this land. And he says how far it is from13:55 the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river of Euphrates, the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Ken Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the14:06 Girgashite and the Jebusite. If you do your study of the promised land that God was gonna give to Israel, it's about 4 times the size of the land that they occupy today. The only time in Israel's history14:18 that they occupied even close to that amount was when David was king of Israel. And even then, they didn't have all the land that God had promised them. But wait, wait, wait. That's old testament. Right?14:30 That's old testament. I mean, it's the church today that fulfills those promises. God's done with Israel. Right? Because now we have the church. Wrong. Psalm 1 0 5 tells me about this covenant that14:42 God made. In Psalm chapter 105 starting in verse 8, God says, he has remembered his covenant forever. The word which he commanded to 1000 generations.14:54 The covenant which means promise which he made with Abraham and his oath to Isaac. Then he confirmed it to Jacob for a statute to Israel as an everlasting15:05 covenant. How when's an everlasting covenant end? Never. When they were only a few men in number, very few and strangers in it, that's when God made this promise. You15:17 say, well, again, Jeff, that's that's old testament. Okay. Let's go to the new. The new testament is simply just a commentary on the old. It's all it is. And in Galatians chapter 3 in verse15:29 17, Paul is spelling this out. As a Jew who was converted to Christ and became the fullness of what a Jew is, what I'm saying is this, the law which came 430 years later does not15:41 invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God so as to nullify the promise for the If the inheritance is based on the law, it's no longer based on the promise, but God has granted it to15:53 Abraham by means of a promise. So whose land is it? God's. Who did God delegate it to 400016:05 years ago? Israel. Whose land will it always be? Israel's. So I wanna tell you as an under shepherd of the Lord Jesus Christ, unapologetically,16:16 unequivocally, we stand with the nation of Israel because they're God's nation.16:28 What I would also say is this, you remember in the 19 thirties or forties during World War 2, there were men like Oscar Schindler who were German, who helped rescue Jews, and there were other people that were doing that.16:40 And for people that are not part of Hamas, that are in that area that are being used as human shields or all those different things, We stand with people that are standing for what's right16:52 because Christ died for everyone. Amen? But to give you an idea of what happened, there are about 1300 lives that were lost. If you haven't seen some of the footage, I'm not even telling you should see it. It's so17:03 horrific and so disgusting and so gross that kids under the age of 3, husbands, wives, elderly shot at point blank range, just disgusting terrorist activity that took place.17:15 Do you know why? Because Hamas does not care about human life. They don't care about Israel. They don't even care about their own people. Israel is the only nation in the world that will tell the other nation, here's17:26 what we're gonna do to retaliate and drop leaflets in their own language saying, hey, they put a rocket launcher in a hospital. We're gonna come get the rocket launcher, get out of the way of the hospital, flee the17:37 borders, do what you need to do. You know what Hamas is doing? No. You can't leave. You're gonna stand with us in solidarity. We're gonna make you stay here. And you know where they put all the rocket launchers? You know17:47 what Hamas does? They put them in hospitals. They put them in schools. They put them in parks. They put them in any place so that if Israel retaliates, the optics look like, look at Israel. They're just mean people.17:58 Israel is doing everything it can to protect as many innocent lives as it can. Here's the truth. I've heard this said. It's not original with me, but I believe it. If Hamas put down their guns, there would be18:10 peace. If Israel puts down their guns, they'll all be dead. That's a fact. Right? So we need to understand in this era, you say, why do all these young people, you know,18:21 go for Palestine? The bible says it's not good to have zeal without knowledge nor to be hasty and miss the way. I mean, I love the zeal. Let's stand for what's right. If all these people that are spending all their their18:32 time, you know, protesting for Palestine and protesting for BLM and Antifa would just get saved and give that same level of energy to the gospel, it would make a difference in this world. Amen? But18:44 that's what's going on here. And you need to understand as you see this because you have also have an army in the north in Libya or Lebanon rather. You have Hezbollah. It's been firing some rockets in saying, hey. We18:55 just want you to know we're here too. I Want you to be aware of that. I mean, Israel's kind of in a no win situation because if they do what they're supposed to do