Skip to content How to Feel Fine at the End of the World - What Happened in Thessalonica, Part 6 May 7 · 48 min ...more
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
156K followers
Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
156K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
0:00 What happened in Thessalonica going verse by verse through first Thessalonians, we're in part 6. Here's the title of the message, how to feel fine at the end of the world.0:12 How to feel fine at the end of the world. First Thessalonians chapter 4, we're gonna be reading that in just a moment. So take your Bibles out. Smartphone Bibles, almost as good0:24 as paper Bibles. So take out your paper Bible or smartphone Bible. First Thessalonians. And if it takes a while to get to first Thessalonians, don't worry about it. We'll put all the verses on screen here. 2 thirds of0:35 the Bible is prophecy. 2 thirds of the Bible is talking about what's going to happen. That's what prophecy is. And much of that prophecy has already been fulfilled in0:47 Jesus Christ's first coming. He came. He died. He was buried. He rose again. He ascended to the right hand side of God the father. He sent the Holy Spirit, and the church was born. And here we are 2000 years later on the0:58 other side of the world worshiping the same Jesus that they were worshiping in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. It's a miracle. We are I don't know if you do realize this, but the church is really a miracle. It's a worldwide1:10 miracle that exists to this day. It has survived countless eras. It has survived countless antagonism and persecution. It has survived1:22 totalitarianism, communism, socialism, capitalism, and it is still going strong 2000 years later. The church is a miracle. If you're part of the church, you're part of a1:34 miracle. Amen. And so the question is, what about the rest of that prophecy that hasn't come true yet? 2 thirds of the Bible is about prophecy. More1:45 prophecy in the Bible is dedicated to Jesus's second coming than his first coming. Think about that. There's more material in this book1:57 about what we have yet to see happen than what we have already seen happen. There is no question the writers of the New Testament wanted us prepared,2:09 wanted us expectant that Jesus Christ who ascended to the right hand side of God the father will return for 1 final moment in the2:21 history, will bring to a culmination what we see right now, will inaugurate the visible and real reality of the kingdom of God, will bring us to his presence and perfect2:33 our bodies and resurrect our lives and make us immortal. We have got a glorious future ahead of us. And this is what we're talking about2:44 today. Back in 19 87, there was a band called REM. How many remember some REM? How many lost some2:56 religion on REM? What a great band. Old school rock and roll. What happened to it? Oh, I don't know. It was good though. They wrote a song called, it's the end3:08 of the world as we know it. And the last few words, and I Feel fine. Feel fine. Yeah. Gen Xers with me on that 1. Amen. Introduce your kids to it after3:20 service. Do them a favor. Okay? But do we feel fine as we see the signs of the end of the world? All evidence to the contrary.3:32 All evidence to the contrary. It's just 1 crazy thing after another. COVID 19, Putin invades Ukraine, banks collapsing as we3:44 speak, freedom of speech under attack, pastors were arrested for having church. The rule of law has been abandoned. Police are vilified.3:56 Criminals justified. Riots in our streets. Daily mass shootings. Homeless encampments in taking to taking over every urban area4:08 of our country. San Francisco had to call in the National Guard this past week because the problem with homelessness has overrun their society. The federal government declared a4:19 state of emergency at our southern border as 10000 people crossed the border illegally every single day, bringing with them drugs and other kind of societal problems. A Satan4:31 conference was held in Boston, Massachusetts last week. Drag queens are honored as guests at the White House, and several states have passed laws to4:43 enshrine the right to kill your unborn child right up to the day of birth. And coming soon, AI, artificial intelligence, is gonna become self aware and4:55 create an army of robots and enslave us all, and we'll all be living a James Cameron film together. Do you feel fine? That's the5:07 question for the world. And I don't know about you, but I'm looking at the statistics, and I don't see people feeling fine. 44 percent of our high school teenagers report being5:18 hopeless persistently. 44 percent. 