Father God, for a number of people that are on the roads this weekend from our assembly, and I just pray for your guidance and your protective mercy about them. And for those who might be laid aside this morning, we pray that you’ll strengthen them and put healing into their bodies. Thank you for being in every present help in the time of need. Now Father God, as we deliberate the word of God, and then as we proceed a little bit later in deliberating the state of our congregational situation, we pray, Father God, that you will oversee, you will oversee all things. Let everything this said and done today bring honor and glory to your holy name. Amen and amen. Did you already shake hands and greet one another? Did you already do that? I’m not going to be speaking long this morning as we have some business as a congregation. We’re going to have a family visit this morning talk about the business of the church and just review a few things. But I did feel that I needed to bring a word this morning and I felt the need to bring you an encouraging word. I got up early this morning and immediately turned on the news stations to find out where we were all in the midst of a third world war. I mean, it is so, it is so tense all over the world today. And Iran feels apparently very emboldened by what they perceive as a weak U. S.
And of course they’re very emboldened by all the money that the U. S. gave them billions of dollars so they feel pretty happy today. And so I’ve been listening to various speakers. I love to go on YouTube. I don’t know if you people are using that but it’s an invaluable asset. And so I’m listening to what others are saying and there’s a very, very deep concern about what’s going on. And all I can say is bring it on Jesus. Everything that’s lining up right now is just in line with scripture. I mean, it’s really beginning to unfold. I confess this to you. I may have told you this before. I have a brother-in-law who won’t let this go. He takes every opportunity to remind me. He said, David, I remember he said, you were a young wildfire preacher.
And he said, our pastor was away and he invited you to come and speak. I remember the occasion. I didn’t know. I wasn’t remembering the topic. He said, you preached on the second coming of Jesus. And this is my brother-in-law. This is April’s brother. So he knows all our pimples. And he says that I really got carried away in that pulpit and said, I tell you, he’s coming. He’s coming any moment, any day. And then I made this proclamation. My little Sherry who at that time was probably three or four years of age, I said, she’ll never get to high school. She’ll never darken the doors of high school because Jesus is coming soon. We have grandkids who are in university. So I can get carried away. But I do remember in Bible college that one of our illustrious teachers, his name was V. 
And Daniel chapter two, verse 21, it says, it’s God who alters the times and seasons. He removes kings, he promotes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. I take from that that God saw all this coming. The current knucklehead who’s ruling and reigning over I ran, God knows him.
And that fellow is in big trouble because he’s poking a stick in the eye of Israel. He’s not going to get away with it. This is not catching God by surprise. And then Jesus says in the book of Acts chapter one, this is his final message to the church. And he’s saying the power of the Holy Spirit’s coming. Don’t leave Jerusalem until you’ve received power from on high. And they ask him, because you see, they have one train of thought, the restoration of Israel as a nation. They want a king, they want a Messiah, and they want the Italians to go back to Italy. They want their freedom. And so that was Israel at all times.
We want our freedom, we want our freedom. And this is the cry, of course, of Israel even right now. They’re being told by university students and by some parliamentarians from our own country, we’re going to see you driven into the sea. So they’re saying, give us a break. Give us a little bit of opportunity here. You did hear about the guy, the fiddle around the roof. I don’t remember ever watching that movie, but I’ve heard that there’s a famous line in the movie where this Jewish fellow is sort of complaining to the Lord and he’s saying, so you’ll call us, you’re chosen people. So I’m just wondering if you could choose somebody else for a little while. Okay. So here’s the disciples of Jesus and they’ve seen the wonderful things that he has done. They were disappointed and pretty near destroyed when they saw him hanging on a cross. That was beyond them. Peter said, far be it from you Lord. But then he rose again from the dead.
And so, wow, we’re back in business. This is all good, but he says, no, I have to go away, but you have to remain. And don’t you leave Jerusalem until something comes from the Father in heaven? And their immediate response is, all goody. So now we’re gonna take over. Now we’re gonna rule Israel. Now we’re gonna have a king. Now we’re gonna have our national identity again. Is this why you’re going to empower us?
