(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright tonight or today. Excuse me this morning. We continue with revelation chapter number three I went over revelation chapter three the church at Sardis and Philadelphia on Sunday morning, but tonight Keep saying tonight because it's revelation this morning I'm gonna go over the church at Laodicea, but I'm gonna give a different application to it and I'm not necessarily gonna go through it the way we were going through the book of Revelation on Thursdays, so look down at your Bibles a revelation chapter number three It says in verse 14 unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write these things saith the Amen The faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works that thou art neither hot cold nor hot I would that thou were cold or hot so then because thou are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth Because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou are wretched and miserable And poor and blind and naked I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed and That thy shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest See now the time of my sermon this morning is buy gold how to survive the tribulation Buy gold how to survive the tribulation now I'm gonna explain to you what I mean just a bit You know today people try to prepare for the end times in a way that's not profitable in a way that you should not prepare For it they try to stock up on food and water They try to be ahead of the game when it comes to the currency and making sure that they're just monetarily You know prepared for this but that's not necessarily the way God tells us to prepare for Tribulation and so much to the less for great tribulation. Okay, I'm gonna show you this morning how to survive the tribulation I'm gonna show you this morning how to survive not just the tribulation but even great tribulation, which is the last 75 days of The the tribulation that's gonna take place on this world prior to the second coming of Christ But before I do so, let's go ahead and just talk about this passage of description. Let's let's talk about the Laodicean church Let me explain to you what's going on here. Look at verse 17 So what's wrong with the church of Laodicea? Well, the main thing is that the Bible says that they're lukewarm So they're neither hot they're neither cold In other words, they're not cold spiritually to the point where they're just completely done, but they're neither hot either So it's not like they're on fire for God. They're not doing great things for him. They're just right in the middle It's like lukewarm coffee, right? You either drink it ice or you drink it completely hot. You never drink it lukewarm Okay, what is it? What happens when you drink coffee lukewarm you spew it spew it out of your mouth? Okay, you just throw it out you don't want him it's undesirable and this is what he's telling the church of Laodicea He's saying hey you guys are basically a lukewarm church and why is that verse 17 says because thou sayest I am rich and Increased with goods and have need of nothing. So what do we see here? We see this church had some Monetary gain they had some money in the bank. They had goods and they thought that they didn't need anything else He says and know it's not that thou are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and Naked. Yeah, you have money in the bank, but you know what? You're actually spiritually bankrupt This is what he's telling the church here. They were wretched Whatever. I believe this is referring to what we see in Romans chapter number seven where he says Oh wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from this body of death? And when I think he's referring to is the fact that this is a fleshly church Okay, and they were blind go to go with me if you would to 2nd Peter chapter number one I'm gonna give you some introductory statements here They're blind He tells them at the latter end of verse 18 of Revelation chapter 3 He says anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see I don't really believe that this is referring to the fact that They're like physically blind. They're spiritually blind They're safe people who just can't see afar off Now look what the Bible says in 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature Have an escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and beside this giving all diligence Add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness And to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity for if these things be in you in a bound They make you that yet ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ but he that lacketh these things is blind and Cannot see afar off and that's forgotten that he was purged from his old sins So what do we see here? God looks at someone who's not growing as someone who's blind Because they're not adding to their faith. They're not growing in the Lord. They're not reading the Bible They're not adding to their faith virtue to virtue knowledge They're not giving all diligence and God says you're blind because if you're not growing you have no vision this is what he's telling the church at Laodicea and More specifically when we get saved, obviously the scales are removed, you know We know the truth because we can understand the Word of God, but you know what even thereafter we need to continuously Ask God to open up the understanding of our eyes Open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law To learn the Word of God to continue to grow etc. He also says that they're naked Now why is that? Well, he says white raiment that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear I believe this is referring to the fact that again, they're just in the flesh They're not in the spirit. The Bible tells us put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh Okay And he talks about the shame