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Luke 17 verse 5 the Bible reads and the apostles said unto the Lord increase our faith the title of the sermon this morning is increase our faith now I'm going to warn you all right today's sermon is going to be controversial there's at least two things here that you know you're not going to hear in the average church okay let alone you know I mean I mean you might not even hear him in your average Baptist church okay there are some things here that Jesus preaches about all right but he will be negligent of me as your pastor it'll be negligent of me as a Bible preacher to avoid these things or to sugarcoat these things all right we have the Bible these are the words of Jesus Christ so if you're gonna get mad at anyone get mad at Jesus all right I'm just a messenger of Jesus Christ let's pick it up from verse number one Luke 17 verse one then said he unto the disciples it is impossible but that offenses will come but woe unto him through whom they come so here Jesus Christ just in our face is telling us that it is impossible that offenses won't come meaning that as Bible-believing Christians as people that aren't only saved but followers of the Lord Jesus Christ as people that stand on the word of God Jesus guarantees us that offenses will come people will come and try to offend you people will come and persecute you for the stand that you take on the word of God and especially in 2019 maybe 50 years ago you could preach this book without compromise without any kind of our persecution but in 2019 you preach the words of Jesus Christ persecution will come all right but don't get offended by it okay Jesus Christ has warned us it's on its way it's coming all right let's keep reading verse number two it were better for him for whom for the person that brings those offenses right that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea then that he should offend one of these little ones let me just start off by saying those are the words of Jesus Christ he's saying it's better for those that offend God's people especially little children all right and we see little children being taken advantage of all right in some churches you know sexually exploited even in some churches all right by by pedophiles and by just wicked people Jesus Christ makes it very clear that'd be better if there was just a millstone hanging around his neck that that's that's uh if you don't know what that is that's a stone that is used to grind uh um like a grain okay it's a big stone these are Jesus's words it better if they just just put that around the neck throw that person into the sea just just just uh just better to kill that person off all right meaning okay meaning that those that get away with that kind of behavior it's going to be worse for them on the day of judgment it'd be better if they were just cast into the sea so they wouldn't just continue um you know uh building up the wrath of God the judgment of God upon them it's going to be worse for them on the day of judgment when they are actually cast into the lake of fire and the punishment that they're going to receive for being one of these that offend Jesus Christ the children of God all right now that should give you assurance that should give you comfort knowing full well that the wicked who who are offend us the wicked that persecute us you know they might in this world in this life get away with it as it as it be but they're not going to get away with it when God deals with it all right God will always make sure that justice will be served even in an unjust society that we live in let's keep reading verse number three take heed to yourselves if thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repents forgive him so moving on to the topic now of brother you know brethren christian brethren that offend one another all right now let's touch on the operation this before but let's touch on this very quickly if we have brethren in the church that offend you that that sin against you that trespass against you okay it's not you know the command is here what does Jesus Christ command rebuke him okay if someone has offended you okay and it's bothered you it's a sin against you go and rebuke that person go and show that person they're wrong go and criticize their actions tell them hey you have offended me okay this is a problem we need to fix it verse number let's keep reading and if he repent forgive him all right Jesus wants it to be the case that if brethren offend one another that there would be forgiveness okay he commands the rebuke he says if that person then repents then forgive him but i want you to notice there that the bible does not teach unconditional forgiveness there's a condition there if he repents forgive him all right meaning that if someone does not repent you call them out for the sin they've committed against you but they're like you know what i don't care it's not my problem i'm not going to repent from that you know in that case you don't have to forgive the brethren okay it's conditional there based on the repentance we'll keep seeing that uh actually before we keep reading what i do want to say though is is something very clear okay i believe we should strive to do everything we can to forgive one another okay i do okay but if someone does not repent you don't have to forgive them okay but warning warning forgiveness plays two purposes okay number one is that the offended party knows that they've been pardoned okay they know okay this person is no longer holding this against me that's part of the forgiveness process the other part of the forgiveness process is that it would come off your shoulders that you wouldn't grow in bitterness toward that person all right so this is what you've got to be careful of if someone has not repented you're not required to forgive them but you've got to be careful that the bitterness does not grow in your life you've got to be able to forgive yourself as it were you've got to be able to let it go on your side so you don't grow in bitterness okay because it's going to happen you're going to be like why hasn't this person repented you know and you're going to get angry you're going to get more bitter you might be like well i'm just not going to go to church anymore i don't want to i don't want to have you know i want to see that person anymore you get to the point where bitterness grows in your life you know be careful of that you need to make sure that part of it is let go but you haven't necessarily given that person the pardon because they've not yet repented all right be careful when it comes to not forgiving someone make sure that it doesn't allow bitterness to creep into your life let's keep reading verse number four and if he trespassed against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying i repent thou shalt forgive him all right if someone has done you wrong