Intro / Review:
Progress Report: Philadelphia. (Rev 3:7-13):
- The COMMENDATION: Your Faithfulness brings security. (Rev 3:8-10)
RAPTURE 101
What is the Rapture? - The rapture is the future event when Jesus Christ descends from heaven to gather his people, those who died and those living, to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, to receive their glorified bodies and be kept from the 7 year Tribulation on the earth.
3 New Testament passages teach the Rapture:
John 14:1-4, 1 Cor 15:51-54, 1 Thes 4:13-5:11
- The Rapture is NOT the "Second Coming".
- When is the Rapture?
- Why I Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture:
- It's the most Straightfoward understanding of the biblical language.
1 Thes 5:9 - For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ...
- We never see the Church in the tribulation in Revelation!
- Many of the common arguments against pre-trib rapture don't have Substance.
- The COMMAND. Hold on Securely. (Rev 3:11)
- The CALL. Security is for Eternity ! (Rev 3:12-13)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:39-00:41
We're going to go after God's Word. Are you ready for that?
00:42-00:44
Alright, I hope that's why you're here.
00:45-00:46
One of the reasons you're here.
00:47-00:52
I heard a story, I'm sure you've heard this before, it's been circulated a lot.
00:52-01:01
But the man who was, he was having some hard times, and somebody suggested to him that maybe he turns to the Bible for the answer.
01:01-01:17
And the guy had never really been to church that much, and he didn't really know anything about the Bible, But he knew he had one sitting on a shelf somewhere, so he pulled the Bible off the shelf, and he didn't even know where to start reading, so he flipped through and he put his finger down to Matthew 27.5.
01:18-01:36
It says, "Judas hanged himself." He's like, "Surely that's not for me." So he flips over a few passages, and he puts his finger down on another one, and it says, "Jesus said, 'Go and do likewise.'" 10.37.
01:38-01:56
The guy says, "No, no, no, this isn't the message for me." And he turns over a few more pages, and puts his finger down and reads right on John 13.27 where Jesus said, "What you are going to do, do quickly." I think we see the obvious problem, right?
01:57-01:59
But you know, some people read the Bible that way.
01:59-02:03
They just sort of open it up, and we're just going to take whatever I open up to and read.
02:03-02:08
I've talked to people that read the Bible that way, and they're proud that they read the Bible that way.
02:09-02:14
But the problem is you don't look at the context when you read the Bible that way.
02:15-02:18
And context gives understanding to the meaning of the words.
02:19-02:24
And that's why at Harvest Bible Chapel, we believe in verse-by-verse expository preaching.
02:29-02:37
If you just cherry-pick what verses you want to look at The truth is you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say.
02:39-02:50
But when you go through verse by verse and allow God's Word to speak for itself, then there's a real sense in which you're hearing what God wants to communicate, not what the preacher wants you to think.
02:50-02:51
You know what I mean?
02:52-02:54
So, let's let the Word of God speak.
02:55-03:01
We're going to be looking at some tough stuff today, but I know I'm in a room full of people committed to that kind of thing. Amen?
03:02-03:03
All right, let's pray.
03:04-03:09
Father in Heaven, Your Word is exalted even above Your name according to You.
03:10-03:13
And I pray that we would take it as seriously as You do.
03:16-03:18
I pray that Your Holy Spirit would be our teacher.
03:24-03:31
And that while this is an extremely tough thing What we're looking at today, it's extremely important.
03:32-03:39
And I pray that we would be rid of any preconceived notions and just come with the expectation of what did God say?
03:41-03:43
Help us, Father, to go after that.
03:44-03:45
We pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
03:48-03:50
Open up your Bibles to Revelation 3.
03:50-03:52
We're going to be picking up in verse 7.
03:53-03:55
While you're turning there, just a quick review.
03:56-04:03
In Revelation 1, John the apostle was exiled on the island of Patmos because of preaching the Gospel.
