What Next?
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Derrel Strickland
This presentation explores the importance of living by faith, emphasizing that God's timing is perfect and His calendar is revealed through the biblical feasts. It highlights the need to stay spiritually vigilant, looking forward to Christ's return while actively participating in the harvest of souls.
The core takeaway is that believers are called to live by faith, trusting in God's perfect timing and remaining spiritually prepared, while actively participating in the work of sharing the gospel, as we anticipate Christ's return.
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Living by Faith: Trusting in God's Perfect Timing
In a world filled with uncertainty, the call to live by faith becomes more critical than ever. Faith, as described in the scriptures, is not about walking blindly but walking with a spiritual understanding rooted in the knowledge of God's word. The Bible reminds us to have faith in God, emphasizing that our trust should not be misplaced in financial advisors or political leaders, but firmly anchored in the divine.
The Importance of Spiritual Awareness
Ignorance, especially spiritual ignorance, can lead to misunderstanding and misdirection. The Bible warns us against being unaware or ignorant of the mysteries of God. The scriptures, particularly in Romans and 1 Corinthians, underscore the necessity of understanding both the Old and New Testaments to grasp the full scope of God's plan. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament remains incomplete, as it provides the foundational context needed to understand the new covenant in Christ.
God's Eternal Calendar: Insights from the Biblical Feasts
The biblical feasts outlined in Leviticus 23 offer profound insights into God's eternal calendar. These feasts, which may seem like mere holidays at first glance, are actually holy days that reveal God's timeline from eternity to eternity. From the Passover, which was fulfilled when Jesus went to the cross, to the Feast of First Fruits, representing His resurrection, each feast plays a significant role in God's redemptive plan. Understanding these feasts helps us see how God has orchestrated events throughout history according to His perfect timing.
Living in the Harvest Season: The Role of Pentecost
The Feast of Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Harvest, marks a pivotal point in God's calendar. Jesus instructed His followers to wait in Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high, equipping them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. This period between the fulfilled spring feasts and the upcoming fall feasts represents the current era, where believers are called to actively participate in the harvest by spreading the gospel. The challenge remains that even after 2,000 years, the task of reaching all nations with the gospel is still ongoing.
The Next Event: Anticipating the Feast of Trumpets
As we look ahead, the next significant event on God's calendar is the Feast of Trumpets, also known as Rosh Hashanah. This feast is symbolic of the future return of Christ, when the trumpet will sound, and believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The Bible urges us to be steadfast, immovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain. This future event is not something to fear, but rather a moment of hope and encouragement for those who are in Christ.
Encouragement in Uncertainty: Embracing God's Sovereignty
In times of uncertainty, the question of "what's next?" often arises. However, believers are reminded that God is in control, and His timing is perfect. The Bible encourages us not to live in fear or to dwell on the "what ifs" of life but to trust in God's sovereignty. Whether facing economic instability, personal challenges, or global unrest, the assurance remains that God has a plan, and His plan is good.
Conclusion: Preparing for What's Next
As we continue to live by faith, it is crucial to stay spiritually vigilant, understanding that we do not control God's calendar. Our focus should be on fulfilling the Great Commission, sharing the gospel with those who have not yet heard, and living each day in alignment with God's will. As we anticipate the return of Christ, let us be encouraged, knowing that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, and that our future is secure in His hands.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Opening Question:
What does 'walking by faith, not by sight' mean to you in your daily life?
Scripture Reflection: 2. Reflect on Romans 11:25. How does this verse challenge your understanding of faith? 3. Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-11. What lessons can we draw from the historical examples mentioned?
Faith in Action: 4. Pastor Strickland mentioned the importance of continuous learning. How do you plan to grow in your spiritual knowledge this week?
5. In moments of uncertainty, how can we practically remind ourselves that God is in control?Encouragement: 6. How can we encourage one another to stay steadfast in faith, especially during challenging times?
Closing Prayer: 7. Pray for increased faith and spiritual understanding for each group member.
