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Oh, the precious name of Jesus, how it thrills our souls with joy, When his loving arms receive us, and his songs our tongues employ. Precious name, O how sweet the hope of earth and joy of heaven! Precious name, O how sweet the hope of earth and joy of heaven! At the name of Jesus, bowing, falling prostrate at his feet, King of kings and heaven crown him when our journey is complete. Precious name, O how sweet the hope of earth and joy of heaven! Precious name, O how sweet the hope of earth and joy of heaven! Amen. Let's turn to page 15. Lead me to Calvary. Page 15, lead me to Calvary. Page 15, lead me to Calvary on the first. King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be. Lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow, lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary. Show me the tomb where thou wast slain, tenderly mourned and wept. Angels and robes of light arrayed, guard thee whilst thou slept. Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary. Lead me like Mary through the gloom, come with a gift to thee. Show to me now the empty tomb, lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary. On the last, may I be willing, Lord, to bear daily my cross for thee. Even thy cup of grief to share, thou hast borne all for me. Lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to Church Foundation Baptist Church. Let's take our bulletins and go through some quick announcements here. If you need a bulletin, would you just... Do we have any bulletins left, guys? Yeah, if you need a bulletin, just lift up your hand. One of the ushers will bring you a bulletin. We have on our front page the verse of the week. It says, create me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm chapter 51, verse 10, very famous scripture there, very great scripture. On the inside, we have our service times, 10.30 a.m. for our preaching service Sunday morning. Sunday evening is 3.30 p.m. We'll be in Exodus chapter 22 this coming Sunday night. And Thursday, Bible study is 6.30. We're in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 tonight, moving on in our Bible study. It's going fast. The Sunday morning service is going to be getting back to my series that I started a few weeks ago. So, anyway, our soul-winning times are listed below. It looks like we had 13 out soul-winning today and one salvation, so praise the Lord for that. Was there any other salvations besides the one that we got? Okay, all right, great job, soul-winning, everybody. And if you look down, you can see the praise report, the salvations and baptisms, attendance totals from last week. And on the right-hand side there, we have the upcoming events. One thing, tomorrow I'm going to be preaching in Spokane for a special service on Friday night. So, we share that preaching. If you guys want, we'll put it in the WhatsApp group so you can listen to the sermon I'm preaching. I was going to preach a different sermon, but I'm going to preach Bring Me the Head of John the Calvinist. So, that's going to be my sermon. Because John the Baptist got his head cut off, but who should have really got their head cut off? It should have been John the Calvinist, right? John Calvin. So, anyway, it's going to be a different sermon, but I'm looking forward to it. So, anyway, we also have next weekend, we have the wedding of Ryan and Amanda, and it's going to be here at the church building at 12 p.m. There will be a reception to follow, and it will be potluck style. And if you haven't signed up, you can still sign up now. If you want to bring something to the potluck, I'm not sure if there's a full list. Is there a full list? Is there anybody? Yeah, okay. So, plenty of food? All right, hopefully. All right, so. And then, also, if you want to help with, I'm sure that Miss Alejandra could use some help decorating. Do you have all the decorating help you need, or do you need more people? If possible. If possible, more people. So, if you're looking to get plugged into Sure Foundation Baptist Church and do something besides soul winning, you can help Miss Alejandra and the other ladies decorate the church. And I'm going to be having a rehearsal, and I think that that rehearsal is at, Miss Sherry, is that rehearsal at 4 p.m.? Or is it 5 p.m.? Four. Four. Okay. So, I don't know who's playing the piano. I guess I should know these things, but I don't. So, if you're supposed to play the piano, it'd probably be good for you to be here if you're the one that's playing for the wedding. Is anybody here that's playing? Is it Kayla? Okay. I think she's planning on being here. I'm pretty sure she is. So, anyway, and then I think that's it for that. There's a gift registration on Amazon if you haven't gotten a gift yet. You don't have to to come. You don't have to bring food to come. Everybody is welcome to attend the wedding. So, October 7th is going to be our busy farm's annual trip to the pumpkin patch, and that is absolutely free. There's a physical sign up over there, and then it's over there by the brick fireplace area there. And then, of course, we have it on our WhatsApp group. So, if you haven't signed up, please sign up if you're planning on attending so I can make sure to get an accurate count on the tickets that we need. October 12th is going to be the starting of the Power Breathing Baptist Fellowship down in Steadfast Baptist Church. And it's going to be a great conference. Pastor Shelley always puts on a great conference. So, a lot of activities to go to. I put the video on our YouTube page so you can check it out if it's something that you're interested in doing. And then we have also the October 14th Soul Winning Marathon in Seattle, and a video has been posted about that on our website. So, not a website, but our YouTube page. And so, if you're wanting to go to that, all the more the merrier. And the details are on the YouTube video that's on our YouTube page. October 20th through 21st is going to be a Soul Winning Marathon in Yakima. And that'll start, the Soul Winning is going to start on Friday, and that'll be in the afternoon. Please see me if you are planning on coming to that. And then I'll see if we can get some hotel rooms for that. The next, we're going to be zoning a place called Harrah. And Harrah is a small town on the reservation that we have not hit yet. We've never touched it. So, it's got a Baptist Church in the town too, which is really interesting. It used to be called Yakima Indian Baptist Church Bible. I don't know, now it's called something something Baptist Church, but it's on the reservation. So, if we knock that whole town in a couple hours, which I don't know. I mean, 500 people, 550 people around there, res dogs, check. So, make sure you got something that you can bring to fend off the demon dogs. But I'm really looking forward to going Soul Winning there. It's basically, when you get to Wapato, whoever's been there, when you get to Wapato, you just turn left. And go down that ways, and then you get to the town of Harrah. So, if we run out of stuff to do, we can always go back to Wapato and hit areas that we haven't hit before. Even, I mean, the place there is just really receptive. So, looking forward to that. That is on October 20th and 21st. So, I'll be preaching on Friday night there also, just for a special service. And we'll have some Soul Winning on Friday too. If you get up there early, we'll have maybe like a couple hours Soul Winning time. Two and a half hours Soul Winning time or something. And November 8th through 12th is the Faithful World Missions Conference. November 21st is the Thanksgiving Pie Social. And there will be no Thursday service for that week. So, all the other stuff down below. The rules of the church are listed there. And then we have the birthdays. I think everybody is saying happy birthday to Emmy and Ramon. And he is only 70. I mean, he doesn't look a day over 55. So, just kidding. He is not that old. How old are you brother Ramon? Wow. Over the hill. Did you get a black cake