of the nakedness remember this this is referring to end times Bible prophecy Chapters two and three of Revelation are a preface to give us a preliminary Understanding of the events that are going to take place in the end times And so this is specifically referring to the second coming of Christ When the second coming of Christ when he comes again, and if a Christian is in the flesh, he's not in the spirit He's gonna be ashamed before him at his coming. Why cuz he's not living for God. He's lukewarm. He's cold He's not serving God. He's not winning people to Christ. He's not in church He's gonna be ashamed before God at his presence the Bible says whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of Him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels Now go back to Revelation chapter 3 So I just wanted to give you a brief overview of those characteristics And now we're gonna talk about the main thing that I want to hit on this morning The last admonition admonition that he gives them is this is that he tells them you need to buy gold And no, he's not referring to like actual gold right like hey tribulations coming around, you know, they're gonna have the mark of the beast Buying gold is gonna help you out. Okay. No Keep in mind that this church is lukewarm. It's hanging in the balance Okay, and keep in mind that this local assembly in the first century AD is foreshadowing assemblies They're gonna exist in the end times. Now. What is the solution to them being lukewarm? What is the solution to them being just a lame church where he tells them buy? Gold, he says there in verse 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold Tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich So what does it mean when he says I counseled need to buy of me gold. He's saying be willing to pay the price to suffer Because we've seen in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 to be tried to go through the fire is synonymous with temptation To go through affliction and the furnace of affliction and to go through those trials and he sent he's telling them Hey, I'm counseling you if you don't want to die if you want to stay alive I counseled need to buy of me gold tried in the fire. You need some hard times in your life You know why because hard times make you a better Christian. That's why Okay hard times and difficult times Make you pray more and makes you read the Bible more and makes you focus on that which is eternal so much the more Hey, if you are a lukewarm Christian, I counsel thee to buy of me gold Tried in the fire, you know if you got a lame church Then you know what you need you need gold tried in the fire You don't need monetary gain. You don't need a better building. You don't need possessions You don't need any of those things. What do you need? You need gold tried in the fire. You need affliction You need trials you need tribulation. Why because it makes us stronger makes us better and This is the problem with the church at Laodicea. They're a lame church They're a dying church It's a lukewarm church that is ready to die and let me say this There are many churches today that are just like the church of Laodicea Okay, I know some personally and in fact one in particular even decided to call me out You know, not really my name because he's too scared to do it on his Thursday Bible study You know just because his church members come to my church And he's like that church they claim to do soul winning over there Then why are there with this church filled with you know, other people's church members. Well, maybe it's because you're preaching sucks Do you ever think about that? You ever think about maybe people leave your church because of the fact that you're preaching just sucks It's no good Well, maybe if you stop preaching for 30 minutes and extend it to like an hour Maybe if you stop reading Paul Chappell's books and using his garbage content, maybe people would actually stay in your church Do you think do you really think I strong arm your church members to come to my church? Oh, just please come with one of my services. You need to just be here. I don't even know when they come Let me say this you cannot steal well-fed sheep Can't steal what the well-fed sheep folks So don't get mad at me if your food is crappy You know, don't get mad at me because I'm serving, you know filet mignon and you're you're doing like tofu You're like you're like the guy in the drive-through at McDonald's You're serving horse meat and you get mad at me You're serving people horse meat and you're getting mad at me because people come visit our church And here's the thing this is what they say this is what this is what the pastor said He said if they do so much soul-witting You know, why are there churches? Why is there a church being built off of other people's church members? Well, that's funny because the same church has a Bible college That has other people's church members and Guess what the vast majority of those Bible college students they end up switching their membership to that church. I Think there's a word in the Bible for that. Oh, yeah hypocrisy Hypocrite is what it is You know and look folks if people leave our church to go to another church because they think it's better than this church Good riddance You need if you need to go somewhere else then go I'm not gonna hold you back and look Let's say you just go visit another church I'm getting off my notes for a little bit right now, but this needs to be said and You know, this is a public service announcement Okay, look if you go visit another church a lame Baptist Church and You come back. Do you really think I'm just gonna scold you for going to that lame church? That's cultish You think I'm gonna scold you from the pulpit and just be like, yeah, don't follow them on Instagram Don't call them don't call my people. It's just like who are you Jim Jones? Why don't you just move to