and they repent they say sorry what's the next command thou shalt forgive him okay if someone says sorry you can't just be like well i don't accept your apology no you've got to accept it that's the command of jesus christ all right notice that it's the example that jesus gives is someone wronging you seven times in a day now i don't know about you but i don't think i've ever been wronged by anybody let you know a brother let alone an unbeliever seven times in a day all right maybe once maybe twice i don't think beyond that right uh but jesus christ is asking a huge thing from us i mean how many of you like if i just came and and told you you know you're an idiot right and then i'm sorry i shouldn't have said that please forgive me but then i said it seven times how many of you would honestly say you know what i'm going to forgive him seven times i think it'd be hard i think i mean i think that'd be really really difficult hey but that's the standard that jesus christ gives okay jesus christ wants us to be people that are able to forgive and then we look at verse number five and the apostles said unto the lord increase our faith they're like we can't do this god if someone offends us seven times in a day i don't think we can forgive him seven times in a day lord increase our faith and that is what you're going to need okay in order for you to be able to be the kind of forgiving person that god wants you to be you are going to have to go to jesus christ and say please increase our faith please give me the ability god it's got to come from him it's not something that's going to come from your flesh it's not something that's going to come naturally from you it's you're going to have to seek the lord to give you that ability to give you the power and the forgiven heart you need and you need to ask god to increase your faith what we're going to see throughout this whole chapter um i've totally increased our faith for a reason because there's a lot in this chapter that you're going to need your faith increased in okay and remember these are these are the apostles these are people that have done amazing miracles in the name of jesus christ and even they are saying we need our faith increased all right let's keep reading verse number six and the lord said if he had faith as the grain of a mustard seed you might say unto this sycamore tree be thou plucked up by the roots and be thou planted in the sea and it should obey you now when you read a verse like this in verse number six there i i used to read that and um sort of wonder what's what's the point like if i had the faith like if i could actually have enough faith where i could actually move a tree into the sea is it into the sea yeah planted it's planted into the sea what advantage is there what's the benefit of doing that number one number two i'm like if that were possible why don't we read anybody in the bible doing that or why have i not seen any believers in my lifetime you know be able to cast the tree into the sea you know but the advantage the thing is you got you got to do now remember the book of luke is very thematic okay you've got to keep everything within the context of the chapter that you're reading in and i came to realize okay this is not jesus telling us which would be people that are trying to move trees into the ocean okay this ties into the whole forgiveness thing this ties into all that what we just read before all right so if we keep it within the context what jesus is speaking of is a miracle in light of the ability to forgive in other words it is not normal it is in fact impossible for a man to forgive their brethren seven times in a day it requires a miracle okay and that's why jesus christ then takes a this example of a miracle of casting a tree into the sea because it is miraculous if you are someone that is able to forgive a brother seven times in a day it requires that miracle from god that's why it requires our faith to be increased all right it's only possible with faith in god it is not impossible it is impossible for you to be able to do that without the lord god all right it requires in fact jesus christ says it requires the the faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed it doesn't require even all that much but it does require us to have our faith in god in order to be able to forgive our brethren and if you say to me you know i've got a brother who who has repented who has apologized but i just can't forgive them okay maybe verbally i've forgiven them but i just haven't been able to forgive them in my heart then you need to say i need a miracle i need that faith the grain of a mustard seed lord increase my faith you need to take that to god otherwise you're going to allow that bitterness in your heart to grow and it's just at some point it's going to blow up into something else far greater than what the problem was originally all right let's keep reading verse number seven now as we read verse number seven again don't separate it from the context of what we're reading okay it'll it's all the same thing verse number seven but which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by and he is come from the field go and sit down to meet and will not rather say unto him make ready wherewith i may sup and gird thyself and serve me till i have eaten and drunken and afterward thou shalt eat and drink so what he's saying here what you're saying here is that you will not reward a servant okay a servant whose job is incomplete yes they finish uh plowing the ground they finish doing whatever job they had out in the field you know you're not going to stop them and say well you know because his job hasn't been completed he's still required then to go and to serve his master to go and prepare the table so the master can eat but you're not going to stop them halfway through the job and start rewarding them okay let's keep reading verse number nine what my point was there that he's expected to finish what is required of him the servant okay if you have an employee if you you know if you're a manager you have employees you know and they've got a job to do in a certain period of time you're not going to stop them halfway through that job and start rewarding them okay what's expected of them is to do the hours to do the job that is required of them okay verse number nine does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him i tro not that word tro not is basically i think not okay you're not going to thank the servant for just doing the things that were commanded of him all right i mean that you say that's not very that's not very nice jesus what's going on there just think about your employment think about when you signed your contract to work you know your your employer said hey we're going to pay you x amount of dollars you know and you're required to do x amount of hours and you're required to do this job that's the agreement