Your Redemption Is Drawing Near - Pt. 2

Hallelujah. You know, last week we looked at the Olivet Discourse. We really jumped on talking about the second coming of Christ. And so I gave you this sheet so you'd see the different views. I got tickled. Kim said to me after church, how do you reconcile all those views together? And, you know, the thing is, you know, I told you I'm a pan-millennialist. It's all going to pan out in the end. You know, whatever view you have, I was communicating with one of my other friends this week, and I said, I'm glad my salvation is not judged on my understanding of the second coming of Christ. For by grace we've been saved through faith, and that is a gift of God. I'm not saved by understanding completely everything about the second coming. But what did I say to you? I am passionate about it. he is coming back. And, you know, we looked at different things, the different views. We looked at the different things that must take place for the second coming of Christ and the destruction of the temple, the deception of the false prophets, and that would include the Antichrist. I didn't talk much about that. there is the spirit of the Antichrist in our world today. Even though it might not be a specially identified one right now, which it will be, but there is the spirit of the Antichrist. If you don't recognize that, you're blind because the Antichrist spirit is all across our world today. There's the declaration of wars and disturbances. Every day we hear on the news, don't we? Well, we're close to a peace treaty. We're close to, when are we going to get there? There's the declaration of war and disturbances. Devastation of catastrophic events. Have you seen all the tornadoes that have been ramping up here lately? There's all kind of catastrophic events going on. There is definable persecution. you know I believe that even in America we're beginning to see a definite persecuting of the church today Charlie Kirk is probably an example of that you know our message is not appreciated in many circles on this globe here in the U.S. there is persecution going on But, guys, if you stepped into the third world and saw what persecution is going on in those believers' lives, you would be taken back. Because people are being martyred every day because they're following Jesus.

You know, when they talk about tribulation, some people say, well, I know what tribulation is all about. It's happening to us right now. there is the determined evangelization you know one of the things that must take place before he comes back is that the world would be evangelized and then there's the detrimental paranoia there are people shaking in their boots today because they're worried about their own lives and where they would stand if they had to stand before God today. There is a paranoia But let me just say there is a divine rescue Verse 27 and then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory So I want to jump off on a question today that happens in Acts 1, 6-11, the ascension question. And so I want to read that to you, Acts 1, 6-11. And I want you to listen to this. It may even be, we might even get it on screen. And so when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? Is it this time? He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or ethics which the Father has fixed on his own authority. But you shall receive power. You see where his focus is going? Don't worry about what's fixing to take place. Look at what's fixing to happen in your lives. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and even the remotest parts of the earth. What he's saying is, I'm going to fulfill the message of getting the gospel out to the whole world, and then I'm going to come back. That has to happen. And after he had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on. Now, can you guys imagine standing there? Jesus has just said this, and then all of a sudden it says, he was lifted up while they were looking on. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And they were gazing intently in the sky while he was departing. Behold, two men in white clothing stood before them. And they also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? this Jesus now mark this down this Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven you hear that guys will come in the same way as you watched him go into heaven now if that's not saying there's going to be a second coming I don't know what it is he is coming back Now here lies the mystery of the kingdom of God right here. Jesus and the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, the kingdom of God is both now. Jesus said, I'm in the midst of you. And not yet. The kingdom is still coming. It is here now and not yet. It is here, but it is yet to come in its fullness. Can I get an amen to that? When Jesus came and made residence in your heart, he began to be your savior and began to deal with all the things that needed to take place inside of you for you to be his child. Forgiveness, cleansing, empowerment, washing away your sins. He took residence in your heart. The kingdom is present within you but the kingdom is still coming too What do we pray Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven That the reality of the kingdom would simply not be a reality in our hearts but it would be an entire reality over creation, over the earth. All that we understand.

