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Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Steadfast Baptist Church, if you'll please turn in your hymn books to 413. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Let's sing it out, 413 nice and loud. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Then find his royal banner, it must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory, his armies shall he lead. Till every bow is vanquished, and Christ is born in thee. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call away. Forth to the mighty conflict in this his glorious day. Be that our men now serve him, against the number foes. Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength of rules. Stand up, stand up for Jesus, stand in his strength of hope. The art of flesh will fill you, he care not trust your own. Hold on the gospel harbor, and marching unto prayer. Where to befalls your danger, remember wanting there. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening and for Steadfast Baptist Church. We pray that your spirit would fill this room tonight. Bless this time of singing and worshiping your name. We love you, Jesus name we pray, amen. Alright, let's go to 150. My faith has found a resting place, 150. My faith has found a resting place, song 150. My faith has found a resting place, not a device for greed. I trust the ever living one, his words for me shall be. I heed no other argument, I heed no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. He shot for me, and Jesus saved. This ends my here and now. A sinful soul I come to him, he'll never cast me out. I heed no other argument, I heed no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through his blood. I heed no other argument, I heed no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. My faith position heals the sick, the lost he came to save. For he is precious, blood he shed, for he is life he gave. I heed no other argument, I heed no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Please be in prayer for all of them. We have note about some upcoming events. March 9th, that's going to be this Saturday. Our preaching class is going to continue. March 16th is a baby shower in honor of Mariah Jackson. The details are on the back. March 30th is a soul winning marathon that we're going to do here, meeting at the building, and we'll go out in the morning and the afternoon, just soul winning in nearby areas. Also, 31st is the Easter service, so that is going to be pretty much a normal service, but the evening service we will have communion immediately following the evening service. So if you'd like to participate in that, I highly encourage you to be here. Also, there is an event for one of our friends, Verdi Baptist Church. They're having a youth conference. I notice a few teenagers have said they're going to go from our church, and so if you'd like to just know who's planning on going, it's a great way for you guys to communicate. Also, there's a Shreveport, Louisiana, soul winning marathon, April 13th. That date had changed around a couple of times, but it should be settled this time, and it's been one of the more receptive areas that we've been to, soul winning, so again, I highly encourage you to participate. I made a note about this next, or this Sunday specifically, after the evening service, we're going to have just our normal annual business meeting, and so it's very simple. Usually it's not very long. It is a members only thing, and so if you are interested in that, make sure to attend the evening service. On the back is the details about the baby shower for the Jacksons. It's going to be 1230 to 230. It's going to be on their register on baby list. They are expecting a boy, and if you'd like to RSVP, please do so to Ms. Milstead. If you'd like to bring a dessert or dish, you can, and it is nursing's only preferred. Our prayer list, we'll go over that. We have been continuing to pray for Brother Hall for his leg healing. We've been praying for Ms. Cooley's stepdad, his cancer treatments. We've been praying for the name's grandmother, for her vision, health, and salvation. We've been praying for the Carlson's mother, Ms. Rebecca, for her health. We've also been praying for health for Ms. Stewart. We've been praying for Ms. Miller's friend, Tamara, her cancer treatments, and then also praying for Brother Goodwin for work. So that's pretty much, that's all I have as far as the prayer list is concerned. Let's go ahead and just say a quick word of prayer as a church family. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for this evening and for this service. Thank you for all the ladies that our church has that are expecting. I pray that you be with them in their pregnancies. I pray that you'd also please be with our church family that is struggling with health concerns or chronic issues. I pray, if possible, that you would just give them a miracle, that you could just heal them. We know that you do heal. I pray that you would just give them that grace. And no matter what, that you would help them during this time of tribulation. You give them patience. You give them comfort. I pray that you would also help our family and friends that need to hear the gospel, that you would give us that great opportunity. You would soften their hearts. I pray that you would also please help our church family that needs help with work or with travel. And I pray that you would also help those who are temporarily sick that they could have a speedy recovery so they can be back in church. We just thank you for all you give us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. That's really all I have as far as announcements. We'll go ahead and sing our psalm of the week, Psalm 149. In your separate handouts, Psalm 149. Psalm 149. Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song. And his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance. Let them sing praises unto him with the temple and heart. For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. He will beautify the people's salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth. And the two-edged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon the heathen. And punishments upon the people. To bind their kings with chains. And their doubles with their herbs of iron. To execute upon them the judgment written. This honor have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord. As the offering plates are being passed around, please turn to Revelation 15. Revelation chapter 15. Revelation 15. The Bible reads, and I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is written up the wrath of God. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is written up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire. And them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee. For thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for allowing us to be in church. Thank you for Revelation chapter number 15, Lord. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, and that we may learn from your word and make applicable changes to our lives. Praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We're here in Revelation chapter 15, and this specific chapter is pretty short. The previous chapter, chapter 14, it kind of ended with two events. One was a reaping, and the other one was specifically throwing or thrusting in the wicked into the winepress of God. Now, I believe, if you kind of understand the end of chapter 14, it kind of gave that idea of the winepress of God. But I think it's just kind of alluding to what's going to happen for a long period of time. And we haven't necessarily shifted our chronology, though. Because as we've been going through, we've been really talking and emphasizing that midpoint of Daniel's 70th week and that period of the Antichrist. And so we've been really carrying that narrative and that chronology through very strongly. And I believe in the tail end, when it talks about the earth being reaped, that was that rapture event. That was where Christians are raptured up, kind of around that 75-day mark, right up to the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week. When it brings up the winepress, I believe it's just alluding to what's going to happen in the future. And so when we get into chapter 15, it's continuing with that direct chronology of events, that timeline of what happened immediately after the rapture event. Now, it says in verse 1, So it also emphasizes the fact that this is the last. This is the end. This is the end of the end times. This is really where God is going to really pour out His wrath. And notice kind of the emphasis also here is that the specific vials here, or what they have, is filled up, right? They have the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God. So sometimes people would wonder, like, why is God waiting to judge the earth, or why is it taking so long? And I believe one of the reasons is because God wants His wrath to get to the max. He wants it to be completely full. Similarly, the land of Canaan, the inhabitants there weren't really judged until His basic wrath was filled, until it had come to its full point. And then at that point, He unleashed His wrath through the children of Israel, and even Himself included. He poured