1 out of 3 high school teenagers, the CDC reports, seriously contemplated suicide over the last5:29 year. 1 in 6 Americans are currently taking antidepressants. Sesame Street just announced a new, area of programming dealing with a mental5:41 health crisis for 3 to 8 year olds? What happened to whispering the clouds away in the sunny day on Sesame Street? The world has gone5:53 bananas, and people are depressed. It's the end of the world, and we don't feel fine. Our federal government6:05 this week, the surgeon general came out and reported that we have a new epidemic. It's an epidemic of loneliness, something that I've talked about for 8 years. For 8 years, we've been talking about this problem of6:16 loneliness. This is the same federal government that told us to stay apart and save lives for a year and a half. Now they wanna pretend that they have the solution. They6:27 presented a 6 part plan to remove loneliness from our country. Here's the 6 parts. Notice if anything's missing. Strengthening social infrastructure through parks and libraries, enacting pro6:39 connection public policies at every level of government, mobilizing the health sector to address the medical needs that stem from loneliness, reforming digital environments to critically evaluate relationships with6:48 technology, deepening our knowledge of loneliness through research into the issue, and cultivating a culture of connection. Our federal government wants to pretend that the problem it created now has a solution to.7:01 And what's missing from their list? God. A faith in your spirit that you believe that no matter how crazy the world gets, you have a personal connection with the7:13 1 who holds the world in the palm of his hand. And let me tell you something. You might be an unbeliever today. I'm so glad that you're here. I don't wanna tell you that there's only 1 person who can give you peace in7:22 your heart. There's only 1 person who can bring you joy to your soul, and it is not the government, and it's not more stuff, and it's not capitalism or socialism. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who died for you and rose7:31 again for you and can come back for you at any moment to bring you home to God. It's worth getting up in the morning, and here's what I wanna tell the church today. We should feel7:43 fine at the end of the world. Do you know why? Because we know how it ends. The same Jesus who death is coming back to rule and reign on this earth, and we are gonna rule and reign with him in7:55 perfect harmony and peace. We've got nothing to worry about. We've got nothing to stress about. I don't know what you're going through. I'm not diminishing your problems or situations. We're gonna struggle. We're gonna8:06 wrestle, but we know him who holds the future in his hand. So we can feel fine at the end of the world. Now what do we do with the end of the world as Christians? We argue8:18 about it. Now how many of you have heard the term tribulation? The tribulation. Raise your hand. All locations. Even if I'm on the screen, it's okay. Alright. So8:30 a little bit better than our Saturday night crew. Pray for them. There was, 3 people who knew that the term. How many of you have ever heard of the millennium? The millennium reign of Christ. 1000 year reign of Christ.8:41 Okay. So here's what we do as Christians. Instead of being happy about the end of the world, we argue about our our view. So there's a bunch of views. There's pre tribulation rapture,8:53 premillennialism, which means that Jesus is going to secretly snatch the church out of the world, and then a 7 year period, the tribulation of absolute terror is gonna befall humanity. And then at the end that, Jesus is9:03 gonna come back with the church and rule and reign for 1000 years and inaugurate the millennium. That's a pre trib, pre millennial view, and, some people hold that view. Then there's the post tribulation. That is after9:13 the 7 year period, God is going to come back in Jesus Christ and resurrect his church and bring them to heaven and then inaugurate the millennium, and then they will reign for 1000 years at the end of the 7 year trouble9:23 that's gonna come upon the world. That's the post millennium, post tribulation, pre millennial view. And then there is the mid trib view. These are for the people who can't make up their minds. Somewhere in the middle of9:34 the tribulations of 3 and a half years, Jesus is gonna come back and bring his church out of the out of the world, and then a 3 and a half year period of absolute des desecration, just destruction will fall upon the9:44 world, and then the millennium will happen. And then there's some people who believe in a post tribulation, amillennialism, which means that at the end of the 7 year period, Jesus will return, there is no millennium9:53 because we are currently in a spiritual millennium, and Jesus is ruling and reigning through the church right now. And that's just a fraction of the views and a fraction of the arguments that people can make. And here's10:01 what I want us to do. I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna set the tone today because this passage that we're talking about deals heavily with all that content, but I wanna set a ground rule. Here's the ground rule, and I10:10 want you to write it down. The end of the world shows us. The end of the world should encourage our faith, not engage us in endless debates. The end of the world should encourage our10:22 faith, not engage us in endless debates. So I will be clear today. I'm gonna play my hand. You're gonna find out my view of the end of the10:33 world. 