Guyana if that's if that's the way you operate things If people tell me yeah, I visited this church over there cool, you know, and if they say hey, I'm going to that church I'm like, all right You know, I'll miss you but I'm not gonna like hold you but I'm not gonna say you're not right with God You know or how about this if people went to my old church You Know the one that's actually calling me out right now My old church and you went there and you told me you think I would scold you for that You think I would be like, how could you? You know what I'd say I'd say so how to go You know, here's the thing anybody from here Let me just make this public anybody from here is always welcome to go to Pacific Baptist Church to go visit my church Yeah, no, thanks But may I say this nobody from over there is ever allowed to come over here You're not allowed to in fact we had someone visit last week from the church, you know the ones I was stealing You know because because I have this role of people that I call I'm like, all right, who can I get to come over here? They came here. Okay, and I specifically told that person. All right Hey, I'm glad you're here But I'm just telling you don't tell the church that you came because if because if so, you're in deep poo-poo and She said too late I'm like, ah You done did it And you know what she done did it and Then this whole thing came about on Thursday where they're like and by the way Did you say how to know they're talking about you because you just know You just know okay Old IFP churches. They they're really scared to call out the names They have this thing with names You know but I know obviously it's who who I think if they're talking about is me because of the fact that It just happened the week after this church member came here and there's been a couple people from the church That have come to our church. We got a family right over here. You know, I see that hand I Never told this family. Hey, you need to be here. You know, hey Preaching sucks over there though. I believe it, you know You need to be in a Bible believing hardcore church. This is where you need to be. I've never done that They just showed up and let me say this to anybody who visits our church. All you gotta do is come once I Don't need to coax you or strong arm you or you know twist your arm to stay in our church You just come to one service and you're automatically hooked even if you don't agree with our doctrine, I Guarantee you there's people in our church who don't believe in our doctrine They believe in some weird Calvinistic doctrine, but they just keep coming back You know why because it's a it's a it's a good church And I don't beg people to come to our church. I don't strong-arm people. This is not a cult folks And here's my message to the pastor look and I've tried I've tried to reconcile things I tried to say you know what if we could just put our differences aside I have family over there and I've tried but you know what? Here's the message to the pastor You need to stop preaching some lame sermons and maybe people won't come people have literally said from that church. I'm dying spiritually. I Want to shake those people and be like you don't have to come to my church go somewhere else Don't die them Why sit we here till we die Go somewhere you can survive But what they're saying is the preaching here is just not good at all. Oh you shouldn't say that This is why people think this way about your church. Well good. I'm gonna I'm gonna make this clip put it on YouTube For those people to see it so they know what to expect when they come here You think I'm trying to hide what I believe in what I say. You think I'm ashamed of this. No This is a sunny morning service you shouldn't preach like that on sunny morning Why there's a bunch of people here why not This is the best time to say it. Why would I say when there's like like 30 people, you know? Best time to say is when everyone's here full full attendance. Amen You know, this is ridiculous folks, you know If they don't want to be lukewarm if the pastor doesn't want to be lukewarm and just let me remind you about the book of Revelation chapter 2 and 3 to the angel of the church What he's talking about to the pastor of that church Why because everything rises and falls on leadership. That's why and so if the church is lukewarm pastor That's because you're lukewarm pastor. You're destroying the church pastor. Oh, no. No, it's the people in my church Yeah, then why do you keep the faggots there then, huh? Why do you keep the reprobates there then that's your fault pastor Because you're supposed to toss those people out You know the people rail at your church the drunkards and the potheads and the queers Why don't you just throw them out then? Because they don't want to have a church. Maybe that's a good thing Maybe you don't need a church Maybe you should just sit down and shut up and have a real man do the job for you If you can't execute the laws of the Lord and the judgments of God, you can't execute church discipline when necessary You're greedy a filthy lucre. You're favoring people in the church who have money You know, maybe you shouldn't be the pastor then That's it You know, maybe what you need to put away the Paul Chapel Sunday School booklets Hermanet hermeneutics from the heart homiletics from the heart by John getch You know Maybe you need to put that garbage away and start actually reading the Bible Why don't you get your example of how to preach from the Bible? Why don't you get it from Ezekiel and Isaiah? Those are my examples No, your examples pastor Stephen L. Anderson, yeah, he gets his example from Isaiah, too He gets it from John the Baptist too, you know you get it from the smooth preachers These Bunch of limp rested faggoty preachers And look if there's anybody who's watching this sermon who was thinking about coming here But this does just offending you're not