Now the part of the chapter I want to focus on here is beginning in verse number 2 when
the Bible reads,
And sent to Mothias our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel
of Christ,
to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith,
that no man should be moved by these afflictions.
Now if you have a pen, if you want to, you know, underline that word affliction, okay,
because that's what we're talking about tonight.
That no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed
thereunto.
For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation,
even as it came to pass, and ye know.
And so Paul is writing this epistle, and he also sent to Mothias in person to preach to
them, to establish them, to comfort them, you know, the word comfort, if you look at
the last four letters, what do you see, fort, comfort means to strengthen you, okay.
He's saying I want you to be established and to be comforted so that you'll not be moved
by these afflictions.
Now why were they not going to be moved by these afflictions?
Because, what's the next phrase?
For yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
He's saying you're going to be better off facing affliction as a Christian.
You're going to be better off suffering tribulation when you know that it's coming.
He said if you know that you're appointed thereunto, if you can see it coming, if it
doesn't catch you unawares, he said you're going to be able to be established, strengthened,
and not be moved by these afflictions, why?
For yourselves know that we're appointed thereunto.
For verily, when we were with you, he's saying even before I sent Titus, we told you before
that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know.
Because he talked about it in the last chapter, in chapter 2, about how he said ye also have
suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed
the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us.
And on and on he goes about that.
Look at John 16 if you would, flip back to the book of John.
John chapter 16, and look at verse 33, one of my favorite verses in the Bible.
John chapter 16 verse 33.
John 16 33, the Bible says, these things have I spoken unto you, these things I have spoken
unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
Now I want to preach a sermon tonight called facing the tribulation.
Facing the tribulation.
Now facing it in your mind that it's coming, number one, because that's what Paul said
is necessary if you're not going to be moved, if you're going to be established, if you're
going to be strengthened and comforted.
But also just facing the reality that could come in our lifetime.
It will come in some degree, because even the believers of the past in New Testament
times faced some degree of tribulation, some degree of affliction, some degree of persecution.
But we very well in 2009 could be living in the very last days and could even be facing
the real big tribulation that's coming.
Now I preached sermons on the tribulation, I preached sermons about the rapture, I preached
sermons about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and you know I've always spent so much time,
if you would turn to Mark 13.
Look at Mark 13, and I want you to put a finger in Mark 13 and a finger in Matthew 24, because
I've spent so much time in these sermons just trying to disprove all the false doctrine
that's out there that's saying that Jesus could come back at any moment and that we're
all going to disappear before anything happens, we're going to be gone, you know what's known
as the pre-tribulation rapture.
Like before the tribulation even comes, before that persecution even comes, before the anti-Christ
even comes, hey we're going to be gone, amen?
Everybody's like amen, amen, praise the Lord, you know, sounds great.
You know, go to bed tonight, you know, everything's great, everything's peace, and then all of
a sudden boom, we're gone before anything bad happens.
Face the truth.
We will suffer tribulation.
Now the thing is, I spent so much time disproving that, I'm not going to do that tonight.
You know, if you actually believe that Tim LaHaye, that Kirk Cameron, that any moment
we're going to be gone, and that we're not going to face any tribulation, and that all
the believers are going to be raptured before any of that happens, you know what, all I
can say is just read the Bible, okay?
I'm not going to sit here and spend my sermon on that tonight, because I have other things
to teach, but I will just show you just a few verses that I want to show anyway as part
of my sermon in Mark 13, because these fit in with my sermon.
It says in verse 24, but in those days after that tribulation, because this should be the
end of story right here, I mean, this sermon by Jesus is found in Matthew 24, Mark 13,
Luke 21, and it all says, but in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers
that are in heaven shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds with great power and glory.
And then shall He send His angels and shall gather together His elect from the uttermost
part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
It says the same thing in Matthew 24.
It says a sound of a trumpet, coming in the clouds, gather up the elect, I mean, that's
the end of story, and everything else in the Bible just reinforces that.
The whole book of Revelation, 1 Thessalonians 3, 4, and 5, it's all very clear.
What I want you to see in Mark 13 is that He says in verse 24, but in those days after
that tribulation, okay, look up at verse 19, for in those days shall be what?
Affliction.
Now those are the same two words that we saw in tandem in 1 Thessalonians 3 as well, that
no man should be moved by these afflictions, for when we were with you, we told you we
should suffer tribulation, okay.
For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation
which God created, until this time, neither shall be.
Flip back to Matthew 24, if you have your finger there, He says in verse number, let's
see, 21, He says, for then shall be great, what, tribulation.
So in Matthew 24, He said, then shall be great tribulation.
In Mark 13, He said, then shall be affliction, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no nor ever shall be.
Look at verse 9 of Matthew 24, look at verse 8, He says, all these are the beginning of
what, sorrows, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted.
And what does that mean, to be afflicted?
He says, they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated
of all nations for My name's sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Look at Matthew, let's see, you were in Matthew 24, look at Mark 13.
Mark 13 verse 8, at the end of the verse it says, these are the beginning of sorrows.
Now Brother Roger Jimenez preached this morning out of Exodus chapter 3 about the burning
bush.
I'm going to read one verse from that passage where Brother Jimenez preached this morning
in verse 7 of Exodus 3, he said, and the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of
My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows.
So we see affliction tied in with sorrows.
We see affliction synonymous with tribulation.
We see these are the beginning of sorrows, for then shall be great tribulation, then
shall be great affliction.
You see these three words going together, right?
Now look at something really interesting, look at Matthew 13, because I'm going to tie
all this together just to help you understand what the tribulation is.
Because a lot of people are mixed up on what the tribulation, they think the tribulation
is God pouring out His wrath.
No, the tribulation is a time of intense affliction and persecution for believers that comes before
the rapture, then after the rapture is when God pours out His wrath.
Because people say, oh you don't believe in a pre-trib rapture, well is God going to pour
out His wrath on His own people?
Tribulation has nothing to do with God pouring out His wrath, that comes later.
Look at Matthew 13, the first time the word tribulation is ever used in the New Testament.
Verse 20 of Matthew 13, but he that received the seed in the stony places, the same as
he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it.
This person is saved, they receive God's word.