And Jesus said, it’s not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. Seasons, we’re experiencing a season right now. If you go down the road called Claws, just adjacent to our house, heading down into the farm interior here, you will actually find some cherry blossoms. It’s that season. And then the next stage will be, well, cherries. And there’ll be teenagers like I was years ago sneaking into those orchards and snitching some cherries. It’ll be that kind of season. Seasons come with expectation. It’s the summertime or it’s the fall. We’re anticipating a heavy winter. Expect seasons. God is in charge of the seasons. And Jesus is saying to the disciples, don’t you try and read into, is this the season of the restoration of Israel? God is in charge of the times and he’s not delegated by our clock. He’s God, Jesus came among us. He stepped into time. He’s not obligated by time. And the seasons, Jesus is saying, don’t worry about the seasons. The Lord is looking after it all. So while all the trouble is going on and these missiles are flying around and you’ve got to wonder what Iran is all up to, they went and told you as, don’t get too excited. We’re going to attack Israel. And they let it known, be known to everybody. By the way, and so now some of the people on the news outlets are saying, we think it’s just a performance. They’re just testing Israel. They’re just testing Joe Biden. Well, they’ve got to wake them up and then they’re going to test him. So, and so why don’t we make a bet?
Hundreds of missiles flying over Israel and Israel’s popping them off like popcorn. They’re just ruining it. And I suppose the Iranians are laughing because they got billions of dollars and they’re still making these things. We don’t know what to make of it, but what if, what if this was kind of like a test pattern and what if they’re ready to launch a real war? What if they’re to launch something and then what if the US government steps into it? What if everybody gets into it?
And the world starts coming apart unraveled. We’re talking about the great tribulation. It’s coming. It’s a seven year time of trouble here on the planet.
And so there are those who are saying, we’ll get ready because the Christians are going to go through the tribulation. Let not your heart be troubled. You are not death dying for the third relation. First Thessalonians chapter four and verse 13. The Apostle says, brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death. We have some friends who are sleeping right now. That’s the terminology. We don’t believe in what’s called soul sleep. That’s another cult church that believes that, that our souls go to sleep. No, the word of God is using a gentle word. We don’t like the word to say, he’s dead. We like, when I went to the first funeral of my grandma, no, that was the first funeral I went to and that was my grandma.
It wasn’t her first funeral. Well, I guess it was. My mother took me up to the casket and said, see, she looks like she’s sleeping. And she sort of is, her body’s sleeping. But Jesus is coming for this body someday and he’s going to take it home. And I was down there looking at my grandma thinking, why, what does Jesus want with a dead body? But I didn’t understand things at that time. We don’t want you to be uninformed about those who are asleep in the Lord. So that you don’t grieve like the rest who don’t have hope. I’m going to a funeral of my cousin on Tuesday. I’ve already visited him. I got the word that he was in desperate trouble. I went to see him and I told my cousins, I’m on my way, I’m about to see cousins. I’ve never met before. I’m pretty excited about that. And they’re excited about meeting me and I’ve got them looking at our website. I’ve got them reading my stories. I’ve got them watching the sermons and they’re good people and they might be listening in today. So I don’t want to say anything bad. So I’m going to be going to a funeral and I don’t get to participate in any special way. I have no reason to think that they would even ask me. I’d be honored if so, but there’s ministers in the family. And but I know that as we gather for this funeral on Tuesday,
we will not sorrow as others who think of death as a dull thud. What we call death is a door. And I believe by the way, you know the word rapture, that means to be taken away. It means to be snatched away. The word rapture is not in scripture. Where do we get that word? Well, we get it from and we’ll be taken. The saints of God will be taken. Those who are dead shall go first and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up. So the word rapture means to be caught up. When my grandmother went to be with the Lord, it was a rapture. It was the first rapture. She was taken up. And my parents told me about her passing, about how she was mumbling away and the nurse said to them, don’t worry, she’s saying some things. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. And because the nurse thought she was cursing, she was using God’s name, you see. And my dad got down really close. And here my grandmother was talking to Jesus. He was there and he had come to take her. And she said, oh, Jesus, oh, this is wonderful. Jesus, Jesus. He was there to rapture her, to take her spirit. Absom from the body, my grandma was present with the Lord. So she is one of those who are asleep. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who will fall asleep in Him.
My grandmother, when the rapture takes place, which I really think, well, not before my daughter goes to high school, but maybe before my great, great, great, great, great, great, great child goes to high school. When he comes, my grandmother’s coming with him and my mom and my dad and my grandfathers, as long as he’s not still chewing tobacco, they’ll all be coming because it says he’s coming with his saints, he’s coming. And at that moment, the body shall rise and they’ll meet the Lord in the air. His feet won’t touch the ground. So our bodies will be changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye. We’ll be caught up there to be reunited, the body with the spirit. And for those of us who still remain, well, we’ll just feel the magnet in heaven. When some angel pulls the magnet and we’re gone. It’s gonna be in an instant. So that’s what we’re looking forward to. And that happens, that rapture happens before the tribulation begins. By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are in the grave.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. I think that’s exciting. So many denominations get nervous about us because they’ve heard that we shout a little bit and they say, oh no, they actually run services like a funeral. We shout, why? Because we’re happy. Every once in a while, I don’t know if I’ve ever broken out and done this, but every once in a while, I’ll break into a jig, I’ll start dancing. And there have been people who’ve been annoyed by that. Why? I say, I got something to dance about. I’m excited. I love Jesus.
My wife was healed of cancer. I got lots to dance about. You can sit and watch me if you like. And so the Lord himself is going to come with a shout. Bob, you won’t have to have your hearing aid on. You’ll hear him. He’s going to shout and say, Bob, get out of there and come with me. After that we who are alive and remain, we will be raptured, caught up together with them in the clouds. So that’s where we’re meeting in the clouds. When Jesus comes to take on the world and pour out his wrath, his feet touch the Mount of Olives. But on this occasion, the rapture, we go up and we meet him in the clouds, caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. And then he concludes with, therefore, encouraging each other with these words. Trouble’s coming, but you must be encouraged. Matthew 24, verse 30, this is about the second coming.
This is not the rapture now of the church going to be with the Lord, but this is happening at the end of the tribulation. Then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn. When they see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. You know if it was, boy, I almost said something I could get arrested for. They don’t want to see Jesus. They don’t want to see holiness.
They don’t want to see righteousness. The world is grasping for filth and for rot. And when they see holiness coming, when they see righteousness, they’re going to be scared to death. The Jewish people, Israel, said to Moses, tell God, don’t talk to us anymore. Just the sound of his voice is terrorizing us. The vision of Jesus coming down in all of his glory, don’t think about a powerful LED light bulb shining in the darkness.
No, this is him coming in his glory. What does that glory look like? Well, if you really want to stretch your mind a little bit, read Revelation chapter one and the disciple whom Jesus loved, now is amazed at what he sees. He saw fire, he saw a sword coming out of his mouth. He saw his feet burning like, like, like, polished like brass. Everything about Jesus in that moment. And that was not an exciting moment that Jesus is coming for his church. That’s John in a moment seeing Jesus as he is right now. But when he’s coming, beloved, when he’s coming with 10,000 of his saints and with the glorious angels and army that’s unspeakable and the shouting, talk about euphoria, the excitement, the world is going to shake in fear and so should they. To the church of the Thessalonians and God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. Therefore among God’s churches, we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. The early church went like they went through such horrendous things. They were being attacked by the Gentiles
and they were being attacked by the Jews. Stephen, a deacon in the early church, was stoned by the religious Jews because he was preaching another gospel, this Jesus. His faith cost him his life and it was the religious people that got him. Christians were crucified upside down along the roads. He says, all this is evidence that God’s judgment is right and as a result, you’ll be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering.
God is just every university student who’s in the streets dancing and celebrating from the river to the sea. They’re doing that in Canada and the US. Misguided, our universities have failed us. The Iranian, Mullah, poking Israel in the eye. Listen to what the Lord says. God is just, he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you Israel. And give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well, the apostle says. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. Why will the world mourn? They have no defense. Israel right now has a defense against these missiles that are flying over. They have a defense, but when the angels come, there’s no defense. Speaking still of the day of the Lord, which is a day of wrath, which we’re not gonna be present for. Now brothers and sisters, about times and dates,
Here we go again, seasons and times. Brothers and sisters about that, we do not need to write to you. In other words, I’ve already told you, stop worrying and stop trying to predict it. I appreciated it, I think it was last night that a former prime minister of Israel was asked by a media person. So what’s going on with Iran and whatever, if they start to come stronger and do thus and so, what do you think Israel will do?