for your birthday? It is tomorrow. Oh, it is tomorrow. Oh yeah. Today is the 21st. Okay. Alright. Well, happy birthday brother Ramon. Did everybody sing happy birthday to him already? Was he here? Let's just sing happy birthday anyway. Why not? That's for the heck of it. Rylan, is it your birthday too? Let's sing happy birthday to Rylan. No, I'm just kidding. It's not. Alright, let's sing happy birthday. You guys sing it. Alright, ready? Oh, she doesn't know how to do it? Okay, we're not doing it then. Happy birthday Ramon. And happy anniversary to brother Timo and Miss Alejandra. I listen to how I sound when I'm song leading and I'm just really bad. So anyway, let's sing another song and we'll receive the offering. Alright, let's all turn to page 116. We're going to sing He Leadeth Me. Page 116. He leadeth me. He leadeth me. Sing it out loud on the verse. He leadeth me, O blessed thoughtful words with heavenly comfort brought. What e'er I do, where e'er I be, still tis God's hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. Sometimes midst scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom. By water still o'er troubled sea, still tis his hand that leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. Lord, I would clasp my hand in mine, nor ever murmur nor repine. Content whatever lot I see, since tis my God that leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. And when my task on earth is done, when by thy grace the victory's won, in desk old wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me. He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me. His faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. Amen. Great singing this evening. At this time we're going to receive our offering. The ushers will come forth for us to receive that. Brother Ramon, you want to bless the offering? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now God himself and our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Brother Josh, would you pray for us? Amen. All right, we're in First Thessalonians chapter number three. And this week the main focus I'm going to be preaching about is about how we're appointed to affliction or tribulation. And remember the theme of First Thessalonians, the main theme is, of course, end times Bible prophecy, more specifically, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then affliction and tribulation I think are really big themes in it and it's a big theme in this chapter. So let's go ahead and start off in verse number one where the Bible reads, Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the scriptures tonight. Lord, I pray that you just bless the church tonight and everybody that's come. I pray that you just give them a special blessing for coming to the midweek service. I pray that you fill me with your spirit and fill this congregation with your spirit. We pray it in your name, Jesus. Amen. All right, so the first point for the sermon tonight is Christians are appointed to tribulation. Christians are appointed to tribulation. That's the opposite of what the old IFB teaches and basically every other church around. Every other church is basically teaching unless there's some kind of backwards Calvinist or something, or they believe that we're working our way to a better world, which is just not really a trend that we're seeing in the world today. It's kind of a stupid point of view, the Amillennialist and all that stuff. Preterism is also stupid. I mean, obviously some of the things have shadow fulfillments that we've already seen before, but Jesus hasn't come back yet. So if you're a full Preterist, that's what they believe. They have to believe that. But if they're a partial Preterist, they think that some of it or a main portion has already come to pass, and I'm not preaching about that tonight, but there are some different views on end times Bible prophecy, and unless it's just really far out there, we probably wouldn't separate necessarily from people. But there really is... I mean, obviously some of these things we see through a glass darkly, but some of these things are pretty cut and dry. So when the coming of the Lord happens, it's after the tribulation. That's what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 24. And people will say, well, we're not appointed to tribulation, but that's not what the Bible teaches at all, as a matter of fact. But we are not appointed to wrath, and we're not going to talk about that tonight so much, but I am going to talk about how we are appointed to tribulations. Christians are appointed to tribulation. There's no promise that we're not going to get persecuted. There's no promise, and tribulation and affliction mean the same thing. So it says that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereto. Why would Paul say that we're not going to go through tribulation and then say that we are going to, that we're appointed to that? So to me, it's just like people get this idea that there's this microcosm. It's kind of like when people think all the Jews are going to be saved at the same time, just because Jesus comes back or something. It's kind of a similar thing. They think that there's this period in time where all the Christians in the world get to go away before there's any kind of trouble on the earth, and that's not what the Bible teaches. We're going to go through trouble, and there's going to be a great trouble since it's not been seen since the world began, and there won't be seen anything like it afterward. So we're going to talk about some of that tonight, but it does say that we're appointed thereto. And it's not just the church at Thessalonica that's appointed to it. It's all churches. It says in verse 4, So Paul isn't telling them that they're not going to go through tribulation. That's just complete hogwash. It's garbage. It's not true. And here's the thing, is that people that hold to this view that we're going to be taken away before the tribulation happens, that's just absolutely false. There's no proof of that. There's no verse in the Bible that says that Jesus is going to come in some secret rapture where nobody sees him. In fact, in Revelation chapter 1, it says, So, who's right? The Bible or these Bible prophecy gurus that are trying to tell us that we're never going to have to go through anything? That's why they do nothing, because they don't have to go through anything. They just think, well, hopefully someday I'm just going to be whisked away and then I'm never going to have to go through any trouble. I feel like if someone really believed the imminency of Christ, that he could come right now before the end of this service, I think that people would be soul winning. I think that these churches would be out soul winning if they really believed that. So sometimes I just think, do they really actually believe that? Because if they actually did, then why aren't they out just knocking every door, beating the streets, and trying to talk to every single person? Like, if you thought it could happen at any moment, wouldn't that be your mindset? I mean, I just don't understand that, but tribulation and wrath are two different things, and Paul said we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and you know. So, this church got persecuted, and where they're at, they're in Greece, remember? And so, they have this pantheon of gods that they believe in, and they're total pagans in this area, and so to bring this one god, the one god that there is, it probably upsets people. We've seen where they get upset because of the Diana worshipers, and they're yelling, greatest Diana of the Ephesians, and they make money off of making these idols and things like that. So, it makes sense that they would get persecuted in places where they believe those strange things, but obviously a lot of people believe, too. And I was listening to Brother Bill's sermon about paganism, and he made some good points in that sermon. I really liked it. But he was making the point that the people that say that they believe in the pantheon