Luke chapter 8 makes it clear, it says that they believe, the one in the stony places
believed, you know we heard that sermon from Brett last night.
Yet hath not rooted himself, but doereth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution
ariseth because of the word, notice that, tribulation or persecution, ariseth because
of the word, by and by he is offended.
Why is he offended?
Because he has no root in himself.
Look at Matthew 24.
When persecution comes, he's offended.
When tribulation comes, he's offended because he has no root.
Look at verse 9 of Matthew 24, all these are the beginning of sorrows, then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations
for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended.
That's what happened to that one that was in the stony places, right?
When persecution came, when tribulation came, he was offended, and then they, those people,
those Christians, those believers who are offended, shall betray one another and shall
hate one another.
Do you see that in Matthew 24?
You see, when persecution comes, when tribulation comes, you will be offended unless you are
firmly rooted.
What did he say in 1 Thessalonians 3, established, strengthened, rooted in what you believe,
you will fall away when the hard time comes.
The person who's not reading their Bible, the person who comes to church and just expects
Pastor Anson to just spoon feed them everything that they believe, and is not digging down
into the earth of God's word and getting rooted and grounded in what they believe, the person
who doesn't know doctrine, the person who does not read the Bible cover to cover, the
person who just has a very basic rudimentary knowledge of the Bible, the person who's very
casual about their Christianity, they will fall away during these times of intense persecution
and tribulation.
It's only going to be a man like the Apostle Paul who can say, none of these things move
me.
Why?
Because I'm rooted.
The Bible says in Psalm 1, blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but
his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law that he meditate day and night,
and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season.
You see, you need to work on being rooted and grounded in what you believe so that you're
not offended during the times of tribulation and persecution that are coming, because those
that are in the stony place as Christians, they will be offended.
They will fall, and the Bible has predicted that when the tribulation comes, many will
be offended, and they'll actually betray one another and hate one another.
They'll get disillusioned with church.
You've got to wonder when all these preachers are lying to them, telling them, oh yeah,
if you live the Christian life, you're going to drive a nice car, you're going to be healthy,
you're going to have all kinds of money.
You know the prosperity gospel that's being preached today.
Oh man, everything's going to be great, and all your problems are going to be gone, and
he's going to heal you physically, and heal you financially, and look at these gold rings
on my hand.
See how God's blessing me?
Why don't you put your hand on the screen right now, and God's going to bless you too.
In fact, call this number, pick up the phone, have your credit card ready.
Time is running out.
There's only so many blessings available.
You've got the next 30 minutes to call this number, to give $777 as a seed money, to plant
that seed, so that God can bless you with all this money, and this prosperity preaching
this feel-good preaching, it's the same preaching that tells you, oh don't worry about it, because
you're going to be gone before anything bad happens.
You're not going to have to suffer.
Right?
Everything's going to be great, you're just going to be blah, blah, blah, blah, and everybody
just says, oh where is everybody?
And then all hell breaks loose.
Wrong, my friend.
Look at those signs of the times.
Jesus said, you can look at the sky.
We were on the camping trip, we heard a bunch of thunder.
We knew it was about to start pouring rain.
We started covering things up.
And Jesus said, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, you can see the color
of the sky.
He said, can't you see the signs of the times?
I mean, can't you discern a one-world government forming?
Can't you discern a cashless society coming, where you could not buy or sell without the
mark of the beast?
You can see these things happening.
But many people are going to be offended because they're being lied to, and what's going to
happen is, Paul said, if you don't know it's coming, you're going to be offended.
He said, that's why I said to Mothias, just to reiterate what I already preached to you,
that we were going to suffer tribulation.
I said to Mothias, so that you would not be offended when this persecution comes and this
tribulation.
Hey, when you find yourself in a jail cell, or you find yourself in trouble, or you find
yourself in affliction, hey, when you find yourself persecuted, it doesn't catch you
off guard, and you'd be offended and disillusioned with God.
You'd say, oh, God let me down.
No, God didn't let you down, God told you that it was coming.
You weren't ready for it.
You went to happy-go-lucky Baptist church, you should have been at, hey, the truth hurts
Baptist church.
And so that's what we're dealing with.
Now, let's talk about this tribulation that's coming.
First of all, we know it's going to be a time of persecution, it's going to be a time of
affliction.
Throughout history, who claim the name of Christ have always been persecuted.
The Bible says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But they suffer persecution of varying degrees, but Jesus says that there's coming a tribulation
such as was not since the beginning of the world, no nor ever shall be.
It's coming.
What else is going to characterize this time of tribulation?
Well, look at Matthew 24, verse 6, I want to show you some of the descriptions here
of what's coming.
Keep a finger in Luke 21 if you'd like, because we're going to see a few verses from that.
But look at Matthew 24, and I want you to see verse number 6, the Bible reads, and ye
shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.
See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not
yet.
Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
So we're going to see that the tribulation period is going to be a time of great warfare.
It's going to be a time where nations are rising against nations, kingdom against kingdom,
wars, rumors of wars.
There's going to be an extreme warfare going all throughout the world, fighting everywhere.
We're seeing a lot of that today, but it's going to intensify.
There's going to be more warfare between kingdoms, between nations.
Now should that bother us?
God says, see that ye be not troubled, that's just part of what has to take place.
Look at Luke 21, and look at verse number 9.
Luke 21, 9 reads, but when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not, and I love the
choice of words, terrified.
Be not terrified, and that's what we hear a lot today, don't we hear that word a lot?
You hear that word more than you've ever heard it, terrorism, terrorists, terror, war
on terror.
See that ye be not terrified, for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not
by and by.
Then, he said unto them, nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
What's the next thing that's going to characterize this time besides warfare?
Natural disasters.
Look what the Bible says, and great earthquakes shall be in diverse places.
Now earthquakes are nothing new in this world, but the Bible says there's going to be earthquakes
in places that don't normally get earthquakes.
He's saying earthquakes in diverse places, in various places that normally would not
receive an earthquake.
He's saying there are going to be earthquakes in diverse places, and famines and pestilence,
and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
So number one, there's going to be warfare en masse, like a great world war, you know,
nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, all over the world.
Number two is going to be natural disasters uncommon, uncommonly common.
Cell phones will be ringing in services everywhere.
Natural disasters, earthquakes, but not only that, famine.