in driving back evil, then the world tells them they19:05 shouldn't even exist anymore. They're being too harsh. And Iran has been funding these groups for a long time and Russia's behind Iran. I mean, we could see all sorts of things escalate as we go.19:17 We might. But here's what you need to know. We shouldn't be surprised because world leaders will always collectively reject and abandon God. That's what they do. Now, I do believe I need to say this. President Biden at19:29 this point in time has said we will stand with Israel. Praise God for him saying that. I hope I I praise God. I hope he holds true to his word because as other events take place, it's gonna be easier to think about what19:41 we're doing. And you think about what's going on. Mean, do you ever take the time to think about why are people doing what they're doing? It's because they're in a satanic stupor. It's why things don't make sense. Like,19:52 why would you fund a war in the Ukraine and send millions and billions of dollars there to secure a border that nobody in America knows what it is, and we can't even secure our own? Why?20:08 I mean, we now have terrorist cells in every city all across our country and everybody's blind to it and nobody seems to care. I care. God cares. Right? So this20:20 is what he's saying. Don't be surprised when you see this. That's why elections matter. Right? World leaders will collectively reject and abandon God. Here's what you need to know too. When it when it comes to Israel,20:31 you know how many people, you know how many Israelis, you know how many Jews there are in the world? There's 8000000000 people in the world. You know how many Jews there are? 16100000.0 0.2 percent of20:43 the population. Okay. I mean, if you take that act, 9 11 took the lives of roughly 3000 people. Multiply that by 35 or if you're just20:55 talking about the Jews that live in Israel because there's other Arabs that live in Israel, you know, there's only about 6000000 there, about 50 percent of Jews live in America, 50 30 percent of Jews live in Israel and21:04 the rest are scattered throughout the world. Right? I mean, just think about that. I mean, that would be like if 9 11 took 100000 lives. That's the magnitude and scope of what took place on October seventh. And as21:16 Israel is thinking about how do we do just to retaliate, which they should, the whole world's like, but be careful and don't do it too strong and don't do it too bad or we're not gonna be for you either. They're in a21:27 they're in a rock and a hard place. They can't do anything. Right? And it's always been that way for the Jews. It's always been because from the time God called Abram, he was saying, I'm gonna have a nation21:39 through which the Messiah is going to come. And not only is that Messiah gonna come, but he's gonna return and establish his authority through that nation. And so from the beginning of time that21:51 Israel became a people, there's been a group of people that have always tried to get rid of them. Whether it was pharaoh in Egypt, whether it was during the days of Esther when22:02 Haman wanted to get rid of all of them, God has always spared them. And here's what you need to know too. Jesus Christ is Jewish. He was born of a virgin. She22:14 was Jewish. Jesus is 100 percent Jew. He lived as a Jew. He fulfilled the law as a Jew. He died as a Jew. He rose as a Jew, and he's coming back as a Jew. And you need to22:26 understand this too because if you just study history I mean, when you do old testament bible study and you get to these places where you're talking about Jebusites, Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, every kind of ite in22:36 the world, Moabites, Edomites, and you're like, where are all these ites today? They don't exist. They're dead. You'll never sit on the plane next to somebody like, where are you? I'm a Moabite. I mean, they're not22:46 there. I'm an Edomite. You won't meet them. Why are there still Israelites? Because God promised through his prophets he would bring them back into the land and God brought them back into the land on May22:58 the fourteenth 19 48. Israel is not occupiers. Israel are not colonists. Israel had the land a couple thousand years before the name Palestine even existed. It's their land. And when23:10 Jesus Christ comes back, they're gonna get it all. That's biblical. That if God were here speaking, I'm speaking on his behalf, that's what he would tell you. So why is the world against it?23:22 Because the world's always opposed Christ, and it's always opposed Christ's plan. Make no mistake about it. But God has a plan for Israel. He still has a plan for Israel. You can read Romans 9, 10 and 11 if you have time23:33 this week and see how, you know what, God has grafted us in as the Gentiles and God's gonna graft back in Israel too. Now, I need to make this point pretty clear because some will say like, so Israel saved? No. No. I23:45 mean, every New Testament writer that was Jewish was trying to save their own countrymen by preaching the gospel. Israel doesn't get a hall pass to salvation because they're God's people. What the prophets and