they're a saved believer and that's really all that it's you know kind of
pertaining to but look what it says in 1st John chapter 2 verse 13 I write
unto you fathers because you have known him that it's from the beginning I write
into young men because you have overcome the wicked one I write in you little
children because you have known the father says in verse 14 I've written on
you fathers because you have known him that it's from the beginning I've
written a young man because you're strong and the Word of God abideth in
you and you have overcome the wicked one so again when he's describing the
young men he's he's making it clear that they've already done something what have
they already done they've already overcome the wicked one what is that
picture it's picturing the fact they've already gotten saved they've already
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ they've already basically gotten the
victory over the wiles of the devil look what it says in 1st John chapter 4
verse 4 year of God little children and have overcome them because greater is he
that is in you than he that is in the world so notice he's describing the
group of people as being children of what God and they've overcome and
specifically you have someone inside of you that would be the Holy Ghost also
emphasizing the fact that the person is overcome they've saved they've been
sealed with the Holy Spirit of God and while you're still alive on this earth
you have that title or you have that nomenclature as being someone who's
overcome the world is someone who's overcome the wicked one is someone who
you know has been an overcomer now it's go to chapter 5 for a moment let's look
at one more passage here it says in verse number 4 1st John chapter 5 look
at verse number 4 for what sovers born of God over cometh the world and this is
the victory that over cometh the world even our faith who is he that over
cometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God so
overcoming specifically it is really hammered and defined in the Bible as
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ it's our faith in Jesus Christ it's trusting
in his work alone for your salvation first John chapter 5 goes on to
reiterate and emphasize that and make it clear you can look at verse number 10
it says he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself right
verse 12 he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life so he's emphasizing and he's saying in verse 13 these things have I
written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know
they have eternal life so a lot of the admonitions in 1st John chapter 5 are
reminding you of who you are it's reminding you of what you've already
done it's reminding you of the fact that you're a child of God it's reminding you
the fact you've already overcome the wicked one it's reminding you the fact
that the Holy Ghost was living inside of you it's reminding the fact that you
have the record that God gave of his son that you believe in him you've overcome
the world you've overcome you greater is he that is in you so it's constantly
reminding you who you are you are an overcomer now what's cool about this is
then when you go to Revelation he's gonna tell you all these cool things
about being this overcomer and things that are attributed to being an
overcomer look what it says in Revelation chapter 2 look what it says
in verse number 7 he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which
is in the midst of the paradise of God so God's reminding you hey when you die
because you've overcome the world because you're saved you will have
access to the tree of life and the paradise of God now that's a pretty cool
thing and again why would he bring up something like this well I'm going to
show you several other mentions in chapter 2 and 3 but again it's because
he's bringing out all kinds of things that they have to fight about when he's
talking about these churches saying hey you're having to fight all these
different things and you have to go through different things you have to go
through all these events but remember hey the ones that have overcome they're
gonna get access to the tree of life and so just kind of reminding the person
about what the end looks like and reminding him where our faith ends and
what the the conclusion of our life and serving God is going to end up being
like and what's cool about this is most of the time when he's describing this
event he's just saying it for all believers it doesn't matter if you don't
serve God or not if you have believed in Lord Jesus Christ you have overcome the
world and because you've overcome the world you will have access to the tree
of life it's not like only a special privileged group of Christians get this
no every saved believer will have these benefits of the fact that they've
overcome the world that they've overcome you know essentially the the wicked one
and all these things now when you say what does it mean you know overcome why
does it say overcome we have to think about this world you know the devil is a
masterful strategist and he's employing all these different tactics to do one
thing to stop people from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ you say well what
what tactics or what things is he doing to ensure that people don't believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ well how about just false religion I mean think about
how much false religion exists in this world today and you say well what's the
point of false religion what's the goal of false religion to get you just not
believe in Jesus that's the goal I mean if you can just make someone a Hindu or
you can make someone a Buddhist or you can make them an atheist or you can make
them and you know whatever religions out there that's just gonna have nothing to
do with Christianity nothing to do with the Bible they don't care about God's
Word well those people are just not gonna believe in Jesus Christ most of
the time and they're gonna all go to hell I'm not saying that those people
couldn't repent or convert what I am saying is that a vast majority of them
are just not even interested I mean when I go out door knocking the people that
are the most uninterested are just non-christian and when I say Christian
I'm meaning in the world sense that they don't even have any respect of the Bible
they don't go to church at all I mean most of the time the people I get saved
are already kind of you know thinking they're saved or they're kind of
Christian or there's some form of that when you run into a Hindu they're not
interested in the Word of God they don't fear God they run into a Muslim
not interested in the Word of God he run in these big false religions but then
even beyond that the devil is you know crafty and he's cunning and he's subtle
is what the Bible says so he's not gonna just have false religion just be
completely different than the Word of God he's also gonna try and mimic it and
make it seem like there's religions that's believed the Bible when they
actually don't like the Catholic Church like a lot of Protestant denomination or
even the cults you know Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons you know it doesn't
really matter Seventh-day Adventists it doesn't matter what cold you know and
from the devil's perspective he's not looking like I only need to have one
solution you would love to have as many denominations as many false religion
options is there there could possibly be and even some people get disheartened or
apathetic towards the Word of God because of the multiplicity of divisions
and options that exist today I know people oh there's so many religions how
could you even know which one's right who's heard someone say that I hear that
all the time you know people are just all there's just all these different
options and everybody interprets the Bible differently well here's the thing
there's some people that believe the Bible and some people that don't it's
that simple I mean and look the people that don't yeah they have a lot of weird
stuff going I have a cornucopia of not believing the Bible you know some of them
believe parts or a few verses or none of it but you know the people that actually
believe the Bible it's real clear and so you have to overcome all of that you
know and praise the Lord for children who are raised in a Christian home where
their parents basically just gift them the gift of overcoming basically their
parents just already instruct them in the ways of the Lord and already helped
them fight that major battle of false religion day because children raised and
an atheist home or children raised in a Catholic home or children raised in a
false religion today it's very hard for them to get say it's very difficult they
have to overcome a lot more than someone who's raised in a Christian home there's
all kinds of propaganda today the news media social media anything on the
internet virtually I mean there's so much lies there's so much deception
today and it's just a try and confuse people and try to attack the Word of God
you say how are they attacking the Word of God look I've seen all kinds of
things mentioned on news media about the Word of God about the Bible they bring
