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You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Glory to his name Glory to his name Glory to his name There to my heart was the blood applied Glory to his name Let's pray Heavenly Father, Lord I thank you that we can be here in your house Lord we thank you for that grace that you so freely gave to us Lord through believing in your son Lord I pray that you would receive our praise this evening in Jesus' name Amen You may be seated Please turn your hymnals to 109 109 Saviour, like a shepherd, lead us Saviour, like a shepherd, lead us Saviour, like a shepherd, lead us Much we need thy tender care Much we need thy tender care In thy pleasant pastures In thy pleasant pastures Feed us For our youth's Thy fault we care Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Thou has brought us Thine we are Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Thou has brought us Thine we are We are Thine to Thou befriend us Be the Guardian of our way Keep Thy flock from sin Defend us Seek us When we go astray Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Hear oh hear us When we pray Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Hear oh hear us When we pray Thou has brought us Thine we are Blessed Jesus Thou has brought us Thou has promised To receive us For And sinful Though we be Thou has Mercy to relieve Our hearts Grace to Fence and powder free Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Early Let us Turn to Thee Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Early Let us Turn to Thee Early Let us Seek Thy Favour Early Let us Do Thy will Blessed Then only Savior With Thy love Our bosoms fill Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Thou has Loved us Love us still Blessed Jesus Blessed Jesus Thou has Loved us Love us still Amen Please turn to 224 224 There shall be showers of blessing Amen There shall be showers of blessing This is the This is the promise of love There shall be seasons refreshing Sent from the Savior above Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling What for the showers we plead There shall be showers of blessing Precious avoiding again Over the hills and her valleys Sound of abundance of rain Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling What for the showers we plead There shall be showers of blessing Send them upon us O Lord Rent to us now a refreshing Come and now honor Thy word Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling What for the showers we plead There shall be showers of blessing O that today they might fall Now as to God we're confessing Now as on Jesus we call Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling What for the showers we plead Good singing church please turn a few pages over to 228 228 I love to tell the story Don't we love to tell the story to people how we got saved precious gospel I love to tell the story of us saying things above of Jesus and his glory of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story because I know Jesus and his love I love to tell the story because I know it is true it satisfies my longing as nothing else can do I love to tell the story it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story more wonderful it seems than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams I love to tell the story it did so much for me and that is just a reason I tell it now to thee I love to tell the story it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story it is pleasant to repeat what seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet I love to tell the story for some have never heard the message of salvation from God on holy word I love to tell the story it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love I love to tell the story for those who know it best seems hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest and when it sings of glory I sing the new new song it will be the old old story that I have loved so long I love to tell the story it will be my theme in glory to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love Amen Please turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 35 We'll have Matthew to the rating, thank you Isaiah 35 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it The excellency of Carmel and Sharon They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees Say to them that are of a fearful heart Be strong Fear not Behold, your God will come with vengeance Even God with a recompense He will come and save you Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb sing for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert and the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water in the habitation of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes and a highway shall be there and away and it shall be called the way of holiness The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sine shall flee away. Let's pray. Holy Father, thank you so much for this chance to come here in your house and to praise and worship you and to hear from your holy word, Lord. I ask that you bless pastors and preachers to us today and give us the hearts to understand your word and that the Holy Ghost enlighten our minds. And most of all, thank you for the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to whom we can have everlasting life. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Alright, not sure if brother Tim and sister Shailene are coming in tonight, but wonderful news that their baby has been born. Praise God for that. Wonderful news every time there's a new life that's coming to the world. What a blessing of the Lord. So congratulations to them on behalf of the church. We have been going through Isaiah, haven't we, chapter by chapter. And we're there in Isaiah 35. I thought I would take the title from the sermon here in verse number 4, which says, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Title for the night is, be strong, fear not. Be strong, fear not. Now, Isaiah 35 is a continuation of what we were covering in Isaiah 34. I don't know if you were here last week, last Thursday, but Isaiah 34 was not the easiest chapter to preach from. It was very destructive. Speaking about the time when the Lord Jesus Christ would come and just decimate the armies of the Antichrist. This great rebellion that's going to turn out in the end times and it's just very gory, very bloody, and very violent, if you want to put it that way. And yet very righteous because it is the righteous anger of the Lord bringing