now, they believe in the Norse gods now, they're not the same as the people that believed those things back then. So, anyway, if you haven't had a chance to listen to the sermon, it's really good, but I don't want to get too deep into that. But that is probably why, though, that they're going through this type of tribulation, and it's persecution for what they believe. It's actually persecution because of Christ, because some people just don't want to believe in Christ. And we saw how the tribulation came upon them when Paul first started preaching to them, right? And how they assaulted the house of Jason, and the Jews were stirring up men of the base or sort. So, we already saw the affliction in the previous chapters here. So, we know that this happened, and Paul is kind of just reiterating that and just showing in Scripture, because this is Scripture, right, that we are going to have to go through tribulation. So, when someone says we don't go through tribulation, then you just know that that person is lying. They're lying or stupid or both. Because they should just be able to read. If you've read the Bible scores of times, how do you miss that? Seriously. I don't understand that. So, anyway, I mean, yeah, we shouldn't separate on Bible prophecy in most cases. But, I mean, some people just are so stubborn, and they don't know the difference between tribulation and wrath. They think it's both. And it's just that's not what the Bible teaches. So, it says, For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain. So, you know, and not all affliction is equal in every church. You know, some churches are going to get it worse than others. And I was kind of thinking about why that would be. Well, I think it's probably a lot of it is because of the place that they're in. I mean, do you think that tribulation would be worse for Christians in North Korea or here? I don't know what's wrong with this mic. It's every time I touch it. Anyway, sorry about that. So, affliction is not going to be equal in every place or in every person because some people are going to get persecuted more than others. And so what do I mean by that? Well, some churches get persecution unto death, and some have a lighter affliction. But all churches are going to go through some sort of affliction or tribulation. And some places are more of a hotbed for persecution than others. Like I just mentioned, North Korea. Do you think it's going to be rougher on Christians in China or in America? China, right? They can't even have a church that's not state-run. They can't preach all the Bible. They can't preach Daniel. They can't preach Revelation. They can't preach anything that would say that China is going to be overthrown someday because Jesus is going to overthrow all nations of the world one day. He's that stone that comes and rolls down and destroys the statue, which represents all the systems of this world, all the nations of this world. And Christ is going to rule forever and ever. And the Chinese don't like that because they don't want their people to think that there's hope. But there is hope. There is going to be hope for them someday if they're saved and they're following the Lord to the best of their ability. But, you know, I mean, we read about tribulation and affliction going on in the Bible, but we act like it just could never happen to us now. Of course it can happen to us now. And, yeah, nobody's tried to rip us from limb to limb yet, but that could be coming. And so are you prepared for that? That's why I think it's important we preach sermons about this kind of stuff. And I'm not trying to freak anybody out, but the Bible says what it says and we should be prepared to go through tribulation. So, and, you know, leadership gets a lot more persecution generally than individual church members, so to speak. So, and why is that? Well, the devil knows if he can knock out the leader, he can destroy the whole church. And so the devil tries to focus his attacks on, you know, spiritual leadership and their families. And even, you know, when Jesus was captured, what was the scripture that was fulfilled? Smite the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. So Satan did it then and the sheep scattered and they were all leaders. But they all came back to their senses and did what was right. But that same principle applies today that if you, if Satan is able to smite the leader of a church that's leading in good works, then the other sheep will scatter. You know, it's going to cause them to scatter. So that's why there's just these big, like Paul talks about how they're the off scouring of the world. And how, and what does that mean? I mean, you think about you're scrubbing like a pot and you're trying to get that gnarly stuff off the pan. You know what I'm talking about? You try to just scour it off. That's kind of what I think of when I think of the off scouring, because it's like the debris that falls off of something or whatever. And that's what Paul said that they were treated like. And Paul, of course, we know his history. He was a great man of God, but he was also very persecuted. So this wasn't, this is like a walk in the park, what happened here compared to some of the other stuff that he went through. But he says, hey, we're going to go, we're appointed there on two. It's going to happen. We would, we would, we should suffer tribulation is what it says. So, some people are more persecuted than others. Some churches are more persecuted than others. But some churches don't get persecuted at all. And, you know, some of them just aren't real churches. And that's why they don't understand why we go through persecution, because they're not even a real church. If, look, if there's been a Baptist church around for 30 years and they never go soul-waning, is that legitimately a Baptist church? It's not, folks. It's just not. And you're like, well, how do you know? Because God said he would remove the candlestick from that church. So if a church just refuses to go soul-waning, they can call themselves whatever, whatever Baptist church. They can have a pastor that's there. They can have people that go there. But does God consider a legitimate church? I mean, he's long-suffering, so maybe it could, he could suffer them for a while. But eventually, he's going to give up. That candlestick's going to get removed. I mean, we see it happen all over the country where Baptist churches are just folding and closing down. They'd rather close down and fold than let some new IFB people come in and rejuvenate their church. And take it to the next level, to the next generation. Or even an old IFB church. You know, you get the deacons that are running everything, and then they run the good pastors out of there, and they control the ones that they, that they know that they can control. They control them through money. They can control them through voting. And it's just not how God set churches up to be. So why aren't some of the other churches getting persecuted? Because they're not doing anything for God. It's like, you know, why, it's like in war. You, you conquer a certain city or nation, and then you kind of put your people in there, and then that's your place. And then you don't need to keep doing things to them. They've already lost. It's the same way with church. There's an army of Satan's minions and demons and his people that are just bombarding churches that are good, and then once they can finally get it taken over, then they don't need to have, nothing needs to happen anymore, because they've already stopped them from being what they should be. A New Testament, Bible-believing Baptist church. And unfortunately, Satan sticks his ministers in there. Where you're like, well, if you don't believe in repentance of sins for salvation, then you're not even saved. It's like, no, you're not saved, and you're taking other people to hell with you. You're two-fold more the child of hell than you are yourself. So, people don't get persecuted sometimes. Why? Because they're not living godly in Christ Jesus. So, you're not going to get that persecution necessarily. You might get, now, then you might get the wrath of God in your life, but obviously we're never going to face the wrath as far as being sent to hell. So, you know, and some places don't get persecuted because of laws put in place or a church-friendly mentality. So, there's other places in the world, like the Philippines, where probably not a lot of persecution happens because it's kind of a church-friendly place in a lot of ways. Of course, there's a lot of queers there, so that's a bad thing. But at least you know who they are, because it's very obvious when they're men dressed up like women. So, that makes it really easy to figure out. The lady boys they have over there, disgusting. But, I'm just saying, like, there's some places, there are even some towns where it's more conservative. When I went up to Canada to preach in Manitoba, there was like, that's called the Bible Belt of Canada. And so, when I went to Tim Hortons for some coffee after church, I walk in and all the men are wearing suits and ties. All the ladies are wearing dresses. And they're not Baptists. They're just, it's just like a very conservative place. And so, it's just weird to go around and you see other people like yourself, it's like, I'm not the weirdo. We're all normal. I didn't see anybody with blue hair, serving coffee. It was just like normal people. So, it was pretty cool. But I'm just saying, that could be the case with places where you have churches planted. It might not be hostile to the gospel. Now, if you have one in downtown Portland, it's going to be very hostile. Everybody's going to be like, how come you're not feeding the homeless? It's like, look at what they did to that other church that they fed them at all the time. They don't care. So, I mean, there's different reasons why some people are persecuted more than others. It could be the time period that you live in, you know, or the place. But, you know, eventually, true Christians are going to get persecuted. And so, we have to prepare for that. If you're not living ungodly in Christ Jesus, you know, all those that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's what the Bible says. And then some people are just phonies and aren't really saved, so they never get persecuted. Because God's not going to, you know, if you're a bastard, you're not going to get chastised. In the way that you would if you were, you know, obviously saved people get chastised by God, but we don't get persecuted. But we still get persecuted by the devil. We kind of get, you know, you get beaten one way or another, basically. But God, he's not going to just make us go through tribulation all the time. There are usually, like, specified time periods. You think about in Revelation how it says ten days they'll suffer tribulation. Things like that. So, we are appointed unto tribulation. We are appointed unto affliction. That's what the Bible teaches. And so, anybody that teaches anything different than that, they're just wrong. They're just simply wrong. Number two tonight, the brighter side of affliction. The brighter side of affliction. And let's look at verse number six where the Bible says, But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith. So, the brighter side of affliction is this, is that when you get persecuted, it can be something that other people see and they're like, hey, they made it through it. And that comforts them by seeing your faith as you go through it. I think of churches like Steadfast that have just been pulverized over and over again with tribulation and affliction. And obviously, it hasn't gotten to the violent side or anything like that, but it's still, to have a bunch of freaks and weirdos yelling and screaming at you and your kids every time you walk into church and the police doing nothing about it, it's pretty frustrating. But it does make me encouraged in the Lord that people will still, that church is growing, it's not decreasing. Because sometimes when you get, when you go through these kind of issues, it has the opposite effect of what some people would think it would have. They're just helping Steadfast, really, and it might not feel like that to them, and they might not see it that way right now, but they bought this building and they're already bursting at the seams and probably need to buy another building, I guess, at some point. So, I mean, it's done wonders for them. As far as building up other people in the faith, I look to them as like, hey, if they can go through this, then we can go through this. And aren't they kind of an example of some churches get afflicted way worse than others? You would think that a church that's here right across the street from Portland, basically, right across the river, would get way more persecution. But it's something about that river that the demons don't want to cross for some reason. I can't explain that, but it's true. They're just like, the river, the bridge, ah! It's true. But you would think that in a place like this that we'd get persecuted more, but like in Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, where J. Frank Norris was once a preacher, where Baptists were just like a hotbed there, and now it's just a bunch of freaks and weirdos attacking a church and nobody does anything about it. It's just like, you would think that, you know, if this was 100 years ago, the Texas Rangers would have round them up and hung them from the tallest tree, from the tallest oak tree. They'd have been like, hang them high. But now, you know, it's just, it's bizarre that like Texas and then Pastor Jones in Idaho has people just going there every other week, doing the same stuff. You know, you got Repra Bat and all of his band of characters or whatever. And it's just like, they come here once, they leave. Okay. I'm okay with that. We'll take our little persecution and keep going, you know. But it is true that when we see other people go through persecution, it encourages us in the faith. It says, verse 7, let me read it again, it says, Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith, because their faith saw them through that affliction. And that was just one instance when the church first started, so we don't know what the persecution was like afterward, because they kind of seized the house of Jason and, you know, then Paul left. And then what we next see is like Paul recounting some of that stuff and then writing these letters in chapter 3. You know, in every chapter you're going to find affliction in the book of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, but you're also going to find things about the rapture. It's usually, so the last three chapters, it's been the last verse in the chapter that something's been said about that. Anyway, so when we respond correctly through persecution, it can help comfort those that go through it, and to, if they hear, if we hear of that, despite the affliction, you remain steadfast in your faith. So people remain steadfast in their faith when they see other people go through affliction. Obviously that's steadfast Baptist church, so maybe that's why it's attacked so much. You know, the devil doesn't like that they're steadfast, because that reminds him of the fact that he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and, you know, talking about steadfast in the faith. So let's look at James chapter 5. Turn over to James chapter 5. So tribulation and affliction, the brighter side of it is that it can help us. It can help us in lots of different ways, and one of the things that Paul mentions, here is that they were comforted over hearing their faith through their affliction. Now, James chapter 5 verse 10 says, Take my brethren the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. So the prophets before have suffered affliction. Some of them were killed, but it says they're an example to us of suffering and, of suffering, affliction, and of patience. You think about Jeremiah the prophet. I mean, he's left in a dung pile down at the bottom of