up creatures I like and they say this guy's a devil isn't that propaganda to
try and say don't go to this guy's church or have nothing to do with this
person this person's a hate preacher why would you want to go to that church or
want to hang out with that person isn't that something you have to overcome and
in fact coming to a good church a lot of times you have to overcome all the lies
that are spread about it you know even handing out invites sometimes you run
into somebody like I heard of your church y'all are a hate call or something
you know and it's like or Baptist are just hateful I've even heard just
Baptist in general people just hate the idea of Baptist why because the news
media slanders and lies against godly churches all the time because it's part
of the devil's agenda to try and discredit and undermine the Word of God
even schools today the public school system they are not pro believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ they're not pro the Word of God today you know you go to
history class and they're gonna give you a secularized version of history they're
gonna say well all the facts and science and everything discredit the Bible
history discredits the Bible in science class and evolution discredit the Bible
and they'll just try to sit there and attack the Word of God attack believing
on Jesus Christ I remember going to a history class and the teacher got up on
the board and she basically had a picture of the world and she just said
well let me just tell you what I'm gonna explain to all of you why you have the
religion you have and she's like if you're from this part of the country
you're Muslim and she's like if you're from here you're like Confucius atheists
or something like that or your Hindu if you're from here and she's like you know
you're from here you're probably Catholic and she's like you're here
you're Christian and she says the only reason you're Christian is because of
your parents not because it's true not because it's real they said you would
not believe in any of the religions except for the area you live in and the
parents because it's all man-made it's all just you know made up I mean that's
what they teach in public school and I remember being challenged with that I
remember thinking like would I be a Christian if my parents weren't Christian
and I I know the answer yes because it's the truth and in fact I didn't what I
wasn't raised an independent of a Baptist or anywhere close to it you know
when I actually decided to read the Bible for myself I started realizing
wow the Bible is the Word of God and and I'm wrong about a lot of stuff and I
need to change my mind and so we have to overcome all the lies of the school you
even have to overcome just the lust of life the pride of life all the things
there are some people don't want to believe in Jesus Christ because they're
just busy living their life they're just busy you know going on their boat they're
too busy going to the sports games they're too busy I mean I've knocked on
doors and they're like I'm watching the game you can't give them the gospel
because they're watching oh you or they're watching I I don't know the
Thunder you know what do you what else do y'all have here you have any other
sports teams you have a baseball team or something I don't know who I don't know
who that is but I mean they're just watching the game right or they're
watching NASCAR it's like they're going around in a circle in cars can't you
just hear the Word of God for a minute you know or they're just drinking or
they're drunk I mean I've read it to people that they're just too drunk there
or they're just too high I forgot I'm in Oklahoma they're too much on marijuana
to even hear the Word of God they're not sober you know or they're in a bad
position or they went to a church that was bad and that bad church basically
gave them a bad taste in their mouth you know and just all the lies that exist in
this world that the devil is trying to do I mean the devil is the author of
confusion today and that's what you see out in this world there's no bright
lights pointing to a godly church you know there's not a big pathway there's
not a big line the line was at Starbucks this morning okay the line is somewhere
else today the line is at the non-denominational Church today or you
know in fact most people's aren't even going to church anymore and to overcome
all of that is very significant now if you're raised with Christian parents
you might think of that oh it's pretty easy but for most people this is a big
challenge to overcome all of that lie all that propaganda all that false
religion and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and being a first-generation
Christian is a hard thing and unfortunately you know our church and
churches like us have reached a lot of people that are first-generation
Christians and praise the Lord for that but they have to overcome now when
you've overcome you get to realize hey I get to eat of the tree of life this is a
great privilege that you get let's see a couple other privileges look at verse 10
fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast
some of you in prison they may be tried and shove tribulation ten days be thou
faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of life even at the knee or let
them hear what the spirits say them the churches he that overcometh shall not be
heard of the second death want to know it's really great about believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ is you can never go to hell now you can be heard of dying
physically we're all gonna die physically some way and it's probably
gonna hurt just because death hurts all right and that's just the reality but
the second death and going to hell is something that's been taken off of the
table and the Bible makes it clear that you know if we believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ even though we'll physically die we'll never go to hell we'll never taste
of death and that's what death even is and the second death is even alluding to
the lake of fire specifically when you know everyone in death and hell are cast
into the lake fire so the first deaths hell the second death is the lake of
fire but you're not gonna see either if you believe in Lord Jesus Christ and
he that overcometh you don't have to worry about standing there judgment day
and God not you know basically looking at you with the imputed righteousness
of Jesus Christ and throwing you in a lake of fire no he will preserve you he
will save you you're safe you're already saved and when that moment comes you
won't be ashamed is how the Bible describes that look at verse 17 he that
out of the near let him hear what the spirits say them the churches him that
overcometh will I give D to the hidden manna and we'll give him a white stone
and the stone a new name written which no man knoweth savings you to receive
it so again you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you have access to free of
life you're not gonna be heard at the second death you're not going to or
you're gonna end up getting a new name you're gonna have this stone that even
has your name engraved into it and you get to even eat of the hidden manna so
the Bible is just giving you all these privileges and you know works based
false teachers love to go to you know these chapters and they'll try to say
Oh to overcome means you have to be faithful and at the end of the stage
here's the thing that's not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches if you
believe you've already overcome you're already there and and I like this
motivation why is he giving you these motivations well think about some of the
things that we just read in verse 10 he's saying some people have to be
faithful into that but then he's reminding you you're not gonna go to the
second death though you know you're not gonna have to go to like a fire though
just remind just remind yourself like okay I'm gonna lose my physical life but
I'm not going to hell I'm not gonna taste of hell you know the people that
are gonna go to hell that would terrify me to die there I mean the thought of
dying would be really terrifying knowing that immediately after that I'm going to
hell for the rest of eternity whereas if I know I'm never going there it's like
okay well if I die you know I'm with the I'm with the Lord you know and to depart
and to be with Christ is far better than the Bible he's saying hey whenever
you're of the overcomer you're gonna eat that hidden manna you know good meals
and you get a new name with the news that you say I don't like my name well
you're getting a new one you say I like my name we're getting a new one anyways
all right so it's gonna probably be better okay I'm sure it is look what it
says in verse let's go to chapter 3 and look at verse 5 so I'm just bringing up
lots of different places where this is these being mentioned you kind of have
like seven different mentions and we already kind of read verse 26 look at
Revelation chapter 3 verse 5 he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in
white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life but I
will confess his name before my father and before his angels so again he's