2018 on my YouTube channel, Tim Hatch Life, YouTube dot com slash Tim Hatch Life, I did a revelation series. We went verse by verse through the revelation book of revelation. Did you know, by the way, that the10:44 book of revelation is the least desired to be preached book of the bible in pastoral work? And pastors wanna avoid that book like the plague, probably because of all the plagues in the book.10:56 And did you know that the the most desired to be taught in the pews is the book of Revelation? So we have a impasse. So I said, I'm gonna make the first move, and I taught that book verse by verse. And the Lord, through11:07 that and through some things that happened before and since, changed my view. I am 1 of the first people I'm 1 of not not the first. I'm 1 of the few pastors who will willingly admit that over the course of my preaching,11:17 I actually switched views. I was raised pre trib, premillennial, dispensational. Some of you might not know what that means. It doesn't matter. That's what my view was being11:29 raised. And then I studied the bible, and I did my own research, and I didn't listen listen to this very carefully. I didn't listen to what other people told me. I did my own research, and I have switched. And11:41 so now for those of you that this means something, here's who I am. I am post tribulation amillennial. Again, that probably means nothing to you. And what all that means really is that we got a 7 year period of hell to11:53 go through as a church before Jesus comes back. That is how I've arrived. That's where I've arrived. So I used to be pre trip and I'm pusher. Now for those of you who are pre trip amongst us, feel no pain because there12:03 are some preachers and some heroes of mine, namely Max Lucado, who wrote who writes great Christian books. He's actually come the opposite way as me. He used to be post tribulal post trib amillennial,12:15 and now he is where I was. We literally crossed each other on the theological street. So I was pre trib, premillennial. Now I'm post trib, I'm millennial. All I know is that I'm trans trib. Oh my god.12:31 It feels really empowering to come out to you right now and just acknowledge that. Okay. So12:42 now you don't have to clap for that. Now what you have to understand, again, is that the Bible is filled with prophecy about this end time12:54 period. Again, not to make us argue, but to get us ready. Here's another pastoral concern for you about being post trip is that I I think that if I prepared you for pre trip and13:06 I was wrong, that'd be bad for you. Like, if I told you, don't worry about it. You know that hell is coming on the world? You're not even gonna go through it. Don't worry about it. You are good. Just keep coming to13:16 church and paying your tithes. And then 7 years and you're like, hey, pastor. What's up? No. I'd rather you I'd rather you be prepared for the13:27 tribulation. And to be honest, I'd really like it if you pre tribbers were right. We'd be strong and ready to suffer and then not suffer.13:39 Amen? We'd we'd be like those bodybuilders who make all those muscles pop out of their body for no apparent reason other than to oil them up and show them off. Okay. So so that's my pastoral concern here.13:52 So with all that being said, let's take a look at how first Thessalonians addresses this. Would you stand with me for the reading of God's word? First Thessalonians 4 13, it says this, we do not want you to be uninformed14:01 brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as others who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.14:12 For this, we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive and are left until the coming of the Lord will not proceed those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself would descend from heaven with a cry14:20 of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the some trumpet sound of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the14:30 Lord in the air, and we will always be with the Lord. Whoo. That sounds good. Therefore, encourage each other with these words. Verse 5 chapter 5. Sorry. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no14:42 need to write have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction14:50 will come upon them as labors come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. Notice that Paul tells Christians that they are not15:02 gonna be surprised by the day of the Lord. Why would he need to tell Christians that they wouldn't be surprised by the day of the Lord if they were already gonna be in heaven and the day of the Lord would happen 7 years15:12 after they were there? So anyway, moving on, verse 5. You are all children of the light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness, so let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be15:22 sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us keep sober, having the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the hope of15:30 salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, and that is true. And you can have a post millennial post tribulation view and and still know that God will not pour out his wrath on you. Just letting you know.15:42 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Therefore, encourage in 1 another and build 115:53 another up just as you are doing. The end of the world should encourage our faith, not engage us in endless debates. This is God's word. Let's pray. Father, speak to your people. Speak through me. May my words16:05 be guarded by the Holy Spirit and the will of Jesus. Help our ears to be open and our hearts to be receptive and our minds to be renewed through the preaching and teaching of your word, and help us to see Jesus.16:17 In his holy name, pray. And everybody said Amen. Amen. God bless you. Have a seat. How to feel fine at the end of the world? 