some dark hole, where he has no food. The city's out of food, out of bread. He's like sunk in this mire, and then they have to like pull some, you know, finally they let him out. God has mercy on him and lets him get out, but I mean, he, you know, he was getting punched in the face. Everybody hated him. His own family members were trying to kill him, and the place of his hometown wanted to kill him. Nobody liked him. And, I mean, that's affliction. That's tribulation. I mean, he was, got to the point where he said, I don't even want to preach anymore. But then he could not forbear he had to preach the word of God. So that's a great comfort to us because when we're down, and when we're out, and we were like, I don't know if I can go another day. We think back about the prophets, and we think, hey, look at the example of the things we suffered, or they suffered. We're not suffering like they suffered. In most cases, you're not going to suffer like some of the people in the Bible suffered. Not to say that you can't, because you definitely can. But look at verse 11. It says, Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. So we count them happy which endure. That kind of seems like a strange way to look at things, but it's just not because it gives us the example of Job right here. It says, You've heard of the patience of Job. Nobody was more afflicted in the Bible, besides the Lord Jesus Christ, than Job, in my opinion. So, and at the end, what happened? Job got ten more kids. He got double back everything that he had lost in the first place. His wife loved him again. She had ten more kids with him. I mean, first, she's saying, Curse God and die, Job. And then, obviously, things end up working out for him in the end. And at the beginning, it's like, man, Job had the worst day of anybody in the whole existence of the world, besides, of course, Jesus. But all of his kids die in one day. All of his stuff is taken away in one day. And then he's physically destroyed from the devil. And who's doing all that stuff to him? The devil is doing all that stuff to him. Satan is doing all that stuff to him. But God still had pity on him and had tender mercy on Job. And in the end, he came out as gold, didn't he? And his name's being read in this church tonight because he was a man that endured temptations. He went through afflictions and came out the other end in a good way. The silver lining, or the brighter side, of affliction is that you come out better for it in the end. Now, let's look at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23. Hebrews 11, verse 23. Now, of course, this is the Hall of Faith chapter. And Moses, when you think about affliction, you might not really think of Moses, but Moses did go through affliction. He went through affliction by his own family members. He went through affliction by other people that rose up against him in the congregation. He went through affliction where he obviously had to suffer a lot of things at his own people's sake. You know, a false brethren and all that kind of stuff. Look at verse 23. It says, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandments. So, even Moses' parents were going through affliction, and the children of Israel were going through affliction at this time, saying that you have to kill all the male children. But, they went past and defied the king's commandment, and it says, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He's the prince of Egypt. He had it made. He was rich. He had all the education he could want. You know, but it's just funny, like, they only had him for a while. His parents, his godly parents only had him for a while, and Egypt had him for a long time, but in the end, he chose the right thing. That's free will right there, right? He had the will, and he had the character to do what was right. So, it says, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer, what's it say there? Affliction with the people of God. So, he chose the hard way, didn't he? He chose to forsake all the pleasures. It says, then, to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, because, you know, and this verse is true. Sin is pleasurable, and to live in sin is easier, it's more pleasurable, but Moses chose to suffer the affliction instead, and it says, Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. Because, in reality, the treasures that we get forevermore are way better than anything we could ever be lavished upon in this whole world. I mean, he had everything. He could have been the next Pharaoh, who knows? But, he chose to do the right thing and suffer with the people of God, then, to enjoy those pleasures. It says, Esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches. And so, he went through affliction. Why? So, he'd get greater riches, and that just kind of is another part of the silver lining, or the brighter side of affliction, is that you earn rewards for going through it. And so, obviously, you're like, well, I don't really like that fact of it. I don't like having to get beaten or have some kind of bad thing happen in my life in order for me to get rewards, but you won't be saying that in the endless life that we have after this. You'll be like, man, I wish these homelands would have came a little more often. Or, you know, I wish people would have hated me a little more. But it says, did I have you turn to Luke 6? Turn to Luke 6. Luke chapter 6, verse 22. It says, Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. So, it's all for Jesus' sake, but he says, you know, all these different things, you're blessed when these things happen. You're not cursed, you're blessed. And see, some people take it the opposite. They're like, why is all this bad stuff happening to me? Maybe it's happening to you because you need to learn how to go through affliction and to come out the better for it. Instead of wondering why your life is cursed, why don't you wonder why you're so blessed? Man, I can't believe I'm going through all this persecution. I'm blessed! I mean, but we don't really have that attitude when it's happening. We're like, oh man, I can't believe this is not fun. But it says, blessed are ye. Jesus said, blessed are ye when men shall hate you. They're like, does anybody hate you? Well, then you're blessed. Obviously, if they hate you for the right reasons. Jesus being the reason, right? And not because you're a jerk, right? And when they shall separate you from their company. You know, when people don't want to be around you, they hate your guts, and they don't want you around them, and shall reproach you. Yesterday we went to a door, my wife, it was my wife's turn to knock a door, and this guy just came out of his door before we could even get up the driveway, and he's like, you stepped on the wrong property, mother. Beep! You know, and just started to cuss us out. It's just like, that's, you know, I was upset because he's talking to my wife like that. But, you know, honestly, my attitude should have been, hey, thanks, buddy. Just give us some more, I might have lost my rewards because of the way I reacted. But I was, I kind of got in the flesh a little bit. But, you know, in reality, that's a blessing when someone comes out and cusses you out before you can even walk up to the door. It's like, hey, that guy is a miserable, you know, scum. You know, hopefully he gets saved if he's not a reprobate or something, but like, I mean, he came out like, you stepped on the wrong property. I was like expecting him to pull a gun out next or something. But he didn't. But it says that they shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil. I mean, I've had that happen a few hundred times. And for the Son of Man's sake. And really, that's what it's all about. They don't hate us just because of who we are. They hate us because of Jesus. They hate us because they hate Christ. They hated Christ and they nailed him to a cross. And how much more are they going to put our name through the mud, right? Look at verse 23. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. And behold, your reward is great in heaven. So when we get persecuted, we should rejoice about that and leap for joy. Literally leap for joy because our reward is great in heaven for in like manner did the fathers unto the prophets. So it's talking, it's referring us back to the prophets in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, we're still prophets. If you're going and you're preaching at people's doors, you're a prophet. You know, prophets preach. Prophesying means preaching. It doesn't mean you're telling the future. You know, we're not fortune tellers here. The Bible's already written. It's a closed book. We're not prophesying anything new to happen. You know, you might be able to look at the Bible and say, hey, I think this is going to happen because this is what the Bible says. You know, if you reject God, you're going to become a reprobate. I mean, that's what the Bible says, right? So, I mean, there's a lot of things that we can prophesy about someone's future because of what the Bible says. So people are like, well, you're not supposed to judge. Well, God's already judged. God's already said it. So if God already judged it, then when we proclaim the Word of God, that's just proclaiming God's judgments. That's what He wants us to do. That's what He's begging for pastors to do all over this world, all over this country, is for a man of God to get up and proclaim the judgments of God from the Word of God. But yet you don't find it, do you? There's not a lot of people getting persecuted. A lot of pastors are not getting persecuted. Why? Because they're not preaching the Word of God like they're supposed to preach it. Turn to Mark chapter 13, verse 19. Mark chapter 13, verse 19. Now, this is talking about the time when there's going to be a great affliction. And anybody that's born in this time is going to have to experience this unless they get killed. You know, but I guess if you get killed, you're experiencing it, right? So, I mean, that's the thing. The beheadings and all that stuff, that's what the great tribulation is all about. So, in the final seven years, there's going to be tribulation against the saints. There's going to be saints that are killed and maligned and all that, but then there's going to be a great tribulation. That's what this chapter is talking about in this verse, verse 19. It says, For in those days shall be afflictions, such as was not from the beginning of the creation, which God created unto this time, neither shall be. So, what is he talking about here? He's talking about an affliction, a tribulation, a time of trouble that nobody's ever seen before and it's never going to be seen again in that like fashion. It says, And except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved, but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. So, the people that are going through this great tribulation, God's going to shorten those days because if he didn't, everybody would die. That's how bad it's going to be. All the people that were saved would be dead. But he's going to come back at the last trump. He's going to come back after the sun and moon have been darkened. After that tribulation, he's going to come back and he's going to save all the people that are still alive and remaining. And we'll talk about that more next week and in weeks coming to a theater near you. But look at Mark 4.16. So, for our sake, anybody living in that time, he's going to shorten those days and Jesus is going to come back and he's going to rescue those people that are alive and remain and those that are dead in Christ will rise and get their glorified bodies. Look at Mark 4.16. It says, And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness. Now, this is talking about, this is the parable of the sower, and basically it's saying that there's certain people that will hear the word of God, they'll get saved, and they're going to receive it with gladness, they're all happy they got saved. But then, look at verse 17, it says, And have no root in themselves, and so endure for but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And what do they do when they are offended? They get out of it. They don't want anything to do with Christianity because they didn't have a root within themselves. They're not rooted in the first wind of persecution hits them and they're out. They're done. Doesn't mean they're not saved. A lot of people would say, these people aren't saved. That's not true. It's just some people can't handle persecution. But if we handle it the right way, then it can be an advantage to us in the long run. But no, is going through affliction fun? No, it's not fun at all. It's not fun. It's like when it says leap for joy. Yes, we should do that, but is that what most people do when they're going through affliction? No, they don't. Maybe if it's the fourth or fifth time you went through affliction for that specific reason or in that specific instance, maybe you would get the hint after a while like, hey, I'm being persecuted. Yeah, ching, ching, ching, ching. You're getting all these rewards for it or whatever. But that's not generally how people feel. But the Bible is saying that's how we should feel and that's how we should react because we're going to go through it, but we don't want to be the stony ground hearer that hears the word, has no root, and the minute any kind of persecution happens, they're like, I'm out of here. And that does happen, and it happens in our movement. It happens in all kinds of churches. It could just be their mommy persecuting them. Like, son, you're in a cult. I'm out of here. It's just like have some backbone. That's why it's important that we get rooted and grounded in the truth so that we can go through those things. And let's go to 1 Peter 5.8. I'm going to read 2 Timothy 4.5. 2 Timothy 4.5 says, But watch thou in all things endure afflictions. So as Paul's writing this to Timothy and saying, hey, endure afflictions. We need to endure them. Not just pastors, but everybody. But why is he saying that to Timothy? Because he's the pastor. He's going to have to endure them because they're going to come. And so as Christians, we should endure these things. And even though they're hard, and even though they're tough, nobody in this church has had their family members burnt at the stake. Nobody has ever had their family members drowned for believing in Jesus. But that's happened in history. It's happened multiple times. Even if you just re-baptized somebody that was baptized as a baby, it was the death penalty. John the Calvinist. And then those other Reformers like Luther, they were persecuting people that believed that. Killing them. Putting them to death. And mainly the Germans. So imagine why they became the Nazis. Anyway, 1 Peter 5.8, The Bible says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. So we need to be paying attention because he is ready to devour us at any moment. It says, Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. So don't think it's some weird thing when you're getting afflicted because other people are getting afflicted the same way in the world today. Your brethren around the world. And we don't know because we can't really get the news from around the world so much. It seems like we're isolated in those things. I'm sure that if you're some kind of a hacker, you got some different server, you don't use Google for everything like I do, you could probably just find a search engine where you can find out news that's going on around the world. And I guarantee you there's Christians being killed around the world. I guarantee it. I mean, it's happening. It's not happening to us, but at some point it's going to. That's what the Bible says, so we can't escape it. I just don't want that to happen in my lifetime. Nobody does. That's why Hezekiah is like, as long as it's not happening in my lifetime, my grandkids can take it. And then he prayed to get healed, and then the son that's born to him afterwards, Manasseh. It's like, maybe you should have just let yourself