Thank you.
Take your hymnals.
Find your seats and grab your hymnals.
I hope you're glad to be in the house of the Lord this morning.
If you are, please take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 157.
Hymn number 157.
Let's sing, Come Thou Almighty King.
Let's invite God to the service this morning.
157.
And when you have found it, can you please stand?
157.
Come Thou Almighty King.
All right.
Let's sing unto the Lord.
Come Thou Almighty King.
How hast I named to see?
How vast to praise!
Father, all glorious,
for all victorious,
come and reign over us,
the ancients of days.
From Thou incarnate Word,
turn on Thy mighty soul,
our prayer attend.
Amen, Thy people bless,
and give Thy word success.
Spirit of holiness,
on us descend.
Come, holy comfort,
turn Thy sacred witness fair,
in this flat hour.
Thou, Lord Almighty,
art now rule in every heart,
and have brought us
with God's Spirit of love.
To the great one in three,
eternal praise has been,
and several more.
His sovereign majesty,
made me in glory see,
and to be connected,
love and our Lord.
All right, let's open up
with a prayer.
Heavenly Father, yes,
we do invite you to the service
this morning, Lord.
There's no point of being in
church unless your spirit
is here with us today, Lord.
I pray that you'd receive
our worship, our praise.
Lord, we love you
because you first loved us.
We thank you so much
for Jesus Christ
and his salvation
that we can be made
children of God
and we can cry unto you,
Abba Father.
Lord, I thank you that you're
a God that answers prayers
and please bless the time
together of fellowship
and preaching
and singing this morning.
In Jesus' name we pray,
amen.
You may be seated.
All right, Christian.
All right, the next hymn
is hymn number 84.
Hymn number 84,
Jesus is coming again.
Hymn number 84,
Jesus is coming again.
A marvelous message we bring
Glorious power we sing
Wonderful Word of the King
Jesus is coming again
Coming again
May be morning, may be noon, may be evening, and may be soon.
Coming again, coming again.
Oh, what a wonderful day it will be.
Jesus is coming again.
Forest and flower explain, mountain and meadow the same.
All earth and heaven proclaim, Jesus is coming again.
Coming again, coming again.
May be morning, may be noon, may be evening, and may be soon.
Coming again, coming again.
Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again.
Standing before him have passed, trial and trouble all passed.
Grails at his feet we will cast. Jesus is coming again.
Coming again, coming again.
May be morning, may be noon, may be evening, and may be soon.
Coming again, coming again.
Oh, what a wonderful day it will be. Jesus is coming again.
Amen. I can't wait. I can't wait for Jesus Christ to come back again.
I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it.
All right. Hymn number 70 before the Bible reading.
Hymn number 70, will Jesus find us watching when he comes back again?
Will he find us watching? Hymn number 70, will Jesus find us watching?
When Jesus comes to reward his servants, we're looking to the light.
Behold, in him will he find us watching with our left foot straight and right.
Lord, can you save me already? Brother, are you ready for the soul's bright home?
Say, will he find you and me still watching, waiting, waiting where the Lord shall come?
Give back the Lord of the early morning. He shall call us one by one.
When, to the Lord, we restore our talents, will he enter him well gone?
Lord, can you save me already? Brother, are you ready for the soul's bright home?
Will he find you and me still watching, waiting, waiting where the Lord shall come?
Have we been true to the trust he lived us, who we seem to know now best?
If we obey for the Lord, come as us. He shall then be truly blessed.
Lord, can you save me already? Brother, are you ready for the soul's bright home?
Say, will he find you and me still watching, waiting, waiting where the Lord shall come?
Blessed are those whom the Lord finds watching, in his glory they shall share.
If he shall come at the dawn of the night, will he find us watching then?
Lord, can you save me already? Brother, are you ready for the soul's bright home?
Say, will he find you and me still watching, waiting, waiting where the Lord shall come?
Alright, wonderful singing. Please take your Bibles now and turn to the book of Revelation.
In fact, turn to the last chapter. Revelation chapter number 22, please. Revelation chapter 22.
And brother Caleb's coming up for the reading, thank you.
Revelation chapter 22.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manna of fruits and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him.
And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.
And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, near the light of the sun.
For the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.
And he said unto me, these sayings are true, faithful and true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
And I John saw these things, and heard them, and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, which showed me these things.
Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship God.
And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
And he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still.
And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according to his work shall be.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and adulterers, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
And the spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come. And hidden that is a thirst, come.
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.
And if any man shall take away from the words of the prophecy of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this chapter in the Bible, Lord. I just want to thank you that we can read God's word.
I just pray that you'll be with Pastor Kevin as he comes up to preach your word, Lord.
And just open up our hearts and our ears to receive your word. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Thanks, brother.
Okay, so the book of Revelation, the word Revelation means to reveal, and of course it's speaking about future events to come.
And it says in Revelation 22 16, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things, look at this, in the churches.
Now, the angel that Christ is speaking about here, the word angel does not necessarily only mean the beings that are in heaven.
Okay, the word angel means messenger. When you think of the word evangelist, it's got the word angel, evangel, angelist, evangelist, because he's a good messenger, he's bringing the good news.
And so the angel that he's speaking of there, of course, is the Apostle John, who God used to write the book of Revelation unto the seven churches that are in Asia Minor at the time.
But again, if we just read that again, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel, if you know about the seven churches in the book of Revelation, there's an angel over each church.
And again, angel means messenger, and that points to the main preacher, that points to the pastor of that church, who is the messenger.
I'm bringing you a message this morning, I am a messenger, I am an angel in that sense, okay.
But I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things, what things?
The things that, this is the end of the Bible, this is the end of the book of Revelation about future events.
These things in the churches, you see, in the churches, what we need to learn about are about future events, time to come.
It says, I am the roots and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star.
You know, this is the only, look, all books of the Bible should be preached in church, don't get me wrong.