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Romans 11:25
Context: Written by the Apostle Paul, this verse is part of his letter to the Romans, circa AD 57. The context involves Paul addressing both Jewish and Gentile believers about God's plan of salvation, emphasizing the mystery of Israel's partial hardening until the inclusion of the Gentiles is complete.
Cultural Environment: The early Christian community was dealing with issues of Jewish-Gentile relations, where Jews were wary of Gentile inclusion, and Gentiles were sometimes arrogant towards Jews.
Political Environment: The Roman Empire was the dominant political power, and Jewish communities were present throughout, often experiencing tension with Gentile populations.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11
Context: This was part of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, written around AD 55. Paul uses the historical experiences of the Israelites to admonish the Corinthians against idolatry, immorality, and testing God.
Cultural Environment: The Corinthians were living in a Greco-Roman world full of idolatrous practices which often seeped into the church, leading Paul to offer this stern reminder.
Religious Environment: Early Christians were struggling to distance themselves from pagan practices while understanding their heritage rooted in Jewish tradition.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Context: Written by Paul around AD 50-51, this letter addresses the concerns of the Thessalonian Christians about the fate of believers who had died before Christ’s return.
Cultural Environment: Thessalonica was a major city in Macedonia, a hub of various religious practices and beliefs, leading early Christians to sometimes struggle with their unique hope in Christ’s return.
Political Environment: Under Roman rule, with occasional local persecution of Christians. Paul’s message provided hope and reassurance amid uncertainty.
Leviticus 23
Context: This chapter outlines the sacred feasts and holy days that God commanded the Israelites to observe, written around 1445-1405 BC, attributed to Moses.
Cultural Environment: The Israelites were primarily agrarian, and these feasts often coincided with agricultural cycles, reflecting God’s provision and deliverance.
Religious Environment: These feasts were central to Israelite worship and identity, bringing the community together to remember God’s acts and promises. They set the foundation for understanding the fulfillment of these events in the New Testament.
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This do in remembrance of me.
What a statement. Every time we partake of communion is a reminder of what God has done for us. I've been reminded so many times lately, look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. And it says this do we do in remembrance of him.
We walk by what faith. And we walk in faith in what he has done, what he is doing, and what he's going to do. Aren't you glad he hasn't finished work? Oh, he's finished the work of salvation. He has finished the dying part, but he's still working.
Even when we don't see it, he's working. Even when you don't feel it, he's working. And so God is good.
Let me remind you that we walk by faith, not by sight. Walking by faith, however, does not mean that we walk blindly. Our faith, the Bible tells us, is based on him. He says, have faith in God. There's some people's got more faith in their financial advisors than they do God.
There's some people that's got more faith in their political leaders than they do God.
That is sad, isn't it? It says have faith in God, but that does not mean walking blindly, but rather by spiritual understanding and knowledge. Now here's a warning for you. As I was preparing this message, God gave me the beginning of another message. And that message is spiritual ignorance.
How many knows? There's a lot of spiritual ignorance out there. Now, we understand that if they're nonbelievers, if you're here today, if you're watching online and you're not a believer, the Bible tells us you do not have the mind of Christ. So you're not going to be in agreement with us. And I totally understand.
But as a believer, God does not want us to be spiritually ignorant. So some of the scriptures you hear today, you'll probably hear again later when I preach the message on spiritual ignorance. But I want to begin in Romans, chapter eleven. Romans, chapter eleven, verse 25. Got quite a bit of scripture today, and I hope that it makes sense to you afterwards.
And during, where it says this, lest you be wise in your own sight. I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery. Now, some translations say, I do not want you to be ignorant. Now, when I say ignorance, I'm not talking. See, ignorance is not a bad thing as long as we're willing to do away with ignorance and try to change it.
I'm going to tell you something. When you quit learning, you quit growing. And that's true spiritually. That's true in a business. That's true in any way.