coming then so be it You know if you're like, oh I'm really not gonna go they don't come then No skin off my back. I got a bunch of friends here and look if everyone forsook me here my wife's still here Why do you want to have so many kids in case I offend everyone they're forced to stay listen There you go But you know what that's not gonna happen because of the fact that the people here love the truth They love hard preaching they could take it They like what's being fed here. Amen. They like the meal I'm not the best chef, but you know what? I cook some pretty good steaks every once in a while And people keep coming back, you know, stop serving your tofu burger your vegetarian vegan burger and maybe people won't leave your church Sick of it people want to complain and murmur and whine. Oh, why are people just leaving my church? Don't leave my church. Don't leave my church then change sucka Change If you don't like it, then you need to change. Hey, maybe there's something wrong with you Not the people in your church This public service announcement was brought to you in part by a mad preacher All right, let's get back to the church at Laodicea Just had to get that off my chest You know and look just if you if you get nothing out of this sermon get this you cannot steal Well fed sheep Cannot steal You shouldn't call the pastor that though. That's not very nice. Well, that's funny cuz I've heard pastors like that just rail on me I'm telling the truth I'm literally telling you the truth of what's taking place You know what's keeping a lot of those church members from sometimes even coming here is because they hear all the lies about our church These people spread lies about our church and it's all that church so unloving. Oh, yeah Yeah, we just every single person who just came through these doors. We just told we hated them Welcome to the first works Baptist Church. I hate you Has anybody felt hated here raise your hand if you felt hated here, okay No, who's felt a little love when you came to this church, okay? You Know oh, they're so hateful. Oh, yeah, cuz we hate your beloved faggots. That's why You know Garbage All right, I Council need to buy me gold tried in the fire. Okay? That's what that church needs You need tribulation Tribulation brings temptation which is a time of trying be willing to pay the price is what he's saying Look, this is why job said, you know, though he's slain me yet Will I trust him and then he says this he says he know it the way that I take but when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold So look every single Christian every single church will always experience the furnace of fire Whether you're a good Christian or not You will always experience it Here's the difference are you gonna come forth as gold? Because here's the thing. Some people go through the fire and they just perish They just fall by the wayside other people endure it And what happens they come forth as gold? So, how do you survive the tribulation or even great tribulation? You got to be able to endure the furnace of affliction now in life There's all types of furnaces of affliction, you know, you go through a loss of a family member, you know Whether maybe you you you know your health deteriorates whatever maybe you go through that furnace of affliction Ultimately all of these furnaces all of these afflictions are foreshadowing of the ultimate affliction That's going to come upon us during the tribulation period and more so great tribulation Okay So everyone will have that type of experience and think about this The reason I'm mentioning furnace is because of the fact that what I mentioned on Thursday regarding Meshach Shadrach and Abednego, they were thrown into the fiery furnace, right? Well think about this Jesus Christ, right? in Revelation chapter number one When he's being described says his feet were like him to find brass as if they burned in a furnace And what does the Bible tell us about Jesus Christ? He was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin So he was tried in all points as we are yet without sin The Bible says for in that he himself suffered being tempted He is also he is able to succor them that are tempted. So because he passed That test he's able to help us as well during that time of Temptation now you're in Revelation chapter 3. Let me read to you from Luke 8 verse 13 Because I want to talk about the hour of temptation Because nothing not everyone can hack that hour It says here in Luke 8 13 they on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy And these have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away You know when the going gets tough when the stuff hits the fan people just quit on God They go through that furnace they go through that trying time and they quit That's not what you should do Hang in there and I'm gonna tell you from the Bible very simple how you can endorphins You're like, I don't want to hear about this. You know, I'm not going through affliction, but you will go through affliction You will It's going to happen Your goal is to come forth as gold to buy gold tried in the fire. Okay Look at Revelation chapter 3 and look look let's look at verse number 9. So let me look at our verse number 10 Let's look at the Church of Philadelphia because all this is tied in just remember this the paramount theme of chapters 2 & 3 Though it's seven letters being written to the seven churches, which are in Asia in the first century AD These are actually talking about churches who foreshadow churches also Today and even in the end times and more particularly it's referring to the affliction that they were going to face. Okay? Look at verse 10. It says because that was kept the word of my patience I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation Which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell on the earth now the pre-trib crowd will say This this is their text