04:03-04:23
And while he was there, Jesus showed up in all His glory and majesty and He told John, "I want you to write some things down." In the section we're in, in Revelation 2-3, we're calling it "Progress Reports." This is Jesus reporting on the condition of the church.
04:24-04:38
speaking specifically to seven churches that were in Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey, but just like all the letters to the churches in the Bible, these are messages for all churches of all time.
04:39-04:53
Okay, so today, as much as it pains me as a Pittsburgher to say, Today we're going to be in Philadelphia.
04:56-04:58
Don't worry, this is a good Philadelphia.
05:03-05:19
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia writes, "The words of the Holy One, the true One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens." Let's talk about Philadelphia.
05:19-05:21
This was the youngest of the seven cities.
05:23-05:31
And today, the city still exists, but it is called, and I practiced and practiced this, and I'm sure I'm going to butcher it, Alishir.
05:33-05:38
But like Smyrna, Philadelphia didn't receive any rebuke from Christ.
05:39-05:39
You're going to see that.
05:40-05:46
Like Smyrna, these churches, Philadelphia and Smyrna, they were both the smallest and weakest churches of the group.
05:46-05:50
They both dealt with what Jesus referred to as the synagogue of Satan.
05:51-05:53
They were Jewish false teachers.
05:53-05:55
Or they said they were Jewish.
05:56-05:58
But they certainly knew who they were dealing with.
05:59-06:01
But I want you to see how Jesus introduced Himself.
06:01-06:02
Look at these phrases.
06:03-06:11
Now previously, when Jesus introduced Himself to these churches, He used phrases sort of drawn from the description of chapter 1.
06:11-06:14
But here He uses phrases drawn from the Old Testament.
06:16-06:18
And so Jesus refers to Himself as the Holy One.
06:19-06:20
That is huge.
06:22-06:27
Because if you know your Old Testament, there's only one person who is referred to as the Holy One, and that is God Himself.
06:28-06:33
And that phrase is used of Jesus Christ throughout the Gospels in different places.
06:34-06:36
Jesus is the Holy One.
06:37-06:40
And here Jesus is saying that He is God.
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Jesus said He's the True One.
06:43-06:45
He's genuine, authentic, and real.
06:46-06:50
I'm the way and the truth and the life, right?
06:51-06:52
No fake news with Jesus.
06:54-06:57
But the interesting phrase here, Jesus said He has the key of David.
06:58-07:04
And He says, "Who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens." What is that all about?
07:04-07:08
Well, "key" in the Bible refers to authority, right?
07:08-07:09
You get that.
07:09-07:14
At your workplace, some of you probably have keys to the workplace.
07:14-07:19
And when you're issued a key, it says you have the authority now to unlock and lock doors.
07:23-07:24
You certainly see that in Scripture.
07:27-07:29
So what are the keys of... what's the key of David?
07:29-07:35
Well in 2 Samuel chapter 7, David was promised that one of his descendants would rule forever.
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And Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of that.
07:40-07:49
God said, "David, one of your descendants will be an eternal king, ruling forever." Jesus is that descendant of David in the flesh.
07:51-08:01
So, because Jesus has the key of David, He's pointing out here that He alone determines who enters the kingdom.
08:01-08:02
This is huge.
08:03-08:13
That's why Jesus said, "Who opens and no one will shut." Jesus is saying no one can shut out those that He is opening the door for.
08:14-08:15
This is great news.
08:17-08:32
Because right now, if you are willing to turn from your sin and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, If you're willing to do that right now, then the door is open for you.
08:33-08:37
He is opening the door for you, and no one can keep you out of heaven.
08:37-08:38
That's what he's saying.
08:39-08:53
Like, "I want to receive Jesus." Nobody's going to intervene and say, "You can't. You can't enter heaven." Jesus is like, "You can't shut a door that I'm opening." But you see, the inverse is true too.