But this is the only book that I know of where Christ actually says, look, preach this book to the churches.
Okay, this must be preached. And there is a lot of avoidance when it comes to future events.
Often a lot of preachers are not comfortable or confident to preach on the end times, so they'll often go and get the end times expert.
You know, the end times expert that has an end times ministry outside of the church will get him to come to the church and preach.
This happens a lot because a lot of pastors don't have the confidence.
And yet it is the responsibility of the angel or the pastor of that church to preach on the book of Revelation.
So the title for the sermon this morning, brethren, is Future Events.
We're on the final point of our statement of faith.
And, you know, I've been going through the statement of faith point by point.
And this is the last point that I wanted to cover. I didn't delay for any specific reason.
I just had other things on my mind that I wanted to preach on.
But, you know, it's finally time to get to this final point.
And, you know, why? Why are future events important?
Why do we need to know about things to come?
And, look, I'm careful when it comes to preaching on the end times.
I'm careful because I almost, first of all, the book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible.
It's the last book for a reason, okay, because it is very cryptic.
It's not overly cryptic that it cannot be understood, but it is symbolic a lot of times.
And it does require your understanding of the Bible as a whole to really appreciate the end times.
And I kind of get nervous when a new believer or someone that is new to the faith, a carnal Christian,
wants to start on the book of Revelation. That's the first book that I want to read.
Well, you're not going to really capture it all.
And I believe by not fulfilling your obligation to read all the scriptures that it may even lead to fear,
concerns and fear and trouble about future times to come.
But really, there should be no trouble for God's people when we think about future events.
Now, why is it important?
Of course, when we preach of Christ, we often preach about His first coming to Bethlehem's manger
and, of course, Him being our sacrifice and our salvation.
But the reason it's important is because Jesus Christ is coming back again.
He is coming back again. Jesus Christ is going to walk this earth again.
And if you look at Revelation 22, verse number 7, look, again, this is the last chapter of the Bible.
What does Christ really want us to understand as the very final words in the chapter of the Bible,
Revelation 22, verse 7, He says, Behold, I come quickly.
Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
How can you keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book if you don't get taught this book,
or you don't read this book, or you don't understand this book?
But Christ says, Behold, I come quickly. Drop down to verse number 12.
He says, And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according to his work,
as his work shall be.
So twice so far, Christ says, Look, I come quickly. I come quickly.
I want you to keep the sayings of this book. I'm coming to give you rewards.
This is an exciting time for Christians to be looking forward to the coming of Christ.
Drop down to verse number 20, same chapter.
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus, to the heart of the Apostle John.
He says, Even so, yeah, I know you told me three times, Jesus, you come quickly.
But even then, just come, Jesus. I want you to come. I want to be with you once again.
And so this is why future events are important.
It's because Christ is, at least three times they're in the final chapter.
I come, I come, I come. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
And of course, we're looking forward to the coming of our Saviour.
And so in our statement of faith, we're going to have these words.
It says, We believe in the personal, pre-millennial, post-tribulation,
pre-wrath return of Jesus Christ,
when all his believers from all time will be gathered together unto him.
There will then be a period of God's wrath upon the earth,
and then Jesus Christ will return to earth with his saints
to literally fulfill the thousand-year reign of Christ.
During this period, Satan will be bound, and at the end of the thousand years,
he will be eternally cast into the lake of fire.
This is followed by the great white throne judgment,
and then the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
Okay? That is what is going to be in our statement.
It's what is already kind of in our statement of faith,
and I've just expanded on it a little bit more.
It might surprise some people, I'm not sure if it does or not,
that we believe in the coming of Christ, of course,
that Christ is not only just coming back to walk on this earth,
but he's coming beforehand to rapture his believers in the skies.
And for most independent Baptist churches, they take the view
that that coming is a pre-tribulational coming of Jesus Christ.
And I'll explain some of these things, some of these thoughts later,
but the position that I hold,
and I know the majority of this church holds,
is that Christ has come in post-tribulational,
but before God pulls out his wrath on this earth.
And so these are all important concepts that need to be grasped in the Bible,
and I'm not going to be able to give a full deep study of every point.
I do just want to cover in this sermon just the overview,
just a helicopter view of these future events to come,
and I hope that just gives you a good idea of where you can place things
when you read about the end times or future events,
if we can place them in terms of the timeline of the future events to come.
Alright, let me share with you, first of all,
before we understand exactly the chronology of events, of future events,
we need to understand the different positions that Christians hold on the millennium.
What I said in that statement of faith is that we're pre-millennial.
As far as I'm aware, all independent Baptist that I'm aware of are pre-millennial.
What does pre-millennial mean?
So the millennium is a period when Christ is on this earth,
where we believe he's on this earth, ruling and reigning for a thousand years,
and all powers, all nations will be under his authority.
That reign lasts a thousand years.
It may even last a little bit longer than a thousand years with the rebellion of Satan,
but we won't touch upon that right now.
But, so we believe Christ is coming, he's going to be on this earth,
and he's going to be ruling on this earth.
The word that I had there was personal.
We believe in a personal pre-millennial.
In other words, Christ will be, his physical presence will be on this earth for this thousand years.
And pretty much all Baptist that I'm familiar with,
all independent Baptist believe in a pre-millennial position.
Some other churches hold to a post-millennial position, post or after the millennium.
And what this means is they believe that at some point,
believers across this world are going to evangelize everybody.
Like all or the majority of the earth will become Christians,
and there's going to be a Christian utopia.
That Christian utopia where everybody just loves Jesus is their millennium.
But they don't believe Christ is going to come before that millennium.
Post-millennial.
They believe we're going to have a thousand years of righteous living on this earth,
and then Christ will return at the end of that thousand years,
and then create the new heavens and the new earth.
We don't believe that.
We believe that Christ will be literally here on this earth for that thousand years, pre the thousand years.
Okay, so we're pre-millennial. That's post-millennial.