His chastisement, His judgment, His vengeance on such a wicked people. And I just want to bring you back to Isaiah 34. Look at verse number 9 just as a reminder. At the end of all of that destruction during the wrath of God when He's pouring out the seven vials and the seven trumpets. It says here in verse number 9 And you may recall that this area was the land of Edomiah or southern Jordan as we know it today. And that during the millennial reign of Christ, so strange but to think about this area just burning, just burning continually and just being a place of, like it says that brimstone turned into pitch and being this reminder for the thousand year reign of Christ from generation to generation. That those that reject Christ have a future of torment forever and ever in a place of fire. And so we have such a destructive chapter. I mean, you know, it's the righteous anger of the Lord, don't get me wrong. But we have this sort of, this almost very heavy chapter and then we get to Isaiah 35 and then it brings us to the positive, if you want to write, the brighter side of the millennial reign of Christ. And so we start there in verse number 1, Isaiah 35 verse number 1. It says the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. I've heard a lot of prophecy preachers teach about this, that, and I do believe this talk about the regions around Jerusalem and Israel and the surrounding areas and a lot of it is quite dry and desert like and arid. And the Lord's telling us that when Christ comes back to reign, you know, not only is he going to destroy the wicked but that he's going to rejuvenate the land. And the land will blossom once again, the land will blossom there as the rose. So places that were once very dry deserts, places that today that you think you can't plant and you can't grow, you can't harvest, are places that Christ is going to, just with his healing touch, fix the land and it's going to be blossoming like a rose. Now, very quickly, we're up to Isaiah 35. Brother Tim's not here so I need someone else. What is the 35th book of the Bible? Does anyone know? Habakkuk. Alright, so can you please turn with me to Habakkuk. Keep your finger there in Isaiah 35. Keep your finger there in Isaiah 35 and let's go to Habakkuk. Habakkuk chapter 3 please. Habakkuk chapter 3. And Habakkuk was a prophet that was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. And Jeremiah you may know, preached against the southern kingdom of Judah and he preached through multiple kings for his ministry was very long, multiple decades and he preaches up to and even a little bit beyond the captivity of the Babylonians. When the Babylonians took the Jews into captivity, they destroyed the city of Jerusalem, destroyed the house of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. And Habakkuk is also one of those preachers, together with Jeremiah, preaching on the same judgment of God to come. And so what we're about to read here in Habakkuk 3 is Habakkuk just showing the nation how when the Babylonians come they're going to be so destructive on the land. Okay? Now again, when we talk about, a way to think about the parallels, right? Because in the time of Habakkuk or Jeremiah the Babylonians were the obvious Babylonian empire. And yet the Bible in the end time speaks of a mystery Babylon to come. The great harlot. And that Babylon is going to be the world power of the day. And that world power will be utilized by the Antichrist to persecute the people of God. You know during the great tribulation and beyond there's going to be a great massacre, there's going to be a great persecution upon God's people. And so we do have a Babylon of the end times. You know, and we have a Babylon of the day of Jeremiah and when it talks about Babylon here in verse number 16 Habakkuk 3.16 Habakkuk says, When I heard my belly trembled my lips quivered at the voice rottenness entered into my bones and I trembled in myself that I might rest in the day of trouble when he curved up unto the people he would invade them with his troops. Habakkuk is once again showing the heart of a prophet. Even though the prophet has to preach heavy, judgmental things, the destruction of land. He says, man when I heard these things, when I preach these things it's like it upset my stomach right? It's like, oh man it's such a heavy sermon to preach. His lips quivered. It's like it's just hard for me to even get this out of my mouth. It's hard for me to preach such destruction on the land that God has given us. And then he continues in verse number 17 this is why he says, although the fig tree shall not blossom. And I want to show you the difference there, that when Christ comes everything's going to blossom, even the deserts. And as the Babylonians were to come in as the judgment of God upon the Southern Kingdom of Judah, he says, look it's not going to blossom. It continues there Neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fall, even the olive trees. And the field shall yield no meat. Nothing's going to grow. Nothing's going to blossom. It says the flock shall be cut off from the fold. And there shall be no herd in the stools. Even the animals are not going to be able to reproduce. The farming's not going to be done. And then, cause he's just saying as the Babylonians come through, they're going to destroy the land. They're going to destroy the vineyards. They're going to destroy the fig trees and the olive trees. They're going to come through this massive army. And even destroying the farmlands and the animals and all this stuff. And even though his belly's heavy and his lips quiver and he's having a hard time even within his bones, it's so hard to preach such a hard sermon. He says in verse 18, Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. I love Habakkuk's approach there. He goes, man such a hard sermon to preach. Such hard words. Such a hard vision that God has given me. But brethren you know when you're going through hard times and you feel the same way. You've got the butterflies in your stomach and you feel sick because life is not going the way you think it should go. What we should understand and just like Habakkuk says, we ought to rejoice in the Lord in the joy. I will joy in the God of my salvation. You know how joy ought to come from the Lord. How joy ought to come in remembering that our Lord God loves us and that He's given us eternal life. He's given us His salvation. Even while we're seeing the world being judged by God in destruction and warfare and famines and all these things happen to be. But I just want