08:53-09:03
He says, "Who shuts and no one opens." "Who shuts and no one opens." In other words, no one can get into the kingdom if Jesus shuts them out.
09:05-09:30
So if your plan is, and I've talked to people like this, if your plan is, "Yeah, I'm going to heaven, but not through repenting from my sin, not through receiving Jesus as my Lord and Savior, not through allowing God to be my everything." You ain't getting in apart from Jesus Christ." You're like, "Yeah, I am." No, you are not!
09:30-09:41
Jesus said, "That is a door that I am shutting, and you are not going to open that." He alone has the authority to determine who gets in and out of the kingdom.
09:42-09:44
Let's look at a progress report.
09:45-09:46
Progress report Philadelphia.
09:47-09:51
First of all, number one, jot this down, the commendation.
09:53-09:55
Your faithfulness brings security.
09:57-09:59
Your faithfulness brings security.
09:59-10:01
Let's pick up in verse 8.
10:02-10:04
Jesus said, "I know your works.
10:06-10:10
Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut.
10:11-10:12
I know you have but a little power.
10:14-10:20
"Yet you have kept My word and not denied My name." Stop there for a second.
10:21-10:23
That open-door security, Jesus brings that up again.
10:23-10:25
They knew all about that in Philadelphia.
10:26-10:41
But Jesus said, "I know you have but little power." Now, some people look at that and say, "Well, Jesus was criticizing them." "Oh, look at you, little church, you're just so little and tiny." He was actually commending them.
10:42-11:00
"Yeah, you were small in and of yourselves, but they obviously found their power in Jesus Christ." Which led to the next thing, where Jesus said, "You have kept My Word." "You've kept My Word." They didn't deny the Word like so many do.
11:00-11:08
They didn't distort the Word like many others do.
11:08-11:10
They didn't dilute the Word.
11:12-11:13
They kept His Word.
11:15-11:19
And again, that's why we're committed to expository preaching at Harvest Bible Chapel.
11:19-11:21
We want to keep the Word of God.
11:23-11:25
Not deny, distort, or dilute.
11:26-11:30
And in so doing, keeping the Word, they have not denied His name.
11:30-11:31
Look at verse 9.
11:32-11:58
He goes on, "Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie, behold I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you." These Philadelphians stood strong against the same false teachers that we saw in Smyrna, this synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not.
11:58-12:01
But what's this, "they will bow down before you"?
12:02-12:02
Well, it's not to worship.
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Jesus wasn't saying they're going to come and worship you.
12:06-12:10
This is actually a sign of submission that you see a lot in the Old Testament.
12:11-12:18
If you want to jot these references down, Isaiah 45.14, Isaiah 49.23, Isaiah 60.14.
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We're not going to look those up today, but you certainly can.
12:21-12:30
But in all of these passages, you see people coming before Israel and bowing down because they recognize who Israel's God is.
12:31-12:33
So what is Jesus saying here just to sum it up?
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Jesus is saying, "They will realize that they never should have messed with you because you are Mine." Some of these people might even come to repentance as a result.
12:49-12:55
As I was working on this this week, I was thinking, this incident in high school.
12:57-13:00
We had this really sweet substitute teacher.
13:00-13:04
Just this sweet older lady the nicest human beings on the planet.
13:10-13:17
Certainly not any of the kids from our youth, but you know how some high school kids can get a little disrespectful substitute teachers.
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You know what I'm talking about?
13:18-13:19
Anybody know what I'm talking about?
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Okay. Not excusing it.
13:21-13:25
I'm just saying I've seen it and may or may not have been part of it when I was in high school.
13:27-13:29
But there is this really sweet substitute.
13:30-13:33
By the way, when I tell this story, I'm not one of the kids in the story, OK?
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I'm not one of the kids.
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It's not like I heard this from a friend of mine.
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I'm asking for a friend.
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It's not like that.
13:41-13:43
So we had this really sweet substitute teacher.
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Where did this story start?