There's another position called amillennial,
and I don't really know anybody that's amillennial.
Okay, but like personally, I don't know anyone that's personally amillennial.
But the amillennial states that the millennium, the millennium,
the kingdom, the millennium kingdom started as soon as Christ resurrected from the dead.
As soon as the New Testament kicked off, that was the thousand years,
but they don't believe it in a literal form.
They believe it in a spiritual or allegorical form,
and they believe that pretty much right now is the millennium.
Okay, that Christ rules right now from heaven rather than earth,
and then at some point they believe God's going to create a new heaven and a new earth.
The problem with that is they don't believe in a literal thousand years.
Not only do they believe it's spiritual or allegorical,
but they believe the thousand years is just,
because it's been over a thousand years since Christ resurrected from the dead.
So they don't believe it. Maybe, maybe in the first thousand years they believed it was a literal thousand years,
but certainly today they do not believe in a literal thousand years.
So those are the different positions.
And if you can, you're there in Revelation.
Come with me to Revelation chapter 20.
Let's talk about the millennium.
And it says in Revelation chapter 20, verse number 1,
Revelation chapter 20, verse number 1,
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit,
and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
So during this thousand, you can see there's a thousand years, right?
During this thousand years Satan will be bound.
Now why am I definitely not an Amillenist?
Because during this thousand years Satan is bound.
And they actually do believe that Satan is bound right now.
But why is that a problem?
Because in the New Testament epistles, we're warned of Satan.
Like he's walking around as a lion, like right now, seeking whom he may devour.
So he's not bound.
He's still deceiving the nations.
So our millennium, it just falls apart very quickly,
just understanding some basic principles.
But during this thousand years to come, Satan's going to be bound in a bottomless pit.
He's going to be chained up as it were with some type of spiritual chain.
I believe the pit is hell, some type of compartment of hell, who knows exactly.
These things are kind of difficult to wrap your head around sometimes.
But yeah, he's going to be bound.
And it says in verse 3,
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him.
So a seal, he can't get out.
And that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled,
and after that he must be loosed a little season.
So a thousand years gets accomplished, then Satan is loosed.
And if you know the book of Revelation, we're not going to cover that in great depth,
but he then gathers the nations of the earth, those that have not believed in Christ,
and they do one final rebellion,
and Christ then rains down fire from heaven and destroys them all.
So yes, there's a thousand years to come, but there's a little period afterwards.
I'm not sure how long that is exactly, but there is a period after that, of course.
Then it says in verse number 4,
And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them.
So who sits on these thrones?
And judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,
and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast,
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.
Look at this.
And they lived and rained with Christ.
How long? A thousand years.
So is Christ raining on the earth for a thousand years?
I believe he's there.
You know, it's not some spiritual thing,
that he is actually on the earth, with thrones of his people,
and there are going to be special thrones that have lost their life for the cause of Christ.
They're going to rain with Christ.
We're all going to rain with Christ, by the way, for a thousand years,
but different levels of authority based on what we've done for Christ.
But then it says in verse number 5,
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
How many times in this passage do we read,
a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years?
Look, I'm going to just take that literally.
You know, I don't think this is allegorical or symbolic.
There definitely is a thousand years coming,
where Christ is going to rule on the earth.
And so, we are pre-millennial.
We believe that Christ is coming before that thousand years,
and he's going to be on this earth with his believers,
ruling and reigning over this entire earth.
Okay?
So I hope that answers that question on pre-millennialism.
But we do need to take this one step further.
Okay?
Do all pre-millennials believe that Christ is coming in the rapture at the same time?
The answer to that is no.
There are two major thoughts when it comes to the pre-millennial world.
Okay?
Now you can do your own search on this.
You can find out more information if you want.
I'm going to just touch upon these very briefly.
But there is a historic pre-millennial position.
This is the position that you can go back and read the writings.
Not that it matters.
Like, I don't base my faith on the writings of people in the past.
You know, I base my beliefs on God's word.
Okay, what I can read today.
But the historical pre-millennial position is you can go back and read church history
and you can see what they believed on the coming of Christ.
The other position is dispensational pre-millennialism,
which most independent fundamental Baptists believe.
Not all.
Not even all in Australia, believe it or not.
You know, I get contacted by pastors that actually hold the same belief that I do
in a historic pre-millennial position.
What is the major difference?
The major difference comes on the rapture.
You know, when Christ comes and takes his believers into the clouds.
Most independent Baptists believe in a dispensational pre-millennial position.
And that dispensational belief will cause you to believe that Christ is coming before the tribulation.
That's what most people believe, in a pre-tribulational rapture.
But the historical pre-millennial position is that we believe that Christ is coming after the tribulation.
Okay, before the tribulation to come.
Tribulation means trouble or persecution or affliction.
You know, a great tribulation to come.
But we believe in a post-tribulation, that Christ is coming.
His rapture to believe, rapture to the saints after the tribulation.
You say, pastor, which one do I believe?
Well, how about you open your Bible and you find out for yourself.
I'm going to tell you what I believe, but how about you open your Bible and find out for yourself.
How about you say to the Lord,
Lord, show me clearly in your scriptures, at what period are you coming back to rapture the believers?
Is it before or is it after the tribulation?
And here's the thing, a lot of people believe, well hold on, then you believe that the post-tribulation is the same as Christ's coming.
No, we believe in a post-tribulation pre-wrath.
So not only when the rapture takes place that God will then pour out his wrath.
And we read about this, and I'm not going to have time to go into all of this,
but the seven trumpets and the seven vials in the book of Revelation,
as God's wrath, it is clearly laid out in the book of Revelation as God's wrath not against believers but against a wicked world.
What is tribulation?
Tribulation is what the world does to believers.
The world hates God's people, that is tribulation.
But God's wrath is God's revenge or his vengeance upon a wicked world when he does some amazing miracles.
I mean, the world's going to be turned upside down and the mountains are going to be flattened and the islands are going to disappear.
