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

["Pomp and Circumstance"] 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 you you you you you you you on the first you 119 119 on the first you you you you you you you you go ahead 101 101 Jesus Never Fails sing it on the first you you Jesus Never Fails heaven and earth they pass away but Jesus never fails Matthew go ahead 367 367 367 on the first there's a dear and precious book now it's grown and rooted now which recalls those happy days of long ago blessed blessed blessed blessed precious old dear I love to love as I walk the narrow way sorry brother I need to practice on that one 215 215 on the first oh what a wonderful wonderful day day I will never forget after I wondered in darkness away Jesus my singer I met oh what a tender compassionate friend he met the need of my heart shy as a stranger joy I am telling you no doubt will come heaven came down and well he filled my soul when at the cross the sinner made me whole my sins were washed away and my heart was torn to hair but they came down and well he filled my soul brother Montel go ahead song number 19 yes sir on the 4th got it song number 19 on the 4th there is a fountain song number 19 sing it on the 4th air sits by faith I saw the street life flowing on supply redeeming love has been my dream and shall be till I die and shall be till I die and shall be till I die redeeming love has been my dream and shall be till I die and uh Joshua go ahead 216 216 this will be the last one this evening 216 sing it on the 1st a pilgrim was I and a one dream in the cold night of sin I did know when Jesus the kind chapter coming and now I am out of it home surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days all the days of my life surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and I shall feast at the table spread for me surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days all the days of my life all the days all the days of my life good singing and we want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church tonight we're glad you're with us and let's go take our bulletins we'll look at some announcements real quickly if you do not have a bulletin just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you if you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we will get one for you the verse this week Matthew 7 verse 11 says if you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him and that's a good verse there we like that if you open up your bullets and you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 10 30 am and we had a wonderful service this morning and we're glad you're back out tonight for the evening service I appreciate your faithfulness and I realize when it's raining like this it's hard to get to church and all those things but we're glad that you are here tonight if you look at our service times of course Sunday service 10 30 6 pm for our evening service and our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 pm we're going to be finishing up 2 Corinthians chapter 3 this coming Wednesday so we encourage you to read that ahead of time and be ready to look at that if you look at our soul meeting times our main soul meeting times on Saturday morning at 10 am and then we have additional soul meeting times on Wednesdays at 11 am the school of prayer is there for you at our South sack time so you can meet there if you'd like Thursdays at 2 pm Sundays at 2 pm and then of course we are a family integrated church children and infants are as welcome in the service we don't separate children from their parents for any reason if you look at the announcements and upcoming events of course we are going through a series called called the school of prayer on Sunday mornings we're learning from Jesus how to pray and we encourage you we finish the Lord's prayer this morning and we're going to continue on other teachings from the Lord Jesus Christ in regards to prayer and then of course we're doing the book of Joel on Wednesday on Sunday nights and then 2 Corinthians on Wednesday night tonight we're finishing up the book of Joel so we're glad you're with us for that you are invited to a wedding for Joshua Lunsford and Rebecca Thompson this Friday October 29th at 2 pm the address is there for you and if you'd like to attend you can sign up RSVP on your communication card and then next Sunday night we're having our harvest party it's Sunday October 31st at 6 pm we'll have our normal evening service like we normally do probably a little bit shorter of a sermon and things like that and then after that we'll have our potluck or we'll have our chili cook off so we'll have the chili, cornbread, desserts jump houses for the kids every kid will receive a small bag of treats and first place winner gets a $25 gift card, second place winner gets first place gets $50, second place gets $25 and we do have the sign up sheet in the foyer so if you're not yet done so make sure you go by there and sign up for the desserts and for the cornbread and then of course we have a baby shower for Miss Jackie O2 and Kiki Morales on Saturday November 6th at 3 pm you can RSVP on the communication card, they are registered on Amazon and Target and it is a potluck so if you could bring us this to share we'd appreciate it, tomorrow the staff guys are going to be assembling our prison mailers for our prison mailing ministry if you're able to come at we would appreciate it, upcoming cleaning crew you can check for your name, home school group, they've got PE class on Thursday October 28th at 10 am please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so they're not a distraction to anybody if you look at the back of the bulletin, birthday is an anniversary for the month of October tomorrow is Emma Gonzalez's birthday and then on the 26th is Abraham Jimenez's birthday and brother Ron Kolak's birthday, praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at and just a quick announcement with Miss Dogma, I appreciate everyone who volunteered to go help her I know there were some ladies who asked about maybe helping, not today but maybe Monday or Tuesday, if you're able to help with that, or I'm not sure if we'll need it, I