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Where's it going?
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We had this really sweet substitute teacher, but there were these two boys in my class that got really belligerent and disrespectful with her.
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Just really way too far over the top, disrespectful.
13:58-14:05
And later on, in gym class, we had this gym coach.
14:05-14:06
Now, Jay, it's not the one you're thinking of.
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We had this other gym teacher that was almost as scary as the legendary, almost.
14:13-14:14
His name was Mr. Brocchetti.
14:15-14:16
Now, you remember him.
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Well, these boys come into gym class.
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And Mr. Brocchetti grabs these two boys.
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He goes, hey, I want to talk to you guys.
14:22-14:22
And they're like, OK.
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He steps in.
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He laid them out.
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Yeah, he was like, you have no business treating any faculty here like this.
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You should be ashamed of yourself.
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You don't ever treat one-- and he was just like-- I mean, I was in the next room, and I had chills down my spine.
14:44-15:01
And I'm like, why in the world is he-- I mean, it's great to have teachers standing up for each other, but why in the world was he so, like, all over these guys, it didn't hit me until he said, "By the way, did you know that she's my mother-in-law?" And I'm like, "They're dead."
15:02-15:02
(audience laughing)
15:11-15:12
Well, see, that's sort of what's going on here.
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Jesus is like, "Those people that messed with you, "they're gonna regret that.
15:22-15:25
How do you think those boys treated that substitute teacher from that day forward?
15:26-15:38
When they found out, they were probably like, "Can I get a pillow for your back? Would you like me to erase the board for you?" They probably bowed down before her, didn't they?
15:39-15:40
That's what's going on here.
15:41-15:42
You don't mess with Jesus people, right?
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You just don't do it.
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Because you might look real tough in the moment, but you don't mess with Jesus people.
15:52-16:00
So, verse 10, "Because you have kept My word about patient endurance..." Oh, here it is.
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"I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth." They have been patiently enduring trials they've been standing for Christ, and since they passed the test, Jesus promised that He was going to spare them from the ultimate test.
16:29-16:38
The ultimate test is the seven-year tribulation that we're going to be studying in Revelation that picks up in chapter 6.
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So today, today we are going to talk about the rapture.
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You knew it was coming, right?
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to have a sermon series through the book of Revelation without talking about the rapture.
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And Revelation 3.10 is one of the clearest teachings in the whole Bible about the rapture.
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And when you mention the rapture, it's always controversial.
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It's often neglected.
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It's seldom taught, but it's majorly important.
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And there might be some people here that disagree, and that's okay.
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If you would like to share with me sometime your views on "In Times," you can buy me a steak dinner somewhere and explain them to me, and I'll be glad to listen.
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But, as I am committed to believing and teaching the Bible straightforwardly, we're going after.
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All right? So this is Rapture 101.
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Rapture 101. You ready?
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Okay, first of all, what is the Rapture?
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This is sort of a generic definition I came up with.
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The Rapture is the future event when Jesus Christ "descends from heaven to gather His people" - those who died and those living - "to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, to receive their glorified bodies." Do you know the Bible says we're going to get a glorified body that's just like the same body that Jesus Christ Himself has?
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Philippians 3.21.
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Where were we? Yes.
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"So caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, receive their glorified bodies, and be kept from the seven-year tribulation on the earth as described in Revelation.
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This hour of testing is Daniel's 70th week.
18:51-18:55
Daniel 9:25-27 in the Old Testament.
18:55-19:06
The Bible talks about there is a future seven-year period on the earth of tribulation when God pours out His judgment on the earth.
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and it lasts for seven years. That's the Tribulation.
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There's three New Testament passages that teach the rapture.
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John 14, 1-4. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 51-54.
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And 1 Thessalonians 4.13 and I'd say to about 5.11.
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The whole section talks about the rapture and the day of the Lord.
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But just to clarify, sometimes when we talk about rapture, people immediately think, "Oh, that's the second coming of Jesus." And it's not. Those are two separate things.