This is the tension of the second coming of Christ. you know I just jotted down some things about that in reference to the contemporaries of Jesus those that were hearing these words immediately on the spot there they saw the whole earth fall into darkness between the 6th hour and the 9th hour just prior to Jesus dying on the cross this whole earth fell into darkness. There was not a glimmer of light anywhere. There was total darkness when Jesus was dying on the cross between the sixth and ninth hour. It says that the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. When the light turned on, they saw that the temple veil had been torn when he died. They felt the earth shake when he died. They saw rocks splitting when he died. They saw the Roman centurion and the guarding soldiers fearfully exclaiming as the earth shook, surely this is the son of God. you see the presence of the kingdom was shaking things up they saw the tombs open and the saints of old walking into the public arena in Jerusalem after his resurrection they saw the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the persecution and martyrdom of the church since the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Just go read the book of Acts. Stephen Stoney. The church was already under the gun of persecution. They began to witness these things. Everything that he had prophesied and clarified from prophecies was beginning to take place even then. That's the tension of the kingdom. It is here now, and yet it's still coming.

Matthew 24, 14 says, And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come. You know, in our time at conference this week,

the Global Methodist Church is planning a church in Iran right now. underground church in Iran. Do you hear that? The gospel is being preached. Only 1% of the Islamic world is Christian. 1%. And I'm going to tell you, we're going to see an invasion of the gospel in those nations. It may start out underground, but it will be raised very public, and you're going to see that happen. A kingdom that is now and not yet It still coming So Jesus really really nails it down here when he talks about what our response should be. You know, he said, don't worry about when I'm coming.

You've got a response to make right now. In verse 19, it says,

By your endurance, you will gain life. Do you hear that?

Let me just make this statement. true saving faith in Jesus involves not only a one time decision for Christ do you hear that if you've accepted Jesus you've made that decision but true saving faith is daily trusting him and bearing the fruit of repentance.

There's a difference in there. Well, I walked out and I made a profession of faith, so I'm all covered. Well, thank God for that, yeah. But true saving faith is much more than just walking the aisle. it is trusting him daily it is turning your life over to him to be Lord of Lord and King of Kings in your life it is you saying Lord if I have to make a decision I'm not making it until you're involved in this decision until you're guiding this decision you young guys here as you make decisions about your life don't just make a decision and leave Jesus out of it put Jesus right at the center of that decision making say Lord this is kind of what I want to do but what do you want me to do who do you want me to be bear the fruit of repentance that means when repentant means I'm going this direction and I turn around and I go that direction And I start bearing the fruit, not of all this ugly death stuff over here that I've been bearing, but of all this spiritual good stuff, righteousness and justice going this way. That people begin to recognize, hey, is there something different about him? There's something different about her.

True saving faith involves not only a one-time decision for Christ, but a daily trusting in him and bearing the fruit of repentance. Luke 8, 15 says, and the seed in the good soil, the good-hearted person, these are the ones who heard the word. How many of you are listening to the word today? There's a difference between listening and hearing it. Listening, it's just coming in. Hearing it, you internalize it. What I'm saying to you, you're going, well, let me think about that. let me think about that who heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit listen to this with perseverance endurance you know I wish I could tell you that when you decided to become a Christian well it was just all going to be Disneyland from then on

It was all going to be easy. Let me tell you this, and this is what I've learned. Before I became a Christian, whose playground was I playing in? The devil's. They didn't have to work on me. They already had me.

But the day I stepped over into Jesus' land, it made him madder than a hornet.

And he decided he'd do everything he could. What is his number one thing? To kill, steal, and destroy.

The devil wants to kill you. He wants to steal things from your life. He wants to destroy your life. Jesus came, listen to me Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil John said that he came to destroy the works of the devil when you step into Jesus' land when he comes into your heart He immediately goes to work on protecting you from the devil.

In Philippians 2, 12 through 16, listen to this. So then, my beloved, just that you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation in fear and trembling. For it is God who has worked in you both to will and work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

Do you hear that? Quit being a grumbler. Quit being contentious with others.

That you might prove yourself to be blameless and innocent. children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. We're living in that kind of generation, aren't we? Among whom you appear as lights in the world. Hold fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ, that's his second coming, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain. What he's saying is I didn't waste my time on you.

You accepted Christ and you started growing in Christ and you started maturing in Christ and you started glorifying him and you started overcoming the devil. You became a light in darkness.

that is God's will for our life, to give glory to him.

You've got one job on earth, to give glory to Christ.