Famine is coming, according to the Bible, famine.
The Bible said it, you know, we just read it in Luke 21, back in Matthew 24 where we're
in chapter 13, says the same thing, Matthew 24, he says, nation against nation, there
shall be famines.
What is a famine?
A famine is a lack of food to an extreme where people are actually starving to death.
Now we think right now we're in a recession, depression, and people say, oh, this is like
the great depression.
You know, in the great depression, people were literally starving to death.
Grown men were literally in line all day to get a bowl of soup, you know, and to get a
loaf of bread.
You know, we're not to that extreme yet, a famine is when people are literally starving
to death.
Like France in 1788, 1789, like in the Soviet Union when literally a million people starved
to death in one horrible winter there.
I mean, we're talking about when people don't, not just they don't have the foods that they
like, or they don't just have bread and water diet, but they literally starve to death.
That's what a famine is.
Famines were reported in the Bible.
Famines are a judgment from God.
Look at Egypt, you know.
Look at Ethiopia, look at all in the Old Testament, different places that received famines from
God.
Look at the nation of Israel in the days of Elijah when there was a great famine that
Brother Jimenez preached about on the camping trip.
Famines, but not only, shortages of food is what we're talking about, but not only that,
what's next?
Pestilences.
Pestilence is disease.
Now we have a lot of disease now, but when the tribulation comes, the Bible says it's
going to be a time of great disease.
It's going to be a time of extreme warfare, a time of famine, and a time of disease.
Disease runs rampant today.
We have all kinds of diseases.
We have the STDs, obviously, that go around, the AIDS, the syphilis, the gonorrhea.
We have cancer, which is really a pestilence.
We have swine flu, the swine flu pandemic that's coming.
These things are part of what's going to happen.
Now are we in the tribulation right now?
No.
But as we lead into it, you can see a lot of these things starting to set the stage
for world warfare.
Things to set the stage for, we're starting to see some of the natural disasters to an
extreme like we've never seen them.
They call it global warming.
You say, do you believe in global warming?
Yes I do.
I believe, in fact, that God is going to scorch men with great heat.
After Jesus Christ comes back, the Bible says people will be scorched with great heat.
In fact, it's going to get so hot that God's going to burn up this whole world with fire,
is what he said eventually.
So yeah, global warming.
Call it what you want.
But it has nothing to do with your SUV that's doing it.
But not only that, get this, where are we at, Matthew 24?
Get this, look at verse 8 through 10.
Look at verse 10, and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate
one another.
Flip back over to Mark 13, verses 20 and 21.
I'm sorry, wrong verse, I've got so many things in my notes here.
Mark 13 verse 12, there it is.
Now the brother, listen to this, now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the
father the son, and children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them
to be put to death.
Now don't just read over that verse.
That's a pretty chilling verse.
Can you imagine a child turning in their parents to death?
What we're talking about here, you know what I would title at this point?
A tattletale society, is what we're going to go into in the tribulation.
And the tribulation is going to be a tattletale society, just like Nazi Germany, just like
the Soviet Union, where you'll receive a financial incentive, or you'll receive some kind of
a reward or promotion or safety for turning someone in, for betraying someone.
Now who's the betrayer in Jesus' day?
Judas Iscariot.
Remember Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ for money, for 30 pieces of silver.
Well today, we're getting into the last times, there are going to be people who will turn
you in.
Your brother, your son, your daughter, your wife, your parents, I mean that's going to
happen.
You know, what to God would not happen to anybody in this room?
But the Bible says that brothers will be turning in their brother.
And some believers will be betraying one another, we saw in Matthew 24.
The children rising up against their parents and causing them to be put to death.
You know, we're already seeing the seeds of this.
You see, what you've got to understand is in 2 Thessalonians 2, it says the mystery
of iniquity does already work.
It's not just going to be overnight, the world's going great, and then all of a sudden, boom,
the tribulation, the antichrist.
No.
These things, we can see them coming.
We can gradually see it when children today are taken aside in public schools and asked,
do your parents spank you?
Do your parents keep guns in the house?
What type of guns?
Where do they store the guns?
You say, I don't believe that's kooky stuff.
I could tell you, I mean, my sister's husband went to the doctor about something completely
unrelated.
They're asking him, what kind of guns do you have?
Where do you store the guns?
My sister took her children to the pediatric, what do they call the guy?
Pediatrician.
Took the children to the pediatrician, they got in the car and said that they were asked
if they were spanked, they were asked if their parents disciplined them, they were asked
about guns in the home.
You know, it's illegal to have a gun in the home, anyway.
I thought I was protected by the Second Amendment, anyway.
And I thought Jesus had a sword, and he told his disciples to have a sword.
I love what he says in the Old Testament when he's talking about bathroom sanitation
in the book of Leviticus, I believe it is, and he tells them to have a paddle on the
back of their weapon in order to bury the waste and so forth.
On the back of what weapon?
Well, yeah, you need to have a paddle on your weapon, because of course you have a weapon.
You know, it's like God just assumes, I mean, I'm being serious, read it, God just assumes
everybody has a weapon.
Of course you have a weapon.
How else are you going to protect yourself?
How do you protect yourself without a weapon, my friend?
Oh, the government's going to protect you, the society's going to protect you.
No, my friend, the founders of this country, Jesus, the Bible, said, have a weapon.
I mean, you know, it's in the Bible.
He said, have a paddle on the back of your weapon.
Jesus said, if you don't have a sword, sell your coat and go buy a sword.
And they said, we have two swords.
Jesus said, it's enough.
I have two swords myself, and I think that's enough.
I have a 45, and I have an M1, okay?
And the bottom line is, you know, the tattletale society.
I've seen posters.
I work in schools.
I've been a fire alarm at schools.
I saw a poster, $50, $100 to turn in your classmates, you know, for marijuana or for
whatever, you know, for being unsafe, for weapons, for whatever.
You know, $50, $100, you say, what's wrong with that?
Well, here's what's wrong with it.
It's what Hitler did.
Here's what's wrong with it.
It's a tattletale society where you're going to turn in your own mind, and it even said
on the poster, even in your family tournament, you know, and I've seen them.
All these little school programs, you say, oh, you're making this up.
Look it up on the internet.