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"Well, how can they be two separate things?" Well, with the rapture, Jesus comes for the saints.
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In the second coming, Jesus comes with the saints.
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Revelation 19.14.
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The rapture is imminent.
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The rapture can happen at any time, any second, unawares, like a thief in the night.
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The second coming of Jesus really isn't like that because it comes on the tail end of seven years of signs that are written down and clearly outlined.
20:22-20:27
So the second coming of Jesus to somebody that knows the Bible isn't really going to be a surprise.
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He says, "Here's exactly how it's all going to happen.
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Not so with the rapture.
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The rapture is imminent." So that's a little bit about what the rapture is.
20:39-20:42
The next question we need to look at is, when is the rapture?
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And that is the controversy, isn't it?
20:47-20:51
Except there are some people that believe that the rapture isn't going to happen at all.
20:52-21:01
But the people that do believe in a rapture, the views are based on when it takes place in relation There's pre-, mid-, and post-.
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Pre-tribulational means people believe that Jesus will remove His church before the tribulation.
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Mid-tribulation means that in the middle of the seven-year tribulation, that's what, three and a half years?
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Midpoint, Jesus is going to take His church out.
21:18-21:24
Some believe that the rapture happens post or after-the tribulation.
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What I want to share with you today is why I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.
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Meaning, I believe, because I believe the Bible most straightforwardly teaches this, I believe that Christ will remove His church, remove the saved, before the tribulation in Revelation.
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Before these horrible events that start in Revelation 6, that Jesus will remove His church.
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And you say, "Why do you believe that?" Go ahead.
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I'm so glad you asked.
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I'm going to give you three reasons.
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With some sub-points, right?
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Letter A, jot this down.
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It's the most straightforward understanding of the biblical language.
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It's the most straightforward understanding of the biblical language.
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I want you to look at Revelation 3.10.
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I just want to break this down very clearly.
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Again, I believe and I teach the Bible straightforwardly.
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I'm not making things up.
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I want to just echo what God has already said.
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Okay?
22:41-22:43
So look at Revelation 3.10.
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Jesus said, "I will keep you" - we'll talk about that in a second - "from the hour of trial." The hour of trial means there's a definite period of time.
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And Jesus said that "is coming" - that means it's yet future.
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So Jesus says in the future there's going to be this set period of time that will be a trial.
23:09-23:23
But the debate is over the phrase "keep from." Some people say, "Well, Jesus isn't saying He'll remove the church." Most people say that what Jesus is saying is He'll preserve the church through the tribulation.
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That's what He's saying.
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The church goes through the tribulation, but Jesus is just going to protect them through the tribulation.
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There's a couple problems with that view.
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First problem with that view is the wording itself, because the Greek for "keep from" literally means "out or away from." It means "take away from." That's literally what the word means.
23:47-23:54
If Jesus would have meant, "I'm going to preserve you through the tribulation," He would have used other words, but that's not what the Greek means.
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Okay?
23:57-24:03
But there's another problem with this view that Jesus is going to preserve His people through the tribulation.
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The other problem with that is believers in Christ during the tribulation aren't going to be preserved.
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They're going to be slaughtered.
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People that come to Christ during these events are going to be murdered for their faith.
24:24-24:26
So in what sense was Jesus preserving them?
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If they get killed anyway.
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I've even heard people argue, "Well, Jesus is saying God wasn't going to do it.
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Like, that's the comfort.
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Like, God's like, 'You know what?
24:39-24:46
Satan and the Antichrist are going to kill you, but it's not going to be me.' Like, 'Oh, thanks. I feel so much better you're appointing somebody else to murder me.
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That doesn't make any sense.
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Okay, back to Revelation 3.10, "I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming..." Look at the next phrase, "on the whole world." That's global.
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And that's how we know this tribulation is yet future because this has never happened yet.
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There has never been a worldwide global tribulation.