out His wrath on them. He destroyed them with bees and hornets and all kinds of stuff. So there's a lot of ways that God can judge someone or pour wrath upon them, but often what He does is He kind of allows that wrath to build. And I want to show you that in the Bible, but we're going to kind of go through this chapter here before we get to a lot of that point. The Bible says in verse 2, And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. So we have a group of people that are standing on this sea of glass. Now the sea of glass has been previously described in the book of Revelation. Keep your finger here and go back to chapter 4, and it will give us a little bit more of an idea of what we're talking about when we say the sea of glass. But in chapter 4, if you remember, chapter 4 is all about one specific thing. God the Father on the throne. That's what chapter 4 is really emphasizing and talking a lot about, is God sitting on His throne. And look specifically at verse 6, So if you kind of understand the picture in heaven, there is a sea of glass upon which the throne of God is seated. And this sea of glass is kind of picturing a proximity to God, and that proximity is very close. And what I think is kind of interesting or being emphasized here is that those who are coming out of the great tribulation, they are going to be in close proximity to God, that God very much cares about them, and notice that their relation to God is a very close relationship. And so, you know, obviously God cares a lot about Old Testament saints, but it's not like the Old Testament saints are going to just be the only thing that matters in heaven. The people that are fresh out of the earth, I mean, some of the last people to come out of the earth, they still have a close relationship with God, and God cares about them very greatly. Notice by their proximity to Him in heaven, they're going to literally be on that sea of glass in heaven as a special privilege of proximity to God. And so, you know, I always think of these verses that Jesus mentioned in the New Testament about how many which are last are going to be first. And I believe that one application, there's many applications, one is those who are the last born or the last to fight or the last to be on this earth many times might even be the first when it comes to priority in heaven. And it even says many that are first or last. So, don't think of, you know, all the rewards having been taken up or something or there's nothing worth fighting for at this point or, you know, I'm not Moses or I'm not Abraham, yet many that are last are going to be first. And so there's still great reward to serving God in the end times and even being that last minute person. You know, typically in sports, if you're winning really bad in the game, they'll just put the scrubs in at the last minute. But, you know, the Bible doesn't paint that picture where the scrubs or the bench players are coming in, but rather some of the most important people are coming in in the final moments. And so, you know, we live in important times in history, in the universe, and we shouldn't take our job lackadaisically, we should take it seriously. And I appreciate that those who are in these final moments, they still get a great honor. They're going to be on this sea of glass mingled with fire, and apparently they're given harps of God, so they're going to sing. Another thing that's kind of emphasized, think about it this way. Verse 1 is emphasizing the wrath of God that's going to be poured out. Verse 2 is emphasizing a group of people that have been rescued and delivered from earth. This makes me think of a verse in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. Go to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, and really the emphasis of Revelation, chapter number 15, is the wrath of God. I mean, that is really what we're talking about. That is what's emphasized over and over in this chapter. And there's a group of people that are escaping that. Well, look at 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse number 9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice how that verse fits perfectly with the book of Revelation, that God is not appointing us unto wrath. He's going to reap us out of the earth before he does what? Before he then unleashes his wrath on the earth. In Revelation, chapter number 12, the Bible tells us that the wrath in chapter 12 was coming from the devil. So you can almost look at it as the first half of the tribulation period, that seven-year period, and then that great tribulation period as being the wrath of the devil and the wrath of the devil on mankind. And then at the point of the rapture, it's no longer the wrath of the devil, it's the wrath of God being unleashed on the earth. And so these two things are very different as far as the source of the wrath itself. And they're very different in what actually happens. When you look at the first half, it seems like a lot of very naturalistic-type punishments and evil on the earth, whereas in the second half, it's a lot of supernatural-type punishments. Locusts coming from hell. I mean, this is not stuff that we normally are experiencing. And I notice there's a lot of crane flies out when I was out, but not any locusts from hell, okay? And so, you know, I can't imagine what kind of punishments that God has reserved. Just like he doled out on Egypt, these were wonders. These were things that have never been seen before and that were very unique. And so if we go back to Revelation chapter 15, look at verse 3. The Bible says this, And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. Now, you know, I don't know exactly how things work as far as when you die and go to heaven. It appears that in some ways we get special knowledge and in some ways we don't. One thing is I don't think anybody in here can hardly play a harp. But somehow, as soon as people get into heaven, it's like all of a sudden we can play with harps and we can sing this song. Or maybe perhaps it's not necessarily literally every person having a harp, but just us as a group and those who know to play the harp. I don't know exactly how it works, but it almost seems like perhaps we are given some kind of a special ability to learn how to sing these songs or play with these harps. And we're singing the song, notice this, of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. What I think is significant here is also the idea that Moses is still a significant character in heaven. Moses has been dead for a long time. I mean, Moses is a long time ago. Thousands of years ago is Moses. Thousands and thousands and thousands of years. Not billions, thousands, okay? But Moses is still a very important character in heaven. And what that tells me is this. You know, what we do here on earth matters. And being a really important person here is going to have a big impact on being a really important person in heaven as well. And so we should take the job and the opportunity that we have here very seriously as it's going to affect our entire eternity. Our entire eternity. I mean, when you put that in context, it's like, why would you want to stop reading your Bible and going to church and soul winning and serving God when literally your eternity is going to be impacted by the decisions that we make here and what we do for Christ now? That should only motivate us to serve God even more when we think about how that's going to impact for all of eternity. You know, people like to save money now. People like to invest in their future now. People like to train really hard to be somebody wonderful now. But it's like, for some reason, most people are not saving spiritually. They're not investing spiritually. And they're not trying to be someone great spiritually. You know, you young children, I hope that you work really hard and you get a good education and you get a good job. But you know what's something that would be really great to strive for? Being a soul winning captain when you're older. Or being someone who serves in the church faithfully. Or being a deacon. Or being an evangelist. Or being a pastor. Or just being a soul winner. Just being a faithful soul winner for the rest of your life. That's what you should really strive for and aim for as doing as a young person. Take these opportunities when you can go out soul winning with your dad or your mom to take that seriously. And it's really important, the decisions that we make here, it's going to affect all of eternity. Now, the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb, I also like that it uses both of those characters because people sometimes try to pit them one against another. As if Moses is somehow teaching something different or Jesus is teaching something different. No, no, no. They're on the same team. And they both like each other. And there's no incompatibility with Moses and Jesus Christ. And that's why Jesus even told the Pharisees, if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. Moses liked Jesus. He wrote about Jesus, folks. He wrote about that prophet that was coming. And Jesus Christ is that prophet. And so they're on the same team. Now, of course, who are they? Glorifying. Great and marvelous are the works of the Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? Now, here's