When you quit growing. So it says, lest you be wise, I do not want you to be unaware. I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery. Brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. So a lot of these things that we have historically had to take place to give us Gentiles an opportunity to be saved.
And he says, I don't want you to be ignorant of that. Now go over to first Corinthians. Gonna be talking quite a bit out of one corinthians, chapter ten. Notice what it says, for I do not want you to be unaware. And again, that word there is ignorant.
That word means to not know. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers. Now what does that mean? That means he's talking to the church. That means he's talking to the church.
He said, church, I don't want you to be unaware that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. That's part of the mystery. Now drop down to verse eleven. It says, now, these things happen to them as an example, but they are written down for our instruction. On whom?
The end of the ages. Now, this is very, very significant. I know some people said, I don't want anything to do with the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, you can't understand the new. I said, without the Old Testament, you cannot understand the new.
Today we're going to be talking a little bit about the book of Leviticus. And I want to tell you that's a boring book to read. But without Leviticus, you cannot understand Hebrews, because Leviticus is the Old Testament equivalent to the New Testament Hebrews. And so. And if you hear from jewish persuasion, you cannot understand the Old Testament without the new.
That's the one book. It's the unity. And it says, now these things happen to them as an example, and they're written down. What's he talking about? He's talking about all the scriptures.
All the Old Testament are there for us to learn by one of the things we need to learn that you can't get it by being good enough because the Bible says if you break one of the laws, you're guilty of all of them. How many knows there's a bunch of them in there. How many knows that if you drive from here to New York, you're going to break at least one law? At least one. And if not, using a blinker is one of them.
Some of you are going to break it a lot.
Some of you need to know what that little thing's for. You know, I mean, just, just saying we're going to break those laws. Now go with me to one corinthians 15, and we're going to be in this chapter several times. But he's telling the church, verse 34, wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God.
And I say this to your shame. I want to tell you that, Bill, that's a verse that can preach a while. Because he's telling the church. He's telling the church, he said, you don't need to keep sinning. I'm telling the church, you don't need to keep sinning.
But then he also says something else. But there's some people that have no knowledge of God. And I say this to your shame. Why? Because God left us with one job, going to all the world and preach the gospel, telling them about Jesus, telling them about the good news that we have.
And he says, I say that to your shame. Now all of that is introductory to this morning's message. How many knows? There's a lot of uncertainty in the world today.
Have you noticed it? Have you noticed that there's a lot of uncertainty? One question that has been asked of me quite a bit recently is, what's next? What's next? That's a good question.
Good question. And I want to attempt to answer that. What's next? But before we do, I want to tell you a question that's not good. What if, folks, if you play in the Waldorf game, it will drive you crazy.
And for some of us, that trip's not very long.
We can't, you, you can't live a life saying what if? Because I guarantee you, if you spent last night wondering, well, what if? What if? What if? You didn't sleep much?
What if? Is not a good question. Because, see, whenever we put our faith and trust in God, we have to know and believe that he is in charge. He's in charge. But the question is, what's next?
Now remember, we continually have to remember the statement, we walk by faith, not by sight. Okay, we walk by faith. That means that there's a lot of times that you don't have a clue what's coming up next because faith is stepping out when you don't know that's what faith is. Matter of fact, I issued this challenge quite a bit, and I'll give it again today. If you can show me one great miracle that happened in the Bible without somebody stepping out in faith, that'll be the first time it's ever been shown to me.
Faith. A step of faith is always required before a great miracle. But we walk by faith now. First. Thessalonians chapter four.
One. Thessalonians, chapter four is a powerful passage. I want us to begin reading at verse 13.
But we do not want you to be uninformed. Again, some people use that word, ignorant. God says, I don't want you to be ignorant or uninformed, brothers. About those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do, who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and he rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not perceive those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Now I'm going to tell you. I grew up with this passage. I can tell you on a Sunday night, my home church is either going to be on second coming or the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
That was what it's going to be. And I've always been amazed. But as a kid, I remembered. Any of you ever heard of hell Brimstone? Hell fire and brimstone preaching?