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But one is coming.
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Look at this last phrase, also very key here, church.
25:15-25:25
"To try those who dwell on the earth." Those who dwell on the earth, you're going to see that phrase a lot in the book of Revelation.
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Those who dwell on the earth, and every single time that phrase is used, it's talking about unsaved people.
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People who don't know the Lord.
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Those who dwell on the earth.
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So Jesus said the purpose of the rapture, The purpose of what he's promising in verse 10 is that unbelievers are going to face the ultimate test.
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And as we go through Revelation the rest of this year and next year, you're going to see many people pass the test.
25:57-26:03
You're going to see in Revelation, there are going to be countless people that turn from their sin and receive Jesus Christ.
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I get asked that question a lot.
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Do people get saved during the tribulation?
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Absolutely they do.
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Some say it's probably the most fruitful time of evangelism in history.
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So some people are going to repent, and some people are going to refuse to repent.
26:23-26:28
Jesus said this hour of trial that's coming in the whole world is to test unbelievers.
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He's going to put you through the tests if you don't know Him.
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So again, straightforwardly, it's exactly what the text says.
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Jesus promises to keep His church out of the future time of testing that's going to come on unbelievers.
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That's what the text literally says, and that's why I literally believe in a pre-tribulational rapture.
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There's another text too, by the way.
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1 Thessalonians 5.9.
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Look at this verse.
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It says, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." At first glance you might think, "Well, God has not destined us for wrath.
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That means God doesn't want us to go to hell." And while that is a true statement that God doesn't want us to go to hell, that's not what this verse is about.
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If you look at the context of this passage, 1 Thessalonians 5.2, he's talking about the day of the Lord, which is a time of judgment on the earth.
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The whole passage is not about hell.
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The passage is about judgment on the earth.
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The wrath that we are not destined for, spoken of in this verse, is the tribulation.
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He's saying, "You're not destined for that, church. You're not destined for that." Because earlier in chapter 4, he talks about the rapture.
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God's going to get you out of there.
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So again, straightforward understanding of the biblical language as the church is removed before the tribulation.
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Letter B, another reason that I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, We never see the church in the Tribulation in Revelation.
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We never see the church in the Tribulation in Revelation.
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Did you know, I'm sure you've been counting, the church is mentioned 19 times in Revelation 1-3.
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19 times. And it's not mentioned at all during the Tribulation.
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In fact, after chapter 3, the next mention of the church in Revelation isn't until chapter 22.
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So the question is, why is there absolutely no mention of the church and Revelation during the Tribulation when the book starts with so much about the church?
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Doesn't that seem weird?
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Like Revelation 2 and 3, the series we're on right now, the church, the church, the church, the church, the church, the church, the church, and then you get to Revelation 3, and there's no mention of the church at all?
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Chapter 3, chapter 4, all the way to chapter 22?
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The church is pretty conspicuous by its absence during the tribulation.
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The third reason, letter C.
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Many of the common arguments against the pre-tribulation rapture don't have substance.
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I just want to share a couple with you.
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Maybe you've heard these.
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First I've heard people say this, "I don't know why you believe in the rapture because the word 'rapture' is not even in the Bible." You know that. The word 'rapture' is not even in the Bible.
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That's true.
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The word "rapture" is not in the Bible.
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But neither is the word "grandpa." That concept's certainly there, right?
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But it's true, you know, "rapture" is not in the Bible.
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It's not. I don't know how to explain to you why.
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Because the word "rapture" comes from...
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Our English word "rapture" comes from the word "raptura," which is a Latin word.
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That word is not in the Bible. You're right.
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But, hang on...
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1 Thessalonians 4.17, the Greek word is "harpazo." Now the Latin word "raptura," "rapture," that means "carry away." That's what the word means.
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The Greek word "harpazo" means the exact same thing.
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Okay, so for the person that's like, "Rapture's not in the Bible," like, yeah, you're right.