to compare what Habakkuk says that these places are not going to blossom as God's judgment falls. But, and once again in the end times, God's judgment is going to fall upon the earth. Alright. The seven vials, seven trumpets being the main ones and as Christ comes and destroys the Antichrist and the armies of the Antichrist we know that once Christ establishes Himself on the earth, it will blossom all over again. It's all going to blossom once again. It's going to be a beautiful place the earth and especially the nation of Israel or the city of Jerusalem as Christ comes to rule in that land. And so if you come back with me to Isaiah 35 and verse number 2. Isaiah 35 and verse number 2 it says it shall blossom abundantly. Alright. And rejoice even with joy and singing. Remember how Habakkuk says that even though things aren't blossoming, that He can rejoice in the Lord. He says even here in Isaiah saying that they'll be rejoicing with joy and singing. It says the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. The excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. So the fact that Lebanon is mentioned you know again it's kind of showing us just how far that blossoming kind of extends to that even the nation of Lebanon is benefiting from the great abundance and the blossoming of the land and of the harsh places that things cannot grow. And so the whole earth is just seeing the glory of Christ and the rejuvenation of the earth when He reigns for a thousand years. Then we get to verse number three which I get the sermon title from Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. So your weak hands is essentially saying that you know when judgment falls you know when we see destruction when we see judgments when we see you know armies and we see warfare these things can cause us to become weak and worrisome and and it says confirm the feeble knees again the idea of your knees kind of shattering not shattering but like trembling you know out of fear out of what the future may hold. And so Isaiah is telling the people of the land you know you don't need to be afraid any longer of course if we go back to the end times events we have already at this point received new resurrected bodies we've been raptured but don't forget that even after the rapture while God is pouring out His wrath people are still getting saved we still have the two witnesses that I believe to be Moses and Elijah Elijah thank you brother you know I could be wrong but I believe it's those two we have 144,000 of the Israelites going out there as servants of the Lord the Bible tells us people are still getting saved even after the rapture and they're seeing this great persecution they're seeing the destruction of the earth you know with God's wrath seeing the armies of the antichrist making war against Jesus Christ and so even those people I believe that would be the first or the primary people that this is referring to you know Isaiah is telling them look be strengthened strengthen your weak hands confirm your feeble knees like stand up strong because Christ is coming He's coming in His millennial reign He's going to rule over the earth to them that are of a fearful heart be strong fear not behold your God will come with vengeance even God with a recompense He will come and save you He will come and save you but notice it says here that God will come with vengeance vengeance brethren you know the Bible instructs us we're going to look at some passages soon the Bible instructs us that we are not to take vengeance on people that do us wrong the Bible tells us that we should not avenge ourselves we should not take revenge and it's hard as a human being you know and I think we've all been there where someone's done us wrong and we just want to get back at them somehow even if it's behind the scenes maybe set up something to cause others to fall maybe to go gossip about that person you know maybe I've got to tell everybody about how wicked this person was toward me just to have their hearts turn against that individual person that is not the way of a believer that is not the way God wants us to walk the Bible tells us that God is the one that comes with vengeance okay? you need to let God take revenge on your behalf now God is taking vengeance revenge you know because you had the persecution of God's people he's coming back he's going to wipe out the Antichrist we've talked about that he's going to wipe out those that have raised up against God's people God's going to punish them kill them, cast them into the lake of fire all of that but you know even today if we were to take a lesson of this today brethren you can't be people that take revenge you can't allow your flesh to give in to vengeance keep your finger there and come with me to Romans 12 please come with me to Romans 12 please come with me to Romans 12 Romans 12 and verse number 19 Romans 12 verse number 19 while you're turning there I just want to read that passage again it says God will come with vengeance even God with a recompense he will come and save you look this is a promise from the Bible that God will take vengeance for you alright God will take revenge on your behalf but you've got to allow him to do it in Romans 12 19 this is something more related to us right this is an epistle written to a New Testament church in Romans 12 19 Paul writes to the church saying dearly beloved avenge not yourselves listen that is a command don't avenge yourself don't take revenge when people do you wrong but rather give place unto wrath what? see one reason we take revenge is because we are full of wrath we're so upset we're so angry that someone has done us wrong I've got to get back at them well it says here give place unto wrath who's who's wrath well if we're not to avenge ourselves we're not giving place to our wrath are we we're giving place unto God's wrath because it continues by saying then for it is written vengeance is mine I will repay sayeth the Lord vengeance is mine that's what God says okay it's kind of like you know something that belongs to you right maybe you know you know you've got a house, you've got property you know you've got your possessions inside your house you've got a thief that breaks in and steals your wallet, steals your computer whatever it is right? steals your car how do you feel about that when someone has stolen from you? you feel very bitter, very angry violated how dare someone come in and take my possessions away from me well vengeance is the Lord's how would God feel if you take revenge for yourself? God says that belongs