4 points and then we're done, but the fourth point has16:29 3 points, so that's a quick way of me getting 7 points into your spirit. Point number 1, we could feel fine at the end of the world because we have hope in the midst of grief. We will grieve.16:41 Church, we will grieve. The current the Christian faith is not an excuse to just act flippant about tragedy and trouble and problems and death and loss. Why why do we grieve? We16:53 grieve because we lose things. We lose a loved 1. We lose a job. We lose friends. We lose a relationship. I don't know. Maybe, heaven forbid, some of you have lost a child, but we grieve because17:04 of loss. Loss produces grief, and loss is a universal experience. Everyone experiences loss. And there's no avoiding loss because this world is broken by17:16 sin. So you're going to lose something. You're going to grieve. Therefore, the good news of the gospel is we do not grieve as those who do not have hope. There is a17:28 Christian grief, and then there is a worldly grief. Which kind of grief do you have? I have been to the hospital room as Christians have passed from this life to the next. And I've also been to the17:39 hospital room where people have passed from this life to the next who are not Christians. And I cannot tell you the tangible atmospheric difference between the 2. There is a great difference in having hope in the17:51 next life and no view or hope or belief in the next life. Huge difference. And the Thessalonians were suffering. They were suffering. Several times through the first 4 chapters of Thessalonians,18:03 Paul mentions their afflictions, their sufferings, their trials. We're going to suffer if we are people, and we are definitely going to suffer if we are Christian people. We cannot18:15 avoid it, but we have hope in the midst of it. And that's what Paul is writing here to the Thessalonians. He says, we don't want you to be uninformed. Notice the word uninformed. If you got your paper notes out, just18:26 underline uninformed. Uninformed means that you don't know. You are uninformed. He says so he's like, we we don't want you living18:38 uninformed about death and loss because this death and loss thing for Christians, listen, is not the end.18:49 So that means that you don't have to grieve like the people that don't believe that. Here's what he's really saying. He's saying, if you don't get this, if you don't know this, if you don't19:01 remind yourself regularly that there is a glorious future and a blessed hope for you, you will live just like the world. How many Christians are there right now? And19:13 I'm talking about churchgoing Christians, churchgoing people. You believe it just like the world. You fall apart just like the world. You you throw up your hands just like the world. No. No. You gotta remind yourself.19:24 You gotta come back to church and get reminded that Jesus Christ is coming again. Got a family in heaven waiting for me. I got a grandfather who pastored this church up in Norwood for 30 years. He's waiting for me. I got19:35 a great grandmother there. She's there too. I got people who I've seen in this church pass from this life to the next, and I can't wait to see them again. It's not the end. Jesus Christ is alive, and those who die in him19:46 are alive as well. That's my hope. I can grieve, but I can grieve with hope. And he says, this is why 4 sins, verse 14, since we believe that19:58 Jesus died. Just circle died because there's a very key little linguistic tool that Paul utilizes in verse 14 that I wanna explain to you. He says, we believe that Jesus died. Therefore, because he died and rose20:10 again, therefore, will with Jesus bring those who have fallen asleep. Just underline asleep. Because those 2 terms are 2 terms for death, but they're different terms, right? Why would Paul say20:22 about Jesus, he died? And why would Paul say about those who died in Jesus that they're just asleep? This is a little trick, a little theological trick to pack the gospel into every verse.20:34 When Jesus died, he died twice. Some of you need to understand this. When Jesus died, he died twice. And listen to me. Every human being on the planet,20:46 You got a choice about death and life. You can be born twice or once. You can die twice or once. And depending on how many times you're born, that determines how many times you die.20:58 Let me explain. You're born physically, but you're born physically as a sinner. You're naughty. You're mean. You're nasty. You're selfish. Your mom never has to tell you to hit your21:10 sister. That comes natural. That means you're born. So you need to be born, what, again. Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. So if you're21:22 born twice, you're born physically and born spiritually. And this is the good news. Are you ready for this? You only die once. You only die physically. Maybe if Jesus tarries, if Jesus21:33 waits for you to die physically. Okay? So this is this is how I wanna go, by the way. I don't wanna die at all. I'd rather just Jesus come in my lifetime. Anybody with me on that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So born twice, die21:45 once, maybe. Born once, die twice. You die physically, and then you die spiritually. And spiritual death is this, it is separation from God21:57 forever. Every good thing that you experience on this earth is because of God. James chapter 1 verse 17. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights. Your goodness, your the clothing22:09 on your back, the air in your lungs, the moderate good looks that you're sporting out here today at all of our location, that's from God. It's amazing how quick we will blame God for the small bad things that happen22:21 and forget to thank God for the abounding good things that happen. So here's the deal. Separation from God. That's spiritual death. Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 10 28. He says, do not fear those who can kill the22:33 body and cannot kill the soul. He's talking about 2 deaths. Don't fear people. Don't fear the don't fear Washington DC. Don't fear Ukraine. Don't fear22:44 Putin. Don't fear wars and rumor. No. They can only kill this. This this is not your whole life. He says, here's who you're gonna fear. You're gonna fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And fear means22:56 that you have reverent respect for God. So here's what he's talking about. Here's what Paul is talking about back to first Thessalonians 4 14. He says, Jesus died twice. On the cross, Jesus said, my God, my God, why have23:07 you forsaken me? And that meant that he was spiritually dead in that moment. He was separated from God because he bore on his body all of our sins. God placed on Jesus the sins of the world.23:19 Jesus was separated from the father in that instant and bore an eternal punishment for us in that instant. Why is it eternal when it was only a couple of moments? Because Jesus is an eternal being, and he bore our23:30 sins and died spiritually, and then he died physically. He died twice so that you and I, if we believe in him, only have to die once. That's the good news of the gospel. So here's why23:42 Paul says, Jesus died, but we go to sleep. Because if we go to if we die in Jesus, it's just a nap. Amen, somebody. Amen. That's the truth. And everybody23:54 gotta know this. You gotta know this because this is gonna give you hope. That you're not going to stay in the ground. You're not gonna stay 6 feet under. Jesus Christ is gonna come and wake you up with the trumpet sound24:04 of God. Amen. And that is our hope. Die once, born twice, die once. Number 2, we feel fine at the end of the world because we are covered in the midst of calamity.24:15 God will cover you through the tribulations of this life and then also through the great tribulation as I believe at the end of the age. Now let's take a look at how Paul impacts24:27 this, and I'm gonna I'm gonna use some supportive verses today. And I'm gonna take some time to teach you this because I want you prepared. Here's what he says in Thessalonians again, verse 15. We declare to you by word24:39 from the Lord. That means take this seriously. This is not a joke. This is straight from Jesus. He says that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fought the dead in24:49 Christ, the people who died once. He says the Lord will descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the the trumpet of God. Now remember that phrase, with the sound of the trumpet of God.25:00 Remember that phrase, with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Verse 17. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up. By the25:12 way, the word in the Latin translation of this verse is rapturo. Caught up. Rapturo in Latin. That is the the word25:24 from which we get the theological understanding of rapture. That's where it comes from. Right here. Caught up. Latin translation, rapturo, rapture. And,25:37 it's a violent word, by the way. The original Greek word is harpazo. 1 thing about Greek words, because the Bible was the New Testament was written in Greek, not English and not25:49 Latin, is that sometimes the words sound like what they are. Onomatopoeic is the phrase. It sounds like what it is. And so26:01 rap harpazo, harpazo, it's a snatching away. It's got a violence to it. It's not God just saying, okay, come on up. It's snap.26:12 And that's exactly how God is going to do it with us at the end of the age. He is going to snatch us out. In fact, I hesitate to go here, but the word rapturo26:24 from Latin is also the word from which we get rape. It's a violence in which someone is taken away quickly. Now let me just ask you. If we're all at peace26:36 before the tribulation, why would God need to violently snatch us out? Are you hearing this? It's