That's what we grew up with, wasn't it, Gator? And we had to get saved every week because we were scared to death we'd missed rapture. Huh? We were scared that we would miss the rapture. Now, what did it say here?
We need to encourage ourselves with these words, not discourage them, not to scarce death. But I will tell you, there's some of you might need to hear this, sometimes we need the hell scared out of us.
We need to face reality that this is a word of encouragement to the believer. And did you catch that about we do not do those as have no hope. Now, this is one of my biggest concerns with the church today because I run into a lot of people, Brother Bill, that said, what's next? What's going to happen next? What's going to happen next?
And they're scared to death. We don't need to be fearful. Why? Because God's in charge. Well, what if we can't go that?
What if we got to say that God is in control? And when you ask what's next? We have to realize that you and I do not control that calendar. I can tell you that God knew that I was working on this message all this week, and when I woke up at 330 this morning, it wasn't because he woke up and asked my opinion.
He already knew. He's got it all in control.
And what's next is just what we read. That's what's going to happen next. Now, how long is this next going to be said? I've been hearing that all my life. That's right.
That's right. We'll talk about that in just a minute. I have to. I can get bogged down here if I'm not careful, but I want to make sure this message is eternal without being everlasting.
What's next? Now, I can tell you there's a lot of different theories on the end time prophecies, and I want you to know that they're all theories because it hasn't happened yet. Until you can prove something, it's just a theory, even the theory of evolution. Until you can prove it, it's just a theory. Well, what's next?
I can tell you there are many things we do not know. So once again, we're reminded to do what we do know this do in remembrance of me and looking forward until the day he comes or the day he comes. So what next? The more I've studied the scripture and most of you know that, I tell you, I'm not a person that delves into Bible prophecy a lot. I'm not blaming anybody.
I'm not accusing. That's just not my level of great interest. What's next? What's next? I'm a pastor.
I try to get you ready to live through the next week. We'll worry about the rest of the stuff later on, okay. And let me just tell you this as we go on. A lot of people say well, how do you know you're in the Lord's will? That's a good question, but here's my simple strickland theology.
If you're in God's will today, tomorrow will take care of itself. I said, if you're in God's will today, tomorrow, take care of yourself. Some of you are worrying about what you're going to do in the future, and you haven't handled today very well.
What's today? What's next? But the more that I've studied the scriptures, the more I begin to believe that God has his calendar. Now, go ahead, just relax. All you folks that know that we cannot put a date on when Jesus is going to call the church away, I would not dare do that.
I do not believe in that because the Bible is quite clear. We do not know the day nor the hour. Okay, we don't know the time. But the more that I've studied, I've come to the impression that God has his calendar and there's very little that we have an impact on it. The only exception that I think may the Bible tells us that when the word has been preached in all the world, then he'll come.
But generally speaking, God has not asked your impact on that calendar. Guess what? Has God called any of you, woke you up in the middle of the night and said, listen, I'm getting ready to plan the rapture. When would be a good time? Huh?
Has he done that? I guess. What chances are he's not going to do it. I have a hard enough time trying to figure out when I'm going to go eat lunch, much less put in the impact of the rapture. But guess what?
God has a calendar. God has a calendar. And again, I'm not telling you that. We're going to tell you when God's next thing's going to happen. But if you say, well, how are we going to know?
How can we learn about God's calendar? Well, how do you learn about God? You go to the book. This is our instruction manual. Go to the book.
And so we find the basis of his calendar, an on time God. Now, his timing is not always ours. Matter of fact, the miracle of the resurrected Lazarus, everybody thought he was four days late. Master, if you'd have been here, Jesus wouldn't have died. If you'd have come four days earlier, you could have healed him.
Why in the world did he wait? Because God's an on time God. He has a purpose. Because he knew that he needed to prove that he was a resurrection and a life. He knew that they needed to make sure that Lazarus was dead, not in a coma.