reminding you hey you're not gonna taste the second death your name's not gonna
get blotted out of the book of life I'm gonna confess your name and so that's
gonna be encouraging to those who have already believed they've already trusted
the Lord he's saying don't don't worry about the end realize I got to cover if
you're the one that overcame I'm gonna make sure that you have this white
payment your name's not gonna be blotted out I'm gonna confess you look at verse
12 him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he
shall go no more out and I'll write upon him the name of my God and the name of
the city of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my
God and I will write upon him my new name now this is funny because like all
his oneness Pentecostals and all these people that deny the Trinity it's like
how do you even interpret these verses because he's saying I'm gonna write on
you you know my God and my father's name and then also my new name so it's like
this is two different names here because it's two different people it's the
father and the son okay but notice hey everyone that overcomes is gonna get
this you're gonna be a pillar in the temple of God I mean that's a pretty
cool title that you get just for believing on the Lord Jesus Christ just
for being someone who's overcome the wicked one by faith look at verse 21
Tim that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also
overcame and I'm set down with my father and his throne not only do you get all
these privileges you get to literally sit with God in his throne I mean that's
pretty cool the fact you're gonna get a new name you're gonna get new clothes
you're gonna get new food you're gonna get to be able to sit with God you know
you're gonna be able to sit with Jesus Christ in the throne I look these are
all attached to those who have believed they say why would he bring up you know
all these admonitions I think he's just bringing them up because they're just
you know locked into the bay I mean you're saved done and so you don't have
to worry about you know what happens in the future you're gonna get all of that
and it isn't that a good motivation to realize like where I'm headed I get all
of that no matter what but even though all of that is just automatically thrown
in there is still a motivation to fight and you say well that all sounds great
you know why why do any extra then you know if I'm saved and I get the new
clothing I get the name and I get to eat the tree of life and I get the
hidden manna and I get to be a pillar and I get to sit in the throne like what
else is there well look back at verse 26 again
remind ourselves says and he that over cometh and notice this and and keepeth
my works unto the end to him will I give power over the nation's and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken
shivers even as I received to my father so he's saying not only do you get all
that if you overcome and you decide to keep my works on the end you get to be a
top ruler you get to rule the nation's so we see there's a direct benefit to
not only being an overcomer but being one who keeps his works in the end or
someone who fights unto the end and as you read through this passage you're
gonna see all the things we have to fight again because I've given you all
the good stuff okay let's talk about you're like that sounds great well what
does it look like to fight under the end okay we'll look at verse number five now
remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works
or else I will come into thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of
his place except our pin you know here's a fight that our church and every
church is always gonna have is to make sure that we're always keeping soul
winning the top priority always making sure that we're doing the first works
now some people say well what's the first word well look what is the Great
Commission though you know the world and preach the gospel to every creature
obviously that's the most important thing I mean whenever the disciples and
the Apostles were going out what was the first work that they did I mean was
the first work tithing was the first work you know baptism no was the first
work was preaching the gospel because that's the first thing you do when
you're running into people you preach in the gospel you get them safe then you
baptize them then you teach them all things whatsoever I've commanded you and
then you know you're emphasizing what Baptist your own we already did
that's a church attendance and Grove and tithing and judgment you know all
the other stuff that comes along with church but what's the most important
thing the first works is preaching the gospel that's the first what is the
first thing that Christ would have to do preach the gospel what's what are all
the disciples doing when they was the first works that they're doing with
Jesus Christ preaching the gospel what's the emphasis of the New Testament is
preaching the gospel and in fact some people that's all they did you know the
Apostle Paul's even saying like Christ sent me not to baptize yeah he's just
going out and preaching the gospel because that's the emphasis that's the
most important I'm not saying there isn't other works I'm not saying there's
other there isn't other things that we should do as a church but when we lose
the gospel as the forefront of our mission of our goal of our purpose we
really kind of cease to be the institution that God wants us to be I
mean that's the the emphasis of being a church you know in other organizations
or institutions they have a primary purpose right what if I went to a
restaurant and they said we no longer serve food we do everything else and we
have bad we have bathrooms we still have a drive-through we still have tables and
chairs and it's like what about the food like that's the number one thing right
and isn't some restaurants they don't even have that right you could go to a
restaurant they don't have bathrooms you go to a restaurant they don't have
tables and chairs you got a restaurant they don't have a drive-through you go
to a restaurant they may not even have a parking lot you know what if they don't
have food they're not really a restaurant are they it's just like a
meeting place or something you know you're gonna have certain institutions
you know the fire department we do everything but put out fires and we
rescue kittens from trees you know I mean we go and help with emergencies we
help with a car accident or we help with whenever someone needs something but we
don't put out fires it's like well you're not really a fire department then
are you so it's again if you're a church he's like well we do everything but
preach the gospel then it's like you're really not really a church anymore you're
just kind of a social club you're really now just a fellowship look me and my
family we do lots of stuff that the church does it you know just on our own
like we meet we'll sing songs together sometimes we'll read the Bible together
sometimes we have fellowship together well I mean we do all the other stuff you
have chairs you know I don't have a pulpit but you know like what's the
point we come together to get rallied to go out and what preach the gospel and
when the church stops preaching the gospel it really ceases to be a church
and so that's gonna be a fight to constantly go out and preach the gospel
and people why do they stop preaching the gospel because it's not easy now
I'll say that obviously it's really easy just walk out and preach the gospel but
I'm just saying it's kind of hard to just keep it going because you don't
necessarily see a lot of fruit from that and like immediate fruit not a lot of
people are gonna come to church because of soul winning not a lot of people are
gonna thank you not a lot of people are gonna be appreciative not a lot of
people are gonna serve God after they get saved I mean think about when the
ten lepers come unto Jesus and he heals them and only one return he's like where
are the nine it's like think that you have the worst disease imaginable
constant suffering constant pain and someone just immediately heals you of
that and you can't even say thanks I mean that's a pretty ungrateful
attitude and wouldn't that be like kind of discouraging to want to keep healing
people after you that's the kind of the reception you get from it there are that
ungrateful and it's like you know you go out and preach the gospel into the
ghetto into the poor and they what they don't show up I'm coming there brother
you'll even you'll even offer them a ride and they'll say yeah give me a ride
you show up and they're not there they blow you off they're not thankful you
hand them a nice Bible or DVD and they're just like thanks and they just
like throw it or they give you their kid they're just ripping it you're just
kind of like fringing you're like what I mean you think about it's like why do
people not go out and preach the gospel because it takes faith to believe what
you're doing actually has value because when you take out the faith aspect from
a carnal perspective there's not really a an incentive to go out and preach the
gospel is there and people get mad at you and they're attacking but by faith