He said, I think it’s a big mistake to go into all this conjecture. He said, we don’t know what they’re gonna do. And he said, I’m not part of the current government right now and I don’t know what we’re gonna do. And he said, I don’t think we do anybody any good, by trying to predict and, what if, what if, what if, he said, it just causes confusion. Paul’s telling the church, they’re under persecution and they’re praying and they’re saying, come now or Jesus, my, my, I don’t want my daughter to go to high school.
Come now, get this out of this terrible situation. We’re being pummeled because of our faith in you. And Lord, are you coming? Are you, and so they were asking the teachers, they were sending messages up to Jerusalem to think about it. Is this it? Is this it? Is this the time? Asking the same question, as was asked by the disciples in Acts chapter one, we’re receiving power after the Holy Spirit comes upon us.
Is this one we will restore Israel? He says, there’s no need for me to talk to you about the times and the seasons. For you know very well that that, that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Well, people are saying peace and safety. I was, I was kind of chewing on that yesterday. When he’s coming at the end of the tribulation, well, people are saying peace and safety. Why will they be talking peace and safety? When we have peace and safety, people don’t talk about it.
When you’re not hungry, you don’t, they say the best time to go shopping is when you’re starved to death. You’ll buy everything in this door. Why will people be saying peace and safety because they’re longing for it, because they’re saying we need a break? We can’t take this anymore. This is crazy. People are dying by the thousands. And something, something like a third of the earth is gonna be destroyed. People are gonna die. They’re crying for peace and safety. So why are they crying for peace and safety? Well, they’re wallowing in sin and debauchery. Well, their minds are twisted. Everything that was right is now considered wrong. Everything that was wrong is now being licensed to be right. And yet they’re crying for peace and safety, but sudden destruction is on the way. Destruction will come on them suddenly as labor pains are a pregnant woman and they will not escape. They’re appointed under wrath. Why would God do such a thing? Well, look at Noah’s ark. Look what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, that was so on. That was so kind of God. Didn’t Abraham start talking with the Lord and saying, per adventure, there’d be 50 righteous people. Can we spare the town?
There were not 50 righteous. They were filthy. Sodom. They were filthy. So God said, well, if there’s 50, let’s check it out. There weren’t 50. What if there’s just this money? What if there’s just, he really tried to, Lord, don’t wipe out a whole city. Don’t wipe out a whole population. But we actually beg for justice by the pathetic way in which we live. But you brothers and sisters are not in darkness so that this day should, that this day would surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and the children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober. He’s not just talking about liquor. He’s talking about, let’s be wise. Let’s be alert. Let’s be like that tribe that is spoken of in the Old Testament. It was a tribe and forgive me, I can’t remember the name of that tribe, but it says, men help me, Denny, you can help me with that. Men who understood the times and what Israel should do. And here’s the Apostle Paul speaking basically like that. Be sober, be aware. Be aware of the times, be aware of the day. And what should we do? Be sober, putting on faith and love like a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. And here’s the wording I love. Listen closely. The day of wrath is coming, but the Apostle Paul says, be sober, be ready, put on the breastplate, put on the helmet for God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see the reason judgment is coming is because the world loves sin. But our judgment was met out upon Jesus, our substitute. The wrath that was designed for me was taken out upon him. So we are not, we do not have an appointment with Roth. So Paul is trying to help the people to be aware. He’s trying to ensure that they have a good understanding and a good grounding in the word of God.
And he’s letting them know you’re not gonna go through wrath. You’re not gonna experience all of this terribleness. And I hesitate to say this, but it is the truth. Israel is gonna experience that wrath. And it’s that wrath that’s gonna turn them to him. They will turn to him. They will finally cry out. I wish I could remember the country I was in. I wish I could remember their circumstances. I believe that I was in some kind of a cafe, somewhere in this world.