a violent, fast26:47 snatching away. That's I just wanna make sure you're understanding that. And then we're caught up in the air to meet the Lord and all those who are dead in Christ, and we'll always be with the Lord. And I believe that26:58 while we're in the air, second Peter talks about this, the earth will burn away, and every person who is left will burn the fiery judgment of God. That's in27:10 second Peter. That's why we have to be snatched out of the way for that to happen and then Jesus comes back and inaugurates the newest the new the the new heavens and the new earth. Okay. So are we clear on the27:22 order? Dead in trumpet of God, archangel sound, Jesus ascends, dead in Christ, we're next. By the way, why did the dead in Christ get first dibs on meeting the Lord? Because they need a 6 foot head start. That's why.27:35 Just think about that. That'll come to you later. Okay? Trumpet of God. Trumpet of God. Rapture. Instantaneous transformation. Good news. If you hate your body, that's not the 1 you're getting in27:47 the next life. You're getting an immortal body. You're getting a fit body. I believe a strong body. I believe it'll be around 33 years of age because it'll be like his body. That's when Jesus that's how old Jesus27:59 was when he was raised to life. And how many know that it it pretty much is all downhill after 33? How many know about that? You wake up with a new pain and a new ache every single day of your life28:10 after age 33. So live it up 20 year olds. Okay. Anyway, new bodies. How does Paul describe this in first Corinthians 15 51? Same same28:22 event, the rapture. Same same details. And notice how he says it. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. Same wording.28:34 We're not all gonna die. That means some of us will not be dead when Jesus comes back. We shall all be changed. That's the transformation in a new body. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Some people think that28:44 means blink. No. That's the time it takes for the eye to register light hitting its hitting the pupil. That's how fast. Like that. Faster than that. That's actually tremendously slow compared to how fast it's gonna28:54 happen to us. In the twinkling of an eye, next 4 words, everybody. At the Last. Last trumpet.29:08 At the Last. Last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised and perishable, and we shall all be changed. The what trumpet? Last. Okay.29:20 Good. You got it. Revelation chapter is 8, 9, 10, and 11. Describe the 7 trumpet judgments of God.29:33 Revelation 8, 9, 10, and 11. I wanna unpack those details for you. We will not read it all. We will only read about the Last. Last29:44 trumpet. See if this sounds like tribulation to you. The first trumpet introduces fire and hail upon the world. The second trumpet sounded,29:56 says a third of the seas become blood because of a volcanic eruption. That's how I interpret the text. You can read it for yourself later. The third trumpet looks like a meteor crashing into the earth.30:08 The fourth trumpet looks like apocalyptic ash in the atmosphere as the sun and moon are darkened. The fifth trumpet looks like an infestation from underground creatures and30:20 insects that will populate the earth. Makes perfect sense if you watch the end times movies I'm watching. Sounds like a script from Hollywood. Where did they get the idea?30:32 God already wrote it. They're just ripping them off. The sixth trumpet, angels are released to bring death to a third of the earth. That's the sixth trumpet. So just in case you're missing it, third of the30:44 first trumpet, fire and hail. Second trumpet, volcanic eruption. Third trumpet, meteor, apocalyptic ash. Number 4, infestation from the ground. Fifth. 6 is the angels bringing death to a third of the earth. Seventh30:54 trumpet, Revelation chapter 11 verse 15. Look what it says. It says, then the seventh trumpet. Now if you got 7 trumpets, what else could you call the seventh trumpet? The last31:06 trumpet. Are you getting this? We're here. If we are raised, according to first Corinthians 15, with the dead in Christ at the last31:17 trumpet, we experience all that stuff. We're gonna be here. And then there were loud voices in heaven, and the kingdom it says this. They said, the kingdom of the world has31:29 become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. That is our hope. Now some of you are like, how is that31:40 hopeful? You're telling me I'm gonna be around for volcanic ash and insects to our Florida location, which deals with insects on a regular basis. I'm sorry,31:53 but pretty soon you won't be alone. You're like, I don't that doesn't bring much hope. Okay. What does Paul say in verse 18? Let's look at it again in first Thessalonians 4 18. Therefore, encourage32:06 1 another with these. What do you mean encourage? The word encourage is very very misunderstood. We think that means just, hey, you're cool. That's great for you. You're wonderful. No. Encourage means to put courage in.32:19 Courage is in the word. You're gonna need courage to go through the rest of the age. So encourage each other. Strengthen it. That's what I'm trying to do with you32:30 right now. Strengthen