you go out and you preach the gospel and you realize you're rescuing souls from
the fire and look it's gonna be a constant fight because people don't want
to feel guilty about not preaching the gospel either so if you want to actually
keep people in your church and grow at a rapid weed rate then you can't really be
emphasizing preaching the gospel because people don't want to do that you will
get all mad about that and so it's just a constant fight and look other things
like false doctrine come in and choke preaching the gospel like Calvinism
Calvinism comes in tries to creep in two churches to try and make them feel
better about not so winning you say why did these doctrines exist I'll tell you
exactly why because the people are so prideful they don't want to admit to
doing anything wrong so they invent a doctrine to basically make it like they
don't have to go out and preach the gospel because well ultimately if God
wants them saved you're gonna get saved and you know I don't believe in this you
know preach them the gospel and then they call upon the name of the Lord and
they get saved how do we know unless there's a change they need to get into
the church and they need to get on their knees and they need to repent on the
altar and they just come up with this false doctrine to try and convince
people that they don't have to go out and actually did the work think about it
what is Calvinism basically saying I do no work it's a doctrine for the lazy and
look being lazy is easy you know it's really easy laziness doing any work is
all automatically harder so going out into the hot Sun going out when it's
raining going out it's windy going out when you don't want to look that's not
easy necessarily by faith and sometimes you know you go and you preach the
gospel for a couple hours and nobody wants to hear you literally just knock
doors and you get people yelling at you mad at you cops called on you I mean
just just kind of can be a bad experience at times but then you get
someone saved and it's all worth it when you have that faith in your heart you
know all the gimmicks out there oh well people get saved by tracks let's just
put tracks on the door but again that's a fight you have to fight you have to
fight against all the gimmicks getting the altar calls is what people get gets
people saved only only altar calls only the tracks only the televangelists we
got to drag them in a church and we want them to get saved yet it's funny that
when people walk down the altar and they supposedly get saved and they pray with
the preacher then you ask them afterwards and they still don't believe
the gospel right because it typically takes someone to actually stand there
and open their Bible and talk with them and have a conversation and make sure
they understand what they're believing you know I've been to some churches
where they actually do have men stand up front and if someone comes down they
take them aside and preach the gospel but most of the altar calls that I've
seen they're not doing that they're just come down raise your hand if you want to
be on team Jesus I am NOT joking I've literally heard I've been in a service
where they're like razor and everybody in the whole room makes their hand and
they're just like salvation's you know I see that hand and everybody's getting
saved this morning it's like it's all the same people in last week and then
they just they just have all these numbers they're just like we get hundreds
saved every single week and because you're in this big church where the
lights are turned down low and they got the smoke rising you just get tricked
into thinking that people are getting saved when they're not you actually
believe that your church is doing something for God when it's not and you
actually have to fight against that and you say why would you fight against
people getting saved because they're not getting saved and you get off the people
get all mad oh why are you attacking you know the track handing out and the altar
calls and all the ray comfort videos and all these other gimmicks why because
it's not getting people say that's why and you know we have to continually
fight for the first works and realize that it's gonna be a battle all the way
in the end and I want to fight under the end on that doctor I want to fight
for soul winning all the way under the end now here's another thing you have to
fight look at verse number 10 we already read this but let's look at it again
from another light fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer the old
the devil shall cast some of you into prison they may be tried and you shall
tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I'll give thee a crown of
life look just being honest with you a lot of people are gonna suffer a lot of
tribulation and the Bible doesn't get clear yay and all that will of Godly in
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution so the Bible makes it clear if you want to
serve God there's gonna be some level of persecution some level of tribulation
now not everyone is gonna experience this but some will some would literally
have to give their life I mean we live in America so we're kind of insulated
people live in other countries I mean if they found out they were Christian they
would kill them right on the spot and not only them maybe in their family
they'll torture them horrible things will happen to people in this world that
we live in right now right this minute people will be killed and martyred and
killed for the cause of Christ and and some of those people have to go through
that and you say well that's horrible that's awful but think about it from
this perspective you could live this cush life in America and eat all this
great food and go to your little non-nom church and got saved in Sunday
school and never have to be persecuted for one minute and when you get to
heaven you're gonna have no reward and the person that lived like eating three
grains of rice in North Korea or whatever and lived a pretty rough life
and was martyred for Christ they get greatly rewarded in heaven so then
riddle me this which one's better in the long run any other day hey being
persecuted or tribulate tribulation actually according the Bible is a reward
it's not something that's negative is actually a positive thing from the
perspective of eternity you're a partaker of Christ sufferings and so
that's why it's important that when we go through the lightest affliction
imaginable I mean I have to think that America has experienced the lightest
level of persecution and tribulation Christians have ever had yet they still
don't want to do it I mean someone might say oh you go to that church they're
hateful there this is like persecution level point zero zero zero zero zero one
compared to what's going on the world compared to history compared I mean look
this is the lightest amount of person who could possibly even exist really if
someone expresses a negative opinion about you it's like wow yet how many
people don't even want to do that they're not even interested in that
level of persecution in their life they're not willing to fight under the
end I mean it's talking about fighting and all the examples of the Bible are
like getting beheaded it's on asunder and it's like I don't like your church
whoa yeah I don't know if I can handle that can you imagine all the
embarrassment and shame I have to go to steadfast Baptist Church I mean these
people are like they were sawing us in half well did like people didn't like my
church they put a one-star review on Facebook actually was like negative
18.5 or something like that but I got I don't know how that worked I have the
picture to prove it okay go to Romans chapter 8 Roman Romans 7 or 8 but I mean
is it really I mean are you gonna really brag to anybody and obviously there's no
bragging heavens I'm just saying like would you really be proud of the fact
that you say wow my persecution was the high went to steadfast that was rough
they're gonna be like what are you talking about you know I got my hands
cut off I got my eyes gouged out I had my children destroyed in front of me I
mean our persecution and tribulation is so low that it's really a mockery at
other people that have been persecuted to act like you're going through
anything hard going through anything difficult you know it's kind of like
when we complain about the food that we have to eat when people are starving in
other parts of the country I mean they'd be sitting here like really you don't
want to eat that banana because it's it's not green anymore you know it's
like we we're eating little trash like I would eat the banana peel right and
you're looking at people that are suffering I mean imagine if you just
accidentally got your finger a little warm from a flicker of light and you're
complaining someone that's been burned half alive that's what it's like when
we're sitting here complaining about the tribulation persecution we're going
through compared to what other people are going through right now in the world
let alone history let alone what's going on and look what the Bible teaches
Romans chapter 8 verse 36 as it is written for thy sake we are killed all