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It's a Latin word, "harpazo." But now that I think about it, it would be a lot cooler thing to call the rapture, don't you think? Harpazzo. That sounds so Italian or something. Right? Jesus is going to come back and he's going to harpazzo his church. Just me? Alright. It means the same thing.
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Here's another one I hear.
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"Why would the church be exempt from suffering?" Have you heard that one?
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Like, you believe that Jesus is going to remove His church?
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Whoa, whoa, why do you think the church is exempt from suffering during the tribulation?
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That's an easy one.
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Because Jesus said the church would be exempt from suffering during the tribulation.
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I think that because he said it!
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Listen to this. This is huge.
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Throughout the Bible, suffering and persecution on God's people come from the world, not from God.
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Yes, God disciplines His children. That's a different thing.
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Suffering and persecution scripturally only comes from the world, not from God.
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Listen, also through the Bible, God has this track record of separating His people from the people that He's judging on the earth.
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You see that throughout the scripture.
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When God's going to judge somebody on the earth, He removes His people so that they don't bear the brunt of any of that.
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They're like, "Man, can you give me some examples of that?" I can give you several examples from that.
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Remember when God judged Sodom?
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What did He do with Lot and his family?
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Get out of there. Right?
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What about Noah and his family?
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God was going to judge the world with a flood.
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He said, "No, I'm going to protect you.
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I'm going to remove you from the blast zone." Right?
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What about...
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Remember when Israel was in Egypt?
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God was sending the plagues.
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What happened?
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Egypt got the plagues.
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Israel was unaffected.
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God was separating His people from the people that He was judging.
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And then when Israel went out into the wilderness, do you remember there was this rebellion led by this man named Korah?
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And Korah and his rebels were judged.
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But God separated His people from that so that they weren't in the blasting zone of judgment.
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So the point is, though many people will come to Christ during the tribulation, when the judgment starts, God will again separate His people from judgment on sinners by removing His church before the tribulation.
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So the church will not be the object of God's wrath.
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I said all that to say this.
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I believe that Revelation 3.10 means exactly what it says.
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That Jesus promised the church, "I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming in the whole world.
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Try those who dwell in the air.
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That's Rapture 101.
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Let's get to the criticism of this church.
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Oh, actually, there is no criticism.
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One of only two, right?
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Smyrna didn't receive any rebuke or criticism.
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Philadelphia doesn't either.
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So let's get to the command.
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Look at verse 11.
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The command is, "Hold on securely." "Hold on securely." In verse 11, Jesus said, "I am coming soon." That sounds like a great title for a sermon series through Revelation, doesn't it?
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"Coming Soon." "Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown." Because of their faithfulness, Jesus commands them to hold on to the love and loyalty to Him that caused them to endure their hardships.
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By the way, just a quick reminder, That's how God works.
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He secures believers by giving them persevering faith.
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In other words, the only true faith that there is, is enduring faith.
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That's the only kind of real faith.
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And that's the great thing about trials.
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Because trials and hardships and adversity, It shows you how genuine your faith really is.
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Do you love Jesus?
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Do you live for Jesus?
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Is your life about Jesus?
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Do you trust Jesus?
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We'll find out.
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We'll find out when you face a crisis.
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We'll find out when you go through a hard season.
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We'll find out when you hit a financial crisis.
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We'll find out when you get a bad health diagnosis.
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Don't you really trust Jesus?
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That's a wonderful thing about trials, church.
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It shows us how strong our faith is, or it shows us that maybe we don't really have faith like we think we do.
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Jesus talks about the crown.
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He says, "Hold fast to what you have so that no one may seize your crown." We talked about this last week.
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You can never lose your salvation, but you can.
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"Forfeit rewards with unfaithfulness." That's a whole other sermon.
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The point here simply is Jesus is calling the faithful to hold on to their faith.
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Don't give up.
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Finally, the call.
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Security is for eternity.