die, Hezekiah. Anyway, I'm just kidding. But, so it says, verse 10, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. So God, there is a purpose for our suffering, and after we've suffered a while, what does it help us to do? It helps make us perfect. It helps establish, is actually the modern word, establish. You know what that means. And strengthen and settle you. So how do you get stronger? Well, have you ever heard that term, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger? It's kind of true. So we get strong from the bad adversity that we go through our life. Look, suffering helps us. You know, we don't think it does, but it does. And sometimes when you've gone through something really hard, you look back and you're like, I feel like I can handle that and more because of the things that I've already endured and suffered before. So if suffering helps us, it makes us a complete Christian. That's what being perfect is. And it establishes you. Makes you stronger, like the person that had no root in themselves, it does the opposite when you can stand through these types of afflictions. It helps you to endure further testing. And so when something happens bad and then it happens again, it's easier to go through the next time than it was the first time you went through it. Everybody freaks out the first time they get a certain type of affliction, no matter what affliction that is. But the second, the third, the fourth, like I said, it does get easier. It gets easier. It's just like any kind of training that you do, like physically, is going to make you better the more you do it. I mean, just like Muay Thai training, I've only done a little bit of it, but I was really sore for days after the last time I did it. But then I watched someone that's a professional do it, and they're just like kicking with the power of a baseball bat, and you're just like, that's what affliction does. And those guys, they kick things with their legs, like inanimate objects. They're just like, and it helps build that bone up in the front of their shin. And the first time they go through that kind of stuff, then it really hurts. The first time you kick an inanimate object with your shinbone, what does it feel like? It really hurts, doesn't it? It's like one of the worst pains, like, oh, the shinbone is like that part right down by the ankle. You know what I'm talking about? You hit that against something iron or metal, and then you're just like dancing around. The toughest guy in the world is jumping up and down, hopping on one leg, hurting. But the point is, when you're a Muay Thai fighter, if you're a kid and you grow up doing that, you can kick someone else's leg, and it doesn't even hurt you. But it will break somebody else's leg. And so the point is, the harder you train and the more things you go through, the better off you're going to be. And it's going to make you feel more comfortable in your station in Christianity. Because what does it mean when it says settle you at the end of that verse? It means it's going to help you feel more comfortable. It's going to settle you and say, hey, I can do this. I can be afflicted, and I can still press on. I can still live for the Lord. But when you look at the end of everything we go through as Jesus, and a life that's much better than the one that we live now, you might think, well, hey, maybe I do need some persecution. Because persecution can help us. It really can. Let's go back to our text. I'm going to read 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17, while you're getting there. It says, for our light affliction... This is the apostle Paul talking, by the way. He had light affliction, but he says, for our light affliction, which was but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight and glory. So it's really valuable to go through affliction. And Paul, he's been through so much. He's living out and saying exactly what I was just explaining. That to him, it's a light affliction because he's already been beaten with rods three times. He's like, eh, what's for? Obviously, Paul wasn't saying that, but do you think he can handle getting beat with rods better the next time after it's happened to him once? Yeah. Or the second or third time he's been shipwrecked? It's like, well, I've done this before. The sharks never ate me before, so I'm going to be good. That would be the most scary thing for me out of anything, is some shark coming up and eating me or some other kind of creature. But licking your toes, the little toes. Have you ever had fish nibble at you or slide by you when you're swimming? You're like, ah! Like some slimy trout or something. But I'm giving myself away here. I don't like fish touching me. Eels, ah! I was out swimming one time in the Sandy River, and my dad's girlfriend, she had kids, and we were all there. They got into some little area where there's all these eels, and they're just swimming around, and they're just wigging out, and I'm like, sorry, about your luck. Well, it looks bad. Or attacked by yeast. They were always getting attacked by animals when I was with them. Anyway, I don't know why. But 1 Thessalonians 3.8 says, For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thanks can we render to God again for you? For all the joy we're with, we joy for all your sakes before our God, night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. So Paul's saying he's so encouraged that he just wants to get the chance to go back and help them in any place that they're lacking in faith. And you know, when Paul says, And you know, when some church has gone through a hard time, it makes you more close to them as a Christian to me. Like, it just seems like when a church goes through a lot, you have this feeling of sympathy for them. And I think that Paul loved them, and he just said, I just want to get back to you so I can help perfect your faith because he's a minister at heart, isn't he? He says, He says, So affliction can also grow us not only in our spirit and in our body, but it also can grow us in number because the Bible has this principle that when people are getting afflictive, they grow in number. Like I said, steadfast is growing in number. Why? Because they're being afflicted, and they're enduring it. But the more these homos attack, the more popular they get. The more people are able to endure the things that are going on there. And so you think about the children of Israel in Egypt. The more that they were afflicted, the more they grew in number. And that principle carries on in the New Testament, where in the book of Acts, that persecution caused the gospel to be spread out. So Paul, who was actually afflicting them at the time, he caused the gospel to go out before he was good and then after he was good. So he didn't mean to do it in the beginning, but he did cause them to go and be persecuted and go off into different lands because that's what God told them to do anyway. And so God allowed them to be afflicted and to be tormented by Paul and other people. And it helped them to spread. So persecution isn't always a bad thing, but people seem to freak out when it happens. I think our church likes it to a certain extent. When you think there's going to be a protest, more people show up like, I'm already a pastor, I'm ready to do this or whatever. Maybe they just want to get in on the rewards. They've been slacking. And they're like, well, I might as well just get in and get the good rewards. Come to church. So number one tonight was Christians are appointed under tribulation. Number two, we see the brighter side of affliction. It can help us grow in the Lord and to be able to endure more things. And we can also get rewards. And we can grow in number because of it. And number three, the final thing tonight is the advent of the Lord is with all his saints. And I get that from verse 12 and 13 here. It says the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men even as we do toward you. To the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. So when it says the