to me that's in my hands to take vengeance on your behalf and brethren I don't know about you but this doctrine gives me a lot of peace in my heart and when someone does me wrong I don't need to think about it it's not mine to think about it's not mine to deal with or leave it with God, vengeance is yours God you told me God, I'll give place unto wrath and for me then I don't have to worry about it I don't have to think about it how am I going to make things right? how am I going to return to them what they've done to me? how am I going to let people know how wicked they are? whatever because when we start thinking about this when we get emotional we think our thoughts are righteous we think it's the best way we can be clouded by bad judgement we can be clouded by emotions or misjudgment maybe we've misjudged the situation and we're making the situation much worse than what it truly is and so I'd just rather give it to God God it's yours if you see fit that vengeance is necessary if vengeance needs to be taken Lord, it's yours, I'll leave it with you and I'll just continue my merry way doing what I need to do to serve you I don't know about you brother I said it gives me great peace when you learn this in life and it takes a while because you know I remember being a kid and you wanted to get back at people and I used to love playing basketball when I was a teenager and in high school and sometimes it gets a bit rough and they punch you, they hit you, they elbow you and what do you want to do in return? next play you want to get them back you want to trip them over and I've done plenty of those things and you know sometimes when you're young you get hot headed and you just, I've just got to show them how dare they treat me like this and then as you get older and more mature in the Lord you realise, hold on Lord, you know best I mean at the end of the day if I trip them over and hurt them God might take vengeance on me I don't want God taking vengeance on me I'd just rather leave in your hands God, you know what's right you know how to deal with it now look, I want you to, before we read verse number 19, I just want to backtrack there in Romans 12, Romans 12, let's just backtrack to verse number 17 because this is what it means to leave vengeance for God okay? In verse number 17 it says O man, evil for evil so if someone's done you evil what don't you do in return? Evil, okay, the word evil means harm in the Bible, if someone's harmed you you don't harm them in return alright, it says look at this provide things honest in the sight of all men honest in the sight of all men what that means is don't secretly okay, go and, I don't know jump on social media under anonymous accounts and then tell everybody how wicked someone is like, you know so everyone thinks they didn't take revenge but behind the scenes, whatever it is, right you know, you're going out gossiping and sharing secrets and all this nonsense no, no, no, we need to be honest in the sight of all men you know, where someone might see you someone has done you wrong and you don't do them wrong in return you don't render them evil in the sight of all men, they're like you know what I think? when they see you, not respond and you're like, well, you know, they treated me bad and I'm just going to do I'm just going to leave it in God's hands and get on with life they're going to think like a super Christian like, you know, what a great testimony you know what a great reputation you know, what a godly man where he's not letting this evil bother him he's just getting on, he's carrying on in his business what a mature man of God that's what, in the sight of all men that's what they're going to think of you like, honestly, if men aren't going to turn around and go what a weakling, why doesn't he get revenge? like, someone that is godly will understand whether he's leaving it in the hands of God to deal with it continues in verse 18 now, it doesn't mean that you will always leave peaceably with all men it says, if it be possible but as much as life in you God is saying do as much as you can to just be at peace even when someone does you wrong even when someone says in your face I hate your guts you don't you just as much as life in you just go, you know what, I'm going to be kind to this person I'm going to be at peace with this person I'm not going to render them evil for evil I'm going to render them evil for evil and that's where we get to verse 19 and you say, well, I'll just ignore them you know, I won't do them any wrong you know, someone's wronged me okay, yes yes, pastor Kevin, I won't render evil for evil but I just can't talk to them I'll just ignore them, I'll just pretend they don't exist no, no, no, that's not because it gets even harder okay, let's continue there, verse number 20 can you do that? after they've done so much harm towards you look out for their good, God is saying how hard is that? like, I I'm just telling you as a pastor, I've had that alright pastor, I'm not going to cause any troubles I just can't talk to that person anymore friendship's over, can't deal with them I'll just ignore them no, actually no, that's not the instructions of God God says look out for their best take him out for a meal buy him a drink look, you can win a friend over very quickly like that I don't know about you have you ever had someone that was an enemy and now it's your friend you say I've never happened well, it should happen if there's Christian maturity in you as you live life you're going to come across people that just don't like you and then, hey, you do them good you take them out you buy them a coffee you try to be at peace with them and you'll be surprised how many people hate you that actually end up loving you and become your friend and you sort out your differences friendship's even stronger than it ever could have ever been if not for some problem, you know I used to work for a company here in Smithfield and we used to ship out like a thousand parcels a day, I think it was was it a thousand or ten thousand? I can't remember so we had all these customers so many customers and we discovered that the customers that are the most loyal to the business is not the customer when everything goes smoothly so if the customer orders a part and we promise 24 hours, if they lived in a metropolitan area of Australia, they'd get it within 24 hours delivering, you know, if everything just went smoothly and they got their parts within 24 hours, that wasn't the most loyal customer the one that had no problems was never the most loyal customer, the