think we probably will need it, but if you're able to help with that, just see my wife and she can get you situated with all of that, I think that's it for all of the announcements, so I don't have a song that I picked out but how about we sing till the storm passes by, it's a good song to sing when it's raining like this I don't have the number, does anybody have that number for me? 119, 1 19 and we'll sing you didn't sing this already, did you? Alright, 119 sing it out on the first In the dark of the midnight have I oft hit my face while the storm howls above me and there's no hiding place near the crash of the thunder precious Lord, hear my cry, keep me safe till the storm passes by you gotta sing it like it's thundering outside, alright? till the storm passes over till the thunder sounds the Lord till the clouds roll forever from the sky hold me fast let me stand in the hollow of thy hand keep me safe till the storm passes by 119, sing it out on the second many times Satan whispers there's no need to try for there's no end of sorrow there's no by and by but I know thou art with me tomorrow applies where the storm's never dark in the skies till the storm passes over till the thunder sounds the Lord till the clouds roll forever from the sky hold me fast let me stand in the hollow of thy hand keep me safe till the storm passes by when the long night has ended till the storm comes no more let me stand in thy presence on that bright peaceful shore in that land where the tempest never comes Lord may I dwell with thee when the storm passes by till the storm passes over till the thunder sounds no more till the clouds roll forever from the sky hold me fast let me stand in the hollow of thy hand hold me fast till the storm passes by Amen We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father Lord we do come to you tonight asking that you bless the offering Lord we pray that you bless the gift and the giver we ask that you meet with us as we open up your word as we study the Bible together Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen And gather yourselves together round about, hither calls thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Notice he says, I'm going to gather you in the battle of Armageddon and there I'm going to judge you. I'm going to judge the nations. He says, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Now notice verse 13. And a lot of people, especially our dispensational friends, they get confused here. Because then he says this in verse 13. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full. The fats overflow, for the wickedness is great. And here you have a description of a harvest. And sometimes people get confused and they say, well is this the rapture? Because the rapture is often equated to a harvest. Or it's pictured by a harvest. The Bible talks about the fact that he's going to harvest the world of believers. And here in Joel chapter 3 in verse 13 he says, Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full. The fats overflow, for the wickedness is great. And sometimes people get confused and they'll say, well this is confusing because you've got the battle of Armageddon and you've got the rapture. And this is why you can't understand these things. It's not in chronological order and all these things. But here's what you need to understand. The harvesting that Joel is mentioning here in Joel 3, 13 is not the rapture. I'm going to prove that to you. Not from a commentary, but from the Word of God. It's not the rapture. Because in the end times there are actually two harvests or harvestings that are described in the same way. One for believers at the rapture, yes. And then another when it is a harvesting of the reprobate nation armies that God gathers together in the battle of Armageddon to destroy them. Let me prove it to you. Go to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter number 14 if you would. I'm not sure if you kept your place in the book of Revelation or not. Revelation chapter 14. Look at verse number 14. Revelation chapter 14 and verse 14. The Bible says this and I look. This is of course the book of Revelation. By the way, when you study the Bible you should always allow the New Testament to shed light upon the Old Testament. Not vice versa. This is where a lot of people get confused. They want to go to Daniel and have Daniel explain to us what the book of Revelation teaches. Or have Joel explain to us what the book of Revelation teaches. The Bible calls those Old Testament books. Paul said about those Old Testament prophetic books. He said we see through a glass darkly. The Bible tells us about the book of Daniel that it's a closed book. It's a dark book. He didn't have to fast for 21 days just to try to understand the little bit he could. And there was all sorts of spiritual warfare as a result of his fasting and his request and his understanding. The Bible tells us that the book of Revelation is the book that God gave us to reveal unto us the events of the end time. So always allow the New Testament to shed light upon the Old Testament. Always allow the book of Revelation to shed light upon other prophetic books. So here in Joel chapter 3 we have this sickle and this harvest that is ripe and this press that is full. And it overflows and their wickedness is great. So we know it's not the rapture of believers because their wickedness is great is what it says. In Revelation 14 and verse 14 the Bible says this, And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man. Now again people like to play games with these verses and make them say things that aren't there. But you don't have to be a scholar to realize that Jesus on this earth called himself the Son of Man over and over and over and over again. Jesus called himself the Son of Man more times than he called himself. The Bible calls him the Son of Man more times than it calls him the Son of God. The Son of God is a reference to his deity. The Son of Man is a reference to his humanity. There's one other person that called himself the Son of Man as he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ and that's Ezekiel the prophet. This is not talking about Ezekiel. And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man. So we have someone who has the same reference as the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of Man coming upon a cloud. Now I don't know how many credits you got from Bible college but you don't have to be that smart to figure this out. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says he ascended up in a cloud. The angel said the same way in which he left is the way in which he will come. And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. You say well that kind of sounds like what Joel said. He said that there was a sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud thrust in the sickle and reaped. For the time has come for thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. You say well that kind of sounds like Joel chapter 3. Notice verse 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped. You say what is going on here in Revelation 14? This is the rapture. This is the harvesting of believers. This is the harvest of the Son of Man coming upon a cloud thrusting his sickle into the harvest and reaping the harvest of the earth, the believers, because the earth is ripe and the earth was reaped. That's what we find here in Revelation 14, 14 through 16. You say well then what do we do with Joel chapter 3 and verse 13? Because that says put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come get you down for the price is full. The fats overflow for the wickedness is great. You say where does that fit? Well keep reading because there's two harvests. Notice verse 17, Revelation 14, 17. And, here's the key word, another. Not the same, another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He, here's the key word, also. Not the same, a different one, another one who also says he also having a sharp sickle. Joel 3, 13, put ye in the sickle. This is the sickle that Joel's referring to. Revelation 14, 17. After Jesus, the Son of Man, comes in the clouds, puts in the sickle and he harvests the earth, the rapture happens. Then the Bible tells us there's another angel that came out. He also having a sharp sickle. Look at verse 18, and another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for the grapes are fully ripe. Isn't that what Joel said? Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe? Here in Revelation 14, in verse 17, we're told about another angel with another sickle also having a sharp sickle and he thrust in the sickle. He says that, verse 18, for her grapes are fully ripe. Notice verse 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress. What did Joel say? He said put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come get you down for the press is full. Joel said the press is full. Revelation says that he cast them, last part of verse 19, into the great winepress. Notice of the wrath of God. Notice verse 20. And the winepress was trodden without the city. What do you do in a winepress? What do you do in a press? See, Joel is describing, he's saying God is going to take a sickle and God is going to take a pruning hook. And yes, the Son of Man is going to come in a cloud and he's going to harvest the believers out of the earth. That's called the rapture. But he says then there's going to come also another judgment, another harvesting, where God is going to gather all these reprobates, because remember at this point they've already taken the mark of the bees. It's a reprobate army of the antichrist gathering all these militaries together. He's gathering them together into this valley and he illustrates it as though he's bringing grapes into a press. What do you do with grapes in a press? You take your shoes off, you climb inside and you crush them. What is God going to do? Look at Revelation 14 verse 20. And the winepress was trodden without the city. And blood came out of the winepress even unto the horses' bridles by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs. You say, what is going on here? Here's what's going on. After the rapture, after the Son of Man comes in the clouds and gathers all his believers, after the rapture you have the wrath of God, which ends with the battle of Armageddon, where God again throws in a sickle and gathers all these people together into this valley. He calls it the press of the wrath of God. You say, then what happens? Then we have the end of what's referred to as the second coming of Christ. Let me just share this with you real quickly and then I'm going to explain some of these things. Go to Revelation 19 and I want you to notice what happened here. The people in this valley get crushed and the Bible says that the blood came out of the winepress and so much blood comes out of the winepress. It's like a flood even unto the horses' bridle. Referring to the fact that you have a horse, a beast with a bridle on its mouth and goes to their neck and the blood goes up to that point. Why? Because all these people are in this valley and God shows up. Jesus shows up and like grapes he trods on them. He crushes them. You say, is that figurative? I don't think when it says that the blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse bridle by the space of 1,600 furlongs. When he gives you specific measurements like that, I don't think that's figurative. I don't think that's a parable. I think he's telling you what's going to happen. See, at the second coming of Christ, and I'll explain that term here in a minute because we're going to have to deal with it in Joel, that culminates with the battle of Armageddon and Jesus bringing judgment upon this earth and upon the armies of the Antichrist. Revelation 19, let me show it to you. Look at verse 11. Revelation 19 and verse 11, And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had the name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. Now we read this in Revelation and we romanticize this. He's clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and that represents the blood of Jesus Christ. The problem is that when you study this, and I'm not going to do it tonight, but when you cross reference this to other references to this same event, that's not his blood. He comes and he crushes them and the blood gushes out and his vesture is dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which were in heaven, that's you and I by the way, followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Now his mouth goeth a sharp sword. We talked about this in Joel chapter 2. I hate to break it to you but you're not going to be fighting at the Battle of Armageddon. We're going to come with him. The Bible says in verse 14, And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses. But you're not going to be doing any fighting. You're clothed in fine linen, white and clean. You say, what's going to be our role at the Battle of Armageddon? Cheerleading. We're going to be cheering for the Lord Jesus Christ as he fights, verse 15, And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, and with it he shall smite the nations. Remember, they gathered the nations together. They gathered, they heathened together. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he, notice, and he treadeth, You understand the word tread? To step upon, to pounce, to stomp. He says, And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. Same thing we read in Revelation 14. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Go back to Joel chapter 3. You say, why did you show us that in Revelation 19 that it is Jesus that comes? It is Jesus that presses the winepress of the wrath of God. It is Jesus. There's two harvests, and one harvest is of believers. The other is of these armies, these nations of the Antichrist that get trotted upon by Jesus Christ. In Joel 3 and verse 14, the Bible says this, Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision. Then in verse 15, we have this reference to the day of the Lord. If you remember when we started the book of Joel, I told you that the book of Joel has a theme through it. And the theme is the day of the Lord. And whenever you see this terminology, it's always a reference to the day of the Lord, Joel 3.15. And the sun and moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Now here's what the pre-tribbers and what the dispensationalists want you to think. They want you to think, and their major argument against us, those of us that say, no, look, it's clear. He gives you a chronological order. The book of Revelation is in chronological order. There's two sides to it. There's two portions where he goes through the same events twice. But they're all, if you match them up, they're all chronological order. And they want to tell us, no, no, you're wrong. You can't understand the book of Revelation. You need this fancy, you know, chart, and that's the only way you're gonna be able to understand it. That's why you see people like, guys like him, his name is escaping right now, the guy in San Antonio, Texas. Big guy, you know what I'm talking about. Some of you watch him on TV. Hagee, John Hagee, gets up there to preach every time he's preaching. He's got this big old complicated, you ever seen that? These huge complicated, you know, outlines of the end times. You got to read all these commentaries. They want you to think it's all complicated. And they'll use books like the book of Joel, because they'll see, look, you got the Battle of Armageddon, but then you got the harvest here. That's confusing. That's not in chronological order. Except that if you read the book of Revelation, you find out that, no, there's actually a second harvest that fits perfectly with what Joel's talking about. The grapes of the wrath of God, the winepress of the wrath of God, the winepress of the Almighty God. There's no problem there. Joel knows what he's talking about. Then they'll say, okay, well, what about Joel 3.15? The sun and the moon shall be dark and the stars shall withdraw their shining. That's the day of the Lord. They'll say, according to you, and they're speaking to us, and they're correct, the day of the Lord happens in the midst of the week. That's when the rapture happens, according to you. Now we're here at the end of the Battle of Armageddon, and he's bringing up the day of the Lord again. What's that about? And here's what I want you to understand. The reason that Joel brings up again the day of the Lord, couple reasons. First of all, it's the theme of the book. He brings it up five times in these three chapters. And not all in chronological order. And this is not necessarily in chronological order, but I do believe there's a reason why he brought it up, and it is to make this point. Because this is another thing that people do not understand. When is the second coming of the Lord? Because you talk to the pre-Tribbers. Go to 1 Thessalonians, if you would. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. Find the T-books, they're all clustered together. 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus. When you talk to the pre-Tribbers and the Disposationalists, this is what they'll say. They'll say, the rapture is not the second coming of the Lord. There's a secret rapture, and we're like, what about the trumpet? They're like, it's the trumpet, but nobody hears it. We're like dogs, you know. It's at a certain pitch, and only certain people hear it, apparently. We all disappear, nobody knows what happened, they think it's aliens. But then Jesus comes at the Battle of Armageddon. That's the second coming of the Lord, is what they say. The problem with that, that's not what the Bible says. However, the Bible does call Jesus' coming at the Battle of Armageddon the day of the Lord as well. Excuse me, the second coming of Christ. You say, well Pastor Jimenez, you're confusing us here. Are you pre-Trib or post-Trib? Post-Trib, but I'm here to tell you the reason that Joel brings up the day of the Lord at the rapture, and then fast forwards to the Battle of Armageddon, and then brings up the day of the Lord again. It's not that the day of the Lord is going to happen twice. He's making this connection that this entire time frame is referred to as the second coming of Christ. You say prove it, okay. 1 Thessalonians 4, look at verse 15. Notice what the Bible says. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain... Now listen to me, nobody argues that this is about the rapture. I mean, if there is one passage of scripture that everybody agrees, 1 Thessalonians 4 and 15 about the rapture, this is it. Notice what the Bible calls it. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord... What is the Bible? 1 Thessalonians 4 and 15, call the rapture, calls it the coming of the Lord. ...shall not prevent them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That is the rapture, my friend, and the Bible calls it... I don't care what your Bible college says, I don't care what your commentary says, I don't care what your Schofield notes say. The Bible calls it unto the coming of the Lord. So according to the Bible, what's the coming of the Lord? It's the rapture. Go to 2 Thessalonians 2. Let me show you another passage. Look at verse 1. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. Now we beseech you, brethren, notice, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. What is our gathering together unto him? The rapture. What is that referred to as? The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what you need to understand. The coming of the Lord starts with Christ when he comes for his saints. Think about what we saw in Revelation 14. What did we see? Two harvests. What did one represent? The first one was the Son of Man coming on the clouds, doing what? Reaping the earth. What was he doing? He was coming for his saints. That's the coming of the Lord. But then the Bible also says this. Go to 1 Thessalonians 3. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Look at verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 3, 13. To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father. Notice these words. At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ for his saints? No, with all his saints. So wait a minute, wait a minute. Is the coming of the Lord when he comes for his saints? Or is it when he comes with his saints? Well according to the Bible it's both. Wait, wait. Is the harvesting when he harvests the people, the believers, and he's coming for his saints? Or is it when he treads the winepress of the Almighty God with his saints? Well it's actually both. And it shouldn't be that hard to grasp if you think about the first advent of Christ. People say, well it has to be one of those. Those events are separated by three and a half years. Okay, well here's the thing. When did Jesus, when was Jesus born on this earth? It was at his first coming, at his first advent. When did Jesus die on the cross? At his first coming, in his first advent. When did Jesus ascend up to heaven? At his first coming, in his first time on this earth. Those things are separated by 33 years. From the birth of Christ to the ascension of Christ, all of that is referred to as the first coming of Christ. And from the day of the Lord and the rapture and the harvests of believers, when the Son of Man comes on the clouds, reaps the earth for believers, coming for his saints. That's called the second coming. And all of that culminates three and a half years later at the Battle of Armageddon, when he comes to the winepress of the Almighty God with his saints. Remember what we saw in Revelation 18? We're coming with him. All of that's called the second coming of Christ. So, when Joel brings up the day of the Lord, he brings it up because the day of the Lord is a symbol or a representation of the second advent of Christ. The second coming of Christ. And it's all connected. That's why Revelation 14, one right after the other, describes two harvests. Uses similar terminology. Talks about the fact that there's sickles and there's ripening of the harvest. But there's two different things, two different events. One is coming for his saints, the other is coming with his saints. Go back to Joel chapter 3. So, what are we seeing? We saw the Battle of Armageddon, the gathering in Armageddon, and God will judge the earth. Then we see the second coming of Christ. The second coming or the second advent of Christ. He comes, and just like his birth, his life, his death, burial, resurrection, and his ascension 40 days later, all are considered the first advent or the first coming of Christ. The rapture, the trumpets, the vials, and all of that culminating with the Battle of Armageddon, all of that is considered the second coming or the second advent of Christ. Because he starts his coming with the rapture, he ends his coming with Armageddon, and then he sets up his millennial kingdom, which is exactly what Joel brings up next. Joel chapter 3. Actually, you know what? Let me show this to you real quick. Joel chapter 3, look at verse 16. Let me show this before I get off the topic of the second coming. I want to show you how, when Jesus comes back, how he comes back. In Joel 3, look at verse 16. And the Lord also shall, notice this word, roar. Now, usually when you think of an animal that roars, what do you think of? A lion, right? I mean, I think if you ask a random person, what's an animal that roars? First thing they're going to say, a lion. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Go to Jeremiah just real quickly. Jeremiah chapter 25. If you go backwards again, you have Joel, Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Jeremiah. Joel, Hosea, Daniel, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Jeremiah. This is a consistent description of the second coming of Christ. He says when he comes, when the Lord comes, he comes with a roar. He utters his voice from Jerusalem. Jeremiah 25. Let me just show it to you in another passage. Jeremiah 25, verse 30. The Bible says this. Therefore prophesy thou against, against them all these words and saying to them, the Lord, notice these words, shall roar. I just think you have to read it that way. The Lord shall roar from on high and utter his voice from his habitation. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation. He shall give a shout as, don't miss this, they that tread the graves. Does that sound familiar? The winepress of God against all the inhabitants of the earth. If you remember from 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. You say, what's all this roaring about? Well, here's what you need to understand. Remember, we're talking about the second coming of Christ. In comparison, in contrast to the first coming of Christ, see, the first time Jesus came, you know what they said? You know what John said when he saw Christ coming down? He said, behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. The first time he came as a lamb, the Bible tells us the second time he comes as the lion of the tribe of Judah. The first time he came as a sacrificial lamb, the second time he comes as a lion with a shout, with a roar, bringing the judgment of God. Look at Joel 3 and verses 17, then we have the millennial reign. Notice what he says. Joel 3 is 17, so shall ye know that I am the Lord, your God dwelling in Zion. This is the millennial reign. When God, the Lord Jesus Christ, dwells in Zion, my holy mountain then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. Notice verse 18, and it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop. See, when the millennial reign of Christ happens, there's going to be a miraculous renewing of the earth. And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water. He said there's going to be a miraculous renewing of the earth. How does this happen? You say, how do you know this is about the millennial reign? Look at verse 18, and it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water. Notice, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. So here, we're told that this fountain flows from the house of the Lord during the millennial reign. You say, is this figurative? Well, again, it's brought up over and over throughout the Bible. Let me give you an example. Go to Ezekiel chapter 47. Jesus shows up on this earth, establishes his reign upon this earth, establishes his kingdom from Jerusalem during the millennial reign. His house is established, and the Bible says that a fountain flows from the house, and as a result, the earth is miraculously renewed. Notice how Ezekiel, notice how Ezekiel points it out. Verse 27, verse 1. Afterward, he brought me again unto the door of the house. This is the house of the Lord. And behold, notice how Ezekiel says it, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under the right side of the house at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. Notice verse 6. And he said unto me, Son of man, has thou seen this? Then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the water. Now when I had returned, he's talking about this water that's coming out from the house of the Lord. He says in verse 7, Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea, which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. Notice verse 9. And it shall come to pass that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the river cometh, shall live. And there shall be very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come hither, for they shall be healed, and everything shall live whether the river cometh. Think about the Middle East right now in Jerusalem. It's a dry place. It's a desert. But the Bible says that God will establish his kingdom there, and out of his house will gush out these rivers. And as the river gushes out, everything that touches, he says, everything shall be healed, and everything shall live whether the river cometh. Look at verse 12, same chapter. And by the river upon the banks, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaves shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. It shall bring forth new fruit according to his mouth, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary, and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. During the millennial reign of Christ, the Bible says that this river, this fountain, is going to gush out of the house of the Lord, and as it travels, the waters will heal the earth, and the earth will have a miraculous renewing. And God is going to bring this earth back to a state of renewal, to a state of paradise. And the Bible tells us, and I'm not going to take the time to go through all the details, you go back to Joel chapter 3 if you would. The Bible tells us that men will live hundreds of years. They'll live as long as trees live. Why? Because there's going to be these fruits, these trees with fruit for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine. I'm all for eating organic, but you'll never eat organic like this organic. People will live long, be healthy and strong during the millennial reign. So what do we see here at the end? What do we see here at the end of the book of Joel? Here's what we see. We see the gathering of the soldiers, the armies. They're gathered into the valley of Jehoshaphat. By the way, let me just say this real quickly. If you notice here in the last part of the book of Joel, there's all these references to valleys. In verse 12, we have the valley of Jehoshaphat. If you notice there, let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. In verse 2, we also had the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Now, there is no other reference as far as I can tell. I looked at it and I didn't see any other reference. I could be wrong about that, but there's no other reference to the valley of Jehoshaphat. But I think it's clear from the context that it is the valley of Megiddo or Armageddon. But there's these other valleys that are mentioned in Joel 3, verse 14. It talks about multitudes, multitudes, and the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near and the valley of decision. And again, the assumption could be made there that that is Armageddon or the valley of Megiddo. But after the fountains come forth, Joel 3, 18, look at the last part of verse 18. And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim. Here we have another valley mentioned, the valley of Shittim. Now, as far as I can tell, there's no other reference to the valley of Jehoshaphat or the valley of Shittim throughout the entire Bible. I think based off the context, an educated guess would say that the valley of Jehoshaphat is definitely the valley of Megiddo. Because that's where he gathers the nations to trample them that you can have those cross references. The valley of Shittim may also be a reference to that. I'm not being dogmatic about this. All I'm saying is this. There's another valley named here that we don't really know what it is. And what's interesting is we