apostles23:56 were trying to tell them is you've been given all the promises and you still reject the Messiah that came. Israel still needs to turn to Jesus, but that doesn't change the fact that God still has a plan for Israel. For24:06 I'm not ashamed of the gospel, Paul said, for it is the salvation to everyone who believes first to the Jew then to the Gentile. Jesus is pro Jewish, just so you know.24:19 And what we see throughout the curses and blessings in the bible, if you do what I do, you'll be blessed. If you don't do what I'll do, you'll be cursed. I mean, what nation has had more curse than the Jews? I mean, all24:28 up until the last generation of the the holocaust and all those things that happened. I'm 25 percent Jewish. I met holocaust holocaust survivors as a boy when I was growing up that had tattoos on their arm that would24:39 tell me their whole story and how they were given a loaf of bread and 1 bowl of soup to last a whole week. And 1 of the survivors, his name was Martin Fox. He used to tell my parents and me that he would give away a soup24:49 because it's what tasted really good and everybody gobble up the soup. He would take the bread, he would trade it for bread and he would divide it into 7 pieces so that he could eat a piece of bread a day to stay alive.24:58 And when asked, why did you do that and why did you wanna stay alive and why'd you wanna endure that? He said, so I could tell the story so this would never happen again. That that that's what's happened to the Jews for25:09 years starting in 5 87 with the Babylonians driving them out. I mean, they've always been opposed because they've always been God's chosen people. That's why we stand with them. That's what God25:20 says in his word. But make no mistake about it, world leaders will collectively reject and abandon God and I don't know what's gonna happen next because I'm not God, but as I see the chaos, it's not spinning out of25:30 control. Just so you know, all this is unfolding right at the feet of Jesus, just the way he wants it, which is why I wanna tell you point number 2, don't be amazed or surprised that God's patience will25:42 eventually explode with terror. Don't be amazed. Don't be surprised that God's patience, he's being super patient now. And the reason he's being patient is he doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants all to come to25:54 the knowledge of him. But 1 day that's gonna eventually explode with terror. Notice what the word says in Psalm 2. He says, he who sits what's what's God thinking right now? He who sits in the heavens laughs.26:07 I mean, from our perspective, like, this is this is really scary. This is God's up in heaven saying, seriously? The Lord scoffs at them. The Lord's not bothered by this at all.26:19 Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury saying, but as for me, I have installed my king. That's the Lord Jesus Christ upon Zion, my holy mountain. Zion is synonymous with Jerusalem.26:32 Okay? That's where the kingdom is gonna be in Jerusalem. Now, how many of you have heard that David was a man after God's own heart? Remember that? David's a man after God's own heart. I've always wondered why. I mean,26:42 David was a man after God's own heart and that when he saw an uncircumcised Philistine in the land causing them problems like, what's he doing here? I'm not gonna come at you. I'm not coming at you a sword or spear. I'm26:52 coming at you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have no right here. He's a man after God's own heart. He established the kingdom. He was a man after God's own heart. But what else did he do? He coveted another27:03 man's wife. He lusted against her. He committed adultery with her, and then he had her husband killed. That doesn't sound like a man after God's own heart. But, oh yeah, when the when prophet Nathan came, he did repent27:13 generously and he did say he was completely wrong and God did forgive his sin. But there's a lot of people that have lived in history that have done what God has wanted and when they haven't done it, they've repented and27:24 tried to live the way God want. What makes him so special? I'll tell you what I believe it is. You remember when David had the the tabernacle where the presence of God was housed? Where did he bring it? He wanted to27:34 bring it where? Back to Jerusalem, which is where God's heart is. And he was a man after God's own heart because he brought the presence of God back to Jerusalem. If you go to Israel today where you see27:46 that Dome of the Rock, which is I think the second or third most holy site in in Islam and the Western Wall right on the other side. I mean, if there's 1 or 2 acres of property that you'll never touch or purchase or27:56 whatever, it's that area. It'll be in hostility until Jesus Christ gets back, but make no mistake about it. He's gonna rule and reign right from that place because that's what the Bible teaches. And so here's what we28:07 need to understand, that while all this stuff is going on, God's not up in heaven biting his nails. He's not asking you to be fearful. He's not asking you to worry. He's saying, I