And they put him in a tomb for four days. And when Jesus got there and he said, roll away the stone, he said, he stinks, he's dead. He said, roll away the stone. Why? Because God wanted to prove that he's over the calendar.
He controls it. He's an on time God. They thought he was four days late, but he was right on time. Now, some of you are going through some issues saying, I wish God would show up on time. He will show up on time.
It may not be your time, but he's going to show up on time.
God's going to go show up on time. I want to read a quote. It's a little bit lengthy, but this is powerful. I've been studying Israel's holy days. I've had this in my office quite some time.
Read a bit here and there, but I want to read a quote from Israel's holy days. Type in prophecy. The book is written by Daniel Fuch. And listen to what it says. Chapter 23 of Leviticus is one of the most fascinating and instructive chapters in the Bible.
In a short chapter of 44 verses, God presents the annual sacred feast of Jerusalem. At first, it seems to be just a simple list of Israel's major holidays. But the more one studies the entire Bible, both the Old and New Testament, the more one realizes that this chapter is more than a list of mere holidays. They are holy days. It is also more than a list of holy days.
It is actually an outline of God's calendar from eternity to eternity. This calendar is not only sacred to the Jews, is also precious to christians, to those who have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth. When we found him, we also discovered that the Old Testament and the New Testament are not two books. They are unity of the Holy Scripture. As we study the calendar outlined in Leviticus 23, we will realize that we cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament.
I've already said that the converts is also true. We cannot begin to appreciate the Old Testament until we accept the one who is revealed to us in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in the Leviticus chapter 23, there are seven feasts that are appointed. There are seven feasts that are given the passover. That's when they left Egypt.
The feast of unleavened bread, the sheaf of first fruits. The feast of Pentecost. The feast of trumpets. The day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles. Now, just so you will not remain ignorant, I've been waiting to say that.
Just so you will not remain ignorant, we need to understand that there's two feasts that were added later that are in the Bible. They're not in Leviticus. There's two feasts. One of them is the feast of Purim. That feast was established roughly 480 BC.
That was established by Mordecai in the book of Esther. If there's any jewish people here today, they will tell you that they celebrate the feast of Purim. And that is a real, real spiritual. Because the word purim means lots or cast in dice, because why did they put that in there? Because Haman was intent to destroy all jews.
He was wanting to wipe them out. Wipe them out. And Esther, you know the story who was brought to the kingdom. That calendar was at the right time, brought to the kingdom for such an hour as this. And after Haman was defeated, Mordecai established the feast of Purim that, yes, Jesus celebrated because the Jews still celebrate it today.
And that was added roughly 480 BC. But then in 164 BC, during what we know as the silent years. And, you know, at Christmas, I mentioned this, the Jews have a holiday called Hanukkah, but that's not what we know it as. The biblical feast that's in line with that is the feast of dedication. What does that mean?
Because during those silent years, the Maccabees, the Maccabees took the temple back over and reopened it and they cleansed it and they named it the feast of Hanukkah, or the feast of dedication, because they rededicated the temple. And the Bible tells us that Jesus participated in Hanukkah, but we know it as the feast of dedication. So those feasts. Well, what's next? That's the question.
What's next? I'm glad you asked that question. Go back to first Corinthians, chapter five, verse seven and eight. First Corinthians, chapter five, verse seven and eight.
Cleanse out the. The old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened now. You have to go. If you don't understand the old testament, you don't understand this, because what did they do in preparation for the Passover? They got all the leaven out of the house.
They even swept the house to make sure there was none there and says, you got to get rid of them. But for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate the festival not with the old leaven the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So Passover. Passover was fulfilled when Jesus went to the cross, when they prepared and ate the Passover meal, what was that for?
In preparation of the next day being Passover. But instead of, and I know the Pharisees, the priests carried the lambs to be slaughtered that day. But guess what was going on when they were being slaughtered? Jesus was walking up the hill. So the Passover has already been fulfilled.