know that this is about the second coming of Christ in reference to the battle of Armageddon. We're told in other passages that when Jesus returns, when the sole of his foot lands upon this earth, it'll land on the mount Olivet. And when his foot lands on that mountain, it'll split in half. And it may be that this valley of Shittim is the valley that's being referenced here, a new valley that Jesus brings forth with the power of his foot. Just a thought. And again, I'm not dogmatic about that. But we have this gathering in Armageddon, the judgment of God, the second coming of Christ, which begins with the day of the Lord, the rapture, and ends with the battle of Armageddon. And then we have this millennial reign. So let me just real quickly give you three takeaways in regards to this passage, and we'll finish the book of Joel. Number one, God will judge this world. The Bible is clear. See, sometimes you can get discouraged and say, yeah, well, people sin and people do this and people do that. And they get away with it. Let me tell you something. Nobody gets away with anything. They may get away with it for a while and they may even get away with it on this earth. But God will judge. God is the great equalizer. And here, just the battle of Armageddon shows us the judgment of the coming God. So one takeaway is this. God will judge this world. So don't worry about it. Let the wicked get rich and let them be happy and prosper upon this earth, because God will judge them. Another takeaway is this. We've already talked about it, but it is this. There is no peace aside from Jesus Christ. I don't care how many peace treaties they sign. I don't care how many peace accords they have. I don't care how many meetings the United Nations has. They can put whatever verses they want on their walls and remove the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no peace without Christ. The only time that there will be peace in the Middle East or in the world will be when the Prince of Peace is reigning upon the earth. But let me just say this. That's not only true about this world. That's true about your life, your life without Jesus. I'm not talking about being saved or unsaved. I'm just saying when you are walking, like we talked about this morning, when you are not surrendering yourself and saying to Jesus, lead us, your life will get chaotic. It'll get hard to handle. It'll get miserable. But you can have peace when you walk with the Prince of Peace. So we see that God will judge. We see that God brings peace. Now I just want to say this thirdly. God will allow us to enjoy this earth during the millennial reign. Now here's the truth. And I believe this applies to many of you. I don't know if it applies to all of you. I know this. It applies to a lot of people in ministry, full-time ministry. And it is this that sometimes, and please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say because I am not complaining. It is a privilege of my life. It is a privilege of my life and the privilege of my wife's life to serve the Lord in full-time ministry. But sometimes when you dedicate your life to full-time ministry, you miss out on a lot of things that other people do. Many of you, when you got married, you went on honeymoons and you went to Hawaii. My wife and I didn't go to Hawaii until we'd been married for like 15 years. And the only reason I went to Hawaii is because they had me preach there, so I still had to work while I was there. Oftentimes, people give themselves to ministry and they miss out. Because when my wife and I got married, we were 18 years old, and I'm not advocating that people get married at 18 years old. In fact, I don't advocate that. I'm just telling you what we did. It doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It's just what we did. It worked out for us, but it doesn't work out for a lot of people. Just know that. We got married at 18 years old, and you know what we did? You know how we spent our lives? You know what we spent our lives doing? 18, 19, 20 years old at Regency Baptist Church. You know what our Sunday looked like? Here's what our Sunday looked like. At 6 in the morning, we got up and turned the bus on, let it warm up for 30 minutes while the bus driver got there. Then we drove 30 minutes out and picked up 70 ghetto children, because we were in a bus ministry. That's just what they did in that church. That's what we did. We were given a bus and told, fill it. We took it to North Highlands and got a bunch of kids saved and got a bunch of parents saved. We'd bring 60, 70 kids to church every week on a bus. We'd bring them to church. My wife and I would sing on the bus with the kids. I'd preach to them on the way there on the bus, because we had a 30-minute drive. We'd go to church, Sunday school, Sunday morning. After Sunday morning, we'd get back on that bus, spend another hour going there, singing songs, preaching to them on the way there, dropping them all off. We'd be done around 3 p.m. on Sunday, go get lunch. My wife and I, this was before we had kids, and then we'd be at choir practice at 5 p.m. That's how we spent our Sundays. That's why I don't feel that bad for some of you. You say, what did you do on Saturday? We spent three hours out soul winning. We spent one hour soul winning, one hour following up on our bus kids, another hour looking for new bus kids, because if we were going to run a bus, I wanted to run the biggest bus in the church. We didn't go on a lot of trips. We didn't do a lot of traveling. We were faithful. On Wednesday nights, I taught the kids class. My wife helped me. I preached to the kids. I said, what did you preach to the kids about? Repentance? About sin? I preached to them like I preached to adults. My wife taught in the school. This was before we understood homeschooling, and she taught in the Christian school. I'm just telling you, we served the Lord with our lives. You say, what about all the traveling? What about all the fun? What about all this? What about all that? We just served God. We went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, soul winning. I led a soul winning program at our church, and I wasn't paid. Nobody paid me. I led the soul winning program at