verse basically. Okay, they'll say see that's why it's a pre tribulation rapture brother You know God's gonna keep us from the hour of temptation. He's gonna keep us away from it But this is so stupid because of the fact that it says Because I was kept the word of my patience The way you partake in the redemption of your body also known as the rapture is you're saved You don't have to keep the word of patience in order to partake in the rapture because that's what they believe it says What it actually stating here is that when you go through the hour of temptation God's gonna keep you in it In other words, he's gonna guard you While you're going through that tribulation, okay now go with me if you would to Matthew 24 if you would So because the key means to guard it's not talking about taking them away from it It's like what Jesus said in John 17 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil So God's not saying hey, I'm gonna take I'm gonna completely remove you. I'm just gonna guard you from the evil Okay, I doesn't make sense. How is he gonna keep us from the hour of temptation? But that doesn't mean he's keeping us away from it Well, I'm gonna prove to you today why that is, okay First and foremost just keep in mind. He says the hour of temptation an hour is a short amount of time. Is it not? And I believe this is a foreshadowing of the last 75 days of Great Tribulation And look what it says in Matthew 24 verse 21 for then shall be Great Tribulation Such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time No, nor ever shall be and except those days should be shortened there shall no flesh be saved But for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened so keep in mind the prophetic timetable you have a thousand three hundred and thirty five days from the time that the Antichrist confirms the Covenant with many for one week up until the rapture. Okay? but you have a thousand two hundred and sixty days from the beginning of that to what's called the Abomination of desolation leaving us with 75 days of Great Tribulation between the abomination of desolation and the second coming of Christ Does everyone understand? So there's 75 days a thousand three hundred thirty five total you have a thousand two hundred and sixty only leading up to the abomination of desolation and Then you have 75 days thereafter. So that entire period is referred to we would refer to as the tribulation But the Bible actually will refer to as those a thousand two hundred and sixty days as the beginning of sorrows Okay This is referring to the four horsemen who are given power over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with Hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth So not only are we suffering during that time the whole world is suffering because of it there's wars and rumors of wars There's famine. There's pestilence. There's death on a large scale At the end of that you have the abomination of desolation that's set up which is the image of the Antichrist the beasts, right? They set this image up and at that point the Antichrist begins to make war with the Saints and to overcome them Martyrdom on a large scale you understand and this is why it's called Great Tribulation Alright, so just keep that in mind Now what kicks off that Great Tribulation the abomination of desolation? Now go to Daniel chapter number three, I show this on Thursday, but it's just worth covering again When I read this I was just like this is this is great This is this just reinforces the post trip pre-wrath rapture so much the more Okay, and look let me just start by saying that I don't base whether I believe the post trip pre-wrath rapture off of Daniel chapter 3 I base it off of clear scriptures like Matthew 24 mark 13 Luke 21 first Thessalonians 4 and 5 Revelation chapter 6 You know the clear scriptures Daniel chapter 3 is simply symbolic and it reinforces It's just that then the hit on on the of the hammer on the nail to drive in the point even further So again, what what kicks off the Great Tribulation someone tell me Abomination of desolation also known as the image of the beast 75 days thereafter is Great Tribulation Martyrdom on a large scale and then the rapture take place the glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ coming in the clouds. All right, keep that in mind now, what do we have in Daniel chapter 3? we have Nebuchadnezzar and his narcissistic self making an image of gold of himself and He sends out a decree that everyone needs to worship this image Look what it says in verse 4 then and Harold cried aloud to you it is commanded. Oh people nations and languages That at the time that you hear the sound of the cornet flute harp sack, but solitary dulcimer and all kinds of music He fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up and who so falleth not down and worshipeth Shall the same what our Be cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace You know like the hour of temptation make sense I'm not convinced. Okay. Let me let me turn there myself, by the way. All right, let's look at verse 14 So obviously Meshach Shadrach and Abednego they refused to do it. They're not bowing down. They're not taking the mark of the beast okay, and They're being up braided for it Nebuchadnezzar comes and he abrades them for the fact that they're not Worshipping the image of the beast and look what it says in verse number 14 it says Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them is it true of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Do not ye serve my gods nor worship the golden image, which I have set up Now if you be ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet Flute harp sack, but solitary dulcimer and all kinds of music ye fall down and worship the image which I have made Well, but if you worship not ye shall be cast the same hour Into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand So he's saying look if I throw you in there you think God's gonna deliver you from that furnace from that affliction Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king Oh Nebuchadnezzar We are not careful to answer thee in this matter if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of Thine hand Oh King now Why is that important? Well, hold your place there and go to Luke chapter 21 Luke chapter 21 So keep in mind what are the in the Gospels there's three chapters that primarily and extensively deal with The end time with the end times Bible prophecy Luke 21 is one of them, correct? So What do they say? We're not careful to answer thee So they're about to be tossed into the burning fiery furnace Meshach Shadrach and Abednego they speak boldly they say we're not careful to answer thee. Why is that? Well, what is that foreshadowing look at Luke 21 and verse 12? but before all these they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons being brought before kings and Rulers from my name's sake and it shall turn to you for a testimony Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what we what ye shall answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain say nor Resist now, let me read you the parallel passage to that in marks 13 But when they shall lead you and deliver you up take no thought beforehand where you shall speak neither Do you premeditate but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour? That speak ye for it is not ye that speak but the Holy Ghost Foreshadow so Meshach Shadrach and Abednego when they say we're not careful to answer thee. This is this is what it's foreshadowing here How does that look for us in the end times? You know, there's gonna be times if the tribulation comes in our lifetime when we're faced with this furnace You know what? We're gonna say we're not careful to answer you You're gonna take the mark of the beast so you can eat. Nope, and we're not careful to answer you Oh, we're we're gonna destroy you Destroy me Do do your worst We're not careful to answer you. But let me say this if you're from from from Laodicea Baptist Church You're gonna be like sign me up And they'll be like, well you don't actually worship. So we're just gonna kill you anyways Okay so This is foreshadowing that now go back to Daniel chapter 3 look at verse 20 Actually look at verse number 17 It says if so be if it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace And he would deliver us out of thine hand O King But if not be it known unto thee O King that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image Which thou hast set up now? Keep in mind Thousand two hundred and sixty days is tribulation. It's hot right tribulation The last 75 days is great tribulation, so it's a little hotter You know like seven times more hot Look at verse 19 Then when Nebuchadnezzar full of fury Was Nebuchadnezzar full of fear in the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Therefore he spake and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times More than it was want to be heated. So what is the furnace here? The furnace is the tribulation But the great tribulation is when it's turned up seven times even more Because look there's martyrdom Even in the the the beginning of sorrows Because we see that people begin to die the Bible even tells us that people are killed with the beasts of the earth The Bible tells us that in during the fifth seal that the souls of them were under the altar, right and Obviously that means they died prior to that So there's a couple people dying but you know what the last 75 days is far more martyrdom than ever before It's like when Nebuchadnezzar turns up that furnace seven times hotter Interesting maybe maybe it's just a coincidence, right? Look at verse number 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot the flame of the fire slew those men That took up Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and these three men Shadrach Meshach and Abednego fell down Be bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace now before I get into this next verse Keep in mind that in first Peter it tells us this wherein you greatly rejoice Though now for a season if need be you are in heaviness through manifold temptation That the trying of your faith being that much more precious than that of gold that perishes may appear right unto praise honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ Right. So he says you're gonna have gold Once Jesus Christ appears which is the second coming Now look at verse number 24 then Nebuchadnezzar the king was a stony and Rose up in haste and spake and said unto these counselors Then now we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire. They answered and said unto the king true Oh King, he answered and said lo I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God So, what do we see there? They're in the midst of the furnace the fire and what happens Jesus Christ appears It's just a coincidence, huh? No, it's not This is foreshadowing the end times right here Okay, he appears right in the midst By the way, this shows us that God can keep us from the hour of temptation even though we're in it right in the midst right Because they're going through the trial they're going through the tribulation Fire is round them round about but you know Jesus is there with them and is any coincidence that in Revelation chapter 1 Jesus Christ has his feet as brass as though it burned in the furnace like the furnace in Daniel chapter 3 Think about that He took the brass that we may have the gold All right Let's read on Then Nebuchadnezzar verse 26 came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace and spake and said Shadrach Meshach and Abednego Ye servants of the Most High God come forth and come hither. Can we turn on the the AC back there? It's getting warm then Shadrach Meshach and Abednego came forth of the midst