the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter that again none of us
are anywhere close to thinking that our lives are on the line right now that
we're literally putting but notice what these people's attitude is hey we're
ready to be killed hey we're ready to be slaughtered for Christ that tells me
that these people had a different faith in when people complain to me about the
such the low level amount of tribulation and persecution they're going through
now it's just like you need to increase your faith because if you're gonna fight
under the end you need to be prepared for this kind of tribulation this kind
of persecution this is the real person you go back you would wrote
what are some other things that we're gonna have to fight
and look what I'm saying is difficult what I'm saying is hard I mean if someone literally
walked up you say you're gonna die in ten days that's pretty rough I think that's why
God's been pairing think about it he was pairing all that good stuff with it he's like but guess
what you're gonna get the three of life and you're gonna to get a new robe and you're gonna get even
manna and you're gonna be a pillar of God you know and hey if you keep my works under the end
guess what you're gonna have power to rule the nation's isn't that pretty cool I mean they're
gonna get complete triumph over you they're gonna conquer you just like they did to Christ on the
cross but then you know what in the end he's gonna flip the tables isn't he he's gonna rule
them with a rod of iron he said I as I received my father you can also have that same power you
can have that same privilege of ruling the nation's of being in charge you know that's
also why it's important to fight under the end and not just simply get saved look what it says
in verse 14 revelation chapter 2 verse 14 I have a few things against thee because thou hast there
them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children
of Israel eating sacrifice and idols and commit fornication so hast thou also them that hold the
doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate here's something you have to fight until the
end false doctrine false doctrine is a fight under the end and and people you know when I'm
talking about all these things people literally get weary of them because it's a it's a reality
people get tired of going out and preaching the gospel of it people get tired of the persecution
people get tired of what oh why do we have to preach against this false religion or why do we
have to preach against this false doctrine why are you bringing these people up again and what
happens people get very weary and you have to look at the Christian life as a marathon you know when
I'm running a marathon it's tiring and again I've only ran like a 5k okay don't give you don't give
me too much credit all right and I barely was running it was basically a walking speed looking
like I'm running okay I'll just be honest I I'd never ran something like that before so at first
I tried to keep up with all the top people being stupid and then like after the first mile we ran
to the spot where it's like straight uphill and like a hundred people passing I'm just like yeah
and people are just like you know speed speed walkers are like like this is walking right
passing I'm just like oh yeah I'm just barely even going at a walking pace but I never never
like walk okay even though the pace might have been walking but you know what my thought was
the whole time wait like what when you're running a marathon what is what is the the thought that's
just permeating your mind stop running stop running stop running quit no not another step
don't take another one you can quit any second and here's the reality you have a lot of reasons
why but that's the thing that's permeating is quit you can say oh my legs hurt oh my arms hurt
oh I'm out of breath oh I'm thirsty oh I'm you know there's a lot of reasons why but what's the
thing that's just constantly hitting your brain quit quit quit quit and when it comes to the
Christian life it's the same way when it comes to serving God there's one thing that the devil
is trying to beat you in the face with is what quit quit quit quit and he has all kinds of
reasons quit well soul winnings you know I'm tired of soul winning or I'm tired of all the
persecution or I'm tired of all the tribulation or I'm tired of all the false doctrine I want to
go to a church where it's positive only I want to go to a church where they love everyone that's
what people think why because it's easier because it's no longer happen to fight I just want to
quit and so the what does the devil do he's gonna try and come at you at every angle and he's just
gonna try and get you to do that one quit quit quit but you know you have to do fight fight fight
if the fight for the gospel we have to fight against the tribulation we have to fight against
the false doctrines of today go to Matthew chapter number 16 and you know what God gives
us promises that if we fight for him he'll give us the strength because at the end of the day when
I'm running the marathon I can't necessarily call upon God and expect him to just make sure
I can physically endure it you know what in the Christian life I can't expect God to give me the
strength to spiritually endure and that's great that's great news that's great comfort and the
Bible makes it clear when we're serving God we're putting them at the forefront you know no matter
what rages against us we will be victorious look at Matthew chapter 16 and look at verse 18 and I
say also one of thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it notice no matter what trying to false doctrine no matter what kind
of persecution or tribulation comes they're not going to win as long as we stay on the rock which
is Christ as long as we're putting them at the forefront as long as we're putting our faith and
trust in him you know what we're more than conquerors nothing's gonna stop us nothing's
gonna stop Christianity nothing's gonna stop the pillar and ground of the truth but obviously we
from an individualistic perspective we could if we quit you know there's this quote out there and
it's not necessarily from the Bible but it's a pretty I think it's a pretty good thought and it
just says the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing the only
thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing and when we see in our nation
even carnally speaking why is our country going to hell in a handbasket because there's no good
men doing anything where's the good politician where's the good leader where's the good person
in charge of anything where's the person that's wanting to fight and at the end of the day when
you don't fight what happens evil prevails and when the church doesn't fight what happens evil
prevails isn't there plenty of areas in this world where the gospel is just not being thundered isn't
there some areas this world are very dark we even have times in history called the Dark Ages what's
happening the church isn't fighting but when the church is fighting evil won't prevail what causes
the church to fail is people quitting whenever we stop fighting that's when we're losing the battle
but as long as we're fighting we are gonna win as long as we're going to the battle we're gonna
defeat the enemy look false religion isn't gonna defeat me I am gonna I'm gonna defeat false
religion I'm gonna defeat false doctrine with the truth I will garner the minds of saved believers
with the truth and the Word of God today and false religion stands no chance false doctrines
not gonna defeat me but what can defeat me is me go to the second Timothy chapter 4 second Timothy
chapter 4 so we need to have confidence in the process some people you know quit because they
just don't believe that they could be successful if someone told you and you knew for a fact if you
don't stop running you're gonna make it like your legs aren't gonna give out you're not gonna you
know pass out you're gonna make it but if you stop running you're never gonna you're never gonna win
the race you're never gonna finish you just have to keep running and so when it comes to the
Christian faith we have to just believe like look we just got to keep going no one's gonna destroy us
but ourselves that's why it's important to fight unto the end now look at second Timothy chapter 4
look at verse number 2 preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with
all long suffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they shall turn
away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables why is it that we have to preach
against false doctrine because there's gonna be a point in time where the majority of people don't
want to hear the truth anymore as we have to call it out and while the majority may not want to hear
the Word of God there's still going to be a remnant and we want to preach the truth so they
can come out from among them and be separate say the Lord so they can actually cling to the things
of the Word of God notice the the admonitions given in Revelation chapter 2 I mean the Lord's
very displeased with them for having these false doctrine he says they're teaching things that I