a really important phrase. For thou only art holy. There is only one who is holy. And I think this is really important timing in the Bible because everyone here in heaven has been given Jesus Christ's imputed righteousness. But we're still recognizing that God is the only one who's holy. There's only one who's truly holy, and that is God. Because man is a sinner, we've been tainted by sin, we're not perfect. Anybody who thinks they're perfect or holy is a liar. You know, people like Ray Comfort will lie to people on the street and they'll quote this verse out of context where it says, Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. And it's like, oh, really? So you have holiness, Ray? Because according to the Bible, there's only one that's holy and that's God. So why are you trying to tell people to repent of their sins? Because here's the thing, by the fact that you even need to repent, you're already not holy. Repent of your sins. Well, that means you sinned. Well, since you sinned, you're already not holy. You already are not holy. You can't be holy because you have to repent of something. Meaning, the only way for you to truly be holy is to have the holiness of Jesus Christ imputed onto your account because He's the only one that's really holy. For thou alone art holy. I mean, what an amazing phrase. I mean, whole sermons could be preached on just this one phrase because Jesus Christ is the only one that's never sinned. I mean, this is what He's confronted with by the young rich ruler saying, and he's like, there's none good but one, that's God. You know, why callest thou me good? Who are you calling holy here? Because if I'm good, if I'm holy, then guess what? He's God. Because there's only one that's holy and that's God, specifically. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, the only one that's truly holy is God. And when we're in heaven, we're still going to know that, we're still going to remember that, and we're going to praise the only one who's holy, which is God. For all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made manifest. Another thing that's important in this song is the idea that the judgments, notice this, are made manifest. What does manifest mean? Made obvious or clear, coming to pass. That means that not always is God's judgments manifest, meaning that there's been time and there's been a period of history where the judgments of God are perhaps what? Delayed. Through what? The long suffering of God, through the mercy of God, through the grace of God. The fact that God is very gracious unto the earth, he's not always doling out his judgments. He's not always allowing all of his judgments to be made manifest. Hell is not necessarily manifested to us. We can't see hell. We don't know what that's like entirely. We can only look through faith of the word of God to have an idea of what hell looks like. But the manifestation of God's judgments are no longer going to be hidden or obscured or concealed in some interpretation. Rather, it's going to be manifest. The judgments of God are going to be on the earth, literally. Where those who are wicked, those who are evil, are going to be suffering the great wrath of God in the present tense. Now, some people, the wrath of God is manifest in their life. It reprobates, and the Bible tells us that in Romans 1. We'll go there in a minute. But here's the reality. Not everybody is experiencing the wrath of God. It's not manifest. You know, in John chapter 3, the Bible tells us that the wrath of God is abiding on those who do not believe in him. But that wrath is not manifest right now. The judgments of God aren't necessarily manifest in that person's life right now. Because why? Because he's long-suffering and allowing them an opportunity to get saved before it's too late. That manifestation period, though, has come to fruition because all the saved have been reaped. And now, no longer is God holding back with his long-suffering or gracious nature. But rather, he's going to pour out his fierce wrath, as the Bible describes it, upon the earth. And all of his judgments are going to become manifest, made obvious, super clear, no way to deny what's really happening. There's no walking by faith at that point. It's walking by sight at that point. And so, that's what's being emphasized here, is that the judgments are going to be made very obvious to everyone. Verse 5, the Bible says this, And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. Now, if we contrast this to what we've learned previously in the book of Revelation, the Bible talks about there being seven last trumpets. So, essentially, the Bible describes seven trumpets and seven vials. I believe when you study this and you look at the parallels, you'll notice that essentially you kind of have the trumpet one corresponding with vial one. And then you have trumpet two corresponding with vial two. And so, they're kind of done in tandem where you have these seven last trumpets declaring the seven vials being poured out. And in the vials is a specific wrath of God that's going to be poured onto the earth. And, again, what is the emphasis? The wrath of God. Verse 8, and the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. So, this is a heavily emphasized portion of the Bible, is the wrath of God being poured out. And I think that a lot of Christians, they really are squeamish about the idea of wrath. Because they just think of God as being this Santa Claus character, this softy, this effeminate, long-haired Jesus that they've seen in some TV show called The Chosen or whatever. What is it called? Is that what it's called? The Chosen or something. That's not the Jesus of the Bible. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is full of wrath. And, of course, that wrath is not always made manifest. But at this point in time, it's going to be made manifest. And if you look up the word wrath in the dictionary, this is what it says. Forceful, often vindictive anger. Wow, that sounds scary. Here's the second one. Punishment or vengeance as a manifestation of anger. The third one. Violent anger. You know what they all have in common? Anger. And it's like somehow people think, oh, God is love. Yes, He is. But you know what? He's also really angry. God is angry with the wicked every day is what the Bible says. And God has wrath, and God will pour out His wrath on the unbelieving world and on those who have rejected Him. Now, what I think is interesting about this chapter is how it emphasizes the word wrath. And then if you look up the first mention of wrath in the Bible in context of God. So go if you would to Exodus chapter 15. Go to Exodus chapter number 15. Now, the word wrath is mentioned before this, but it wasn't talking about God. The first time the Bible talks about God's wrath or the wrath coming from God is in Exodus chapter number 15. Now, Exodus 15 is on the heels of the army of Pharaoh chasing after the children of Israel. And they're chasing them through the Red Sea. And then God closes in the Red Sea upon them that He miraculously opened and destroys all of Pharaoh and his army. And that's kind of the end of the judgments against Pharaoh. So God's unleashed all of the ten plagues, and then God has taken the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. They've walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. Pharaoh and his army chased after them, and then it closes in the sea, and they all die, and they're all destroyed. And then this is what's interesting. Chapter 15, what does it say in verse 1? Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord. Isn't it interesting that the wrath of God, the first mention, you know what, Moses is singing a song. And then what we have in Revelation chapter number 15 is when all the children of Israel, that's us, okay, all of the saints have been delivered, then what happens? Then he pours out what? His wrath on them, and we're singing a song at the same time. So it's very interesting how the timing and the parallel here is virtually the exact same context. It says in verse 1, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare Him inhabitation. My Father is God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is His name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath He cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them. They sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, has become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of Thine Excellency, Thou hast overthrown them that rose up against Thee. Thou sentest forth Thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. So this is the first mention of the word wrath in the Bible in context of God, and notice what's the context. The context is Pharaoh and all of his chariots, all of his army, and those of Egypt have been destroyed through God's plagues and wrath, and He's thrown them in the sea, and He's destroyed them, and He's saved miraculously the children of Israel out of such destruction, and they sing the song of Moses, and then it's, oh, what is Revelation 15? It's where the children of God have been delivered and rescued out of the Antichrist clutches, and that final Babylonian kingdom, which is also represented as Egypt prior to, and it's a similar ungodly world that's going to be poured out, all kinds of wrath, and those that are rescued are going to sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, and we're going to ascribe to God that salvation. Very interesting, very interesting how the Bible parallels these, and of course this story of the Exodus is really a great parallel to the end times. Those plagues are very similar to the plagues we find in the book of Revelation. Moses is a very similar character to the Lord Jesus Christ, and so there's a lot of overlap, there's a lot of parallel to those stories, and I just find that very interesting. I want to go to some more places, though. Go to Luke chapter 21. Go to Luke chapter number 21. The word wrath is found in your Bible all over. There's way too many mentions for us to just really study it even in a singular sermon, but I do think that it's important to talk about a few different mentions here and to recognize the idea that God has wrath. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, he looked on the Pharisees and on the Jews with anger, as the Bible describes it. The Lord Jesus Christ made a court of whips and went into the temple and was throwing over the money changer's tables and was whipping people out of the temple. It would just be funny, and I could just imagine so many liberal Christians being like, you're not going to reach a lot of people with that method, Jesus. It's like whipping people out of the temple of God. That's kind of funny to think about it. What happened to you today? Jesus whipped me. He literally whipped people and was throwing their tables. That's fierce anger. Jesus Christ was angry. Again, that wasn't his main mission. That wasn't even his main goal. His main purpose was to save people, and he still got a little angry a couple times. He still couldn't even just only be nice. Frankly speaking, the Pharisees didn't think he was nice at any point. Every time he spoke, he was like, he's preaching against us, isn't he? They were kind of upset. They were all angry at him. They never thought he was a nice guy. They were mad at him the whole time. Now, Luke 21, verse 20, this is kind of describing an interesting period of time, but it says in verse 20, And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter therein to. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Verse 23, But woe unto them that are with child, and them that give suck in those days. For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. Now, this is what is interesting about this is, of course, part of this is fulfilled in approximately 70 AD, when the Romans came and compassed about Jerusalem, literally, and kind of in that midpoint week, you have Titus coming in, you have a pseudo-abomination of desolation, you have the stopping of the sacrifice, you have all these different elements that are kind of these end times elements, but also you have something specific, wrath upon this people, like great wrath upon those who are in this period of time. Why? Because the people that are living in Jerusalem at this time are mostly a bunch of Christ-rejecting, God-hating Jews. And they kind of generally represent the unsaved. And, of course, those who are scarcely saved were supposed to flee and get out of that area. The only reason you would do that is if you believe the words of Jesus, and the only reason you would believe the words of Jesus is because you're saved. So he's basically warning the saved to get out of there, high-tail out of there, because he says, these be the days of vengeance, and notice that's when he pours out his wrath. So we see a consistent timeline of kind of a midpoint, or just past that midpoint, then there's this great wrath coming upon that group of people. Similarly, this is what's foreshadowing the end times, where you're going to have likewise the Antichrist and those, you know, doing their work in Jerusalem, literally. And he's going to rescue the saved out of the world, even out of that area, and then there's going to be great wrath on that specific portion of land. In fact, Jerusalem is going to have a lot of specific judgments on them during that period of time. They're going to have a great earthquake, it's going to have darkness, the Bible describes the Antichrist kingdom being in darkness during this period, all kinds of wrath that's really affecting the whole world, but specifically even this part of the world, a lot of God's wrath is focused in there. And so we see kind of a similar thing. Now, go to Matthew 3, and I want to show you another thing here. Matthew chapter number 3. Of course, Jesus Christ is telling them that these things are going to happen to them, and they reject Jesus, they don't want to believe in him. They don't want to accept his salvation, physically or spiritually. They don't want either. Matthew chapter 3, look at verse 6, the Bible says, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing the sins, talking about all of Jerusalem, and John the Baptist. Verse 7, Notice that there was going to be wrath coming upon the Pharisees and the Sadducees. What was that wrath that was going to come upon them? It's the wrath that we just read about in Luke, chapter number 21. And he's trying to say, who's warning you guys to flee from this wrath? And it says in the next verse, So John the Baptist is trying to help them recognize the fact that they're not even saved. Why? Well, they don't believe in Jesus Christ. And if they did believe in Jesus Christ, what would they say? We believe in Jesus Christ. It's not rocket science, folks. But you know what? They didn't believe in Jesus. They didn't believe in John the Baptist. Because when Jesus Christ was confronting them, they're saying, who's giving you this authority? He's like, well, let me ask you a question first. Where did the authority come from for John the Baptist? You know, is this guy from heaven or earth? And they didn't want to answer if he was a prophet or not. And by that, he basically trapped them into not answering the question. But it's very specific here that they're not bringing forth fruits, meat for repentance. What is this fruit? The fruit would be what they say. So what would be the opposite? If you think, if I'm a Jew, I don't need to worry about any kind of salvation. I'm not going to trust in Jesus Christ because there's no wrath coming upon me. What are they trusting in to deliver them? And think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father. They are trusting in the fact that they were a Jew, thinking they would be saved, thinking they would be delivered, thinking that no bad thing would ever happen to them. But he's saying, don't say that. Because if you think that, if that's what you believe, you are going to be destroyed. And here's what's a really interesting point. He's saying, for I stand you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. So here's the thing. It's interesting that they're both bringing up Abraham. They think because they're a physical descendant of Abraham, they're going to be saved and delivered. But John the Baptist is saying, well, God could make a stone a child of Abraham. He could make a dead rock a child of Abraham. And you know what? You know what those dead rocks were that became children of Abraham? The Gentiles. Hey, we ended up becoming the children of Abraham. We are that seed of Abraham and we were raised up and God is going to deliver us. But you know what? It's not because of a physical descendancy. It's because of a spiritual descendancy because we believe in Jesus Christ. And they didn't do such a thing and they didn't have any good fruit and they're hewn down and cast in the fire. Now a lot of people twist these passages and they think, well, if you don't exhibit the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, patience, meekness, kindness, you're not saved. No, no, no. The fruit here is talking about believing in Jesus Christ. And the people who aren't saved never brought forth that fruit. There are going to be Christians that go to heaven that weren't very meek, that didn't have a lot of joy. Was that right? No. Were they quenching the Spirit? Yes. But you know what? Everybody in heaven is going to have brought forth the fruit of believing in Jesus Christ. And all the ones that didn't, they are going to be judged according to their works and they're going to be thrown into the lake of fire. Now of course we should exhibit the fruits of the Spirit in our life, but the most important fruit is believing in Jesus Christ. And that's not what the Pharisees did. They didn't believe in him, they rejected him, and they mocked him and they spat upon him. That's what they really did. So I want to go to a couple of other places though. Let's just do a couple more searches for the word wrath. Go to 2 Chronicles 19. Now I don't want you to get confused and think this, that wrath from God can only ever happen to an unsaved person. Because that's not true. Generally speaking, it typically is designed for unsaved people. And the Bible does clearly say that he's not appointed us unto wrath. But what does that mean? That's talking about specifically this period of time and this horrible wrath that's being poured out on the unbelieving world. But as a Christian, you can still experience the wrath of God. As a saved person, you can still experience the wrath of God. Why