all right now if you go to job to work and you just do the minimum you just do what is expected of you you shouldn't expect a thank you okay i mean your reward is the agreement the x amount of dollars for doing that job you know and i've had employees that have done their jobs and they're like you never acknowledge what i've done i'm like what are you talking about you got paid didn't you i mean if i held back your pay then you could say i haven't acknowledged you you know i'm not meeting the requirement you know and this is why you know some some jobs have like employee of the month and they they recognize certain employees the whole point behind that is that that person has gone above and beyond what is expected of them you know they've they've shown brightly that month and so they're being recognized as the employee of the month that's the purpose behind it you're not going to give someone the employee of the month for just doing the job that was assigned to them that was agreed to them okay so that's what jesus christ is teaching here all right let's keep reading uh verse number number 10 so likewise ye so now let's apply this to us as servants of god so likewise ye when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you say we are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do all right so you don't deserve any gratitude for simply doing what is expected of you all right now the application to this is the the forgiveness again what we just spoke about about the brethren all right now if someone has done you wrong you've rebuked them they've repented it's your duty to forgive them okay you don't just get you don't just get praise wow you forgave them you're such a great person you forgave them wow you deserve all this extra you know praise and whatever no it's your duty to forgive your brethren who have wronged you okay that's what it's teaching here us as servants of god now not only that but you might do a task okay that you think is thankless especially in the church you might do a a service in the church you might do something and nobody thanks you for it okay and you might be tempted to say and you know we're all tempted to do this because we all have the flesh you know and we all have pride you know and ever everyone likes to be recognized for you know doing things that's just sort of part of the human makeup that makes us you know failed creatures all right but you might be tempted to say hey i'm not being thanked for this job and get angry about it get bitter about it but look at what jesus christ said in verse number 10 we should say to ourselves when we've done a thankless job we should just say to ourselves we are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do it's a right approach you know if you're not being thanked for something in this life you know the principle we've already read this just be humble okay just lower yourself in the sight of man and god will exalt you in due time we covered that in luke 14 wasn't i think it was luke 14 we covered that you know to be humble and god will exalt you the other thing that we recognize as believers is that we may do many thankless tasks on this earth but god watches what we're doing if we're doing it to serve him if we're doing it to serve jesus christ we put him the first in our life then god will reward you okay you're laying up treasures in heaven that's where it's going to be for all eternity that's where you're going to be forever okay enjoying the rewards you're gonna be thanking god man it was so good that i went unfanked for that job because i've earned these rewards in heaven praise god you know just having the right perspective in life is important let's keep reading verse number 11 and he came to pass as he went to jerusalem that he passed through the midst of samaria and galilee now we're about to read um the story of the 10 lepers all right i don't really have too much to say in this story but again think of luke as a thematic book i keep saying this because it just seems like when you read the book of luke these these um random stories come out of nowhere all right but we really saw what it means to be an unthanked servant all right we see that actually apply to jesus christ in the next story all right let's keep let's look at it there verse number verse number 12 and as he entered into a certain village there met him 10 men that were lepers which stood afar off so that you know they're standing far away from the crowd because they don't want to contaminate other people with leprosy and they lift up lifted up their voices and said jesus master have mercy on us hey they recognized that it was jesus christ that would heal them they had heard about the great works of of jesus christ and they came to him seeking his mercy verse 14 and when he saw them he said unto them go show yourselves unto the priests and it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed all right so i'm going to quickly read to you from leviticus 14 verse 2 it says this shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing he shall be brought unto the priest and the priest shall go forth out of the camp and the priest shall look and behold if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper so i want to point your attention verse number 14 is that we see that jesus christ is keeping the law of moses okay he's operating under the old testament law and so we see that he's someone yeah absolutely that's someone that fulfills the law of god but in leviticus 14 verse 2 it's about a leper who believes they're clean who believes they're cleansed and then they're to go to the to the priest and show themselves and get that publicly acknowledged as it were okay it's a little bit different here we've got jesus christ says them in verse 14 he doesn't heal them on the spot like many times when jesus christ heals um he does it on the spot he does it immediately this time he says to them go show yourselves unto the priests go to the priests and it says and it came to pass that as they went they were cleansed all right so jesus christ not heal them immediately but it was their faith on the words of jesus christ go show yourselves to the priests they might be wondering to themselves why are we going to the priests we still have leprosy if jesus christ did heal us then we should go to the priest and show ourselves but they're journeying their way to the priest as they have leprosy okay that required a great amount of faith a faith that what jesus christ had said would come to pass all right and as they're doing that as they're on their way to see the priests then they're healed okay they had listened to the words of god they had believed jesus christ they had put their faith in what he had said and that's what cleansed them praise god let's keep reading verse 15 and one of them when he saw that he was healed turned back and with a loud voice glorified god