most loyal customers are the ones when something goes wrong, they don't get their parts in time, okay and they get upset, they get angry and say you did not fulfill your promise I paid this money and then the company fixes it gets to them quickly, deals with the problem listens to the complaints you know, maybe gives them a discount for a future purchase or something like that where the company's trying to make peace trying to fix the problem those people become the most like loyal customers they're the ones that speak most positively about the business they're the ones that go out on the Google reviews and says boy I had an issue but they fixed it immediately they care for their customers it always was the person who had a problem and it was fixed and who are the customers that leave the negative reviews the ones that have the problems and the business refuse to fix it for whatever reason, right, we could never sort things out with the customer base they're the ones that would leave the awful negative reviews on Google but the ones that always, if things just work you don't leave the positive reviews cause you're like well that's how it should be but when you have problems and it gets fixed that's going to create a loyal customer base you know our brethren, our enemies, we ought to turn them into friends don't ignore them like ignoring an enemy is rendering evil for evil you're saying you're not even worth acknowledging you're not even worth a human being to me you're not even worth saying hello to that's horrible like that is evil you're making them feel like garbage you say well they deserve to yeah but vengeance is not yours leave vengeance to God look I don't know if you have any personal enemies in your life if you have any personal enemies you have some of that you know you're bitter against and they've done you wrong and you want to get back at them you know what you should do call them up hey enemy, or don't call them enemy hey bro let's go out and grab a coffee together hey bro I'll take you out for lunch I'll pay for it, my shout and just watch, just watch the Lord do a work you say pastor what if it doesn't work what if they're still wicked toward me and well let's keep going there what does it say in Romans 12 verse number 20 after it said if you first give him drink for in so for in so doing thou shall keep coals of fire on his head be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good the Bible says the more positive the more good you do toward them you're actually adding more coals of fire upon their head meaning that if they don't sort it out with you, if they just continue being evil, wicked towards you God's vengeance will be even hotter upon them, so that's a good way for you to get your revenge I want maximum vengeance God you know I'm going to put more coals of fire upon their head, alright how do you do that, treat them well and you might be surprised, they might become your best friend and then God doesn't have to take vengeance anymore, you sort it out, you make peace Bible says bless the other peacemakers it's a great blessing to be a person that goes out of their way to make peace, even when someone tries to cause a lot of turmoil and problems in your life can you come with me to another passage come with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 you know the title for this one was be strong, fear not when someone does you wrong I want you to be strong you know fear will lead you to ignore your enemy fear will cause you to not want to interact or you might get you know you might have a conflict with someone at church for example and you're like well I just can't turn up the church because I might see them at church that's fear you know insecurities, fears that you may have now you know what you need to be strong you need to be strong you turn up and even if you don't like them right now, hello brother hello sister, god bless you how's your week are you thirsty, I'll get you to drink alright I get worried every time someone brings me a cup of water I don't know what are they doing, what are they showing me am I their enemy, are they adding coals of hot coals on my head I don't know when we do that when we treat each other well nobody should know if that person is a friend or an enemy in your sight because you're treating them exactly the same and you're leaving vengeance you're leaving revenge to god he'll sort it out he might turn it into a great friendship for you that might be a wonderful end to the conflict but in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 4 let's bring it back to end times events and again even though this has to do with the leading up to the millennial reign of Christ I just want to show you what it says here about the rapture in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse number 4 it says glory in you in the churches of god for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye are ye and you are the bible is telling us here that we as gods people we are going to face persecutions we're going to face tribulations the word tribulation means trouble ok, you will be hated just for being a believer you'll be hated for just decided on a Thursday night I'm going to go to mid-week service people are just going to trouble you for it they're going to mock at you, laugh at you for it but then look at verse number 5 it says which is a manifest token of the righteous judgement of god that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of god for which ye also suffer seeing it is a righteous thing with god to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you when you're being persecuted this gives me an opportunity to recompense those that trouble you it says in verse number 7 and to you who are troubled rest with us when the lord jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels I believe that's the rapture there inflaming fire, look at this taking vengeance on them that know not god and that obey not the gospel of our lord jesus christ vengeance once again so I believe this is about the rapture because then we get to chapter 2 being gathered together with the lord so look I don't know when the great tribulation is going to take place I don't know when these end times are going to take place there's always someone in the congregation that believes it's going to be our generation there's always someone like that but there's always been someone like that throughout all of church history now I don't know I still feel we could be many generations away from the end times I don't know if I'll