of the fire and the Princes and governors and captains and the king's counselors being gathered together Saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power nor was an hair of their heads singed Neither were their coats changed nor the smell of the fire had passed on them. So what do we see? They made it Right, but notice that it says that not even the a hair of their head Was singed. What does Luke 21 tell us? It tells us ye shall be hated of all men from my name's sake but not a hair of your head shall perish And then he says in your patience Possess ye your souls, you know, just like it says in Revelation chapter 3 because I was kept the word of my patience I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation Coincidence I think not this is powerful stuff right here. Okay Now Go to Luke 21 if you would So you say how can I survive the tribulation well, let me just teach you how to survive any kind of tribulation But obviously especially the biggest one This is how you survive you have to keep the word of his patience What does that mean you got to be in the Bible You got to be read up You need to make sure you love the Word of God. Why because great peace What does it mean when someone is tempted and they fall away they get offended and the Bible says great Peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them Not even if you're tossed into a burning fiery furnace you will not be offended the Bible says, you know Perfect. Peace that will keep him in perfect. Peace whose mind is stayed on thee Hey folks, if you stop reading your Bible now is the time to start If you stop Church attendance, now's the time to start again Now's the time to get as much Bible content as you possibly can because if you keep the word of his patience God promises us to keep us from the hour of temptation Now for you today, it might be a difficulty and then what happens you fall away you get out of church You stop reading your Bible, but in the end times, it's just gonna cost you your life It's gonna cost you your life You know who I believe God's gonna spare during these tumultuous times in the end times those who are living for God Those who are serving God those who are reading the Bible those who are so many they love the Lord I believe God will spare them. He'll keep them from the hour of temptation But what is it gonna cost you gold? I Counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire How's your gold today folks? How is your inventory of gold today You said well, I haven't gone through a trial then you need to start racking up some endurance for the time to come Look what it says here in Luke 21 verse 34 and take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life And so that day come upon you unawares For as a snare shall I come upon all them that do all in the face of the whole whole earth Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape All these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man He says if you want to escape you got to make sure you're watching and praying go back to Revelation chapter 3 Now on Thursday, I was talking about Revelation chapter 3 now we're talking about the church at Philadelphia We're talking about the open door and to be honest with you I spend a lot of time on the application of the open door rather than the main interpretation of what we see Now the application is great because open door does mean an open door to utterance to see people saved You know, we got that thing going on potentially in Cincinnati, Ohio. That's an open door But let me show you What the main interpretation of this open door is, okay? And look you're gonna read Revelation 2 and 3 a lot differently now Sometimes we read Revelation 2 and 3. We're just like we got to get through this because we want to get to the good stuff Well, this is preparing you for the good stuff. Okay? Look at verse number 7 and so the angel of the church of Philadelphia, right? These things saith he That is holy. He that is true. He that hath the key of David He that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. He's speaking to the church now He says I know thy works behold I accept if I have set before thee an open door and No, man can shut it for thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name So think about that. Okay, he says I've set before you an open door. No man can shut it And he says this I know you have a little strength, but you've kept the word of my patience And you've not denied my name now Where are they Go to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 When he says I've set before thee an open door Where are they? Because remember the paramount theme of two and three is tribulation. It's temptation, right? Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13 It says here there hath no temptation Taking you but such as is common to man But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able but will with the temptation Also make a way to escape That ye may be able to bear it So in Revelation 3 when he says I have an open door for thou hast a little strength What is he saying when you're in the furnace of affliction? Don't worry. I'm making a way to escape That's what he's stating there He says look I'm making a way to escape because I know you got a little strength But you know, you've kept the word of my patience and you've not denied my name. I'm making a way for you to escape Now in context, what are we talking about Revelation chapter 3 what is this referring to the lot those last 75 days, right? when that idolatrous Image of the beast is set up, right Verse 14 wherefore my dearly beloved flee from idolatry You're like I don't get it well look what it says in verse 15 I speak as to wise men judge ye what I say He says if you don't get it you got to get it If you know it, you know it. Oh That's just kind of like coincidence well, let me read you from Matthew 24 