hate and let me say something there's a lot of churches today even independent Baptist where
they're teaching doctrines that Jesus hates and what a shame and embarrassment I mean what's can
you imagine we're coming together in the name of Jesus Christ and we just get up here and for a
whole hour just teach something that Jesus hates yeah why do people do that because they're not
willing to fight because they know if they go ahead and actually study the Bible and preach
what the Bible says people get mad at them they may lose church members bad things will happen so
they'd rather get up and teach something that Jesus hates instead of what some person might
hate instead of what some Bible college might hate or what some false teacher might hate
oftentimes they're really trying to please false teachers rather than Jesus Christ with their false
doctrine so we're gonna continually preach against false doctrine we're gonna fight under the end go
back to Revelation chapter 2 it's important if you go to a church and they never preach against
anything just read this passage and be like this is my church or this church that just doesn't that
Jesus is mad at because you have to preach against false doctrine you have to call out false doctrine
and notice there are doctrines that Jesus hates and you say well which ones are those you have to
study the whole Bible to find out the ones that he hates it's not just one it's anything that's a
lot it's any of the false doctrines that anybody could hold to obviously whatever this doctrine
that glades in it's a special hatred probably maybe like Calvinism or something I'm not saying
it's Calvinism I'm just saying that would be something I would think Jesus really hates a
doctrine that gets really mad about that people are preaching in Baptist churches you know even
just the preacher of rapture I'm sure he's really angry about all that stupid reaching people get
up and they preach that Jesus loves everybody no matter what and it's like where does the Bible
say that actually I'm gonna prove that to you go keep your finger go to Malachi for a second
people get really upset about this but it's sick today how many churches and how many pastors and
how many Christians it makes me really angry they'll they'll get mad at me for saying that
God is upset with certain people so the Bible says that God is angry with wicked every day
okay so first of all read that verse and get back to me but people that think that everyone's good
or that the Lord loves everybody or that the Lord is pleased with everybody you know they're they're
making God even angrier by saying that let me prove this to you look at Malachi chapter 2 look
at verse 17 ye have wearied the Lord with your words yet you say where and have we weird him
so saying God's mad God's upset God's frustrated with you for something you said he says this is
what you say when you say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he
delighteth in them notice what what is the implication there's these I love everybody
preachers there's the Joel Osteen's of today they get up and says God loves everybody God's pleased
with everyone God delights in everyone and notice what God's saying here I'm really mad at you
preaching that because it's not true how can you get up and say that God has pleasure in the evil
God has pleasure in the wicked today and it says this also or where is the God of judgment
now you say what does that mean well essentially what do I do I get up as a preacher and I call
certain people out right who would be a group I caught about fags about the sodomites today
the pride parade I mean prides and abomination last time I checked in the Word of God and you
get up and you call these people wicked and evil and reprobate and you say where do you get those
words from the Word of God you call them group B's you call them dogs and people say oh you're
so hate you're so judgmental my God's not judgmental and what are they saying where is
the God of judgment they're saying your God doesn't exist they're mocking the fact that
the God of judgment and they're saying okay well we're so evil and we're so bad then why is God
not judging us where is this God of judgment you speak and they just sit there and they mock and
they ridicule kill and they laugh the scoffers that the Bible warns about the last days there
should be scoffers and what do they do we call people out we say that they're evil we say that
God's not pleased with them that God doesn't like them and in some cases God even hates them and
what happens people get mad at us but here's the thing God's mad at them God's mad at the
that will not call people out God is mad look our church is not welcomed everybody why because God
doesn't have it is not how the sign says welcome everybody everybody welcome I'm not gonna put a
rainbow flag outside and say everyone's welcome because God would be so mad at us God be so
frustrated with us if we did such a filthy abomination of bringing evil people in the
congregation and saying that God delights him that God likes them or God is pleased with them
when he's clearly not go good back to Revelation chapter 2 go back to relation chapter 2 I don't
like you calling out people well you know what God doesn't like you then because God is upset
when people are just going around pretending like God loves everything and God likes me calling evil
good and look I've gotten you know like 10,000 emails in the last few days whether we voicemails
or emails or calls or Facebook messages or all kinds of stuff and you know what makes me really
mad oh is this pastor Shelley I'm a Christian and I'm so upset with your words God loves homos
they say I'm a Christian like God loves homos being gays not a sin God made them that way God
loves them that way why would you attack our brothers and sisters in Christ that are in the
LGBT community it's like I'm a Christian it's like God is really upset with you and first of
all I don't even believe you're a Christian but even if you were what kind of wicked filth is
coming out of these people's mouth to call what evil good but they've turned their ears into what
fables that's why it's important that we preach all the doctrines of the Bible because when you're
not preaching a certain doctrine the devil can come bring in that that wickedness that leaven
in your church and ruin your church and look independent funnel Baptist churches are letting
come into the services West Coast and in Lancaster Baptist Church one of the largest independent
fundamental Baptist churches in America it's in California all Chapel they have on their policy
that you are not allowed to have a vile or derogatory attitude towards any sodomite for
any reason even if their dress is ready and and I've heard people that go there they literally
have treaties coming in using the wrong bathroom and they can't say anything negative even they
can't even go to the staff and say I don't want my nine-year-old daughter going into the same
bathroom as a filthy disgusting faggot transvestite in a Baptist Church like what kind of nonsense is
that well that's what happens when you reject the Word of God that's what happens when you stop
preaching the Bible and you ignore certain doctors and people get mad at me and it's like okay we'll
go to that church then have fun taking your daughter that church have fun taking your son
to that church where half of the choir is literally like either you think they're gay or they are
where half of them are literally effeminate queers getting up and making even fags blush
and how queer they are and you know and I know that's the reality when you don't preach against
predators when you don't put the cockroach traps out cockroaches are showing you don't spray for
pests and people like does anybody like the fact their house gets sprayed I mean you really want
chemicals sprayed in your house and really like the process of that nothing pleasant about that
you know I don't want the bugs so I'd rather spray I'd rather put their traps out you know unless you
just want mice and cockroaches and critters and all that stuff running around I haven't met a
woman that likes that I haven't met a woman's like me and cockroaches are buddies I got a
cockroach farm you know it's like no you don't want that coming in and creeping in so you got
to do the dirty job of preaching against the false doctrine and all these things look at verse 20
notwithstanding of a few things against thee because thou suffers that woman Jezebel which
call herself a prophet is to teach and has used my servants to commit fornication and eat things
sacrifice an idol and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not the old I
will cast her into a bed and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except
they repent of the deed according to the Bible also a huge thing would be just backsliding in
general people that are involved in wicked sin or evil sin and look this is a reason why people will
quit serving God is because they get mixed up in bad sin committing fornication committing adultery
drunkenness all these different sins and look God is very angry at people that are in church
committing fornication and he's saying hey I gave you some space to repent but if you're not gonna