There's going to be major earthquakes, there's going to be major fires.
There are going to be supernatural events that take place during the wrath of God.
And so, that's the difference, that's the main difference between the historic pre-millennial.
If you go back and read the writings of, you know, they call them the fathers of the Christian faith,
they're all post-tribulation, all of them.
With that, I've read most, pretty much most of their beliefs and again, not that I base my beliefs on what they teach.
Okay, we have to base it on God's word.
Alright, so this morning's sermon might challenge you a little bit, but you know, so be it.
You know, you don't have to believe what I teach.
All I care about is that you go and open the Bible and find out for yourself.
Ask God to show you, you know.
And ask God, can you show me just a black and white scripture?
I can show you a black and white scripture that God created all things in six days.
I can show you black and white scriptures that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin.
I can show you black and white scripture that his blood atonement is all sufficient for our payment of sins.
I can show you black and white scriptures on the trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
I can show you black and white scriptures that Christ is going to rule for a thousand years.
I can show you black, I can show you many, many black and white scriptures of the important doctrines of the Bible.
Let me ask you, do you have a black and white scripture as to when Christ returns in the rapture?
Think about that, okay. And find it.
And you know, this is for you to do your own study in your own time.
But the wrath of God, can you please come with me to, sorry, not the wrath of God just yet.
If you can come with me to, you're in Revelation, so come with me to Revelation chapter one.
Come with me to Revelation chapter one.
I do have, you know, as I go through this statement of faith, obviously there's a lot of verses.
It's very much a Bible study.
And so I want you to just, you know, be ready to flick through the Bible.
But when we expect Christ, you know, we all believe in the rapture, I believe here in the church.
We all believe he's coming to give us new resurrected body, we're going to be caught up in the air,
we're going to be caught up with Christ.
You know, in your mind, when you think of Christ coming, what do you picture in your mind?
What have you read in God's word? What is it going to look like when Christ comes back?
If you watch the movies, if you watch the entertainment, you know, there's not much to see.
Pretty much from one moment to the next, there's just so many clothes left and you're going to be gone.
Isn't that what they show on the TV?
That like literally your body's gone but your clothes are left.
You know, my wedding ring's going to be on the floor, my clothes are all going to be there.
No, but when you think, when you've read the Bible, is that what you see?
Do you see people just disappear suddenly?
No, that's not what it teaches. In fact, if you can, actually before we read Revelation chapter one,
let me read to you from Acts chapter one.
Acts chapter one verse number nine.
And this is of course when Christ ascends to heaven, right?
After his resurrection, he ascends and goes to sit on the right hand of the Father.
It says in Acts one nine,
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
So when Christ rises, what received Christ out of their sight?
A cloud, yeah? He goes up with clouds.
Verse number 10,
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in wide apparel, these are angels from heaven.
Verse number 11,
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
I mean, yeah, that's quite a sight.
If I was there, I'd keep gazing into heaven.
Then they say these words,
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven.
In like manner, in the same way that ye seen him go into heaven,
is the same way that he's going to descend one day.
So he was taken up what? In a cloud.
What's the same manner?
He's going to come down with the clouds, isn't he?
In the clouds or on the clouds or with the clouds, however you want to say it.
Okay?
So when you think of Christ returning, it's Christ in the clouds.
Is it not?
Look at Revelation chapter one, verse number four.
John to the seven churches which are in Asia.
So these are two New Testament churches.
Asia Minor, it's like Turkey, modern day Turkey, okay?
Grace be unto you and peace and from him which is and which was and which is to come
and from the seven spirits which are before his throne
and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead
and the prince of the kings of the earth
unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood
and have made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.
To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Now the reason I read that was really to get to verse number four.
John is writing to who? The churches.
To New Testament churches.
Then he says this to the same New Testament churches in verse number seven.
Behold.
What does behold mean?
Look.
Pay attention.
Okay?
Behold, he cometh with clouds.
In the same way that he was taken up,
he's going to come down.
He cometh with clouds.
Look at this.
And every eye shall see him.
Is that what you saw in your Hollywood movies?
Nope.
Just close.
No.
Every eye.
He cometh with clouds.
Just like the angels said when he ascended to heaven.
And every eye shall see him.
And they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.
Even so.
Amen.
Even so.
Amen means truth.
This is the truth.
He says, no, no, no.
Pastor, you don't get it.
This is after.
We're all taken away.
No.
He's writing to the churches.
He's telling the churches, behold.
Look.
This is what you're looking for.
Christ coming with the clouds, which is consistent with what I read to you in Acts chapter one.
So, when is Christ coming with the clouds or in the clouds?
Okay?
Come with me.
In fact, keep your finger there in Revelation 19.
Sorry, Revelation.
Keep your finger there in Revelation.
Come with me to Matthew 24.
Now, this is where the controversy lays.
You know, I'll just tell you now.
A lot of preachers will say to you, you don't need to read Matthew 24.
It's not for you.
It's for the Christ rejecting Jews.
Honestly, I'm not joking with your brother.
It sounds funny, but it's the truth.
They'll say, it's not for you.
Don't worry about it.
All right.
Matthew 24, verse number 29.
Let me give you a black and white scripture as to why I believe what I believe.
Okay?
And again, if you disagree with me after this, it doesn't matter.
Look, as long as you believe Christ is coming back, okay,
he's going to rapture his believers and he's going to give us new resurrected bodies
and you're looking forward to his millennial reign and the new heavens and new earth to come.
Reverend, I'm happy to fellowship with you.
I don't care.
At the end of the day, that is what I'm looking.
I'm looking forward to Christ and I know whatever position you hold,
I know that you're looking forward to Christ as well.
But it says in Matthew 24, 29, immediately after the tribulation.
Does that sound like pre-tribulation or post-tribulation if it's after the tribulation?
Post-tribulation, is it not?
Look at this.