I've seen the poster with my own eyes.
I stood and read it.
It showed a bunch of smiling kids.
Did you see it in the high schools in Phoenix, Arizona?
Yeah.
You know, a bunch of smiling kids, clean-cut kids, smiling, holding up, you know, yeah,
yeah, turn that sucker in, $100, $200.
You say, why?
Why is it going that way?
Why is everybody tattletaling?
Why does everybody mind their own business?
Why do we have these little Hitlers walking around, you know, telling everybody?
Because you know what?
It's getting ready for when people are going to be betraying their own family, turning
in their own family.
You know, betraying one another.
For what?
Betraying them because they're a murderer?
Of course you should turn in a murderer.
You know, of course you should turn in a violent criminal or a rapist.
But you know what?
Who's being turned in here?
People are being turned in for what they believe, for what they say.
That's what we're talking about.
Because when we're talking about the tribulation, what are people being persecuted for?
For being a Christian.
For questioning the anti-Christ regime.
For questioning the anti-Christ authority.
For trying to fight against, you know, the one world government and new world order.
We're not talking about people who are violent criminals, adultery, murder, rape.
Those people should be turned in.
The Bible tells us to turn them in.
But that's not a betrayal, my friend.
It's a betrayal when I get turned in because of something I preached.
Because of something I said.
Because of something I believe.
Because I obey this book when it says to spank my children.
When it says, spare the rod, you hate your son.
You know, everybody says, spare the rod, spoil the child.
That's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says, he that spareth his rod, hated his son.
But he that loveth him, chasteth him, betimeth.
That's what the Bible really says.
It's not spare the rod, spoil the child.
It's spare the rod and you hate your son.
You say, I don't believe that.
Then why do you come to church if you don't believe the Bible?
Because that's what the Bible says.
He that spareth his rod, hated his son.
But he that loveth him, chasteth him, betimeth.
The Bible says, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell.
The Bible says, the rod and reproof give wisdom.
But a child left to himself caused his mother shame.
And so we need to exercise the rod.
You say, it's illegal.
It's against the law.
No, there's no, the Bible says, against such there is no law.
And that's right by God's word.
No law can stand.
If you take, this is man's law, this is God's law.
And it comes crashing down and says, no, this is the law right here.
The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.
And so, you know, the tattletale society.
Oh, your parents spanked you?
Oh, okay, let's get you out of that abusive environment and put you with a couple of queers.
And that's what's coming, my friends.
Go ahead, bury your head in the sand.
Oh yeah, we'll take you away because there's a bunch of fags that are looking for a little blonde baby.
They'd love to have your kid.
So let's have a tattletale society.
Let's tell on everybody.
Let's see, oh, I don't like the way you're parenting.
Let me call you in.
Oh, I don't like the way you talk to Johnny.
I think you're a little too rough with him.
I think I'll call you in.
We're not talking about turning in violent criminals, folks.
We're not talking about people turning in real offenders.
Like the Bible says, evildoers.
We're not talking about evildoers.
We're talking about people who are just exercising their freedom to be themselves.
To practice their religion.
To have the opinions that they have or that they got from the Bible being betrayed by a friend, by a co-worker, by a brother, by a sister, by a mother, by a father, by a child.
Now let me ask you something.
Don't let any of this go over your head.
I want you to really comprehend the sermon tonight, okay?
Just listen carefully to what I'm saying right now.
How can a child betray their parents to death?
Stop and think about that for a minute.
Unless that child is brainwashed by someone else.
Yes, sir.
Think about that.
If I'm raising my own child, do you think some homeschool child is just going to get out the phone book and pick up the phone and say,
My parents, they believe that homosexuality is an abomination.
They're hateful, hate speech.
They spank me.
No.
They're going to some school, my friend.
They're sitting in some government institution getting brainwashed.
You say, well the Bible doesn't say that.
Yeah, but the Bible says children are rising up against their parents and causing them to be put to death.
How's that going to happen?
Because they've been indoctrinated by someone other than mom and dad.
Mom and dad didn't teach them.
Now you know, son, if you ever see us doing anything wrong, it's for our own protection.
Can you get us locked up for a while?
You know, because we might get a little out of control sometimes and they might do us some good for the cuffs to go on and the orange jumpsuit to go on.
You know, to get our mind right, son.
So keep an eye on us.
No.
It's some teacher.
Some loving teacher somewhere.
She loves you.
She loves those little kids.
You know, boys and girls, if your parents don't have the trigger lock on, you know, boys and girls, if your parents spank you, you know, it's wrong.
You say, well some parents are abusive and they beat their children.
Some parents are beating their children.
Oh, okay, well listen.
We can't have that now, can we?
Because, I mean, look, I'm sure that there are parents who actually beat their children like in a way that's not right.
You know what I mean?
Because I spanked my children in the padded area that God provided.
You know what I mean?
And, you know, obviously there are parents who do abuse their children and punch them in the face or whatever, you know, which isn't right.
You know, sock them and, you know, give them a black eye or, you know, kick them in the face or, you know.
Or, you know, these cruel and unusual punishments.
I knew a parent.
I heard about a parent who had their child like kneeling on grains of rice or something.
You know, these torture methods.
What about that past parent?
Oh, okay.
Well, you know, to take care of those kind of people, here's what we should all do.
Let's all just live in like a prison state.
Why don't we all just go in a white padded room and then nobody can ever do anything wrong?
You can't stop sinners from doing wicked things.
Man is sinful.
Man is wicked and people are always going to do wicked things.
And you can't stop it.
It's going to be that way until Jesus comes.
People will sin.
People will hurt people.
People will commit crimes.
But I don't need the government to come in and tell me how to raise my kid.
Who's the judge?
Who's going to judge?
You know, where to draw the line.
Who's going to judge and say, oh, you know, you spanked too hard when I paddled my child on the bottom.
Oh, you did it too hard.
What, are we going to take a vote?
Democracy.
Let's all vote on how Pastor Anderson raised his child.
No, God gave me the child.
And if I did something abusive, which I never have, hey, if I did, I could answer to God.
But you know what?
It's not the government's job to come to me and tell me, you can't spank.
Use timeouts.
Use Barney and Friends and Sesame Street method.
No.
I'm going to do it my way.