fix that look at the punishment I mean this is the worst punishment I could think of I will kill
our children with death I mean that's a pretty grievous punishment isn't it I don't want that
I don't want that for any other person that would be you know horrible and if you die I mean
obviously you're not really people into the end you're not fighting out of the end when you're
dead that's why it's important to get the sin of life and to hear hard preaching against sin so
that God doesn't judge you this way so that you can fight under the end like what it says in
chapter 3 verse 1 and under the church angel of the church and start is right these things say
that he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I know thy works thousand name
that live is in our dead here's another thing you have to fight complacency I mean couldn't we
couldn't we just look at like well we got hundreds of people saved last year and we you know we're
new IFB we have a name that lives but if we're not actually continuing to still preach the right
doctrines and going out and preaching the gospel and doing the works didn't we have a tendency to
think that we've kind of arrived or think that we've kind of made it and end up just died end up
stop preaching the right doctrines and stop we made the sodomite deception we never even talk
about that again you know complacency is such an easy place and look there's a lot of churches
where you kind of go in and you get this feeling of what complacency and you say how what does that
look like you have this wall in the hallway and it's all these people and everyone's like from
50 years ago all the pictures of the revivals are from decades ago all the things like you look at
it it's just a tribute to their past but then you're like well what's going on now and it's
like well all the kids are in Bible it's just like a few gray hairs and all the kids are in
Bible college and it's like they have this name that they live but they're just dead what happened
they got complacent on all the victories they had in the past rather than continually reinventing
themselves replanting themselves you know and and fighting under the end we have to keep on
but the Christian life is not a one-time fight hey I got saved done I got baptized done oh I
got someone saved one time done no it's every day no it's dying daily it's a constant fight
you shouldn't get complacent with what we've done in the past we should worry about now in fact I
think we should just forget about it because it doesn't benefit just forget what we've done in
the past and worry about what you're gonna do today worry about how much works you're gonna do
now go to verse 15 I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot I would that work cold or
hot so then because thou art lukewarm neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of thy mouth because
they'll say as I'm rich and increase with goods and I've needed nothing and no it's not thou
wretched and miserable and poor and blind naked not only could you be complacent at the point where
you're dead but you just you kind of just tired right if you look at those churches you would say
they're tired and the previous second this church that we're reading about it's it doesn't walk you
don't walk in and get the feeling like they're tired or complacent it seems like it's thriving
it's you know when I read this about this church you know what I think of I think of like the
biggest church where there's all kinds of people going and they have all these programs but they're
really doing still a net zero it's like they have all these programs but it's like where's the soul
winning program we don't have that you know no one's getting anybody saved they're not really
winning people to the to the Christ the only people they get baptized are their own kids
which is nothing wrong with that I'm saying that's the only baptisms they ever have they're only
reaching themselves and so you come in it's like because you have to think about it from their
perspective they're looking at the physical reality and they're saying I'm rich I'm increased
with goods and I have need of nothing so to me I'm looking at a church they've got a Bible College
they've got the beautiful choir they've got all the kids programs and they've got tons of money
and you'd walk in and you would think this church has it all this church is great but he's saying
yeah but there's a problem you're actually poor blind miserable and naked I mean you're you've
got nothing going on and where does that come from pride they get proud of the size of the
building they have they get proud of the number of people in the pews they get proud of all the
programs that they have and all the things that are going on but then when you actually actually
test that or try that you go look at the congregation half of them aren't even saved
half of them don't even use the King James Bible none of them go soul-winning if you actually
preached the hard sermon they would all leave and you let you actually look at the church you're
like you actually have nothing I mean cuz look I could find churches I mean that even here I could
find a church that's in in theory thriving okay they've got hundreds and hundreds of people all
this stuff going and if I started getting by in that pulpit and started preaching it would
dwindle so fast because it's all fake it's all fluff they actually don't have anything and yes
some people would end up probably you know changing getting right and then you'd actually
see what the church really looks like some say Laodicea is a fake church you think that it's
great but it's not there's all this fluff when there isn't really that much and somebody might
look at our church and be like oh y'all y'all mean a strip mall and y'all don't have that many people
coming but it's like yeah but if I preach the same doctrine I'm preaching right now to this
church running a thousand it might actually look like this when I'm done and you're like well
that's just cuz I don't like your personality no it's because I don't like the Bible even even if
you took my personality out of someone you put the best personality inside of it it's because
they don't want to run a church like this they want to be proud of the building and the money
and all the other stuff you don't think that I could be crafty enough to figure out how to preach
the really positive stuff and get people really interested in the things and try to get more
people in and have more events and and not offend anybody and just try to figure out the funniest
stories I could possibly tell it just uplifting message after uplifting message and emphasize
way more on like the song and the singing and all the others hey I mean we might get even get
the TVs or something I don't know that's not my goal and so you know I'm gonna fight under the
end against what pride and look this is a humble turn you don't come in and thinking like wow
they're real I mean what do they be that prideful of I'm in the crack over here like this thing
should have been fixed a long time ago you know it's like nobody's looking this banner like I need
to get me one of those I can't wait to be in the Pepper Tree Square you know over by AutoZone you
know I've never heard a piano like this one before you know and hey there's nothing wrong with any of
it I love it all hey I like being humble we don't need to be proud anyways because if we had all
that other stuff we might start thinking we're better than we really are and isn't that we need
to fight against thinking that we're better than I like being humble go to back to verse 10 and
chapter 2 let me finish on this well why should I find in the end we had all that great stuff that
comes automatically we see the fight that we're in but why and I'll tell you this because of the
rewards look at verse 10 again it says fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer behold the
devil shall cast them into prison they may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days
be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life so notice there's something on the
table here of fighting under the end a crown and let me say this there are some people that are
gonna get a crown and some people that are not some people are gonna get crown of life and some
people are not going to get that and you say what was the difference it's not that they were
saved or not it's that one actually thought in the end and so there's actually something on the
table of you deciding to keep fighting against all that stuff you like what's the point of going to a
church like this and and and and hearing the Word of God being preached and fighting against the
sodomites and fighting when we go out and preach the gospel and fighting it so why would I do that
because there's a crown on the table why would I give my life physically up because there's a crown
of life that you can get and that'd be pretty cool I mean you're walking around in heaven and
you see some of the crown of life you realize they sacrifice something major it's not just
automatically handed out everybody's been wearing the white rain you're not gonna think of these I