that's our lesson guys when god comes and answers our prayers when he heals us from our sicknesses when he gives us our every need it's our responsibility to go and glorify god to give him thanks verse number 16 and fell down on his face at his feet hey this is a position of worship it's come to jesus christ we know we're not to worship man it seems to me that he recognizes this is god in the flesh he comes down and worships with him his face at his feet giving him thanks and he was a samaritan i would assume the other nine were jews you know were israelites and this was the point the fact that he would have to uh tell us that this was a samaritan that had done these things and jesus answering said were there not ten cleansed but where are the nine there are not found that return to give glory to god save this stranger and he said unto him arise go thy way thy faith had thy faith hath made the hole all right so we see what is it that healed him from his sickness it was his faith from the lord jesus christ that he says your faith hath made thee whole but we also know the other nine were made whole we know the other nine were healed that means it was their faith as well in jesus christ they were healed i believe at this point if they weren't saved that this is the point that not only say i healed physically but healed spiritually that they had believed on jesus christ and they were saved but let me say this i think this gives us an idea of how often we fail to thank god in our lives okay we might pray about 10 different things for god to answer you know he answers the one and we praise him and we thank him for the one you know that there might be nine other things in our life that we've just not thanked god about i think that that's that's maybe realistic maybe that's the way it is you know um so please be be mindful guys and by the way you know let's tie it into what we read the the servant that feels they have not been thanked you know we see this play out you know again just just say taking you back to that you know if you've served the church you've served other brethren and you feel like man i i've not been thanked in this job well you're not the only one even jesus christ you know did great works and was left unthanked in fact jesus christ may have done great works in your life and you have not thanked him for the answered prayer and the blessings that he's given you so let's be people that aren't only praying and bringing our supplications to god and we need to do that we need to bring our requests before god in prayer but when those prayers are answered we should highlight those things all right well let's let's try to put that into practice you know especially on wednesday nights when we pray together as a church and i ask for prayer requests please use that opportunity as well for praise points you know for for um to um mention answered prayers so we can thank god for those answered prayers so let's not be thankless like these other lepers were the other nine lepers were all right let's keep reading verse number 20 now in verse number 20 is where things sort of change um direction from the rest of the chapter and these are the controversial passages here and when he was demanded of the pharisees stop there for a minute the pharisees are demanding things of jesus christ that just shows you they don't respect his authority they don't respect him as a teacher of god as a prophet as as god in the flesh they're demanding of jesus to answer their questions what do they ask him when the kingdom of god should come and he answered them and said the kingdom of god cometh not with observation now think about what we learned back in luke 13 all right about the kingdom of god coming in three phases if jesus says that the kingdom of god cometh not with observation that means it's something that you don't see with your physical eye what phase of the kingdom do you think is jesus referring to here you know the phase where you enter into the kingdom by being born again or the phase when jesus christ comes to establish his millennial kingdom or the phase when christ jesus christ gives that kingdom onto the father in the new heavens and the new earth which of those would be applicable to this situation it'd be the first one right the first one when you believe on the lord jesus christ because everything that takes place as you as that new man is able to enter into the kingdom it's without observation it's something that takes place inside the heart of man okay inside the man it's not something that can be seen i can't see your salvation i can't see that you've you know physically entered the kingdom of god but if you have uh the profession of faith that you've believed on the lord jesus christ that you've trusted his death bearing resurrection and it's it's without the works of the law then i know that your new man has entered into the kingdom of god all right that's the application here look at verse 21 neither shall they say lo here or lo there for behold the kingdom of god is within you that's what the kingdom of god is it's within you now let me just say this we know that these pharisees are not believers of jesus christ okay jesus is not telling them you're saved okay because the kingdom of god is within you he's telling them that you're looking for the kingdom in the wrong areas you know you're looking for this physical kingdom which is fine but first of all if you're looking for the kingdom you've got to look for it within yourself you know are you saved have you received the king of the kingdom or not you know and if you've done that if you are saved if you have received christ you have entered into the kingdom the kingdom of god is literally within you okay spiritually within you let's keep reading verse number 22 and he said unto the disciples so that's what he said to the pharisees now he's speaking to his disciples in verse 22 the days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the son of man and you shall not see it all right let's stop there what we know by these days when we compare scripture with scripture haven't got time to go through it all now is that jesus christ here is talking of the tribulation period okay that's that final period to come when the antichrist is raised and he persecutes christians all right jesus christ says the days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the son of man and you shall not see it so there's coming a time when you're going to have this great desire to see the son of man to see jesus christ okay now you say well i desire to see him today well praise god you know i think hopefully we all desire to see jesus christ to be with him forever but there's a coming a day when you're really going to desire that okay and that desire is going to come when you're being persecuted in in the last days all right in the days of the tribulation when there's persecution against