So I thought, well, what are some of the steps of securing and enduring faith? Some of you that were in the beginning of Prodigal Church we did initial studies on the pillars of the faith Number one pillar You can go on to second base if this isn in your life You must be born again

You must be born again.

Jesus said you must be born of the Spirit. Listen to Christians are born twice. Did you know you are born physically and then you are born spiritually. When you accept Christ into your heart, you are born again. You are born of the Spirit.

You become a daughter or a child of God. You become a man of God. Jesus starts working in your life. You are born again. But it's interesting to me that when Jesus blew the Holy Spirit on his disciples in the upper room. You know, historically, I think that's where the born-again experience took place in those disciples. They had faith. Peter had already confessed him as the Lord, and then he got in trouble right after that, but in the beginning, he confessed him as Lord, didn't he? And they had faith, but Jesus knew they needed more, so he blew the Holy Spirit into their hearts. They were born of the Spirit. But he said this, you go wait in Jerusalem in the upper room because something else is going to happen. And what happened? They were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Not only was the Spirit inside of them, the Spirit covered them completely. Not only had he become Savior, he had become their Lord. there's a lot of us walk through life yeah Jesus is my savior but is he your lord have you experienced that upper room experience where you said Holy Spirit just cover my life so I can be salt to the earth light in the world the church is full of saved people that are not covered in the Holy Spirit we need to be covered in the Holy Spirit Wesley's talked about two works of grace being born of the Spirit being baptized in the Spirit there are two distinctive works of grace now sometimes it all happens in one experience but most of us are by nature are pretty progressive we're in process you see what I'm saying some of you guys that have gray hair let me ask you a question think back to when you asked Jesus into your life he became your savior have there been other times where you encountered him again when you were broken and you reached out and he came. When you were hurt and you reached out and he came. When you had messed up and you reached out and he came.

Boy, I'm not going to eliminate God to just a one-time experience.

My God encounters me 24-7.

And he wants to cover me in his presence and power continually. So we talked about being born of the Spirit, being baptized in the Spirit and then we went to Acts 2 Remember this And they were continually this is the resurrected church those that had been filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately, this is what took place. And they continually devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. Remember how we talked about the apostles' teaching at that time was something new? Because all they had was the Old Testament. and all of a sudden here's these disciples that are teaching and saying here's what it meant in the Old Testament in fulfillment and they started listening to the apostles' teachings. Now what that says to me is simply this. If you're going to endure and persevere you've got to study the word of God. I don't find growing Christians growing if they're not opening up this book and reading it.

Doing a devotional every day.

Dyson, I bet y'all heard this week in camp. If you're going to grow as a Christian, you better start looking in this book, didn't you? y'all heard that didn't you you guys are going to hear that this week you cannot grow as a Christian if you're not devouring this book right here now that doesn't mean you have to read it all at one time but start reading bits and pieces of it start reading the devotional every day start listening to something that teaches you the principles of the word of God How many of you are in your cars with the radio blasting? Well, you can just stream right into those radios today the word of God. It's amazing what you can hear while you're driving.

They devoted themselves. Do you hear that? They devoted themselves to the apostles' teachings. it also says here that they devoted themselves to fellowship now somehow when I was growing up I understood fellowship you know the Methodist church in Lorenzo built a new addition on to the church and they built a fellowship hall how many of y'all grew up in churches you had a fellowship hall it's not just a place to go and be friends it's a place to go and experience heartfelt ministry when we were pastoring in Gruver one of the gifts that that church had in its church, one of the gifts it had was Gruver's 100 miles from everywhere. It's in the middle of nowhere.

And so when somebody died in the church and families had to come in for a funeral, it might be a two or three day affair. Getting families in and having the funeral service. and there was a group of women in that church.

You know we used to feeding a funeral meal in churches one meal before the funeral or after the funeral This church fed all week long

Those people might be in town staying for two or three days, coming in before the funeral, staying a day, and they just kept feeding people until they finally left. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen in my life. Kim didn't have to cook at all we could go in over there at the fellowship hall for a whole week almost sometimes they had that gift they understood that they were doing the ministry of fellowship in the hearts of these people they didn't just feed them a meal they embraced them and cared about them when they were there it's the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. You know how I define fellowship? Fellas in the same ship.