Merely after tribulation of those days, and we get some signs here,
shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven.
So there's major events happening in the skies, right?
And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, look at verse number 30,
and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.
What did Revelation 1 say?
That they're all going to wail, wail and mourn into the same thing, okay?
All the tribes of the earth mourn, look at this,
and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Is the Bible consistent?
That's my question to you, it's up to you to decide.
Is the Bible consistent?
God's already told us he's coming in clouds, or we've clouds, or on clouds, whatever you want to say it.
Well, and they shall see, remember every eye shall see him,
and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,
and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.
Okay, so we're all going to be caught up in heaven with Christ in the clouds, according to Matthew 24.
Now, those of you that, some pastors will say, look, don't read that, that's not for you, because they don't like that.
Honestly, they don't like it.
It's too controversial for their doctrines, okay?
I'm just saying, look, you can read it and believe it and ask God to show you, okay?
You accept it how you want, but he's coming with clouds, and people say, no, no, you don't get it past the Kevin.
Matthew 24 is not about the rapture.
Matthew 24 is about his coming in Armageddon when he establishes his millennial reign,
because Christ will come back before his millennium, premillennial, that's what we believe, okay?
And so they say Matthew 24 is about the premillennial return of Christ before he rules on this earth.
All right, well, let's compare.
Let's keep your finger there in Matthew 24, and you're in Revelation.
Come with me to Revelation 19, because Revelation 19 does tell us about the coming of Christ before his millennial reign.
In Revelation 19, verse 11, Revelation 19 and verse 11, Revelation 19, verse 11, the Bible reads,
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.
Of course, that's speaking of Jesus.
By the way, heaven is opening, yes, he's coming from heaven,
but my question is, how is he coming from heaven, according to Revelation 19, before his millennial reign?
Is he coming in the clouds, or is he coming on a white horse?
And I've heard someone say, well, you know, all the horses that are white looks like clouds.
It's like, that's how we jive it with Matthew 24. No.
Let's keep going, okay?
And I'll read it again, verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse,
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.
And in righteousness he doth judge and make war, that's Armageddon, okay, destroys the beasts.
That's a long story, okay, but we'll touch upon that one time in the future.
Verse number 12, His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns,
and he had a name written that no man knew but himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.
And, look at this, and the armies which were in heaven, by the way, that's us.
We're coming back with Christ for that thousand years.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
We get to ride horses from heaven. That's awesome.
I don't know what heavenly horses look like, but they're white and clean, okay,
and it's going to look like this mass of army, like this army from heaven coming down on white horses.
Honestly, just from your own, look, put aside your biases from them.
That doesn't sound like Matthew 24 to you. Christ come in the clouds.
But that's what they say. Look, ignore Matthew 24, because we don't want you to think it's after the tribulation,
and Matthew 24 is really about Christ coming on the white horse.
But how do I prove that?
We've already seen multiple times that the coming of Christ is going to be in clouds,
the same way that he ascended in clouds, the same way he's going to return.
John is telling the churches in the book of Revelation,
Behold, this is what you're looking out for, Christ coming in the clouds.
Okay, so why would we ignore Matthew 24?
Just because it doesn't fit your bias, do we just ignore the scriptures?
Do we not just go with the scriptures over the opinions of man?
Isn't that what we're taught in church?
That's what I think we should be taught in church anyway.
I'll say the same thing to you.
You know, if after the services have passed, I disagree with you.
Well, brother, if you've read the Bible and the Bible tells you black and white that I'm wrong
and that you're right, then you go with what the Bible says all the time.
You go with what the Bible says.
Okay, and I'm not going to be upset with you.
All right, we can be friends, I'll still fellowship with you.
The problem is people do get offended and they want to break fellowship with you
because you hold a different position.
We both believe Christ is coming back.
He's going to take his believers to heaven.
We're going to rule with him for a thousand years and we're all looking forward to that.
Why would you want to break, I don't understand.
I understand if you want to break fellowship because you believe in other gospel.
I understand that.
I'd break fellowship with you if you believe in other gospel
and you want to try to teach this in this church.
I'd break fellowship with you if you say Christ is not coming back.
That's just an empty promise or something like that.
Yeah.
You know, if you say to me, I don't believe God created things in six years.
I believe in evolution. I believe God created, we're just monkeys.
And yeah, I'll break fellowship with you over that
because those things are just black and white in the Bible.
But immediately after the tribulation.
Now you're there in Matthew 24. Come back with me to Matthew 24.
And also turn with me to the most famous passage on the rapture.
Everyone agrees this is about the rapture.
There's no disagreements, at least I know in the Baptist world.
Come with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4 please.
And keep your finger there in Matthew 24.
Because what I want you to do is just flick back and forth.
Read it for yourself. Don't take my word for it.
Just read it for yourself. Back and forth.
So Revelation 19, the only thing that was similar from Revelation 19
of Christ coming before the millennium and Matthew 24
was that Christ comes from heaven.
That was the only similarity.
But what about the most famous passage on the rapture in Matthew 24?
Are there any similarities?
And I think you'll be surprised when you really set aside your bias
and look at it honestly.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.
And the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Everyone knows that's a passage on the rapture.
Okay, what are some similarities with Matthew 24?
Are there any similarities?
Well, we see in verse number 16,
for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
What does it say in Matthew 24?
It says, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.
Alright, so let's just take that one similarity.
And look, Revelation 19 has the same thing as well.
Christ coming from heaven.
Okay, so is Matthew 24 the rapture
or is it the millennial coming of Christ?
Think about it like that.
Well, all three passages say that it's coming from heaven.
Amen, I agree with all that.
Okay, so that similarity applies to all three passages.
Alright, what does it say?
It says, heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel.
Let me ask you, are the angels involved in the coming of Christ?
Or the archangel, the archangel is an angel that's above the other angels.
Yeah, he's there.
The voice of the archangel, he's issuing some type of command.