Well, what about the next one? Well, let's go to first Corinthians chapter 15. 1st correct Corinthians, chapter 15 and let's look at verse 20.
But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. Hallelujah. What was the next one that had to be done? The feast of first fruits, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by man came death, by man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Christ, for as in Adam, all die, so also in Christ they shall be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. The firstfruits, of course, then we had the feast of unleavened bread. But then we go 50 days down the road. 50 days down the road.
And what did Jesus tell them before his ascension? He says, stay in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. Power to be what? Power to become witnesses. See a while ago when we read that it's about the power or the calendar, he said this, you should be ashamed because it hasn't been accomplished yet.
The one job I give you to do, you haven't done it yet. And guess what? It's been 2000 years and we still haven't got it completed. We're getting there though.
We're getting there.
James Davis and Global Pastors Network has set a goal of 2030. The symbols of God and others have set it at 2033. Just to show you that our calendars are not always exact because that's the two times that they says the two thousands anniversary or the birthday of the church. And we're getting there. But we're not there yet.
We're not there yet. But Jesus told them to stay until they've endued with power. Now these feasts, those four, what we call the Old Testament feast, they took place in the spring of the year.
Then there's a break, that's where we are now. There's a break between those four feasts and the others in fulfillment.
Many people call them the spring feast and the fall feast. And before we look at the next one, I got to share this with you. This was something that was in that little book that I never thought of. And I have to tell you, I've not given this a lot of research, but it really blew my mind. Of course, that don't take much.
But the Old Testament, we have the judges. Remember the book of the Judges? What's one of the key statements in the book of judges? Every man did what was right in his own eyes. Then you skip a book and you get to one Samuel.
And after the anointing of Saul as king, we have the kingdom of David being established. What's in between those. That's kind of what we're living in right now, because in between those books in the Bible is the book of Ruth. What's the Book of Ruth? The kinsman Redeemer.
Jesus Christ, our kinsman Redeemer. And so the world says, do it your own thing. Christ says, let's. I mean, the Bible says, put it in Christ's hands. And I'm glad that Jesus the kinsman Redeemer came to make that possible.
He came to make that possible. How awesome is that? So good. But there's a. We've already read some of one.
Corinthians 15, because Pentecost was a feast of harvest. I said, that's the feast of harvest. In other words, Jesus said, now go out into all the world and preach the gospel. That's where we are right now. We're in that stage that we're supposed to be preaching the gospel to all nations.
Now let's go back to chapter 15. Let's begin to wrap up just a few ends. Give me a few more minutes. Bear a few more minutes. Maybe we can tie this together.
But first, Corinthians, we read verse 34 about and read again. Wake up from your drunken stupor as is right, and do not go on sinning, for some have no knowledge of God. And I say this to your shame. See, while we're waiting on the next feast, we're supposed to be involved in the harvest. Now, what is the next feast?
It's the feast of what, trumpets? The feast of trumpets or Rosh Hashanah?
We're not waiting for the harvest to show up in our barn, I can tell you. That'd be nice for the farmer. Yeah, right. That would really be night. Gator, I know you've worked in the watermelon fields.
I've never went to bed at night and got up next morning in all the watermelon are in trucks. It don't work that way. I've had to bail hay. And I want to tell you nothing worse than baling hay. And you work till dark because you have to.
There are many nights that I've used the headlights of a truck to load by because you had to get it in from the field. But guess what? What was left in the field was still there the next morning. So we have to be about the harvest. That's what Pentecost is all about.
Preparing us for the harvest. But the next feast is the feast of Rosh Hashanah. The feast of Rosh Hashanah. Let's read verse 50 in chapter 15. You, this, brothers flesh and blood, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
Old death. Where is your victory? Old death wears your string. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is in the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, stay scared to death.
No. Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Hallelujah. Oh, let's go back to Thessalonians. Thessalonians, chapter five.