the saints and i think that's why verse number one starts with you know the offenses the offenses will come okay let's keep reading verse number 20 23 and they shall say to you see here or see there go not after them nor follow them so you're going to be desiring i want to see jesus christ jesus christ you know please come back you know these are the days that i'm longing to see your return i'm longing for you to deliver me from this persecution and there's going to be some there's going to be great deception in the last days where some people are going to say he's come come here with me go there with me and i'll show you that jesus christ has come there's going to be a lot of end times deception jesus says don't listen to them don't go after them don't follow them hey jesus christ return is not a secret it's not going to be just a few people that realize jesus christ has come all right there is no secret rapture there is a rapture there is a resurrection but it's not a secret okay let's keep reading verse number 24 for as lightning that light enough out of the at one part under heaven shineth unto the other part of heaven so shall the son of man be in his day that's how obvious his coming is going to be if you ever looked out you know in a thunderstorm and you've seen lightning you know you might recognize as you see lightning it starts in one area and just quickly it zaps across or or down and for a brief period you see the light travel but for a brief period you see the whole thing right you see it from there from this from the beginning all the way to the end before it disappears okay that's how obvious that's how you're going to be able to see the son of man come it's not going to be something that's secret it's going to be seen by everyone revelation chapter 1 verse 7 says behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierce him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him even so amen jesus christ says that every man will see his coming it's not a secret okay just like lightning that shines from one part of heaven to the other part and by the way this is how i believe how every eye will see him okay because you know if jesus christ is just descending in one area of the earth not every eye is going to see him it's just those people that can see him on that side of the earth and then you've got your flat offers i say well this explains the flat earth because if the earth is flat then everyone will be able to see him when he comes down that fails in so many levels because i mean how big does jesus have to be in order for the whole world to see him like if it's flat i mean i would say the sun's pretty big all right and not even the whole world can see the sun at one point in time okay only half of the world can see it while the other half is in darkness so how big does jesus actually have to be well i think it gets answered in here in another passage it says as lightning shines from the east to the west you know my understanding of all that is that when jesus christ comes he's going to travel the entire globe okay that's how i see it that's how i understand how people will see him how every eye shall see him all right verse 25 but first must he suffer many things and be rejected of this generation so before the end times before he's coming and establishing the physical kingdom on this earth before he pours out his wrath on this earth he says you must first suffer many things and be rejected of this generation that's jesus christ speaking obviously of his death okay being being put to death uh for the sins of the world and then verse number 26 and this is when it starts to get controversial and as it was in the days of noah that's noah so shall it be in the days of the son of man they did eat they drank they married wives they were given in marriage until the day of noe entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all so let's understand this he says it's going to be like the days of noah what in particular that they're going about life in general they're eating they're drinking they're getting married they're going about life as per usual okay and then as as noah entered into the ark sorry until the day that no entrance to ark the flood came and destroyed them all he's saying that in the day that noah entered into the ark or if we as as people that believe in the rapture the day that we're delivered that we're raptured that we're resurrected with christ will be the same day that god brings destruction it'll be the same day but notice everyone's going about life as per usual eating drinking getting married now as someone who used to believe in the pre-trib rapture this was one of the passages that really bothered me okay really bothered me number one because if this verse is about the pre-trib rapture god is saying that on the same day that we're raptured he's going to destroy the earth he's going to pour out his wrath as we know okay but that's not the pre-trib position the pre-trib position by and large is we get raptured and there's peace for three and a half years all right there's no destruction really going on i mean do you guys know what i'm talking about you know you know what i'm talking about right so that that bothered me but then you have other pre-trib teachers that will say and rightly so this is not about a pre-trib rapture but i would disagree with them that you know it is about the rapture but you know obviously i i agree with them that it's not about a pre-trib rapture all right and they'll say this is about jesus christ coming at the end of the seven years you know at the end of the seven years then that that's you know so it's it's it's for the tribulation saint so it's for the jews it's not for us it's not for us i'll say but that bothered me as well because i'm thinking at the end of the seven years god has poured out his seven trumpets the seven vials of his wrath i mean the sea has turned to blood there's been all this hail there's been these locusts from hell tormenting people and i'm expected to think people are just going about life eating and drinking and getting married well that's crazy that's not what the bible teaches so so these are passages like that that just bothered me i'm like this doesn't make any sense you know and i used to just say i'm just dumb i can't work it out but this is perfectly compatible with a post-trib pre-ref rapture and say why is that because if you remember one of the um one of the uh seals that gets opened up with the six seals is like hyperinflation it's like because of the wars because of the famines it's like money has totally lost its value you know and people just can't you know the economy just collapses you know it costs so much money just to buy a measure of of of meal measure of wheat or whatever it was you know and so we see what the antichrist does when he raises himself into power he brings in the mark of the beast