He's issuing some type of instruction.
I think that's the voice of the archangel.
Well, what does it say in Matthew 24?
It says, and he shall send his angels.
Isn't that what it said in Matthew 24, that he's going to send his angels?
Do we have another similarity, where the angels of God are active
during this time of the rapture?
Well, what does it say?
Let's continue then, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
It says, with the voice of the archangel.
With the trump of God.
Is that in Matthew 24?
It says, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet.
We now have three out of three things.
Okay, Christ is sending the angels, the trumpet.
What else?
It says in verse, 1 Thessalonians 4.17.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.
Caught up together with them.
What does it say in Matthew 24?
It says in verse number 31.
And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet
and they shall gather together his elect.
So we're caught up together and there's a gathering together in Matthew 24.
Is there another similarity there?
Of course there is.
Being caught up together, being gathered together.
There's another, four out of four similarities.
Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4.
What else does it say?
1 Thessalonians 4.17.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them.
Where?
In the clouds.
To meet the Lord in the air.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Is that what it says in Matthew 24?
Yeah.
It says they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven.
And we're going to be gathered in heaven from the four winds of heaven the Bible says.
So what else do we see?
The clouds.
Five out of five.
The Lord descending, the activity of the angels, the trumpet, being gathered or caught up together
and it's all taking place in the clouds.
Five out of five.
Ah, Matthew 24 is not the rapture.
I don't know what to say to you.
Again, look at it yourself, read it yourself.
I don't know, if God wanted to show us that it's the same event, I don't know.
Do we need a six point?
Do we need a sixth similarity?
Do we need a seventh?
Do we need an eighth?
Look, the Bible, you don't need a Bible college course.
I'm telling you now to understand the Bible.
You just need the Holy Spirit.
You need to open God's word and just take it for what it says.
Build your doctrines on things that are black and white.
Build your doctrines on things that are obvious.
That's my only instruction to you.
That's my only guidance to you.
To me, this is the same event.
And to turn around and say, oh, that's not for you, that's for the unbelieving Jews.
I'm sorry, but that is too similar and I don't see the trump, I don't see the angels,
I don't see the clouds, I don't see the gathering together taking place in Revelation 19.
But they want you to believe that's the same event.
Based on what?
Based on your theology that you learned in Bible college.
Not based on what you read in the Bible.
And look, I'll put my hand up.
I'm sure there's a lot of teachings that I have in my brain that I've just learnt from man
and I've never really gone back to God's word and believed it and understood it.
Probably still is, I don't know.
I'm still learning as a pastor.
I hope you're still learning.
I hope you can stay pastor.
I'm still learning.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around things.
That's good and healthy.
So, we believe that Christ's coming is the little rapture, the rapture.
You know, the resurrected bodies to come is after the tribulation according to Matthew 24.
Now, come with me to Revelation chapter 6, please.
Come with me to Revelation chapter 6.
Because not only do we believe that it's post-tribulational,
but we believe it's before God pulls out his wrath.
Some people say, no, no, you don't get it.
It can't be post-tribulation.
Why would God beat up on his people?
Yeah, because God is not beating up on his people in the tribulation.
The world is doing that to God's people.
God's wrath, when that takes place, we're not appointed to God's wrath.
God's wrath will be upon a wicked world.
Not against God's people.
We're going to be taken.
We're going to be raptured before God pulls out his wrath.
In that, I agree with the pre-tribulational brothers that God is not going to beat up his people.
We are his sons.
Yeah, he may chastise us.
He'll correct us on this earth.
But he's not going to pour out his wrath upon us because Christ took the wrath of God from us.
But Revelation chapter 6, verse number 12.
I want to show you this.
Now, remember in Matthew 24, it said,
immediately after tribulation of those days,
the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give a light and the stars shall fall from heaven.
We see these major celestial events.
Well, the book of Revelation has these same events.
And I want you to notice here, Revelation chapter 6, verse number 12.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and lo, look at this, there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood
and the stars of heaven fell onto the earth.
Isn't that the same thing that we read in Matthew 24?
Well, it's taken place in Revelation chapter 6.
It says, even as the fig tree cast off her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Look at verse number 14.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.
Something takes place in the heavens.
Something like a scroll.
Like it just opens up.
Or whatever.
It's some type of opening, right?
Or it is rolled together.
There is some event taking place in the heavens.
Of course, not just what's taking place with the sun, moon and stars.
It says, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
This is how great this earthquake is.
And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men
and every bond man and every free man hid themselves, hid themselves, they're hiding from this,
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks,
fallen us, look at this, and hide us from the face of Him.
Who have they seen?
The face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
All these people, what did we read?
That all people are going to wail?
We saw that in Revelation 1.
We saw in Matthew 24, they're going to mourn.
They're going, look, hide us.
They're trying to get in their bunkers.
They're going underground.
They don't want to see the face of God.
They don't want to see the wrath of the Lamb.
Well, let's keep going there.
Verse number 17.
For the great day of His wrath is, present tense, is come, and who shall be able to stand?
They're like, this is the time of God's wrath.
Who's going to stand against God's wrath?
So they try to hide themselves.
But they saw the face of God, because every eye shall see Him.
The Bible is consistent.
So what do we learn?
So there's a pure tribulation to come, great trouble, great persecution of God's people.
Immediately after the tribulation, sun and moon are darkened, stars fall from heaven,
Christ appears in clouds and gathers His believers.
And then we see the people on the earth mourn and wail and cry because the great day of His wrath is come.
Now God will begin pouring out His wrath on this wicked world.
And if you want further proof, let's go to the next chapter.
Revelation chapter 7, verse number 9.
So after these events, it says,
After this I behold, says John, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,
of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands.
Brethren, I'm telling you now, this is you and I, of every nation, of every tongue,
people of all time that's ever been saved, everyone that's ever trusted Christ,
every believer appears here, this great multitude, that no man could number.
Verse number 10.