Because my way is God's way.
Okay?
And if my way is a little bit off, it's a little bit wrong.
You know what?
It's not their job to judge me.
It's not your job.
It's not my job to judge me.
I've seen people's parenting.
Come on, I've looked at people's parenting and I didn't agree with
maybe the way that they reviewed their child.
Right?
I didn't agree with the way that they spanked their child.
But is it really my business
to set myself over them
and say, I'm the parenting police?
No.
And so you can defend it all you want.
Go ahead and drink the Kool-Aid of our society
and say, no, we need the tattletale.
We need to find out.
We need to have the tattletale.
No, what we need is for parents to raise their own child
and to teach them right
and not turn them over to some
government institution that's going to indoctrinate them
to betray their own flesh and blood.
For what?
For spanking.
For their opinion.
For what they said.
Where did God have a law
against thinking the wrong thing?
Oh, well, if you
look on a woman the last time
you committed adultery with her already,
what was the punishment for that? Was it jail?
Okay, well, let's all go check ourselves into jail, guys.
Because we've all
had a covetous thought.
We've all had a lustful thought.
It's madness, my friend.
But a tattletale society is coming.
To be indoctrinated children.
To be a tattletale.
To be a little watchdog
for the police state.
But not only that, what else is coming?
Look at Revelation chapter 13.
And look, if you can't understand
why I'm preaching this right now,
just wake up and look around.
Our whole country is bought by the government now.
General Motors is owned by the government.
The banking industry is owned by the government.
You know, the healthcare industry
is a couple of weeks or months
from being owned by the government.
We're going into a totalitarian government
and we've got our kids at an institution
saying, if your parents break our laws,
you need to turn them in.
Because we're the ones
who you really need to be loyal to.
You know, and that's what Hitler did, by the way.
He wanted to break down the family ties
and build a stronger tie to the state.
Like, he didn't want
my children to have an identity
to say, hey, we're Andersons.
Man, we're proud to be a part of the Anderson family.
Steven Anderson is our dad.
You know, we love dad.
We're proud of dad.
We're proud to be part of this family.
The family, you know, no, it was, you know,
we're part of the state.
We're part of the Hitler Youth.
We're part of the Third Reich.
My loyalties aren't with the United States
as much as they are with the Bible.
My loyalties aren't with
some president, some leader, some government.
I'm more loyal to the Bible
and family, okay?
That's where I find most of my loyalty.
And so,
oh, you know, loyalty to country above all.
Okay, thank you, Adolph.
Thank you, Joseph Stalin,
for that word from our sponsor.
You know, be loyal above all
if it means betraying your family.
If it's for the good of the state,
we'll do it, you know?
It's garbage.
And it's creeping into our society.
Let me do a quick review.
What's going to be coming during this time of tribulation?
Number one, a lot of warfare.
Do you think that God designed this world
for nations to be constantly warring with each other
and killing each other?
God is the God of peace, my friend.
I'm not saying all war is wrong.
Sometimes there's a legitimate war.
It's called defensive war.
But, you know, God is the God of peace.
He loves peace.
Number two, natural disasters and earthquakes.
Number three, famines, lack of food.
By the way, we complain so much
that there's nothing worse
than not having food to eat.
You know, whatever we can complain about in our lives,
we all ate breakfast, we all ate lunch,
and we all ate dinner, and when we go home,
that fridge is packed full of food.
We ought to thank God.
And by the way, thank God for your food when you eat,
not just a little bit.
You know, think about it.
When you thank God for your food,
you know when you say the blessing over your food?
Thank Him from your heart,
you're experiencing family.
And, you know, one day you may experience family.
And, boy, you're going to wish that you had.
You know, kids, listen up, kids.
That sandwich that you turned your nose up,
and I like this.
One day you'll wish you had that sandwich.
It's true.
The Bible says,
The full soul loathed in the honeycomb,
but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
There could be a time
when that food that you turned your nose up,
you know, it was Cheerios,
and I see a quick powder in it this morning.
So it wasn't chocolate Cheerios.
Man, one day you'll wish you had Cheerios
with water in them instead of milk.
For real.
Because when you get hungry,
I've gone a few days without eating,
and after a few days without eating,
even the things that I loathe sounded good.
I mean, I was just...
I started on, like, the third day
without eating.
I started just dreaming.
I started just going through a list of everything I hate.
You know, just to see if I would want it,
and I wanted all of it.
I mean, I was going through a list, like,
what do I hate to eat the most?
What's the nastiest thing that I've ever eaten?
And I was thinking, man, that'd be good right now.
I'm serious.
But to the full soul,
the full soul loathed in honeycomb.
But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
By the way, that's why all the Hollywood actors
and actresses and the rock stars,
that's why they're all committing suicide.
That's why they're all in drug rehab.
They're just full.
They just gratify every desire.
And they begin to hate life.
They don't have any hunger.
What if you could take a pill
and it would make you never be hungry again
and you'd never need to eat again?
Would you take that pill?
I wouldn't want to, because there's joy in eating.
Now, the joy in eating is getting hungry
and then satisfying that hunger.
Right?
And if you, oh, I'll never be hungry again,
never need to eat again.
I don't want to be hungry.
I want to be starving
so I can then just enjoy and savor food.
But you see, people who gratify themselves
with everything, they're full.
I don't know what that would do with the sermon,
but it's really true.
Look at Revelation 13.
Oh, yeah, famine.
So we have war, natural disasters, famine,
pestilence, disease.
And we're living in a time of disease.
There's a lot of disease going around.
Wash your hands.
Tap a tail of society.
Boy, do we see that coming.
But number six, of one world government and religion.
Look at Revelation 13.
We'll see it.
Verses 7 and 8, the Bible reads in Revelation 13, 7 and 8.
And it was given unto him,
speaking about the antichrist,
to make war with the saints.
You know all those people that are all going to be gone?
All the people that are going to disappear
and be gone, right?
Right?
Oh, wait a minute, they're still here.
It was given unto him to make war with the saints
and to overcome them.
And power was given him over what?
All kindreds and tongues and nations.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,
whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb,
slain from the foundation of the world.
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
You say, why does it say that, you know,
that all worshiping whose names are not written?
Because anyone who worships him,
their part will be removed out of the book of life.