You know, I traveled to so many countries. So I said to April, I remember so many things. And I didn’t write those things down. I didn’t write dates down. So I said, I was in a certain place. And I can see it now. I was there, but what country was that? Well, where was I? So here I sat and I believe I was drinking a hot beverage, like a coffee. And I’m talking to a man who was a Jew. And he was friendly and I engaged him. And I talked to him about a war that went on. Wasn’t it the 67 war? That the Jews were being attacked all around. And he told me, he said, we were losing. The Egyptians were coming like fleas coming upon us. And he said, all my brothers that were in the tank with me said, I was the commander of the tank. And he said, somehow I was spared. But he said, my tank had been tossed to the side, on its side.
And so here he was. He says, I was hunkered down underneath this armor, hoping that the incoming shells and the bombs and the bullets would not find me. And he said, I lay there in that hot sand. And he said, I cried out. And he said, where is the Lord God of Israel? We’re supposed to be your chosen people. Where are you God? Where are you God? And he said, I no sooner prayed that prayer. He said, silence. And he said, I’m not saying that my prayer moved God. But he said, sir, I’m telling you, I was lying, trying to find some protection. I did not want to die. And I cried out, God, where are you? Where are you? Suddenly said, total silence, not the sound of one bullet. Now shall, no explosion. Nothing. He said it was an eerie feeling.
I lay there for a moment. He said, do I dare look? Do I put my head up and a sniper catches me? But he said, I stealthily laid in this sand and squirmed around like a worm. And I peered out. And he said, there were the Egyptian and the Jordanian and the Syrian, the tanks, the militia, whatever. There was all their equipment. And he said, nothing was moving. And he said, as I looked in the distance, there were no shells. There was no fire. There was no smoke. He said, I came out. And he said, I walked toward where my enemy had been pinning me down and all my brothers. And he said, behind me there were thousands of Jewish soldiers scared to death. And he said, as I headed out, he said, I started walking by these tanks that had been firing on us. And he said, there was nobody in them. And then he said, I tripped over something. And I looked down. He said it was a pair of boots, army boots. And he said, as I looked in the darkness, I guess there’d be enough moonlight, he said, scattered on the desert floor. Were thousands of pairs of boots. And I said to him, what were they? He said, the fear of God got into the minds of our enemy.
And he said, they wanted to run, but in the sand, he said, it’s hard to run. He said, when you’ve got these boots because of the smooth. And so he said, they had taken their knife and zipped open the laces and tore off our boots. And he said, those devils had run for home. But the enemy is not gonna turn back during the tribulation, during the time of wrath. And it’ll only be Jesus that’ll save the day. It says, if Jesus doesn’t come at that moment, nobody will be spared.
That speaks of nuclear total annihilation. It’s coming, all these crazy despots who want to have nuclear power. Everybody wants nuclear power. Pakistan has nuclear, Israel has nuclear weapons. And I ran, funded by you know who is ready to, everybody wants the bomb. Everybody wants the bomb. Well, not Canada, we just want, we just want zero emissions by 2050. And everybody has got to drive an electric car. We won’t have enough electricity, but at least you’ll, they’re gonna be giving away a little battery. You’re gonna be going to the dollar store and saying, I need 10,000 AAA batteries. My car stalled out here. I gotta have power to move my car. That’s what we’re up to. What a mess. Can I get arrested for that now? Yeah. I want you to be encouraged this morning. The Lord is on your side.
And God bless you for deciding by His mercy and grace you decided to be on His side. The question was asked of the Israelites out in the wilderness, as the line was drawn in the sand. The leadership stepped back and said, who’s on the Lord’s side? And those who crossed over were spared. And those who said, no, I don’t trust Him anymore. They died. Last word. Oh my goodness, I’ve gone on forever.
But I think you liked it. I’m not gonna go on. I was gonna tell you something else. I think I should close. Just encourage me. Are you encouraged? Go like this. Oh good. Heavenly Father, I pray that those who are listening in, my precious friends down in the East Coast, my excellent, wonderful, precious friends on the West Coast and people all in between. Maybe some of my family members, people that we’re hearing about who are tuning in and listening. Oh Lord Jesus, I pray that they will consider the position they are taking with God, who is on the Lord’s side. Lord, that be be, let there be no indecision, but let all of us cross over and say, I am on the Lord’s side.
And Lord Jesus, you said, you’re coming for those who love your appearing. So we just declare it right now, Lord Jesus, we love the whole idea, come, even come now, Lord Jesus.
And everyone said, amen.