mean obviously it's special but I'm just like you know the crown of life is unique not everybody's
gonna have that look what it says in chapter 3 verse 11 and you say well I think everybody's
getting a crown well wait a minute look what it says in verse 11 the old I come quickly hold that
fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown notice someone could take your crown some false
teacher could come in and get you out of serving God and take your crown away you can let the devil
come in your life and take your crown away you could let sin get in your life and take the crown
away from you you can let a false brethren come in and rip you out of church take the crown away
you could let a person in your life spouse a brother a sister a family member come in your
life and choke the word and you don't hold that fast and they what do they do they rip the crown
and you're smashing the pieces I'm telling you the benefit of fighting in the end because there's a
crown on the table you know at the end of the day all the relationships you have they're all just
gonna become universal we're all just gonna be brothers and sisters in Christ okay and so there's
no benefit in giving up the crown that you can have or this relationship that you're gonna lose
anyway you're gonna lose all the relationships you have eventually we're just gonna be brothers
and sisters in Christ it's not gonna be like you're you know obviously I don't know how it's
gonna work exactly but that that relationship is not gonna be the same it's not gonna be like
marriage is Christ is making it clear you know we're not giving in marriage even though you
might be like hey you remember hey what's up sister you know so-and-so but it's changing a
sister but a second Timothy chapter 4 go back over there that's one reason I'll tell you another
reason is that you could be delivered physically and and this is something that's a little
underrated or some people don't understand obviously we've heard about how some people
are gonna be paid one to death but when he talked to the Philadelphia Church he had said this
because that was kept the word of my patience I also keep thee from the hour of temptation which
shall come upon all the world to try them as well upon the earth so the people that God ends up
usually delivering out of some kind of a physical torment or pain are the ones that were really
faithful think about that and think about some example who are some of those really faithful
people that are delivered out of that Daniel Chad rack me checking a bendigo aren't they just
delivered I mean what pain and suffering did Daniel have to go through when he went in lines
didn't none yet some people that were not faithful in the end they have to go through a lot of
horrible torment and suffering and look I'm not saying the people that get crucified or have
horrible things happen to them that are bad obviously Stephen was a martyr for Christ and
probably hurt could be rocked asleep or whatever but what I am saying is this by being faithful by
being someone who's gonna keep his word in the end you're putting yourself in a position where
he could deliver you from that kind of you he could determine that you're worthy of something
like that look at second Timothy chapter number four and let's look at verse number seven I have
fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that
day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing but here's the thing not
everybody's gonna love is appearing in the sense that some people are gonna be ashamed before
Christ because they weren't fighting in the end because they were backslid because they were doing
things that were wrong that's why it's important to fight in the end so that you love his appearing
and then you get that crown of righteousness that Paul's describing and notice you know we think of
Paul as an unattainable goal but Paul saying look this isn't just for me this is for everybody that
loves his appearing go to Luke chapter 21 last place overturn Luke 21 there's a benefit to
fighting under the end obviously you get to finish you're you're you have joy for finishing
no one wants to be a quitter no one you know it's kind of a shameful thing and at the end of the day
you know Christ is standing at that finish line waiting for you but it's kind of shameful when he
has to go and pick you up because he didn't fit he has to go and drive the golf cart and go pick
you up off the ground and be like all right come on buddy let me drag you across the finish line
it's better to just go ahead and finish the cross cross the finish line for yourself and then Christ
is there to just put a crown right on your head hey here's the crown of righteousness buddy hey
here's the crown of life buddy and if you really want to escape the evil of this world because let
me tell you it's looking dark out there and persecution tribulation may come to America
pretty soon I don't know I don't want it necessarily I don't want to go through evil the Bible says
pray that maybe you know when we're praying to our Father we're supposed to pray that we're
delivered of evil meaning what arm and the Bible even tells us to pray that that won't happen to
us but the people that are gonna get that are the ones that are gonna be faithful and fighting
into the end because why would God preserve the guy that's not fighting that makes no sense the
guy that's not fighting he doesn't need to be preserved he needs to be taken home okay the guy
that's still fighting and running the race and still doing the works God wants to try and protect
that guy as long as possible so more work gets done that's why it's important to keep fighting
look at verse number 31 so likewise when you shall see these things come to pass know you that the
kingdom of God is not at hand verily I stand you this generation should not pass you'll all be
fulfilled heaven inertial pass away but my word shall not pass away and take heed to yourselves
as at any time your hearts be or church charged with surfeiting drunkenness the cares of this
life and so that day come upon you unawares notice these people quit fighting they just
decided to start living their life and quit serving God and quit going soul winning and
quit hearing the preaching and quit reading their Bible and quit doing that which is right and so
guess what that day comes upon them unaware they were not expecting it for as a snare shall it come
upon all them that dwell in the face of the whole earth watch ye therefore and pray always that ye
may be counted worthy to escape all these things that's come to pass and stand before the Son of
Mary notice some people will be accounted worthy to escape all these things and you know this is
talking about the entire and when you read the end times it sounds horrible but God says there's
gonna be some people that are accounted worthy to escape all this and look we in America are so
blessed we've already been worth and we've already been lucky enough or fortunate enough or blessed
enough or have enough grace to have escaped so much but you know what that is not guaranteed
so we need to do is we need to keep fighting and keep praying and doing that which is pleasing in
the Lord's sight so that we could be accounted worthy to escape all these things that's what I
would like for me and my family that's what I like for my church family and for some of you to
fight in the end and for God to look at you and say this guy's such a fighter I'm gonna deem him
worthy enough to escape all these things let's go some prayer thank you father so much for what
you've given us you've made us an overcomer he helped us overcome all the lies with truth today
that we got saved and we're skilled with the Holy Spirit and we become your children and we get to
go to heaven and we won't be heard of the second death and we have the the white raiment and we're
gonna get a new name and we're gonna get the hidden manna we get the axis of the tree of life
and our names not gonna be brought out of the book of life and you're gonna confess our name and we
even get to sit with you and your throne but I pray that we wouldn't let all of that blessing
allow us to be complacent or get prideful but rather we realize the importance of continuing
to fight to fight for that crown and to fight for the possible deliverance that you may give to some
and even if we are you know appointed unto death that we'd be faithful unto death know that we
could receive that crowd of life in Jesus name we pray amen
and for that
all right the last hymn go to 131
yeah I don't think this is as familiar a hymn I'm not sure if we've ever I don't think we
ever sung it before so we're it's really short too so we're just gonna sing it one time through
and then one more time this is just two two short verses so we'll sing it one time and then again
all right Christ is all I need Christ is all I need all I need
Christ is all I need Christ is all I need all I need
he was crucified for me he died on Calvary that's why I know he loves me so he's all I need once
again Christ is all I need Christ is all I need all I need Christ is all I need Christ is all I
need all I need he was crucified for me he died on Calvary that's why I know he loves me so he
is all I need amen your dismiss