The Bible says that once they take that mark,
it's like selling your soul to the devil.
And it's like, you're done, you know what I mean?
Now those of us who are saved, we can't lose our salvation.
We have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us,
and the Bible says no man speaking by the Spirit of God
called Jesus Christ accursed.
We're not going to sit there and blaspheme Jesus
and worship Satan as believers.
But those who are unbelievers, most will.
Most will, by that, worship the antichrist.
And those who do have sealed their faith.
Those who are unsaved but do not worship the antichrist,
they could still have an opportunity to be saved.
But once they make that choice,
that's the final choice, that's the final verdict
when they take that mark of the beast.
Because the Bible says in Revelation 14
that they'll be damned for taking that mark of the beast.
But it says, the antichrist will have power,
power was given unto him over all kindreds
and tongues of nations.
Who gave him that power over all kindreds
and tongues of nations?
Look at verse 2, the last phrase.
And the dragon gave him his power
and is seen in great authority.
So it's the devil that's giving him his power
over all nations, all kindreds, all tongues,
and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him
whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb.
So what do we have here?
We've basically got a one-world system,
a one-world government.
Boy, do we see that arising.
Today, the United States does not do its own thing.
The United States rules the world.
Many times by proxy through the United Nations,
we rule the world.
And if something happens in Iran,
we're over there, what are we going to do about it?
If something happens in South America,
the United Nations gets together.
We have a one-world government.
It's called the United Nations
and it's gaining in power, gaining in power,
gaining strength.
We see these things coming to pass.
There's going to be a one-world government
and a one-world religion of worshiping the antichrist.
You see, the Jews, they're waiting for the Messiah to come.
They deny Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
Well, their Messiah is coming and he's called the antichrist.
The Muslims are looking for the great imam,
or what's it called?
Nobody knows about Islam,
but they're waiting for some messianic figure
that's going to come and turn the world to Islam.
The Buddhists are looking for the fifth Buddha,
or they have some apocalyptic figure that's coming.
And the Christians are looking
for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
But let me tell you something,
the apostate Christians,
those who are not true believers,
those who are part
of this one-world ecumenical universal church,
hey, they're waiting for the second coming
and when the antichrist comes,
they're going to say
that he's the second coming of Christ.
Those of us who are true believers,
we'll know the difference.
We'll know it's not him.
But he'll deceive the charismatic crowd.
He'll deceive the big megachurch,
charismatic rock and roll crowd
that has the worship service
where they don't teach any doctrine about the Bible,
they don't teach any salvation.
Well, look, we knock on their doors every week.
And we say,
do you know for sure if you die today
that you go to heaven?
They say, no.
How long have you gone to church?
Oh, yeah, I've been there for 15 years, 20 years.
Do you know for sure you go to heaven?
I think so.
I'm a pretty good person.
I think I go.
Or, yeah, I'm going.
Well, what if you quit church?
Oh, then I will go.
Or, oh, what if you commit a really bad sin?
No.
They'll be deceived.
They're not saved.
They're not trusting Jesus for salvation by faith alone.
They'll be deceived
and to think it's the second coming of Christ.
The Jews will think it's the first coming.
The Buddhas will think it's, you know, whatever.
So I'm telling you,
you're seeing already a marriage
of Western and Eastern religion.
Listen to me now.
I walked into a Catholic school
where I was installing a firearm,
Loretta High School, an all-girls Catholic school,
and they had a religion class,
and there was this guy teacher
that had a beard, like, down to here,
and he was teaching from the Tao Te Ching,
Eastern religion.
I walked into the science class
of the Roman Catholic all-girls school,
and they were teaching evolution,
and they had the ape turning into a man on the board
in the Catholic...
You know, all that call themselves Christian, my friend,
does not mean that they're a Bible-believing Christian, okay?
You know, they can believe in Eastern mysticism
and humanism and evolution and all this kind of stuff.
It doesn't really mean that they're...
But let me get to the crux here.
I'm on my final seventh point,
and that's this.
Kind of back to where we started.
It's going to be a time of persecution of believers.
Yes, there will be famines, earthquakes, natural disasters.
It'll be a time of great chaos
because all of the perils of the plagues
and pestilence and famines and people starving,
and all the wars are going to give impetus
to the Antichrist to come in and solve it all.
He's going to solve all the problems, right?
Only one catch.
We just need to destroy Christianity.
We just need everybody to get this mark
and worship the Antichrist.
You know, that's the only catch.
But when they shall say,
peace and safety,
sudden destruction is going to come when Jesus returns.
But persecution, look at verse 15.
It says in verse 15,
this is talking about the false prophet,
and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak
and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed.
And he comes with all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads,
and that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark or the name of the beast
or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom.
Let him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast
for it is the number of man,
and his number is six hundred threes, four and six.
What did it say in the last part of verse 15?
Cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed.
He said, they'll afflict you and shall kill you.
He said, many of you will be imprisoned.
He said, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that you may be tried,
and you shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death,
and I'll give thee a crown of light.
It's going to be a time of intense persecution.
Turn to Hebrews 11.
Hebrews chapter number 11.
Now remember, it's time of persecution that's coming.
See, why are you preaching the sermon?
Because Paul felt it necessary to warn
and say you better know it's coming
because it's going to catch you off guard.
You're going to become disillusioned.
You're going to become offended
when all of a sudden you're suffering
and you thought it was all going to be a bed of roses.
He said, no, I've got to warn you.
In Acts 20, he said,
I've not seen day and night to warn you.
You know, I've got to warn you about the truth.
Hebrews 11.
Now what did he say about the tribulation,
the great tribulation that's coming?
He said it was worse than anything that ever
was before this time, nor ever shall be.
Okay, well let's look at an example
of what happened in the past.
Okay, because he said it's going to be that bad or worse.
Look at Hebrews 11.
Verse 32.
And what shall I more say?
For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon,
of Barak, of Samson, of Jephthah,
of David also and Salmon of the prophets,
who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousnesses, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword,
out of weakness were made strong,
waxed, valiant in fight,
turned to fight the armies of the aliens,
women received their dead, raised alive.
Now that all sounds great, right?
Sign me up for that.
And others were tortured.
Did you hear that?
And others were tortured,
not accepting deliverance,
that they might obtain a better resurrection.