even live through that time I don't know but the point is if we are that generation that goes through it the instruction like I said the title of the sermon was be strong, fear not even in the midst of tribulation even in the midst of great tribulation we are to allow jesus to take vengeance for us when we think about great tribulation, we think about that end time period where the antichrist is risen and is using mystery babylon to persecute the saints of god and they're murdering those that do not bow down and worship the idol of the antichrist that great desolation of abomination the abomination of desolation you know if you read the books in Kurong the left behind books you're going to be thinking that Christians are supposed to fight back against the antichrist that's not the case you know as believers there's only one responsibility that we have during great tribulation and that's to win people to Jesus Christ that's it, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ if we start thinking about revenge and how do I avenge myself how do I fight back you're going to be distracted from the last opportunity of great rewards and great treasures eternal treasures forever and if the antichrist wipes you out and beheads you so be it your resurrection is going to be a glorious one don't worry your head will be attached your new resurrected body cannot come off ever again and god's going to take vengeance on your behalf so sometimes people don't want to think about the end times because they think of it as a fearful time but as we saw in the Bible be strong, fear not don't worry about those that persecute you don't take revenge on your enemies leave vengeance to our lord god almighty back to Isaiah 35 and verse number 5 Isaiah 35 and verse number 5 still about the millennium but these verses remind me of Christ's first coming because it says in verse number 5 then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the death shall be unstopped then shall the lame man leap as in heart and the tongue of the dumb sing the dumb is someone who's unable to talk it says for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert see the end of verse number 6 again just confirms this is the millennium because we're talking about things you know blossoming in the desert and all this and so once again it's just talking about in the wilderness the waters are breaking out streams in the desert so there's going to be a rejuvenation in these areas and so once again we're seeing that this is the time frame is the millennium but once again we see these miracles taking place now I'm going to just quickly read to you, you don't need to turn there, I just want to quickly read to you from Matthew 15 29 this is obviously about the first coming of Christ and in Matthew 15 29 it says and Jesus departed from thence and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee and went up into a mountain and sat down there and great multitudes came unto him having with them those that were lame, blind dumb, maimed and many others and cast them down at Jesus' feet and he healed them insomuch that the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb to speak the maimed to behold the lame to walk the blind to see and they glorified the God of Israel so as Christ went healing the first coming people saw the wonderful miracles of Christ what are they doing when they see it all they glorify the God of Israel they're praising the Lord God because of these wonderful works you know and I mean this makes sense to me that when Christ comes to establish his kingdom he's going to perform the same miracles why not? Why not? Because don't forget it's not just us with our new resurrected bodies that are without sin that are going to be people walking there's going to be all those that saw themselves through that seven year period those that refused to take the mark of the beast those that got saved but are still in their natural bodies that will enter into the millennium and so they're entering in and still we have their corrupt bodies the blind are still going to be blind the dumb are still going to be dumb the deaf are still going to be deaf but then what we see here is that Christ will heal them all like in his first coming he healed some right? He healed some in his second coming, he heals it all so not only are the deserts blossoming not only is there abundance of fruit trees and harvest and wonderful growth on the land but even the healing of the people and there are other passages of scripture that tell us that these people are going to live for a long time they're going to have lengthy years very similar to the time frames that we see early in the book of Genesis when people lived for hundreds of years but still passed away those people in their natural bodies and so Christ is just going to come and he's going to heal all these people everyone that comes to him in the millennial reign of Christ any issues, any sicknesses Christ will be there to heal these people and of course, like we saw in the first coming we're going to be glorifying the God of Israel upholding the name of Jesus Christ instead of it just being some localized event in his first coming this is going to be the whole earth what an amazing millennium what an amazing future to come look at verse number 7 it says in the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water just confirming that there's going to be plenty of water these desolate places it says in the habitation of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes again dragons are just reptiles so they're going to be able to these creatures are all just going to be able to come and just be near the waters this part is the most interesting part for me verse number 8 it says an highway shall be there what's a highway? for us we would say it's like a principal road it's a major road that links maybe significant locations one to another without any major interruptions we would generally call that a highway well, there will be a highway there and then it says this and our way a single way and straight away, I'm just thinking about this hold on, we know that Jesus Christ he is the way and so it looks like this highway or this way represents symbolically represents that there is one way to salvation there is one way who is Jesus Christ and it says here and it shall be called the way of holiness so in the millennium we're going to take out our phones you say, how do I get to Jesus? or just google in the way of holiness highway and then it will pop up and you'll be like, that's how we go