do you think God is literally telling them, Hey, get out of Jerusalem. Because if you stick around, you could be like Lot's wife and experience the wrath of God. Remember Lot's wife? She turned back and she turned into a pillar of salt. And she experienced the wrath of God as a result of not fleeing, not loving this world and chasing this world. And you know what? Those who love this world are an enemy of God, according to the Bible. And when you become an enemy of God, you can also be a victim of his fierce wrath while on earth. Of course, you would never go to hell. That's not what the Bible is saying. But I want to show you an example of someone who's saved and being warned about experiencing the wrath of God. Look at 2 Chronicles 19, verse number 2. And Jehu, the son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Now let me remind you of the definition of wrath again. Forceful, often vindictive anger. Punishment or vengeance as a manifestation of anger. Violent anger. You know what's a really good reason not to love the sodomite? It's so that you don't experience violent anger from God. Punishment and vengeance as a manifestation of anger. Forceful, vindictive anger. God can unleash that even on the saved when they side with the sodomites. You know, who's that? How about the whole tribe of Benjamin for having defended the sons of Belial that were in their town? Now look, I don't think that every single person in Benjamin was a reprobate or was unsaved. Many of them could have even been saved. But you know what? They were supporting and fighting for the sons of Belial, those who were reprobate. And you know what? God unleashes fearful wrath upon them. His violent anger and wrath upon them. Not only that, the tribe that didn't go up with them also faced the wrath of God by being destroyed. And so we don't want to get this lackadaisical attitude of thinking, Well God's never mad at me. God couldn't be angry at me because I'm saved. No, no, no. God can still unleash his wrath upon you. And what was one of the main reasons why? When you help the ungodly. When you love them that hate the Lord. You know, what an evil thing to do to just support God's enemies. You know, we can all get backslidden. But God willing, we would never get that backslidden. Right? It's like it's one thing to not go to church. It's one thing to sin. It's another thing to literally love the ungodly. And it's just crazy how so many churches today and so many Christians today are literally loving the ungodly. And you know what? They're welcoming those people into their churches. They're welcoming those people into their homes. And you know what? They're opening themselves up for something. Violent anger. And it wouldn't even surprise me if God is going to let those people be the ones that bring that violent anger upon them. And that evil upon them. You know, we should be careful not to let stray dogs into the house. Okay? You know, you don't know what it's got, rabies or what's going on. You just don't feed stray animals. This is a lesson my parents taught me. Okay? And you know, we don't want to feed stray dogs. Dogs are supposed to be without. Okay? Without our dogs is what the Bible says. Go to Romans chapter 1. Go to Romans chapter 1. You say, well, but I don't know if this person's a reprobate. We can't know everybody's heart. That's true. You can't know everybody's heart. But you know what the Bible does tell us? There's some people that it's obvious that they're a reprobate. I mean, yeah, there could be Judases in this room. And we don't know. And I don't think that God's mad at you if you accidentally help that person. You know, like, Jesus Christ literally washed Judas' feet. Jesus Christ loved Judas. Was God angry at Jesus for loving Judas? No. Because, you know, of course Jesus kind of knows everything. So there's a little bit of a caveat there. But he's kind of going through life as if he doesn't necessarily know all those things. Or he's giving people a bit of a doubt. He's kind of trying to model for us how we would react not knowing everything even though he does know everything, literally. So, from our perspective, if you wash Judas' feet in this room, don't worry about it. It is what it is. I think that God could still bless you for just having loved people and doing right. I think that sometimes there's this attitude of trying to catch Judas before he's Judas. And it's like, but wait a minute. If we caught Judas before he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, he wouldn't be Judas. You know what makes Judas Judas? He betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you catch Judas before he is Judas, then he's not Judas. So quit trying to catch Judas. Just love people. Just be gracious. But you know what? When someone is an obvious reprobate, when it's really clear that they're a bad person, let's not love that person, right? Now how would you know that, Pastor Shelley? Well, look at verse number 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Boy, that's something interesting. He's saying that the violent anger, the vindictive anger, the punishment, God being so angry, his punishment on someone is revealed, meaning we can see it. You can literally see God's punishment on some people. What would be such a punishment, or why would he punish these people? Against all ungodliness and righteousness, men who hold the truth in righteousness. So this is someone who holds the truth in unrighteousness. What does it mean to hold the truth in unrighteousness? Let me explain to you what this means. It is someone that can articulate to you what the gospel is, and they didn't believe it, and they still want to be wicked. It's someone that can say, Hey, the Bible says all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and put your faith in Him, and all you have to do is believe one time and you'll be saved. Oh, do you believe that? No, not at all. That is someone that's holding the truth in unrighteousness. And let me tell you something. There's a group of people out there that many times when you ask them how to be saved, they can give you exactly the right answer. But they don't believe it. They don't accept that. It's not that they don't have the cure. They don't want to take the antidote. They don't want the cure. They're holding that truth and they're saying, Nah, I want to just stay wicked. No, I still don't want to believe in Jesus. Even though I understand it, I know what you're saying. I totally get it. I just don't want it. That's what this group of people is like. And it says, verse 19, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. Meaning these people, they know it, they've heard it, they've seen it, they got it. Now, I'm not going to read the whole passage, but look at what it says in verse 25, Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. So they have that truth and it's like, I don't want this. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to dismiss this or turn this into a lie somehow. I'm going to make lies out of this. Verse 26, For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. So, what is the Bible saying? People who have the truth, turned it into a lie, something happens to them. For the cause of rejecting the gospel, for the cause of having the truth and not wanting it, not even wanting to retain God on their knowledge, for that reason, God then allows them to do what? Change the natural use into that which is against nature. So many people just think like, Oh, someone's born gay. No one's born gay, you die gay. You are dead and then you become twice dead is what the Bible says. No one was born that way, you died that way. And why you're dead is because you'll never be revived. Because you already have the truth, you didn't want it, and so you're basically just a dead man walking. And that manifestation is what? The fact that you've now changed the natural use. Notice again that they weren't born gay. The Bible doesn't teach that anyone's ever born gay. No one is born gay. They were born normal and then they changed the natural use into that which is against nature. And notice in verse 27 about the men leaving the natural use of the woman. So they had the natural use of the woman and then they left it. The women changed it, the men left it. It doesn't say they were born that way. And it really makes me upset because a lot of Christians are like, well, some people are born that way, but they need to be born again. Well, you know what? No, no one was born that way. They died that way. And it's manifest that that's who they are. Verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God on their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to those things which are not convenient. And in fact, verse 32 says this, who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. They just love evil. They literally love evil. And of course, God punishes those individuals. So right now, the manifestation of God's judgment, the manifestation of God's wrath is not evident in every single person's life. Okay? Go to John chapter 3. Let's look at this verse. John chapter number 3, I kind of alluded to it, but look at verse 36. The Bible says, he that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God, notice this word, abideth on it, meaning currently the wrath