And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders,
and the four beasts then fell upon the throne on their faces and worshipped God, saying, Amen.
Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever, Amen.
I'd love to praise God like that.
Look at verse number 13, this is really important.
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
Who are these people?
Not only that, and whence came they?
Who are these people and where did they come from?
Well, if we believe the rapture just took place after the great tribulation, what's going to be the answer?
Verse number 14.
And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
This great multitude caught up into heaven suddenly.
They don't know where they came from. Who are they?
Who are these people? Where do they come from? Where do they come from?
Out of great tribulation.
They went for the great tribulation.
Post tribulation, the rapture takes place after the tribulation.
The Bible is super consistent.
Once you see this, you can't unsee it, I tell you now.
The Bible is super consistent.
So, we're in heaven, we're rejoicing, God begins pouring out His wrath on the earth.
Seven trumpets, seven vials, I don't have time to go into all that today.
Alright?
Now, after God pours out His wrath, then Revelation 19.
Christ comes on the white horse, and the armies, you and I, God's armies in heaven, on the white horse.
And look, you and I are going to be doing very little fighting.
We're part of the army, but if you can read in your own time, a sharp sword comes out of Christ's mouth.
Christ just speaks the words of God and He wipes out His enemies.
I mean, the anti-Christ and the armies of the earth, they're no match to our Saviour.
You know? I don't see the armies coming from heaven actually doing the fighting.
All I see is Christ speaking words, and they're finished.
Anyway, in your own time you can read that.
But then we get to Revelation chapter 20. Come with me to Revelation chapter 20.
And I know we read this already, but just again, just a reminder, Christ comes on the white horse with us, the saints.
I want to make it very clear, so there's a period of time from the rapture to Christ coming on the white horse with His armies.
It's not the same one event.
Just like the pre-tribulational brothers that I have, we believe they're two separate events.
Christ coming in the clouds, and then Christ coming on the white horse to start the millennium.
Okay? Just so that's clear.
And during that time is when God pulls out His wrath, the seven trumpets and the seven vials upon the wicked world.
We get to Revelation chapter 20 and verse number 4.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them,
and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.
By the way, you can read it in your own time, Revelation chapter 5 is when they got beheaded.
Okay? When they died for Christ during the tribulation.
Okay? You can read that in your own time.
And for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands,
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
You know, we've all been, now that you're saved, we're children of God, we're part of the royal family,
we've been made priests and kings, and we're going to rule and reign with Christ.
You know? So, the question God asked me recently, who's going to be on this earth?
Those that took the mark of the beast, obviously they're going to be damned,
and you know, God destroys, Jesus Christ destroys the antichrist and the armies of God.
All the people that are left are those that got saved during that period of God's wrath.
Okay? All the people that just did not take the mark of the beast.
I mean, you know what's a really good example is, even though 95%, they claim, I don't know,
or 90% of Australians took the COVID jab, apparently, well that means 10% did not.
Do you think all that 10% are all born again believers? No.
Like, just even unsaved people, there's going to be a portion, there's going to be a percentage of people that go,
you know what, I'm not going to take the mark of the beast, that's ridiculous.
Okay? So, people that get saved during God's wrath, or people that just rejected the antichrist,
they're going to go into this millennial period. Okay?
I mean, it's going to be hard to deny Christ when they see him come in on the white horse.
I mean, they're already seeing him come in the clouds. Okay? And the rapture's taking place.
And so, I believe, going into the millennium, the vast majority, maybe all, are going to be saved at that point in time.
You know? And of course, they've not received the new resurrected bodies just yet,
so they're going to go into the millennium, don't have time to explain this, but in the Old Testament,
it says they're going to live literally hundreds of years, in the same way that after Adam and Eve
were kicked out of the garden, we see people living for 800 years, 900 years,
and so they're able to repopulate the earth and have many, many children,
and so it won't take long before the earth is repopulated during that thousand-year period.
Whoever remains during that time, it'll be quickly filled up with new people.
And so, that's the people that we're going to be ruling over.
And we're going to be using the laws of God, the standards of God, finally.
You know? Over this earth, rather than the opinions of society and men,
Christ is going to be the ruler over all nations, over all people, during that thousand years.
Alright, now come with me to Revelation chapter 20.
So, after this millennial reign of Christ, Satan is loosed.
Actually, maybe we should read about that very quickly, because I did cover that in our statement of faith.
Revelation chapter 19 again. Sorry, Revelation chapter 20, sorry. Revelation chapter 20.
Okay, so look at verse number 7.
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.
That's out of the bottomless pit.
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the full quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog.
That's when the battle of Gog and Magog takes place, by the way, okay?
In the Old Testament scriptures.
To gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
So, at the end of the millennium, there's a great number of people that have not trusted Christ,
that are going to be deceived by the devil, okay?
So, how can that be?
How is it that people can reject Christ even when he's walking this earth?
Well, people rejected Christ even when he walked the earth the first time.
It's just people have a hardness of heart.
And you need to understand, for us, having Christ rule over the whole earth,
that's going to be like a game changer for all of us.
That's like a complete change to our way of living.
But for people that are born during that time, that's life for them.
That's what they see.
They see this one man ruling over the entire world.
And they, I don't want that.
Maybe they want to rule themselves.
You know, why should this one man rule over all things?
Why should he be the dictator of the whole earth?
Who knows what their reasons are for rejecting Christ?
It's sad, but it still happens.
It shows you the hardness and the sinfulness of man.
That Satan is able to be loosed at the end of a thousand years
and still gather a great army of nations of people against Jesus Christ.
And then it says in verse number 9,
And they went up on the breadth of the earth and came past the camp of the saints about,
and the beloved city.
And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
That's the end of Satan.
Cast into the second death, the lake of fire, for all eternity.
Okay, after being loosed out of the bottomless pit.
But then we get to Revelation chapter 20 and verse number 11, please.
No, verse number...