What was the deliverance?
You know, renounce Christ, right?
Or turn in your mom,
turn in your sister,
turn in your brother.
No, they said we won't accept deliverance
at that cost.
Why?
That they might obtain a better resurrection.
Not to say that they weren't already saved
or going to heaven,
but to receive a better resurrection.
You know, more rewards,
more authority with Christ,
where he's going to reward them
for their steadfast endurance.
Look at verse 36.
And others had trial
of cruel mockings and scourgings.
What's scourging?
That's a beating with a whip.
Mockings made a fool of,
scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.
So some people were what?
Tortured.
Other people were what?
Bound and imprisoned.
Other people were what?
Mocked and made fun of.
Other people were what?
Scourged and beaten.
Verse 37.
They were stoned.
What's a stoning?
That's where basically, you know,
they throw rocks at you until you're dead.
That's pretty bad.
Stephen was stoned in Acts chapter 7.
They were sawn asunder.
What does asunder mean?
Well, remember when you got married?
What God had joined together,
letting a man put asunder?
It means you were sawn in half, folks.
We're tempted.
We're slain with the sword.
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being destitute,
afflicted,
tormented.
But watch.
Look what God's opinion of these people was.
How would you like God to say this about you?
Of whom the world was not worthy.
Boy, how would you like that to be a badge of honor
that you could wear?
How would you like to get to heaven
and get a white stone and in that stone,
a new name written that says,
hey, Stephen L. Anderson,
of whom the world was not worthy.
Man, I'd like that to be about me,
or, you know, put your name in there.
How would you like God to say that about you?
Boy, here's a guy.
How would you like to get to heaven
and Jesus, you know, take you aside and say,
let me introduce you to the Father and say,
you know what?
Here's a man of whom the world was not worthy.
Boy, that's what the Bible said about these people.
You say, man, I wouldn't want that stuff to happen to me.
But you know what?
Hey, these people had the approbation of God.
He said, they wandered in deserts.
Maybe that's going to be us.
You know, we live in a desert, right?
They wandered in deserts and in mountains
and in dancing caves of the earth
and these all having obtained a good report through faith
receive not the promise.
That never really happened.
That never happened to anybody, right?
This is like a parable.
No, this really, he's talking about real life.
He's not just talking about a fairy tale here.
This really happened.
And let me tell you something, it's going to happen again.
You say, oh, man, why the doom and gloom?
Okay, well, you want me to just lie to you
and just tell you, oh, never mind.
Did I ever tell you how God wants his best in your life now?
And look, hey, there's a lot of positive things in the Bible,
but we can't just neglect this part.
This is part of the Bible, too.
I memorized the book of Hebrews a lot.
Many years ago, I memorized the whole book of Hebrews.
I could quote it today, the book of Hebrews.
It started to finish.
I memorized it, I don't know, several years ago.
Think about like four years ago now.
Man, I've quoted these verses many times,
and boy, they sink in when you memorize the whole chapter.
You know, it really sinks down into your ears.
But you don't read the book of Hebrews, right?
You just like Psalms.
In fact, you just like Psalm 1 and Psalm 23.
Man, we've got to read the Bible.
Face it.
What was the title of the sermon?
Somebody tell me what was the title of the sermon.
Facing the Tribulation.
But look at Jeremiah 12, verse 5.
Here's the sermon in a nutshell.
That was all just exposing you to the Tribulation.
Here's the real message now, because you say,
you know, what's the point?
Here's what you need to take home and do something with this.
Jeremiah 12, 5.
Here's what it's all about.
The whole sermon is just pointing to this one scripture
that I'm reading for you right now, right?
Everything I've said so far, the whole sermon,
everything I've been preaching,
is just getting you ready to understand these verses
I'm going to read right now.
Verse 5.
If thou hast run with the footmen,
and they have wearied thee,
then how canest thou contend with forces?
And if in the land of peace wherein thou trustest,
they wearied thee,
then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father,
even they have dealt treacherously with thee.
Yea, they have called a multitude after thee,
believe them not,
though they speak their words unto thee.
Listen to me.
If you can't handle serving God,
standing up for God,
living for God in the land of peace,
and by the way, that's where you're living.
We live in the land of peace.
We went out and knocked doors,
preaching the gospel for two, three hours today,
and nobody persecuted us.
Nobody put us in the back of the squad car.
Nobody tormented us.
Nobody attacked us.
We live in the land of peace.
Don't kid yourself.
If you can't run with the footmen,
look at verse five there at the beginning,
if you can't run with the footmen,
you're not going to be able to run with the horses.
And if in the land of peace they wearied thee,
how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
How are you going to do in the raging river of Jordan,
is what he's talking about,
the swelling of Jordan when Jordan overflows all his banks,
is what he's talking about.
If you can't walk by the side of the road,
how are you going to walk upstream in a raging river
that's coming at you?
He's saying, look, you better learn to serve God now,
because if you don't serve God now,
you'll never serve God then.
Face it.
Don't tell me, like Peter,
oh, I'll never deny Jesus.
Remember that's what Peter said?
Oh, Lord, I'll never deny thee.
And all of his disciples with him said likewise.
Oh, we'll never deny thee.
But wait a minute.
Look at how you live now.
Look at where God takes a backseat in your life now.
Look at how the things of God matter a little now.
It's like, oh, man,
one day they're going to make it illegal to go soloing.
You don't go soloing now.
You know what I mean?
Oh, one day it's going to be illegal to have the Bible.
How often do you really even read the Bible?
And if you can't stand up at the water cooler,
when somebody tells you a sleazy joke and say,
you know, no thanks,
when somebody has that magazine
and wants to show you that picture of some scandal,
you know, they have the latest copy of Maxim, right?
I remember that's what people used to try to show me
when I was at Round Tail Pizza.
Is that magazine still around?
When I was at Round Tail Pizza,
they'd take this magazine and try to show me,
like, pictures of women that were scantily clad
in this magazine called Maxim.
If you can't say no
and risk being thought of as you're not really that cool,
right?
If you can't say no to sit down and watch a blasphemous film,
if you can't say no to sin now,
how are you going to say no when it's, you know,
some officer at your door?
How are you going to say no to what's wrong
and stand up for what's right then
when prison's involved?