and see Jesus Christ because don't forget he's actually ruling on the earth like Jesus Christ is actually walking the earth during these thousand years and it says here the unclean shall not pass over it so there will be some people that are excluded from accessing this highway the unclean I'll give you a moment to think about who the unclean could be there it says here but it shall be for those so who should it be for? for those, Colin, this is who it's for the wayfaring men the wayfaring men are people who are travelers okay though fools so again it's referring to the fact that they're not like us in new resurrected bodies without sin the wisdom of God, these are still foolish people in their thoughts like young in the faith if you want to call it that way and then it says shall not err therein alright, so who are the unclean? even though you can be kind of foolish okay, but if you're if you're clean, you can have access to this highway I guess it's kind of like a toll system or something like that like, you know, usually you can go on a motorway if you've got your toll tag that toll tag for us is going to be whether you're clean or unclean you say, who are the clean? you might be asking that question well let's continue it says in verse number 9 no lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon so it's just talking about how safe the travel's going to be, how safe the highway's going to be it says it shall not be found there but the redeemed shall walk there alright, so who are the clean? the redeemed who are the redeemed? the saved so what gives you access to this highway into Jerusalem to see Jesus Christ? you must be saved but if you're unclean, if you live in the millennium and you're not yet a believer you're not going to get access to this highway I don't know how they're going to know that but somehow, whoever's going to get access to this highway the single way we don't know exactly how the earth is going to look when Christ comes back it changes the topography there'll be new rivers, there'll be new pools there'll be blossoming places, all this stuff but the idea that I get is probably from all nations there's probably going to be some major roads headed toward Jerusalem and at some point all these major roads are going to have to hit that highway that leads to Jerusalem to see Jesus Christ again, I think just highlighting that many nations to be a believer in Christ to be part of the redeemed to be clean, there is one way one way to Jesus and I think that's just going to be you know, I often wonder are we going to drive cars? I guess it doesn't really matter for us with new resurrected bodies if we're going to be made like unto Christ we know that Christ, when he resurrected from the dead he could just go through walls, he could just appear anywhere he could just go from one place to another just instantly so I suppose those with new resurrected bodies are going to be able to do something similar I'm just assuming but then you've got the rest of people there are other people that are just regular regular natural bodies they haven't got the resurrection just yet are they going to be able to drive on this highway? I often think about this but at the end of verse number 9 it says, but the redeemed shall walk there so I guess they're walking or maybe you can drive and walk at the same time I don't know I don't know what technology is going to be like I don't know if we're going to go back to a very basic system because don't forget what leads up to the millennium is such a destruction on the earth you know, and like when we read about the armies that rise up themselves against Jesus Christ we often read about horses we read about, and people might put the argument but yeah, you know, in the Bible days you know, if these prophets could envision cars and airplanes they probably wouldn't even know what they are so they just write down horses, but I'm thinking like, and this is just my opinion this is not the Bible, so don't take this as a grain of salt but it might be that as the Lord brings great wrath upon the earth and there is so much fighting and there's so much destruction that maybe like all our electricity grids are just going to go down everything that we are used to the modern technologies that we have today think about if everyone's got electric cars and the electrical grid just goes down does that mean when we start the millennium all that modern technology is going to be a waste maybe? I don't know but one thing we just see here is that of course this highway is a highway that can be walked you say from one nation to another nation walking? Yeah, but it's the millennium right? It's going to be a different system there's going to be different, you know like I said, even those with natural bodies are going to be able to live for hundreds of years, it's going to be a completely different earth, so maybe walking is not going to be such a big deal like we think today. Look at verse number 10 and the ransomed of the Lord shall return again just confirming the redeemed are the ransomed and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Millennium's a place of great joy, a place of great gladness and the sorrows and the sighing of the past is gone rejoicing in the Lord. When the Bible there speaks of the ransomed, you know that reminds me of Matthew 20-28 Jesus Christ says even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Give his life a ransom for many. So who are the ransoms? Those that have received the life of Jesus Christ, right? Those that have received his sacrifice those that have received the gospel message his death, burial, resurrection his eternal life, they are the ransomed and so again if you go to other churches and you read other commentaries and things like that, they're going to tell you those people walking on the highway, the redeemed and the ransomed, you know what they're going to tell you? The dispensational world those are the Jews had you known brother? I guess Jesus only died for the Jews then I don't know, what do I say to you? It's so crazy because remember Peter, remember when Cornelius was praying to the Lord and then God gave Peter this vision of the unclean and clean animals God tells Peter, eat of the unclean and he says, how can I eat of the unclean you know, I'm a Jew and then God's trying to show him a vision you know, that which was unclean, the Gentiles the unsaved world, have been made clean those that have received Christ, we're clean and that's the great message of the New Testament right? That anybody of all nations