that's the new world currency and he says you can only buy and sell if you take the mark of the beast so the antichrist actually gets the economy back running across the world by introducing the mark of the beast so by doing that you know people then are eating and drinking they're able to buy and sell and they're back to life it's like cool it's all been sorted they finally say it's peace and safety and sudden destruction come upon them so it makes sense at that point right that people think oh we're back to normal and then the rapture takes place and on the same day god pours out his wrath but let's look at the days of noah let's take a look go to genesis chapter 7 keep your finger in luke 17 let's go to uh genesis chapter 7 verse 13 what is significant about the days of noah not just the destruction verse 13 and in the self same day entered noah and sham and ham and japheth the sons of noah and noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them into the ark so noah and his three sons his wife and their three wives verse 14 they and every beast after his kind and all the cattle after their kind and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind and every fowl after his kind every bird of every sort and they went in unto noah into the ark two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life and they that went in went in male and female of all flesh as god had commanded him and the lord shut him in notice verse number 16 how did they come in male and female of all flesh of humans and of every animal okay male and female of all flesh notice it doesn't say male and male notice it doesn't say female and female homosexuals did not go on the ark all right the ark of god was for male and female of every flesh okay and here's where the controversy is because you've got the homosexuals obviously outside of the ark saying let us in hey it's not for you all right it's not for you and look i i make no excuses but if homosexuals are not allowed on the ark they're not allowed in this church either it's not because you know i'm this horrible wicked man it's the standard of god if we're going to stand on the word of god then listen i'd rather just get the persecution and not fail my god all right i want to stand on the word of god whatever persecution may come as long as i stand on the word of god then i know i'm right and i know they're not hating me necessarily but they're hating the words of god say why are you bringing that up is that really what it's about well let's keep reading go back to luke chapter luke chapter 17 luke chapter 17 verse 28 luke 17 verse 28 likewise also these are the words of jesus all right don't come to me afterwards and say why did you read that in the bible these are the words of jesus christ likewise also as it was in the days of lot what's the story of lot remember he went into sodom and what was sodom known for their wickedness one particular the homosexuality okay they were reprobates they had rejected god and god had rejected them and we know what happened to the city of sodom and gomorrah all right we know why god poured out his wrath on them let's keep reading sorry uh verse what did i read verse 28 again likewise also as it was in days of lot they did eat they drank they bought they sold they planted they built they they they went around about life as per usual but the same day that lot went out of sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all how does god feel about homosexuality how does he feel about sodomites first of all he's not going to deliver them from any destruction and god's going to wipe them out all right and unfortunately as a society i can't believe i remember just as a as a child in the 80s everybody knew that was a sin everybody knew that was unnatural it was it was you know unusual it was it was weird everybody knew that right it wasn't something you could say that and nobody would think oh man there's something wrong with you what's wrong with you no but just what am i now 37 just 30 years later okay things have changed people have moved away from the word of god okay there's less people going to church there's less people preaching what the bible the word of god says and it's changed society it doesn't surprise me when the pastors get away from the word of god so will the you know the rest of the nation they've turned their backs against the word of god all right god came and rained fire and brimstone hell literally hell fire okay on the earth before they even went into hell they were suffering with with the fire and the torment that god brought upon them verse 30 even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed so look is that a surprise that homosexuality is being well received you know today is it is it a surprise that our public school system are telling our children hey you might not be a boy you might be a girl you know you don't you know you don't have to be attracted to a girl you might you know you might find yourself attracted to a boy you don't know you know don't limit yourselves should that surprise us that's going on when jesus christ has warned us in verse 30 even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed hey listen this these kinds of sexual sins this kind of perversion this kind of wickedness is just going to increase into the last days all right but jesus christ warned us okay jesus christ has warned us but he's also told us don't worry you're going in the ark or we're going to be raptured you'll be taken out and then destruction will come upon them on the same day that you're removed let's go to verse number 31 and in that day so in the day of tribulation guys he shall be upon the housetop and his uh and his stuff in the house sorry let me read that again in that day he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house let him not come down to take it away and he that is in the field let him likewise not return back so when persecution comes jesus says look it's time for you to flee it's time for you to go it's not time for you to start getting all your resources you know stopping by your house and getting the things you need no it's time to go and say does that apply to us yes and no the primary application to this is to those that are in judia those that are in israel okay and i'll just read to you very quickly from matthew 24 verse 16 and you can turn there if you want you're not too far away matthew 24 verse 16 matthew 24 verse 16 the bible reads then let them which be in judia flee into the mountains let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes so there is a coming a time when the people of god that are in judia that are in israel when the persecution comes they are to flee into the mountains the bible says that you know god commands don't come back home and collect your things and i think if we're the final generation of christians and we go through this time period i