Where am I up to?
My apologies.
Revelation 21, I'm getting lost a little bit now.
My apologies.
There's a lot to cover in future events.
But Revelation 21, please.
Revelation 21 and verse number 1.
So, I want you to understand this.
Okay, future events to come.
There's coming a time of great tribulation,
where God's people are going to be persecuted.
Immediately at the end of that tribulation,
the sun and moon are darkened, stars from heaven,
Christ appears in the clouds, and raptures the believers.
We get new resurrected bodies.
Then God pulls out his wrath.
Okay, and once God is finished pouring out his wrath,
he returns on the white horse with the armies from heaven,
with Jesus Christ, and we wipe out the beast and his armies.
Then Christ rules for a thousand years.
Okay, and we're going to rule and reign with him.
At the end of those thousand years,
I've covered this in the past.
At the end of those thousand years,
those that did trust Christ during that thousand year period,
that didn't receive their resurrected bodies at the rapture,
they received their resurrection at the end of that thousand year period.
But at the same time, Satan is loosed out of the bottomless pits.
And those that did not believe Christ during those thousand years,
are going to rise up against him,
try to fight against Christ and his saints,
but then fire comes from heaven and destroys them,
and the devil is cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.
Okay, now all of God's believers at this point have new resurrected bodies.
All of us have bodies made like unto Christ.
Now is the time for the new heaven and the new earth.
In Revelation 21 verse 1,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,
and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I spoke to you about this being the bride of Christ.
This new Jerusalem, where all believers of all time,
New Testament, Old Testament, before the Old Testament,
every saint will find their place in this new Jerusalem.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.
And God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
So God's going to live with us.
You know, there's no separation.
We're not on the earth and God is in heaven.
No, we're going to be in his very presence for all eternity.
Verse number 4,
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes,
and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write,
for these words are true and faithful.
These words are true and faithful.
Reverend, one day you and I were going to be together,
we've all believers of all time,
with the Abrahams and the Enochs and the Davids and the,
give me some ladies, the Rufs and the Hannas and Mary,
the mother of Jesus and believers of all time,
together in the new heaven and the new earth,
living in new Jerusalem in the very presence of God.
These words are true and faithful.
This is going to happen.
You know, we're not always faithful,
but God is always faithful.
This is the truth of God's word.
This is the most exciting part.
You know, like our life is a vapour.
We've got 70 years maybe, 80 years, 90 years, 100 years,
maybe much less than that sometimes.
But this is all eternity, new heaven, new earth.
God's going to wipe away your tears.
No more pain, no more sorrow, no more hurt, no more crying,
no more sin.
You know, we made our life down to Christ
and we can be in fellowship with God forever.
By the way, this is a tangible place.
That's why we get new bodies.
You know, we're going to be able to touch and feel.
It's not just some hocus pocus spiritual realm,
fluffy and clouds.
No, it's legitimate.
Okay, the new heaven's a place you can touch,
you can enter into.
You're going to be able to eat
and have your face wiped with tears.
It's a very physical place, okay,
but a body that is like unto Christ.
And so, brethren, I hope that kind of answers your questions
as to what we believe in this church.
And, you know, if there are some differences there,
the only one that I can really think of maybe
is the time of Christ returning in terms of the rapture.
You know, pretty much when it comes to the other brethren,
they believe the same pretty much with the chronology.
Christ is coming back, 1000 year reign,
new heaven, new earth.
I believe that's very clear in the Bible.
And if you just read the book of Revelation in order,
it's actually in that order anyway,
so why mess with the order?
To me, it's just perfect.
And so, brethren, in conclusion,
in our statement of faith, we're going to have these words.
We believe in the personal,
so Christ is actually coming back, okay,
premillennial, post-tribulation,
pre-raft return of Jesus Christ
when all his believers from all time
will be gathered together unto him.
There will then be a period of God's wrath upon the earth
and then Jesus Christ will return to earth
with his saints to literally fulfill
the 1000 year reign of Christ.
During this period, Satan will be bound
and at the end of the 1000 years,
he will be eternally cast into the lake of fire.
This is followed by the great white throne judgment
and finally the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
Alright, brethren, I hope that's interesting for you.
Let's just have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I want to thank you for your word.
Lord, I thank you for the great promise of the coming of Christ.
Lord, not just to rule, but first his coming, Lord,
in the clouds to take us with him.
Lord, to give us new resurrected bodies,
to raise the dead to life again, Lord,
and we can be forever with you for all eternity.
What a great promise, Lord, to be with you
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
But not only that, Lord, we're looking forward
to being with Christ these 1000 years on this earth.
Lord, it frustrates us when we see the corruption
of governments, the corruption of society,
and Lord, what an honour to be able to rule
and bring the laws of God, your righteousness,
upon this earth for 1000 years.
We're looking forward to that as well.
And then, of course, most of all,
the new heavens and the new earth,
where there is no more sin, there is no more curse,
there is no more corruption.
Lord, we can all just be in glory with you.
We can be in fellowship with you.
Lord, we can serve you without this wicked flesh,
without our own selfish desires.
Lord, we will be aligned with your will
for all eternity.
What a great honour.
Thank you for the privilege, Lord,
that you are our God and we are your people.
We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Okay, let's turn to hymn number 63.
Hymn number 63.
What a day that will be.
Hymn number 63.
What a day that will be.
Hymn number 63.
What a day that will be.
There is coming a day
When no heartache shall come
No more clouds in the sky
No more tears turn in the eye
All is fixed forevermore
On that happy golden shore
What a day, glorious day, that will be
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon his face
The one who saved me by his grace
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through the promised land
What a day, glorious day, that will be
There'll be no sorrows there
No more burdens to bear
No more sickness, no pain
No more comes in over there
And forever I will be
With the one who died for me
What a day, glorious day, that will be
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon his face
The one who saved me by his grace
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through the promised land
What a day, glorious day, that will be