That'll never happen.
It will happen.
It already happened, and it's going to happen again,
just as sure as I'm saying.
Just as sure as Jesus died on the cross and rose again,
it's going to happen.
And if you can't stand up for God now,
you'll never stand up for God then.
If you won't read the Bible now,
you'll never read it then.
If you won't win souls now,
you dead sure won't win souls then
when there's a price to be paid to win souls.
What's the moral of the story?
You better strengthen yourself now.
Paul said, I sent you a preacher, Timothy,
because I thought it'd be really fun
for you guys to hear a lot of good preaching.
Is that what he said?
Oh, man, I sent Timotheus because he's so dynamic.
Man, he's such a dynamic speaker.
I knew people would love to hear him.
It would really be a good entertainment.
It would really be, you know,
the preacher they have down there in Thessalonie
is a little boring.
So we sent Timotheus in, man,
because he's going to really wow him with his,
I mean, look at his teeth.
Look at him smile.
He said, I sent Timothy to strengthen you,
to establish you, to ground you in doctrine
because he said, I don't want anybody
to be moved by these afflictions.
You better be grounded now.
Ground yourself now, man.
Read every bit of Bible that you can.
Memorize every bit of Bible that you can.
Knock every door you can.
Win every soul you can.
Pray every prayer you can.
Attend every church service you can.
Because you know what?
One day this could be coming in your lifetime.
Now, some kind of tribulation or affliction
will come in your lifetime.
Maybe the great tribulation will not even be in our lifetime.
We don't know.
But you will face persecution and tribulation in your life.
Even a hundred years ago, I could preach the same thing
and say, it's coming in your life.
There will be a time when you have to stand alone.
But my friend, I'll be surprised
if the real thing doesn't come in our lifetime.
I'm a young man.
I'm 28 years old, just this past Friday.
And you know what?
I believe it's coming in my lifetime.
I want to be strengthened.
I want to be established.
You know what?
I'm going to start by running with the footmen now
so that when the horses come,
I'll be able to run with the horses.
Because you'll never be able to do it
if you can't stand up now.
You won't stand up then.
But let me close on this note.
You see, Pastor Anderson, you got me depressed.
You say, man, the doom and gloom.
I came to be encouraged.
I was having a bad day.
Then I come and hear about being sawn asunder.
But listen to me now.
I want to leave you with the positive.
That was the sermon.
That was it in a nutshell, Jeremiah 12.5.
That was the sermon right there.
If you can't do it now, you won't do it then.
Live for God now.
But listen, now I got to leave you on a positive note.
That was the main course.
First we enjoyed the appetizer.
Jeremiah 12.5 was the main course.
But I want to freshen your palate a little bit
before you go out the door.
So here's the dessert.
John 16.33.
We already heard it.
I'll just read it to you.
These things have I spoken unto you
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.
That's a command.
Be of good cheer.
Don't walk out that door upset.
Don't walk out of that door sad or scared or afraid.
Hey, Jesus said be not terrified.
Remember that verse we read in Luke?
Don't be terrified.
Don't let things stay troubled.
You're going to hear about the wars and famines
and pestilence and the swine flu
and the people starving and wars and attacks and terror.
He says don't be troubled.
Don't be terrified.
Have peace.
Have comfort in the Holy Ghost.
I've spoken these things to you that you might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.
Be of good cheer.
Cheer up.
Don't walk out the door down and sad and scared and upset.
If so, you don't understand.
They have to come to pass.
And you know what?
You say I don't want those things to happen to me
or anyone that I love.
You know what?
I don't want them to happen to me.
I don't want them to happen to anyone that I love.
But you know what?
I'm not afraid because whatever course God has for me,
whatever the pain,
if I have to endure a beating,
the apostles were beaten.
They counted it a joy.
They said hey, we've been a partaker of the sufferings of Christ
in Acts chapter 5.
They rejoiced and said you know what?
I'm glad that I got to suffer a little bit
because look how Jesus suffered for me.
So you can't look at it and be scared, intimidated.
Live your life one day at a time.
Strengthen yourself.
Establish yourself.
And you know what?
When that tribulation comes to you,
whatever your personal tribulation,
and you know, you may not be in prison.
The Bible says to cast some into prison.
You may not be killed for the cause of Christ.
Some will be killed like Stephen was for the cause of Christ.
You may be like John, the apostle,
who died a natural death,
you know, who was not hard,
and yet a great man of God.
He suffered in exile, which is a form of prison.
But whatever it is, my friend,
just keep your eyes on Jesus,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despised and ashamed.
Whatever suffering in your life,
and you know, when we go out and knock doors in 115 degrees,
you know, that's a form of a little bit of suffering,
a mild suffering, but suffering nonetheless.
But we endured that for the joy of seeing people get saved.
Amen.
You know, the Olympic athlete endures the pain of the training
and the deprivation of the rigorous schedule.
Why? For a corruptible crown.
We do it for an incorruptible crown.
Okay, let's be willing to live the life that God has for us,
whatever it is.
It's not always going to be a bed of roses,
but let's walk on in the will of God
and decide, I will stand.
I will not bow down.
Not even this much.
Not even like when Obama bowed to the Saudi president.
I'm not even going to bow down that much.
I'm not even going to bow down as much as he bowed to the Queen of England.
I'm not even going to give a little nod.
No.
Stand tall and say we ought to obey God rather than man.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, please just tell no one to go out of here
depressed or down.
But Father, help us to be in good cheer.
Help us to know that when the time comes,
if we're reading our Bibles,
if we're doing the work now,
that you will strengthen us,
that your Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
will give us comfort, will give us strength.
God, you told us that we didn't even have to premeditate
what we would say in that courtroom
if we're ever in prison for Jesus Christ.
It will be given us in that same hour
what we should speak, the Bible says.
And so Father, please help no one to be nervous or worried,
but help us instead to say,
you know what? I know it's coming.
I'm going to establish myself.
I'm going to be rooted and grounded.
I'm going to meditate on God's Word.
I'm not going to walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
Father, strengthen us. Build us up.
Plant us.
And help us to be of good cheer
knowing that you've overcome the world.
We are on the winning side,
and we're on the victory side, dear God.
Please just bless us, everyone, as we go.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.