think we can take that application for out for us obviously the persecution in judia is going to be much greater because that's where the anti-christ is going to set up set himself up and and claim to be god and i don't know how much of that persecution is going to reach our shores australia praise god we live in a nation that's pretty far away from all the drama that goes on in the rest of the world but still if it comes our way i believe the principle is there that we are to flee okay and not go back and try to look after our own bodies all right you say why are we fleeing we're fleeing ultimately the purpose is that god will drive us to areas where people need to hear the gospel okay we're not fleeing because we're afraid and we're fearful and no no we're going in power we're going to the spirit of god we've got the words of god we've got the gospel you know it's our opportunity that's our last chance to get out to different places different cities to different areas find people that need to hear the gospel it's our last chance to earn rewards in heaven it's our last chance to to do this beautiful work that god has given us and see souls saved that's how we need to go you know in the spirit of power that god gives us so i don't know if i can do that well that's why you got to go to god and say god increase my faith increase our faith you know in the face of persecution can i do that you know increase your faith you say i want to go back home i want to go back and get my clothes and get my you know get whatever i have the resources look if if god commands you to flee then flee you know that means god's going to provide your needs okay god's going to provide for you verse number 32 let's look at this the verse the memory verse remember lots why if we're the final generation guys during the tribulation days we need to remember what's why so let's remember her let's go to genesis 19 keep your finger there in luke 17 but go to genesis 19 verse 15 genesis 19 verse 15 the bible reads and when the morning arose this is obviously the story of sodomy gomorrah guys of lots and lots wife and when the morning arose then the angels hasted hastened lot saying arise take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here lest they'll be consumed in the iniquity of the city and while he lingered does lot seem like the kind of guy that wants to leave the city no he lingers the men these are the angels laid hold upon his hand and upon the hand of his wife and upon the hand of his two daughters the lord being merciful unto him and they brought him forth and set him without the city or outside the city and he came to pass when they had brought them forth abroad that he said that yeah that he said escape for thy life look not behind thee neither stay there in all the plain escape to the mountain lest they'll be consumed you can see that's a type of the the um the believers in judia are being told to flee into the mountains you know when that happens lest they'll be consumed you know but look verse number 17 the instruction is clear look not behind thee don't worry about what god is doing he's going to unleash his wrath the fire and brimstone upon that wicked city don't look back you don't have any sympathy for what's going on don't feel sorry don't think mad god you're being too harsh god that's my city what are you doing no just go just flee verse 24 genesis 19 verse 24 then the lord rained upon sodom and upon gomorrah brimstone and fire from the lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground but his wife this makes me sad you know it makes me sad for lots but his wife looks back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt hey she suffered the the the wrath of god she wasn't even in the city okay but she looks back she had sympathy for those that were being destroyed hey these were wicked reprobates you know that god's judgment came down upon them and she looks back obviously it's not it's not the physical looking back that's the problem it's a heart issue okay that she had a problem with what god was doing to that to that weaker generation and if you say to me right now oh pastor kevin i can't believe you said that about homosexuals hey remember lot's wife they deserve the destruction that god is going to send their way don't look back okay god knows what he's doing trust his judgment trust his righteousness start renewing your mind so you understand why is god so angry why why is this why is he why is he doing such a and uh you know a great punishment upon these people if you don't understand that you're not in tune with the word of god you know you're not in tune with his righteousness that's why god tells us jesus christ tells us remember lots wise okay you don't want to be destroyed because you have sympathy against those that hate god all right so i don't know if i can do that ask jesus to increase your faith increase our faith okay verse 33 back to luke 17 sorry luke 17 verse 33 sorry if it's a bit of a long sermon there's there's a lot to cover i'm near the end now verse 33 whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it keep it in the context of what we're reading okay if we're the last generation and we're like man i need to i need to uh you know get all my all my gear all my food and i need to i need to save my life as it will in this last days you know you'll lose it okay now just just an analogy for this like obviously i'm flying down to sydney every week and i keep hearing the safety instructions you know you know how to put on your seat belt how to put on your safety vest all that kind of stuff but um also they tell you to read the the safety card i guess they call it you know and it basically says look in the case of an emergency if if the if the plane is to land you know on the sea or something like that you know you don't take your your bags with you you don't take your things with you you know and you say why is that i want to take my things it's because when that happens and and it's time to to leave the the the the the aircraft if you're trying to get your bags and you're trying to get all your things you're going to slow down the evacuation process okay you might be trying to get all this stuff because you need it oh man my phone my wallet i need all these things you know where is it open your bags and by the time you finish doing that you know the plane might be underwater it might be too late for you okay so this is the teaching here if we're that final generation we don't need to worry about all those things all right we should have the attitude of the second part of verse 33 and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it hey that's an amazing promise if we say i need to get out of here you know and you take your bible with you or better yet you should have memorized enough scripture so you can preach the gospel without it if you don't have it all right get out there