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Look at verses 12 and 13.
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Jesus said, "The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.
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Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name." "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." That last phrase is familiar. Jesus said it to every church.
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In other words, if you're tuned in, turn the volume up, right?
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Let's talk about this other language here for a couple minutes.
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Jesus said, first of all, "The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God." Pillar obviously represents stability, it represents permanence, it represents a place of honor and respect.
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We still use that phrase today, don't we?
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I talk about somebody as a...
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That guy's a pillar in our community.
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You guys all know what that means, right?
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I was talking to Mark Wirt last night, and I just asked him to pray for his family.
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His father passed away after a long battle.
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Just lots of ups and downs over the last couple of years.
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He passed away a couple of days ago.
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And talking to Mark on the phone, He said, "You've been a pillar in our church, Mark." And he knew what that meant.
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So how awesome is it that Jesus says to His people, "You're going to be a pillar in God's community." "Me?" "Yeah, you.
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A place of permanence and honor." Wow!
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Jesus said, "Never shall he go out of it." That's security, church.
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Security and eternal glory.
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There's no chance of getting kicked out of heaven.
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I've had people ask me that over the years.
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Like, what happens if I sin?
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I'm in heaven, and like, ten million years into heaven, I mess up and sin, is God going to kick me out?
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Jesus said there's no chance of getting kicked out of heaven.
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He says, "Never shall he go out of it." If that wasn't secure enough...
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You see, Jesus promises that He's going to give you a tattoo.
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Actually, He's going to give you three of them.
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And you're like, "Yeah, Pastor Jeff, I'm not really into tattoos." Well, that wasn't up for debate.
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Because Jesus is giving them out, and you're going to be in that line.
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Like, "What's this tattoo?" Jesus said, "I will write on him the name of my God." Jesus is going to write God's, you don't, do you realize how awesome that is?
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Jesus is gonna put God's name on you?
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The name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, so like the address is going on there too.
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And if that wasn't enough, Jesus says, "I'm gonna put my name on you too." I am so ready for that.
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Like, what's going on here?
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Well, again, this is something if you think about it, we totally understand this too, don't we?
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We write our names on things that we own, that we value, that we don't want to lose, right?
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Don't we do that?
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Like a book.
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If you have a book that you loan out, what's the first thing you do?
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You're going to write your name and address in the front so you make sure you get it back.
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I want that back.
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Some people write their name in the tag of their coat, right?
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I don't want to lose this. I want to make sure that people know that this is mine." That's what the Lord is going to do to you!
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He's like, "I am going to write my name on you because you belong to me." Everybody just goes, "Yeah, me too!" Now church, we are closer than ever to the Lord bringing history to a close.
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Like the Philadelphians, let's hold fast to what we have.
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Let's stay on mission.
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Church, today let's be thankful for the reality that before God unleashes these astonishing acts of judgment on the earth that we're going to be studying in Revelation, Jesus is going to come to escort His people to heaven.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, our hearts and minds can barely handle these promises that You are going to come for Your bride.
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You are going to remove us from the blasting zone of God's wrath.
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You're going to put Your name on us.
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What can we say as we close our time of studying such an awesome passage of promises from Your Word, but thank You.
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Thank You, Father, for Your grace.
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Thank You, Father, for Your deliverance.
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Thank You, Father, for the reality of these promises.
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Oh, we are fired up, Father.
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We are excited and we pray, Father, that it just fires us up to let even more people know about Your awesome love and the awesome rescue mission that Jesus Christ accomplished by dying on the cross for our sins.
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By raising from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life.
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It's in His glorious name that we pray.
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Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Revelation 3:7-13
GROUP
What is the Rapture? What reasons were given in the message for a “Pre-Tribulation” Rapture?
How is the Rapture different from the Second Coming? Compare 1 Thes 4:16-17 and Rev 19:14.
How are trials and hardships good for your faith? Be specific!?
BREAKOUT
Pray for one another!