got this. He's always said he was gonna28:16 have this. You remember in Mark chapter 14 verse 62 when Jesus was being tried and like, they're asking him, are you the Christ? Are you really the Christ? And what does Jesus say? I am. And you will see the son of28:28 man, he's quoting Daniel 7, coming on the clouds with judgment. Here's what he's saying. You're trying me as king? Do you realize the next time you see me, I'll be coming to judge you and the whole universe28:40 because I'm the promised God? That's what he was saying. And at that point in time, that's why the high priest tore his robe and that's when all the crucifixion proceedings began. Right? Because Jesus claimed that he was28:50 God. But make no mistake about it. When Jesus comes back, he's not coming back as little shepherd boy, meek and mild. He's coming back as king of kings and Lord of lords. I talked to the book of revelation,29:02 I don't have time to teach everything today. You can go back and listen to the series, but in revelation 6 as the 6 different seals are being opened, you'll remember that that last seal was a seal of terror.29:14 In revelation 6 12, he said, I looked when he broke the sixth seal and there came a great earthquake and the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood and the stars of the sky29:24 fell to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe fruit when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and every island were moved out of their place. Now29:36 watch what happens. Then the kings of the earth, that's all the heads of state, presidents, commanders, everybody. The kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave29:45 and free man hid themselves among the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath29:57 of the lamb for the great day of the wrath has come, and who is able to stand. When Jesus comes back, what's he coming back as? Conquering king. And everyone30:08 is gonna be saying, I would rather be crushed by a rock than to face the glory of God. That's who's coming back. Now picture in your head based upon your all your church attendance, all your30:20 bible study, best picture, just close your eyes for a second. I want you to picture what Jesus looks like. Okay? Just get your image in your head as to who this Jesus is when you meet him face to face and what he's going30:31 to look like and see if it aligns with this. I saw 1 like a son of man clothed in a robe reaching to his feet and he girded across his chest with a golden sash. His head and30:43 his hair were white like white wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In30:55 his right hand, he held 7 stars and out of his mouth came a sharp 2 edged sword and his face like the sun shining in its strength. Is that the GSU picture? Because that's the 1 in heaven31:07 that's about ready to return in all of his glory. John said, who knew Jesus personally on the earth? Who was the disciple that Jesus loved? Who was the closest to him intimately? John says, when I saw31:18 him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He was in terror. He was terrified by what he was going to see. But this is not the only scripture. Isaiah chapter 63 highlights the31:30 same thing. When Jesus comes back to stomp his enemies, questions will be asked. Isaiah 63 says, who is this who comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors from Basra, the 1 who is majestic in his apparel,31:42 marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, the 1 who is mighty to save. They ask him a question. Why is your apparel red and your garments like the 1 who treads in the wine31:54 press? He says, I have trodden the wine wine trough alone and from the peoples there was no man with me. I tried them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath and their life blood is sprinkled on my garments and I32:05 stained all my raiment for the day of vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption has come. When Jesus comes back, he's gonna look more like William Wallace than meek and mild.32:18 Why why are why are why is your robot bloody? Because I stomped my enemies. The kings of the world, the heads of state, the ones who have been against me, the religious prideful, I was done with them.32:30 I gave my life to them. I died for them. I rose for them. I wanted to give them life and they wanted nothing to do with me and their day has come and they're responsible for all their sin. I was willing to take it all32:41 away. I was willing to wash it all away, but they didn't want any part of it. That's the Jesus that's coming. You say, why is that important? Because you don't need to be afraid. Well, how are we gonna live and how are32:51 gonna make it through this time? Because that God is the 1 behind us. That's the God peering down from heaven watching everything take place. That's the 1 who wants to strengthen every single heart who is completely33:03 his. That's the God who's looking to and fro. That's the 1 who's coming. Make no mistake about it that his patience will turn into judgment. And I love this picture while we're having fun with pictures this