our church, Regency Baptist Church. All these maps we give you and all these things, you know where that all originated? With me and my wife at Regency Baptist Church. The pastor there said, I want you to organize a soul winning program, because I was completely disorganized. I was 19 years old, 20 years old, and we started mapping out maps, and printing out maps, and putting directions, and training people, and developing soul winning, and doing these things. You say, you do all that because you're a pastor. Well, here's the thing. I was doing it, and my wife was doing it, long before we were a pastor or a pastor's wife. Organizing soul winning, organizing soul winners, teaching people how to go soul winning. I had a Tuesday night class where we taught people how to preach the gospel, present the gospel, follow up on their conference, taught people how to work on their bus route, and do all those things. Here's what I'm telling you. We gave our lives to the ministry, even before we were ever in ministry. You know what I believe God's going to do for us one day? He's going to say, go ahead and take your wife to the Bahamas. Now, you're not married anymore. You're in the millennial reign. Go ahead and take her on that cruise. Go ahead and take her on that trip. Go ahead and enjoy the earth. Now, you can enjoy the earth now. You can enjoy your vacation now. You can enjoy your time off now. You can decide I'm going to enjoy this life and forget God now. I'd rather serve God with my life and enjoy it when God heals this earth. In the millennial reign. So you choose. Because here's what I know. This earth stinks. And while people are dying and going to hell, I'm not against you taking vacations. Please don't misunderstand me. You say, you didn't go there and travel. People ask me to travel every week of my life around here. You know, preach here and preach there. I have to tell people no all the time. And honestly, I'm so sick and tired of traveling, I hope they lock us down again. I still have an excuse to tell people I can't go preach for you. Here's what I'm telling you. This earth, people on this earth, they're dying and going to hell. And you can focus your life and give your life to reach people on this earth now. And God says there's a reign coming, the millennial reign coming. And you can enjoy the earth, and you can enjoy your fun, and you can enjoy your money, and you can enjoy all that then. Or you can do it now. But I'll tell you this now, it won't be anything in comparison to that. So he ends with this millennial reign. When those who have served God faithfully and maybe missed out on some of the things they could have done on this earth we'll get to enjoy the earth in that day. Joel chapter 3, look at verse 20, we'll finish up right here. Joel chapter 3 verse 20. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And we know of course this is the new covenant and this is God's people. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. And Joel tells us that this is how the end times end. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the Bible. And Lord I know that sometimes it can be difficult. People might think I've got to give up my Saturdays to go soul winning. I could enjoy those days off. Lord help us to realize that there's so much more to do for you. And there is coming a time when you will allow us to enjoy this earth. I believe that's what the millennial reign is all about. Giving us rewards and letting us enjoy this earth. Help us Lord to understand, to get a proper perspective of the world. There's much to do. People need to hear the gospel. They need to be saved. They need to be discipled. Why? Because the judgment of God is coming. But you'll allow us to enjoy this earth one day. In the matchless name of Christ we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Just a couple of things to remind you. First of all don't forget that next Sunday night this service next week is our harvest party. So we finished the book of Joel. I'll be preaching a different sermon, a shorter sermon on that night. And then afterwards we're going to have the chili cook off and all those things. So just don't forget about that. If you can, if you've not yet, sign up in the foyer. There's a sign up sheet for desserts and for cornbread and all that. And then of course if you are able to help. I'm not sure if Ms. Dogma is going to need help Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. But just in case she does, if you're willing to help, if you're able to help, just see my wife after the service and she can get you situated with that. If there's anything we can do for you please let us know. And we'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song 336. Song 336. 336 on the first. There's a peace in my heart that the world never gave. A peace it cannot take away. For the trials of life, grace is found at good blood. I'm a peace that has come yet to stay. Possibly abiding, Jesus is mine. Possibly abiding, raptured divine. He never leaves me lonely, His presence so kind. I will never leave Him, Jesus is mine. Sing it on the second. All the world seems to see. God the Savior and King. When peace weakly came to my heart, troubles all fled away. And my light turned to gray. Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art. Possibly abiding, Jesus is mine. Possibly abiding, raptured divine. He never leaves me lonely, His presence so kind. I will never leave Him, Jesus is mine. Good on the last. This treasure I now bear the temple of faith. While here on His footstool I roam. God is coming to take me some glorious day. Over here to there I wish they all. Possibly abiding, Jesus is mine. Possibly abiding, raptured divine. He never leaves me lonely, His presence so kind. I will never leave Him, Jesus is mine. Amen. Good singing. Let's close with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word that was preached to us this evening. We pray, Lord, that we would have the proper perspective in life, Lord, and just to remember that we will be in heaven one day. Lord, I pray that You would be with us the rest of this week, and bring us back to church safely on Wednesday. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.