of God is abiding on this person. But is that manifest in that person's life? No. And so, you know, most people are just unsaved with the wrath of God abiding on them. And if they die in that state, they'll go straight to hell. But there are some people where the wrath of God has become manifest in their life. How do you know? They're an open sodomite. And the open sodomites, boy, I'll tell you what, it's not a coincidence that every time I go soul winning and I run into somebody and they can give me all the right answers and say they don't believe it, they happen to be a sodomite too. And it's not surprising to me that many times when I run into sodomites, they can give me all the right answers. You know how many people I run into that are not saved and normal that can give me the right answers to the gospel? Almost never. Like I virtually have nobody ever. There was like one time I can think of it and it was an atheist. And I'm thinking like he might be a reprobate because he said he grew up Baptist and knew all the right answers and went to seminary and then he became an atheist and I'm thinking like, boy, that's scary for you. Very scary. Because God's very angry and he could punish you in a way you don't want to be punished. The worst punishment. Becoming a sodomite. And so the wrath of God's not evident in everybody's life right now. But there's coming a day when it doesn't matter if you're a homo or not. It doesn't matter if you're a sodomite or not. You're going to be experiencing the wrath of God currently. The wrath of God abiding on you will be manifest. It won't be like, I wonder if God's mad at me for sinning. It's just going to be hitting you in the face. It's going to be stinging you all over your body. It's going to be this locust from hell just following you around just like... I mean, think how much faster all of us would have gotten saved if that was happening, right? Just like locust from hell and comets are falling out of the sky and there's blood in the water and you're just like, I'm going to believe in Jesus right now. Like, I got saved just hearing about hell let alone if there was all that kind of punishment and wrath. But think about what's crazy. Many, if not most of the world is still not even going to believe in Jesus. I think some people think like, oh, all the people in hell would now believe in Him. No, they still wouldn't. You know, the unsaved, they just don't want to believe in Him. They have a hardened heart and they have pleasure and unrighteousness and God is going to punish them severely. Now, go to Romans 13. I want to go to a couple more places in Romans here. The wrath of God has been revealed. So God will manifest His wrath in different ways. He builds it up and then has like a big event and many times that kind of resembles the end times big event. You know, where we have Pharaoh judged. That's kind of a picture of it. The Canaanites judged is kind of a picture of it. The Babylonians being judged is kind of a picture of it. So He has many different manifestations. The Jews being judged very severely in 70 AD. That's a manifestation of it. So constantly God is showing lots of many manifestations of this end times. And the Bible makes it clear that the wrath of God is done many times through human means though. Some of those were... The very end is kind of like a supernatural one. A lot of the wrath of God up to this point and even somewhere in the future is God using people to pour out wrath. And He wants us to show His wrath. Look at Romans chapter 13 verse 4. For He is a minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for He beareth not the sword in vain, for He is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon Him that doeth evil. So when someone commits a capital punishment worthy sin, the Bible says that God's ministers, the government, is supposed to put that person to death. And they're supposed to do something. They're supposed to execute wrath upon Him. So we as humans are supposed to execute the wrath of God on other humans. And this is what's crazy. People just think, all I do is just love people. Well, what about this chapter? What about this verse? Isn't there supposed to be someone who in specific situations executes the wrath of God literally on people? Well, you're not going to win a lot of people over with that. Well, you know, I'm not always interested in just winning people over. You know what I'm interested in? Being pleasing to God and doing what God said. And you know what's also not winning people over? Allowing pedophiles and rapists to go up and down the street and murder children. That's also not reaching people. When you just have rampant rapists and murderers and theft and evil constantly going on in this world, destroying children and destroying innocent people's lives, those people didn't get saved either as a result of dying from horrific crimes. So your logic is a half-baked logic. Let's love the rapists and love the pedophile and love all these evil sick satanic predators. No, no, no. Let's execute God's wrath on them. You know, and I have no idea when the end times is. No one does. If you think you know when Jesus Christ is coming back, you can leave, all right? Because you're wrong, and you're a weirdo. But if you think you know, you're wrong. Whatever day you tell me it is, it's not that day for sure. So none of us have any idea. I guarantee fundamental Baptists, when Hitler was rising to power, were saying, we are in the end times. Like, because I'm just thinking about myself, I'm like, I probably would have preached that. People thought, like, this is it. You know, I can see it. Like, this totally has a potential of being the end times, and Hitler could literally be the Antichrist. And so, you know, America wasn't the saint that you want to believe it was, even in the 40s, okay? So there was plenty of reason to believe that America was Babylon even back then. People don't realize, how about the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression that came? The Roaring 20s, I don't know if you understand, like, there was a great resurgence of temperance in America, where we had the Prohibition period, where alcohol was illegal, and, you know, basically there was like a bringing of righteousness. But here's the problem. Most people weren't, and so you had mafia groups and gangster groups really taking over almost all the cities, and they were bootlegging alcohol and liquor. They had infiltrated a lot of the police departments, and so there was just rampant prostitution, drugs, gambling, speakeasies, and we just went into a horrible time of just debauchery and filth, and then guess what happens at the end of the 20s? Oh, yeah, the Great Depression. It's like a pretty big punishment from God for America just going, like, straight heathen. Places like Houston, I mean, Houston was a den of gambling and prostitution and drugs and just all kinds of filth and smut. I mean, you don't even understand how evil America used to even be in the 20s. I mean, this is where we get men like Rockefeller, and we bring in the Federal Reserve, and they're bringing in, you know, this is on the heels of, like, things like the Social Security number and stuff, and people are just thinking, like, it's the end times. This is the Antichrist. So I get it. Like, there's a lot happening right now that makes me think, like, we could be here. Like, this could be the end times. It could still be another 100 years, though. It could still be another 150 years. It could be another 200 years. And if it's 200 years from now, none of us will be alive, not even your children. And you know what I don't want? I don't want even another child hurt or taken advantage of, so why can't we still kill all the pedophiles of our generation, right? I mean, we shouldn't just take our feet off the gas and just be like the pre-Tribbers and just hide in our little palace of a church building and just say, we're just hoping that Jesus comes, you know. And we're just, like, kind of the same opinion, but we're like, well, we hope the tribulations start so Jesus will come. And it's like, how about we just start preaching the Bible and saying, hey, let's put pedophiles to death because we don't know what's going to happen and America kind of ebbs and flows from wickedness to righteousness and why can't we be a righteous generation now? Hey, if it's the end times, bring it on. If it's not, bring it on! Don't have this attitude of not caring. You know, we live in important times and important days and we need, as God's people, to be a thundering voice of righteousness. And we need some real people to execute the wrath of God because this is what happens. When you don't execute the wrath of God, God still does it. And I would much rather us take care of it than have to let God take care of it. Because He will. He's not going to just sit here and, oh, just Sodom and Gomorrah, just keep doing what you're doing. No, no, oh, you didn't want to get rid of the sons of Belial? Then I'll take care of that for you. And the reality is, if we as America just continue to allow people who are worthy of death to just march up and down our streets and just do as they please, you know what? God will take care of us. God will wipe out those people. And if we're loving the ungodly, like all