your faith to believe that though you might look at your world and read the news and see what CNN and Fox News are doing and all the heads of state are doing. It seems like the world is32:42 literally insane. Every day you wake up and say, what chapter of revelation are we doing this morning? And I got news for you. All that stuff was already pre programmed according to the word of God, and he's got his hand32:54 on a whole event, and you are in the palm of his hand, and you've got nothing to worry about because he will give you strength to endure right to the end.33:05 Courage. You need courage? I need courage. Some of you are like, I still feel a little bit worried about all this. I'm gonna give you 2 practical reasons why you have nothing to worry about. Number 1,33:17 you might die. That's better. Paul says in first in Philippians chapter 1, he says, I'm kinda33:29 torn. I'm honestly kinda torn. I kinda wanna still work with the church, but I'd rather depart and die and be with Christ. That's better by far. I wonder how many Christians. That's not how you feel. You're so33:41 tied to this earth, you forgot about the 1 yet to come. Some of you single people, please don't let it happen before I get married. Please. Please don't let it happen before I get married. Please. Just talk to some33:51 married people. Just talk to some married people. They're okay with that. Probably last night, they're like, I wish Jesus would come right now. I'm so sick of you.34:04 So you might die. You might be eating your Captain Crunch in the morning. Suddenly, you hear a trumpet.34:16 It's the third trumpet. And you hear, shh. And the meteor is coming for your house. Good news. You won't feel34:28 a thing, and the next thing you'll experience is the hug of Jesus around your arm. That's how I'd like to go. Amen, somebody. Save34:39 that Save that volcanic ash for people who don't wanna get a tan. Amen. Amen. Okay. That's the first practical reason. The second practical reason that you don't have anything to worry about is because God34:51 has a way of sparing his people through worldly tribulation. Just read the record of scripture. Have you heard of Noah? Didn't Noah go through the flood35:02 safely? It was God killed everybody. Through a worldwide flood, there's Noah out on the deck fishing, having the time of his life.35:14 Have you heard of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego? There was a fourth man in the fire? Yes. Jesus. They came out. The Bible says that the guys that threw them in were burned up. It was so hot. They came out. They didn't even35:24 smell like smoke. God protected them through the judgment. A couple chapters later, there's a guy named Daniel. They throw him into the lion's den. The angel comes down to shut the lion's mouth. David has the zoo35:35 experience of a lifetime hanging with lions in the middle of a den. Because historically, God has been able to shield his people. Most notably, in the35:47 plagues of Egypt, the Bible says the people of Israel, a darkness came over the land, insects infested the land, frogs infested the land, and the death of the35:59 firstborn son also swept across the land, and every single plague did not touch God's people. My point is you are covered36:11 in calamity. And if you are put to death, you gotta be with Jesus. Number 3, we are alert in the midst of moral deterioration. This is why we can feel36:23 good at the end of the world. Because you look at your word and you say, woah, man. What what is next? Why are people going crazy?36:35 Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20, woe to them that call evil good and good evil. They flip the script on what's righteous and what's not. That's us right36:46 now. That's us right now. There's a whole group of people. We call them public university professors who think that I am evil. They think I'm36:58 evil for what I'm saying and what I believe. I am the problem with America. You're the problem with America. And this is because the scriptures told37:09 us that morality would deteriorate the closer we get to Jesus. So Paul says it like this to the Thessalonians in verse 1 of chapter 5. He says, concerning the times and the seasons, you don't have37:21 anybody you don't need anybody to write to you, for you yourselves are fully aware. Now notice that little kinda like opposing elements. You are37:33 fully aware that the day of the Lord, that's the judgment day, Amos chapter 5. Jeremiah and Ezekiel talk about the day of the Lord. They say it's a day of darkness and deep gloom. You are37:45 aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Now when I was growing up in youth group, the thief in the night was the title of a movie that scared the living stuff out of37:57 you. Anybody remember that? Is it poorly produced 19 seventies film, bad acting, bad cinematography, and just come to Jesus or you are really gonna suffer. So38:08 anyway, that's how I got scared of getting baptized when I was a teenager. Thief in the night, I thought that was a Christian term. I thought that was a New Testament term. Guess what? It's an Old Testament term. ThiefShow more
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.