Reread chapter four. And it closed off with these words. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Chapter five says, now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you need to. No need to have anything written to you, church.
You should know, for you yourselves are fully aware. The day of the Lord will come like a thief of the night while people are saying there's peace and security. What if? What if? What if?
That's a question for the world, not for us.
Then suddenly, sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. I shared this in the first service, and I feel like it's a good application. Many of you know that my youngest son Casey was born prematurely, and Marcia had gone into labor. And we took her to the doctor hospital, and they stopped the labor and sent her back home. But she woke me up at midnight.
Midnight almost to the moment. And she said, I think you need to call the doctor. I called the doctor, and guess what he said? He said, you're not going to stop it this time. Bring her in.
We woke up at twelve, got her to the hospital after dropping Robbie off, in case she was born at 118, there was no stopping it. And I can tell you, there may be a lot of people think they're going to stop what's going to happen next, but when it's time, it's a lot like the illustration when Noah built the ark. Noah did not close that door. It says that God closed the door. Why did God close it?
Well, I think, number one, he had the power to, but also he knew Moses. I mean, knew Noah, because all I know is family was out there, his extended family was out there. And I guarantee you, when that started raining, they remember what he said, and they began to knock on that door. But the door was closed. The door was closed.
But then it goes on to say, they will not escape. But you, who's talking about you? The church? You're not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you're all children of light, children of the day.
We're not of the night, of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and sober. Be diligent, be steadfast, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and joyous hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we would be awake or asleep, we might live with him.
Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing. So what's next for the believer? It's not to be scared to death. And I know some of you say, well, pastor, I'm scared.
Fear is real. How many knows fear is real? And sometimes just saying it is not enough. But we have to put our faith and trust in God. Have faith in God, not in us.
Because I'm going to tell you, I can look back in my life and say, I failed enough that I know that I can't depend on me, but I can depend on God. And he's still working. What's next? What's next? What's next?
Some glad morning we shall see Jesus in the air. Now, I don't know when that's going to be, but that's the next thing on God's calendar that we're looking forward to and we shouldn't be fearful of it. Say, well, pastor, I am, then you need to get right with God. I said, you need to get right with God. Because I want to tell you, if I did not know God, if I did not know Jesus as my personal savior, I would not leave here today until I did.
Because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But for those of us that are ready, you don't need to be walking around. What's next? You say what's next? Jesus is coming.
What if you die first? Hey, we're all going to die. You're not going to get out of here alive. We're going to die on the way up. That's right, we're going to die.
There's a point for man wants to die. But thank God if we're in Christ now, if there's anybody here that's watching online or here thinks that I'm bragging about how good we are, that has nothing to do with it. It's how good our God is. He looked beyond our faults, he looked beyond our failures, and he saw our need for a savior. That's because you know what takes place after the rapture.
The day of atonement. That's the next feast up after that. But we're already atoned because Jesus Christ died for our sins.
Worship team, come on up. And Pastor Jeff, if you would. I know you might have something else on there, but do that one we did in the first service. What a day. Glorious day that's going to be.
And the altars open if you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ, but for those of us that are christians, this should be do this in remembrance of me that we are more than conquerors through Christ. Jesus going through a rough time. Well, one of these days are rough times and rough day is going to be over. Amen. Amen.
Holy Spirit, we ask you to minister by your power. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for your anointing. And God, we pray that you would touch God.
I'm believing that you've already touched lives this morning. I'm believing that you already touched in healing bodies this morning. I thank you that you're already meeting needs. This morning. But God, we do not quit right now.
We ask you to continue to move, to continue to minister and God for those that are filled with anxiety. And God, I know that they're Christians. I'm certainly not being judgmental, but I know that people that are anxious and worrying about the economy and all these things that we have no control over.
But God, you send your hands so father, minister by your power, minister by your anointing and God, we give you praise. We give you praise and glory in Jesus name.