these liberal Christians are, we could experience that wrath with them. You know, we need to stand against wickedness no matter how wicked our nation gets. And this is always the thing that gets brought up. This is making me so mad. This is what every preacher always says. Well, if you're going to start executing people according to the Old Testament, that's like everybody. Well, it's not me. You know what? I'm not a faggot, number one. And you know what? I'm not going around committing adultery, and I'm not murdering anybody. I mean, can you imagine the insanity of saying like, well, I guess we're all just rapists and adulterers and pedophiles and faggots in here or something. It's like, what kind of church is that? And hey, you know what? I get that some of the more lenient or the more easy-committing capital crimes, people have done it. There are people that have committed adultery. There are people that have committed some sins worthy unto death. And I think that as a country and as a nation, we could probably just say, hey, this is starting effective now on some of those issues. But at the end of the day, why can't we just implement a new policy and just say, hey, we're going to abide by the word of God? Why do you think America was so great? Well, they had the capital punishment system going. You know, you couldn't be a witch. That's why I'm not suffering a witch to live. I mean, is your church really full of witches and rapists? I mean, what's going on in this world? And even if it was, why do I want to live in a society filled with witches, rapists, and murderers? I mean, hey, we don't want to get rid of the rapists, the witches, and the murderers in our country because that's everyone. Well, it sounds like we really need to then. I'm not sitting here thinking like, ah, that's everybody. You know, maybe that's you as a pastor because you're a false prophet or something, but I personally don't even think that's the vast majority of America either. And I guarantee if you start executing people for committing adultery, the numbers will go down, okay? The websites will go down. And think about this. When you put the adulterer down, you put him to death, he can't commit adultery with anybody else. So you're reducing just the sheer volume by getting rid of the offenders because they can't be a repeat offender. They can't drag somebody else down with them into their wicked sin. Now, again, that makes people mad because they'll be like, oh, so you think the stubborn rebellious son should be stoned to death? Yes, I do. I mean, it's the kid that refuses to get a job, he's hitting his parents, he's striking his parents, he's a glutton, he won't do anything in society. Why would I want him to just go run around the streets and rob people and be part of the BLM movement or something? You know, it's like if you won't be a productive member of society, it's like, bye. If you literally are just going to be a drunk loser who refuses to do anything positive for society, why would we want you to continue living in society? You're going to be up to no good. You're going to end up raping someone. You're going to end up murdering someone. You're going to end up doing something really hazardous and killing somebody, so bye. Because think about it. No one is just going to starve themselves to death, and if you refuse to work, how are you going to get money? You're going to rob people, you're going to hold up liquor stores, I mean, whatever you're going to do. They're going to do something dangerous and probably endanger other people. That's why the Bible is saying, this is something we've already identified. It's a huge problem in society, and we're going to put them to death. And I guarantee if it's like, hey, get a job, or we put to death, a lot of people get a job all of a sudden. You know? I mean, it's not really rocket science here. The word of God works, folks, okay? And also, here's another thing. You don't have to worry when God will take care of it. Because even if we fail as a country and as a nation, God's still going to get rid of those people somehow. I mean, he got rid of Egypt and in the midst of the children of Israel. I mean, they all survived somehow, and those wicked people got wiped out and destroyed. And I think living in America, even right now, as we serve God and do right, we can be preserved while the wicked are just constantly taken out and destroyed in this nation, and we shouldn't fear. And when someone does something wrong, don't feel like you have to take care of it. Look at chapter 12, verse 19. Notice what God said. I'll take care of it. Well, what happens when they fail? He'll take care of it. What happens when you can't take care of it? He'll take care of it. So another thing that's really important. If someone does you wrong, don't worry. God will take care of it. But you don't understand, Pastor Shelley. We have to do something about it. No, you don't. You don't have to worry about it. Just let God take care of it. I don't care what someone did to you. If someone keyed your car in the parking lot, you know what? Let God take care of it. If someone cut you off, if someone said something mean to you, if someone's a jerk, if someone's going to destroy their lives, you just say, God bless you. I mean, think about what it says in verse number 20. The Bible says he doesn't want us to exact vengeance on every single grievance that we have. He wants him to take care of it. So we want to have our place. We want the government to put people to death according to the law and execute the wrath of God upon them. But when it's just our personal enemy and we have issues with people, we should just let God take care of it. And if the government won't do it, God will take care of it. And if the church won't do it, God will take care of it. And if you can't do it, God will take care of it. Here's the theme. God will take care of it. I think we get so fixated on fixing every problem that it kind of shows a lack of faith in God. It shows that we don't really trust in him to deal with our issues. God's going to deal with every issue. God is not mocked. If whatsoever man soweth, that should also reap. I think some people think, well, this person's a jerk. We better take care of it. Well, do you really think God's going to be mocked? Do you really think there's going to be this person that's just a jerk and a loser or a freak or something and God's just going to be like, man, I just missed that one. Sorry. I just let them be a jerk forever and no punishment, no problem. No, no, no. God is not mocked. Well, I saw this person steal and they got away with it. This person did me wrong and they got away with it. They never got away with it. God is not mocked. If whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. There is no getting away. You know what you should be focusing on? What you're doing. Because you're not going to get away with it either. You know what you're supposed to do? Love them anyways. Be good to them anyways. Pray for them anyways. Feed them anyways. Don't be overcome of evil, but overcome evil is good. Stop trying to avenge everything and just love people, right? Of course, we want to be balanced. Some of us love everything and everyone. And then we don't go to this, let's exact the wrath of God on everybody that I don't like. We want to be balanced. Hey, the faggot, put him to death. The non-faggot, love him. It's basically how the Bible works. Go to Romans chapter 2. Go to Romans chapter 2. It's really that simple. And people say I'm a hate preacher, but I'm really only like a 5% hate preacher. I'm like 95% love. So I identify as a love preacher, all right? And to be honest, most people, I guarantee they hate way more than 5% of people, so I'm way more loving than they are. But you know what? I'm not more loving than God, and God isn't 100% either. Okay, now Romans chapter 2, look at verse 5. So according to the Bible, there is a specific day of wrath, and I believe that's alluding to this end times. Now of course, from an individual perspective, their day of wrath could come at any moment, and individuals experience a day of wrath for them, but I think it's also kind of alluding to the same concept, the same idea that there's going to be a specific day of wrath. That's the day of the Lord. That's when the Lord is going to pour out his vengeful anger and righteous judgment against the wicked. And notice that some people are doing something. They're treasuring. It says, Some people are rich in wrath. Hillary Clinton is rich in wrath. Bill Clinton is rich in wrath. George Soros is rich in wrath. And then that day of wrath comes when Jacob Rothschild goes straight to hell and is burning in hell, and now he's like, Hey, I was rich on earth, and I'm rich in wrath. I mean, there's so many people that that's all they're doing. They're just literally just storing up just more and more wrath unto themselves, and then it gets to a point where it gets full. When is it full? In Revelation, chapter number 15, when God has his vials full of the wrath of God, and he's going to pour it out on the unbelieving world. Now, go back to Revelation and go to chapter 6. I think it's important to show... I've showed you all kinds of places in the Bible that talk about wrath, all kinds of different scenarios. So it would be bizarre for Christians to just be like, God isn't wrathful, or there isn't any wrath. And it would also be wrong to misconstrued certain words, and this is what pre-tribbers do. Pre-tribbers misconstrued Daniel's 70th week as all wrath. And then they'll say, God's not appointed us unto wrath. And look, obviously that's a verse in the Bible. We read it. But didn't we see that wrath has been poured out prior to the rapture? I mean, the wrath was poured out in Exodus, chapter 15. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven right now, according to Romans, chapter number 1. So we want to define these words, wrath, correctly. We also see that someone who's loving the ungodly, wrath could even be upon them right now. Now, it's important because pre-tribbers want to make the whole seven-year period a period that we won't be a part of. And their whole argument, almost 90-some percent of their argument, is just, well, it's all wrath, and we're not appointed to wrath. But think about it. Chapter 15 is emphasizing what? The wrath of God. Because we've made a transition. It wouldn't be emphasizing the wrath of God in chapter 15 if it's been happening this whole time. It's emphasizing the wrath of God because it hasn't been poured out. It's been treasuring up unto the day of wrath, meaning that God isn't just always pouring out his wrath. Many times it's being stored up. And so through the first half and a little bit after, that's a storage period of God storing up a whole bunch of wrath and then it getting to a full point, and now it's time to dump it out, just like clouds. Clouds fill up with water, and then they get to a full point, and then they rain. Really hard rains, like here in Dalles. There's some hard rain storms here. But we see this consistent pattern in Revelation, in chapters 6 through 9, and then we see it repeated again later. But look at chapter 6, verse 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became his blood. Even as a fig tree cast with her untimely figs, when she was shaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens departed as a scroll when it was rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and you shall be able to stand. So notice it's denoting the wrath has now come. Well, this was the sixth seal. So he had the first five. That wasn't the wrath. After the sixth seal, now the wrath has come, which is what? The seventh seal is going to be open. That's where you get the seven last trumpets and the seven vials that are poured out. So the wrath has now come. Chapter 7, 1 through 8 is the 144,000. And if you look at verse 9, the Bible says, And after this I beheld in low a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and under the Lamb. So we have some common elements. We have the wrath of the Lamb, the 144,000, and then we have a great multitude in heaven. Go to chapter 14. And when you look in chapter number 14, it says in the very first verse, And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Sinai with him, 144,000. So there's that 144,000, like we saw in chapter number 7. And if you get to the end part of chapter 14, look at verse number 12, the Bible says, Here are the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. 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. And another angel came out of the temple, crying a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust on thy sickle and reaped. For the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe, and he that sat on the cloud thrust on his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. So we have the same elements being described here in chapter number 14, where you essentially have this great tribulation period, the saints are killed, but then they're reaped from the earth. We had mentioned that 144,000, and then we get straight into chapter 15, and verse 2, it says, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingle the fire, and them that had gotten the victory, over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. So it's the exact same elements that are paralleled in both of these passages, and again, what's the emphasis of chapter 15? Now the wrath is poured out. So just like in chapter 6, it's saying, Now the wrath is coming, after when? They were all gathered in heaven, and there's a great multitude. When is it in chapter 15? Well, they're all in heaven, and they've gotten, notice something, victory over the beast. They got victory over the beast. If we go back to chapter 9 for a second, notice what it says in chapter 9, verse 9. After this, I beheld in the great multitude, of all nations and kindreds. Okay, so this is a similar group, and he asked them in verse number 13, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said to them, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation. This is what I hear from pre-tribbers. Oh, you don't understand. The last 70, or the last 7 years, the 70th week, it deals with the Jews, and it's just all about the Jews. But wait a minute. Who are the people that came out of great tribulation? It was all nations. Who are the people that came out of this great tribulation? Well, in verse 15, chapter 15, verse 2, it says them that have gotten the victory over the beast and over his image. How do you get victory over the beast and over his image when you've been raptured three and a half years before that? The reason why you got the victory over it is because you were here, and you never had to get it, and he never killed you. You got raptured. Victory! And I love the wording here. It's victory. It wasn't you survived by the skin of your teeth. You went and hid. Good job. No, no, no. You got victory. It's like a real battle. It's a real fight. And there are going to be real Christians who get the victory over the beast. And boy, what an amazing victory when the whole world is trying to kill you and hunt you down and destroy you for believing in Jesus Christ, and you won. You got the victory over them. You didn't back down. They didn't kill you. You got to preach the gospel at the last minute, and you got raptured. And you know what? We should motivate a group of Christians, whether it be our children or grandchildren or great-grandchildren, whoever it is, we should motivate them to have the attitude of, hey, I want to get the victory over the beast. I want to get the victory over the mark. I want to be the Christians that get to stand on the sea of glass, and they have the harps in their hands, and they sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, and they're saying, hey, thou art only holy, for thou alone are holy, Lord God Almighty. And they're singing salvation unto our God. And you know what? We're there singing and rejoicing with them. There's palms in our hands, and it's great victory, and it's all leading to the last moments of what? Wrath. Then we get to all sit down and watch the movie, okay? It's going to be an interesting movie, all right? Boy, it's going to be interesting. You know, we all like to watch TV and movies and all this stuff, but you know what? Reality is so much better, reality TV, and you're going to get front row seats to the greatest reality TV show ever, The Wrath of God, okay? There's never been a movie like it. There never will be ever after. And so we're going to get front row seats, and we get to watch him just unleash evil on the unbelieving world. And of course, you know, it's important for us to take these things seriously, study them. I just, I think pre-Tribbers, they just, they won't talk about these chapters because it's just so clear. We see the same pattern, but we need, we as God's people need to understand the difference between the wrath of God and the tribulation that we're going to have to go through. But you know what? We need victory through that. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for the word of God. Thank you for giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving us victory for salvation, and I pray that in the end times, whoever that is, whether that be our children or us or our grandchildren, that we could encourage them to be steadfast and unmovable, that they would be willing to preach the gospel in difficult times, and that you would bless them with that great victory over the beast and over his image and over that mark, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, for our final song, go ahead and turn to song number 247, saved, saved. 247, saved, saved. 247, saved, saved. See it all together on the first. I found a friend who is all to me. His love is ever true. I love to tell how He lived in me, and what His grace can do for you. Stay, night is cloudy, my, stay, true new life's sublime. My ground is sweet and my joy is complete, for I'm saved, saved, saved. He saves me from every sin and harm, secures my soul each day. I'm leaning strong on His mighty arm. I know He'll guide me all the way. Stay, night is cloudy, my, stay, true new life's sublime. My ground is sweet and my joy is complete, for I'm saved, saved, saved. For and me and all alone, in love He sent to me. Come on to me and I'll leave you all to live with me eternally. Stay, night is cloudy, my, stay, true new life's sublime. My ground is sweet and my joy is complete, for I'm saved, saved, saved. Great singing everybody. You are all the snips. you