coming of the Lord of our Lord Jesus Christ, you know, a lot of people would say, well, that's the rapture. And I would agree with you. But there's also the coming after that in Revelation chapter 19 where he comes back with the armies of heaven with him. And then that's when we get our white horses. You know, I get snowballed. And you guys get whatever your horse's name is. But they're white horses, so you better think of something white to name them, right? So, racist. Why does it got to be white horses? Right, Brother Ramon? So, like, why can't it be a brown horse? You know, what's up with that? But anyway, I guess the horses are racist. But anyway, so, advents. What is an advent? Well, it's the arrival of a notable person or a thing or event. The second coming of Christ, they call it the advent of Christ. Have you ever heard of an advent calendar? You know, you get to poke all the little things out and get whatever prizes are in there. Before Christmas, you know. So, you know what I'm talking about? The countdown calendars or whatever. Anyway, I was going to tell this story, but I can't tell that one. It's funny, though. So, you know, basically I think that this is a double fulfillment, though. This last verse in 1 Thessalonians 13, or this verse number 13, is talking about the coming of the Lord with all of his saints. And I believe that in the actual rapture, he is going to come with all of his saints also. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 14. And I'll prove it to you with the Bible, of course. 1 Thessalonians 4, 14. And a lot of people, this is a really popular chapter here. We're going to study this in more detail when we get to this chapter next week. But it says, So is that all the saints? So all those that sleep in Jesus are all the people that have died before that are saved. So, what do you mean he's bringing them with? Well, because they're in heaven. Their bodies are in the earth and have become whatever they've become. Blown up or shot or whatever state they were in. Burned with fire and ashes. You know, that's how powerful God is, is that he can take all that stuff that's been dead and gone for so long and reform that body and then make it into a body that will never die. That's the blessed hope right there. So, anyway, it says, So is that him bringing all the saints with him? That's why it says it's the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, they rise to meet their soul and spirit in the air with the Lord and then it just happens, right? 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. So, that is a great event. That is a great advent that's going to happen. And, you know, this verse is fulfilled. You know, it says the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, people will say, well, yeah, that's talking about, you know, when he comes and sets foot on the Mount of Olives. Well, that's, you know, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the second. We believe in the second coming. When he comes back, it's the second coming, right? So, what is this talking about? It's the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he's also going to return with all of his saints in Revelation 19. But first, let's just jump over to Zechariah chapter 14 real quick. And I believe that this is taking place at that second, well, not second. I guess it would be the third coming, right? So, when he comes back and physically rules, and he's never going to leave after that point, Zechariah 14, 5 says, And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains, and the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Israel. Yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of Isaiah the king. And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Now, that could be, you know, the second coming, but that might be debatable. But Jude chapter 1, Jude chapter 1, verse 14 says, And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of thee, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. So, and why is he coming back in this, what's he doing in this specific one? To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. They're going to eat their words, and we're not going to be the ones that are being afflicted ever again. So it says, So, no more of that. We're the ones that rule, from then on, for all eternity. So our affliction, yea, Paul's right, it's a light affliction, it's just for a moment. In reality, when you think of the moments of our affliction compared to our endless life that we're going to have, in glory, with all the rewards in heaven, it's going to seem like nothing to us, and we're going to probably wish we had more affliction. But, look at Revelation 19, we'll close here. Revelation 19, it says, in verse 11, And he had a name which that no man knew, but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses. That's us. And obviously, you know, maybe angels too, but that's us. We get to follow him back, and so is that all the saints coming back with him again? Yes it is. So is that at the rapture? No it's not. So, see how it's a double fulfillment? The saints are going to come back twice. We're going to come back with him to get our bodies, or if we're alive and remain, we'll go up after they do. And then when the armies come back, we're going to be on white horses and white clothing, and we're all going to be white. And all white, not white. Anyway, race-baiting up here. But anyway, I'm totally kidding. Brother Ramon just preached a sermon about last night, so it's really funny. But anyhow, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. That matches with what Jude says, that he's going to execute judgment upon all. Because when we come in the rapture, we're not coming to do any of the judging yet. We're going to just go back where we came from, and then we're going to come back again. So anyway, number one tonight, Christians are appointed to tribulation. That's what the Bible teaches. Anybody that says anything different just doesn't read the Bible or something. Number two, the brighter side of affliction is that it teaches us and helps us to become better Christians, and we get rewards for it, and we grow in number, we grow spiritually, we get rooted, we get settled. We get all those things. And then number three, the advents of the Lord is with all his saints. Both times, when he comes back for the second coming, that's when the rapture happens, all of us, all the saints are going to be with him. And then in Revelation 19, we're going to come back on our white horses and white apparel, and we're going to rule and reign and execute judgment with the Lord Jesus Christ. We get to watch him annihilate the Beast's army and just sit there and be like, mm-hmm. Anyway, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great chapter in the Bible. I pray, Lord, that you'd help us. Lord, we don't know when the affliction is going to come, but we know that it will. And Lord, we've had some small affliction in this church, and I think individuals in this church have had their own bits of affliction in their life. I pray, Lord, that you'd just help us to be encouraged by the Scriptures and what the Apostle Paul went through and what this church in Thessalonica went through and that we would handle the affliction that we go through with as much grace as we possibly can, that we know that you're going to make an end to it. And, Lord, that we're going to come out better on the other side because of it. And we thank you for all the blessings and the fact that you're going to share and allow us to share with the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he inherits and that, Lord, you're going to give us glorified bodies and rewards in heaven that we could never even think about or imagine right now. We thank you for all these things. In your son's name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen. On the first. On the second. On the second. On the second. Thank you all for coming to this midweek service. Brother Bill, will you end us a word of prayer? Amen.