that are saved under Jesus Christ are clean and not unclean and yet when we read these passages about the clean, oh that's just the Jews they haven't even learnt the lesson that Peter learnt in the book of Acts look, the book of Acts is not contrary to Isaiah it's complementary yes, it includes Jews that are walking the highway the Jews that believed on Christ but the Jews that believe on Christ are no longer Jews, they're just believers they're Christians like the rest of us my brethren, the title for the sermon was Be Strong, Fear Not and so just a last thought again, I don't know, you know I feel like our world is just so messed up I don't know, man I'm sure you've all heard on the news about what's happening in the United States and the presidential race and the attempted assassination it just, it's like, I don't know, man what is wrong with this world? like, you know, it's like what do you believe? it just seems like everything is so corrupt you know, are things scripted, are things real it's almost like you don't even know you know, what the truth out there is and sometimes when there's so much uncertainty it can bring fear you know, it can bring fear in our hearts and just a last reminder, the title for the sermon was Be Strong, Fear Not okay we're going to try to do the best we can as believers to just be at peace with people that's what you need to be left with thinking if you have an enemy if you have someone that hates your guts I strongly encourage you if you're going to take one thing away from the sermon ring them up hey buddy, can we hang out? can you do it? I'll leave it with you to decide I've had to do it in my life you know, people that I just don't like you know, hey buddy, can we hang out grab a coffee together and just have a chat it's not comfortable but hey, it's the instruction of the Lord and we need to leave vengeance with him it belongs to him okay Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your word thank you for the great promise of the millennium to come and Lord if there's any fears in our hearts tonight or fears of the future fears of great tribulation Lord, I pray that we would be strengthened by your hand Lord, may your Holy Spirit just you know, you've not given us a spirit of fear but of love I can't even remember right now but of a sound mind you tell us Lord of love and of sound mind Lord, I just pray that the Holy Spirit will be able to work in our hearts and alleviate the concerns and worries that we have Lord on this earth Lord, you promise us that you see the enemies that harm us Lord, the evil that is done toward us Lord, please give us peace Lord, please keep us humble and dependent upon you Lord knowing full well that you take revenge you take vengeance for our sake and Lord, help us to as much as we possibly can to be at peace with the people who have done us wrong Lord, welcome to the time once again of the great millennium to see Jesus Christ walk on this earth and thank you Lord that you allow us to rule and reign with you Lord, it would be a wonderful time to be able to see you face to face and talk with you and to worship you and to sing you praises Lord, like we do tonight but Lord, to see you face to face as we sing you praises and we have great joy what a great time that will be Lord to be with our brothers and sisters and Lord Lord, just being thankful for the opportunity you give us to serve alongside you We love you Lord, thank you so much for tonight and take us home safely after the service in Jesus' name we pray, Amen Amen Alright, let's turn to hymn number 41 please hymn number 41 We'll sing Sweet by and by hymn number 41 Sweet by and by hymn number 41 Sweet by and by There's a land that is fairer than they and by faith we can see it afar for the Father waits over the way to prepare us a dwelling place there in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore we shall sing on that beautiful shore the melodious songs of the blessed and our spirit shall sorrow no more not a sigh for the blessing of rest in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore to our bountiful Father above we will offer our tribute of praise for the glorious gift of His love and the blessings that hallow our days in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by we shall meet on that beautiful shore Amen Alright, great singing everybody Thank you for being in the house of the Lord tonight The only announcement that I have to bring, I did create a poll on the church Whatsapp group asking if 6.30 is a realistic time for us to meet If we can meet half an hour earlier I'd like to get your feedback Alright? Now most people have said yes, 6.30 is realistic but you don't have to go the flow Like if it's a problem to anybody let me know, alright? I'd rather have the maximum number here on a mid-week service night so you know if there's anything or even if you don't want to share it on the group itself please contact me if 6.30 is too early Now I wouldn't mind It just allows me to get to bed a little bit earlier but it also allows us if we do want to have a time of church prayer as well, it gives us that extra half an hour in the night to be able to do that so I don't know, I think it's worth trying and I suggest let's see out this month of July but let's say next month from August, mid-week services from August let's just trial it for one month let's see what happens, let's see how we go let's meet at 6.30 from August on Thursday nights and I'll see if the numbers dwindle or if people turn up very late for some reason, if it just doesn't work out doesn't matter, we can go back to 7 o'clock but let's trial it, but again if it's an issue for you please let me know, because I really want you to be in the house of the Lord and half an hour is not really going to change my schedule too much alright? alright, that's pretty much it for tonight let's just end in a word of prayer I'll ask brother Matthew if you don't mind closing us in a word of prayer, thank you I'll need you to bring us to church this evening and we are, it's one thing for the sermon we're able to hear from the big Lord to, not just to give our enemies but also probably a blessing unto them with their mayba and to be put testimony Lord, and who knows if we have enemies that are on stage or wherever with their mayba, and He presents them the perfect opportunity to preach the gospel to them the Lord we pray you bless the fellowship that we're about to have and keep us safe on our way home in Jesus' name we pray Jesus, amen Amen, thank you all, you're dismissed Thank you