morning33:14 because most times we get a wrong picture of who this Jesus is that we say we believe him. But in Revelation chapter 19 with his coming, here's what we see. And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse33:27 and he who sat on it is called faithful and true. That's Jesus name and in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire and on his head are many diadems and he has a name written on him which no 133:38 knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God and all the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen and white and clean were following him on white horses.33:50 From his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nations and he may rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh,34:01 he has a name written, king of kings and lord of lords. That's the Jesus that's coming. It's coming. And he's coming soon to a city near you. That's why you need to know his patience only lasts for a34:13 moment. When Jesus shows up, he's showing up for his own, to gather those who have been eagerly waiting him to protect them because for those of us who are in Christ, we were not appointed under wrath.34:25 At 1 point, we were children of wrath just like the rest, but no longer because Jesus Christ took our wrath on the cross and rose from the dead. And we're not appointed to that wrath. We're appointed to be in Christ34:36 forever and ever. Amen? And that's what he's called us to do. But God's patience will eventually explode into terror. Let me give you a third point. Don't be amazed. Don't be astonished. Don't be34:48 shocked. Christ kingdom will ultimately establish universal rule. Christ kingdom will ultimately establish universal rule. There is no doubt about it. When Jesus told us to35:00 go into all the world and make disciples, he was commissioning us until he returned. That's what our calling is. That's what we're called to do. Now here's the question. Are we living in the end times? Are35:11 we there yet? How close are we? That becomes the question, right? So if you know your Bible, I can answer. I can help you answer that question a little bit more clearly. I mean, you really believe the bible and you35:22 believe Genesis 1 and that God created the world in 6 literal days and rested on the seventh, and you believe Colossians 1 15 that says, he created all things whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities, all35:31 things visible and invisible were created by him and for him. If you believe that, when you get to Genesis 1 31, you realize God saw all that he had made and it was very good.35:44 Now, if the devil had been living millions or billions of years before that and all the angelic hosts and Satan had rebelled against God and gotten kicked out of heaven and his whole agenda was to thwart human existence35:54 and we get to Genesis 1 31 and God saw all that he had made and it was very good. I don't want to go to chapter 2 because if a God thinks that's good, that's not a good God. So36:05 everything's good in the beginning. If you believe that, if you believe biblical literature and biblical authority, you will come to the conclusion the world's about 6000 years old. Now, I know that goes against36:16 everything you've learned in school. I know that goes against everything you've ever been taught, but just read your bible and see if you don't come to the same conclusion. The reason you don't believe that is because36:24 you've been taught by a different authority than the word of God. If the world is 6000 years old, keep this in mind. It only took God about 1650 years until he was fed up with it the first time and flooded it. 236:36 4000 years ago, he gave the land of Israel as a promise to Abraham. And 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ said these words, behold, I am coming soon.36:48 So if the world's only 6000 years old, it only took God 1650 years the first time to destroy it, he's been waiting patiently for a long time. Jesus told us 2000 years ago he was gonna be coming soon. How close are we?37:00 I mean, the end time clock began at the time Jesus Christ rose from the dead until he comes back. Right? So we're for sure in the end times, but I want you to tell me if you think we're in the end times. I'll read some37:10 scripture and then you can decide for yourself how close we are. If have your bible, open up to second Timothy chapter 3. Second Timothy chapter 3 and here's what God says,37:22 but realize this that in the last days difficult times will come. So if we're in the last days, difficult times will come and he's gonna spell out what we're gonna see if we're living in the last days. And these will37:32 grow more and more intense as we get close to his return. For men, see if you just kinda in your mind say, I see this or I don't see this. For men will be lovers of themselves. That means people give time, effort and37:43 attention to themselves. They will be lovers of money. That means people give time, effort and energy to their bank accounts. They will be boastful. They will be arrogant. They willShow more
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