you don't need to take everything with you all right and bible says that if you go with the thought that you might lose your life his life shall his life shall preserve it god gives a promise to those that realize hey i might lose my life but i'm going to live for him anyway i'm going to do what he says and jesus says he'll preserve it okay so who are the which believers are going to lose their lives during the tribulation period those that seek to save their lives hey which believers are going to preserve their lives and see it through those that seek you know i'm willing to lose my life for jesus christ you know it's a great teaching there and uh i was talking to some a brother that said to me and i know where he's coming from because um if you guys are familiar with peter ruckman these are the ruckman these are the ruckmanite um uh arguments that are made against a post-trib pre-rap rapture but the idea is but you know if we're that final generation and the only way we can buy and sell is by taking the mark of the beast you know you know as a father and and i see my children hungry and and you know going without isn't the temptation there to take the mark of the beast you know so you could at least provide for your family you know and uh um i've heard that argument like so many times and every time i've heard it it's because of the influence of ruckmanism okay that's one of their arguments so if you've thought about that you know let me just say this psalm 37 verse 25 says this i have been young and now am old yet have i not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread what's the promise of god that if we're righteous okay if we seek to be righteous people of god serving him faithfully willing to lose our lives even then your seed your children will not be in a position where they're begging for bread god will provide for them all right supernaturally maybe i don't know but god's going to make sure that it's dealt with that your seed don't go hungry if that's the case you wouldn't even have the temptation of thinking do i take the mark of the beast you know it's not even going to happen and then you know i say what i say to these people not only do i quote that verse but then i say to them how many christians in the bible do you see when they're under persecution they just give in and be like yep i worship the devil well i mean look you got shadrach meshach and abednego that knowing that they're going to lose their lives they're like all right just throw us into the fire if god saves us we'll be saved if he doesn't we'll just perish all right when it comes to persecution for believers there's a working of the holy ghost don't yes i know you're weak in your flesh but don't forget you also have the new man don't forget the kingdom of god is within you okay the holy spirit can take that new man empower you give you boldness to speak for him to stand up for god that's what we see play out in history when believers are being persecuted when believers are you know uh you know confronted with the loss of life now they stand up for christ they stand up for god it's not going to happen all right second corinthians 12 9 says and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for christ's sake for when i'm weak then am i strong it says look the tribulation period yeah it's going to make you weak in your flesh but then you'll be strong you'll be strong in the spirit you'll be strong in the new man look you're not going to be tempted you know to take the mark of the beast as a believer it's not going to happen all right and um and the other thing i say to them where in the bible does it say that believers are being tempted to take the mark of the beast where in the bible does it say that believers are taking the mark of the beast you know don't build your doctrine on what the bible doesn't say build it on what it says if it doesn't say that then why are you worried about something the bible doesn't even say okay we have enough of the bible that tells us we're going to be strong in persecution and that god will never let our seed beg for bread you know for the for his righteous people don't worry about it are you back in luke 17 sorry if i've taken you away luke 17 verse 34 and we'll just wrap it up here it says i tell you that in that night there shall be two men in one bed the one shall be taken and the other shall be left two women shall be grinding together the one shall be taken and the other left two men shall be in the field the one shall be taken the other left and they answered and said unto him where lord so let me just stop there for a minute there are some crazy teachings on this that's basically say those that are taken have been taken by god to be destroyed okay just just crazy but look those that look at the question by the apostles and they answered all the disciples and they answered and said unto him where lord what do you think they're referring to if someone says where do you think they're asking about the ones that stayed or the ones that have been taken i mean common sense would be those that have been taken where lord where are they being taken and he said unto them whether so ever the body is thither will the eagles be gathered together let's understand that okay jesus christ explains it in a sort of a picture form okay so you have eagles verse number 2037 eagles okay they're birds of prey aren't they okay jesus is saying look wherever that body is wherever that that you know that carcass is you know the eagles the birds of prey will be gathered together to to partake of that and he pictures that okay now i'm just going to read to you from first thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17 you know one of the most famous raptor passages first thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17 and you guys know it says then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the lord the picture there that jesus christ has given us is that we're going to be like those eagles that just gather for that mule okay to go to that body and what jesus what we know about the rapture is that his believers are going to be caught up into the air to be with the lord the lord is that as it were that body and we being that eagles taking flight and go into that body that's the that's the picture that jesus christ has given us here and um i'm looking forward i don't know about you guys but i'm looking forward to the day when i can lay my eyes on jesus christ okay and you might say i really want to make it to the rapture everyone's going to make it to the rapture all right even if you lose your life before that you're going to go up first okay you get the benefits of going first okay you'll be reunited with your dead body resurrected body you know sinless body you're going to go up first and you're going to see jesus christ with your physical body what a glorious day all right let's pray