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the holy place Whoso readeth let them understand, you know, like the wise people Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains So look first Corinthians 10 obviously has a modern-day application for us to understand There's no temptation taking it but such as it's common to man. God is faithful He'll make a way to escape but it's foreshadowing the greatest temptation that we're gonna face Knowing that when we're going through those 75 days of great tribulation Don't worry. God has made a way for you to escape and just remember flee from idolatry Fleet to the mountains How am I gonna do it? Well, don't worry. He made a way for you to escape. Oh Don't worry. The open door is already there But the open door is only there for those who are keeping the word of his patience who have not denied his name So guess what? Those lame Christians who don't want to witness who don't want to go soul winning the lame Christians who don't who bad-mouth soul winning Who don't know what we just believe in lifestyle evangelism you know, we just believe in in track drops and door hangers and being a You know a mailman once a week Yeah, that's that's you're denying his name So guess what this is how you survive the great tribulation You keep the word of his patience and you'll make a way for you to escape you'll leave that door open for you And you'll tell you flee Flee from idolatry flee from the image of the beast just run Pretty powerful stuff Okay, and you said why do you keep preaching on this? Well, first of all, we're in the book of Revelation But two I want to prepare us. I Want to make sure that we're prepared for that day Because it could come in our lifetime folks and don't have this mentality. No, I got until next week You know, I'm gonna start reading my Bible next week. I'm gonna start getting right with God next week I'm gonna start living for the Lord next week. Don't do it now Now's the time now it's high time for our salvation is near than what we believe The Bible says not the salvation of our souls the salvation of our body The redemption of our body is near than what we believed So now it's high time high time means it's about time folks time to wake up Awake to righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame the Bible says Don't be like lots You know the Bible says in Amos I Have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning Yet have you not returned to me save the Lord who is the firebrand that's lot Because you know what happened a lot. He was saved yet. So as by fire according to first Corinthians chapter number three Lost everything lost his children The the purity of his children lost his son-in-laws lost his wife He was saved physically speaking yet. So as by fire Don't be like him Go back to Revelation chapter 3 Now The Bible tells us in Philippians that You know, basically we're to believe on Jesus Christ and it tells us that In like manner we should suffer for his name's sake as well As much as it's important for you to believe on Christ it's also important that you suffer for his sake as well Okay, you know that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering All right. So God Jesus Christ considers suffering with him like fellowship And this is how he concludes The letters to the seven churches which are in Asia Look at verse number 19 as many as I love I rebuke and chase and be zealous therefore and repent behold I stand at the door and knock If any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me What is he talking about the fellowship of his suffering? He showed you what these churches have gone through in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 and the the martyrdom of Antipas The Jews, you know the those who say what there are Jews and are not but of the synagogue of Satan the Nicolaitans He showed you all the trials and difficulties and what they have done for his name's sake And you know what he says to every single church. Hey, I'm standing at your door and I'm knocking So I can sup with you. What does that mean so I can fellowship with you? Are you willing to fellowship with me? Are you willing to partake in the fellowship of suffering? You know, are you willing to be acquainted with grief and sorrow and suffering from my name's sake? This is these two chapters are some of the most powerful chapters I've ever heard of These two chapters are some of the most powerful chapters I've ever read Because he's given us all these examples and he tells us today because he that hath an ear Let him hear And he's saying look are you hey church? Are you willing to suffer with Jesus? May we be able to say absolutely let's sup Let's sup let's fellowship Let's suffer for his name's sake Let's not be like, you know, like Thyatira Let's not be like Laodicea Let's not be like these lame churches That exist today Let's be like this church Philadelphia, let's be like Smyrna. Let's be like the churches that say, you know, we're fellowshiping with Jesus we're suffering for his name's sake we're suffering the reproach of wicked men and Ultimately, we're willing to go through the fire because we know That that open door is still there to make a way to escape Amen. Hey Buy gold today. Amen Inspire hasn't have a word of prayer. Follow me. Thank you so much for your word And thank you for revelation chapter two and three And touching it is lord to know that you stand before the door Of each church wanting to sup with us So we can partake In that in that affliction So we may know the fellowship of your suffering And just as these other churches did I pray god that you'd help me help us as a church To prepare diligently if the tribulation still comes in our lifetime the beginning of sorrows. Yeah, even great tribulation Please count us worthy To be able to escape all these things And to stand before you and to see you with our own eyes in jesus name we pray. Amen