Fellas in the same ship.

I'm in the ship of God.

Which means when somebody's hurting, I hurt. And when somebody's rejoicing, I rejoice. And when somebody needs to confess, I listen to the confession. And when somebody needs to repent, I embrace them while they repent. And when somebody needs forgiveness, I say, my Jesus has forgiven you, and I forgive you too.

Fellowship is an intimacy in the spirit. It's not just friendship. It's being drawn together in the spirit of God that's a deep intimacy. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Every church that's going to do ministry in the world today, you know what young people are looking for today? Something that's real.

Something that's authentic.

They don't want to waste their time with just a pat on the shoulder. they want somebody to embrace them to love them we grown ups need that too I saw Carol Ann this morning hugging Emily over here it wasn't a little hug wasn't Emily it was an intimate You endure by being devoted to fellowship.

Is our fellowship perfect? It's not. But the intent of our heart can be. You hear what I'm saying?

It can be.

Look what else it says here. to the breaking of bread. Now, the first meaning of that, and we would define it as taking communion together. We break the body of Christ. We take the blood of Christ. We do that together as the body of Christ. We participate together in the holy sacrament, the shedding of his blood and the breaking of his body together. But it also means this. we open up our homes.

We open up our homes to be feeding centers.

My mom

My dad got a hold of this principal. My dad was an alcoholic until he was 60 years old. Now, his drinking increased after I had already graduated. But he finally came to the place where he needed to sober up. So he went to Starlight Hospital in Centerpoint, came out of that hospital, never drank again, and had seven more years of life. we lived on Main Street in Lorenzo in a five bedroom house they called it the Hearst Dormitory it was so big and when I was pastoring in Childress my folks were very active in Alcoholics Anonymous and I can remember my dad getting his first birthday card after six months of sobriety and all of us Hearst people showed up at this open meeting and I always told my dad, you know, y'all might have quit drinking, but you doubled your smoking. I had to fan the smoke to see the speaker when he was speaking. My dad, he got up there and he said, hi, my name's Red Hurst, and I'm an alcoholic.

And then he said, if you want to make that telephone post out there, the thing that can keep you sober, then I'll pat you on the back all day long. But let me tell you who keeps me sober. The Lord Jesus Christ keeps me sober.

They called the AA group in Lorenzo, which grew to about 100 to 120 people, they called the AA group over there the Pentecostal AA group of the West Texas because they were all believers. But any time I came from Gruver or Childress and I wanted to spend the night at my folks' house because I had to be at the hospital early in the morning for somebody's surgery or something, I'd have to call and say, do I have a room available?

Because my mom and dad turned our house, my bedroom, into a hospital for alcoholics. You never knew who was sleeping in your bed. They were drying out.

You never knew that. you know now that's breaking bread you see what I'm saying that's breaking bread we need to be open your house doesn't have to be fancy but sometimes we may need you to say if we need to be here I'm willing to host Kim shakes in her boots sometimes. People I drag in our house. When we lived in Sudan, Carol Ann, I said, Carol Ann, I got this bum. I need to get fed. Can you take him in? You know, it got kind of scary at times.

This is all I saying is God pray about what it means to break bread for you What it means Maybe you just need to give so that someday we have a facility where we can house people and feed them and care about them. Amen. Lastly, it says here,

and to prayer. They voted themselves to prayer. I believe in prayer.

I am a product of prayer. When I was lost and riding bulls and drinking beer and raising cane at Texas Tech, I was working at the John Deere House part-time on Highway 84. and Ben Perry was a Methodist guy and his wife Ruby they had come to the Lord and surrendered their lives completely to the Lord and Ruby had a prayer group that met at her house weekly at lunch and they would fast and pray sometimes for a week at a time and they'd fast or they wouldn't eat lunch, and they'd pray together.

They took me on without telling me.

And that Monday, I went to the John Deere house, and I always took my, from school, and I took my sandwich, and I'd eat back in the back, and then would go to work. Worked that afternoon. I worked in the afternoons part-time while I was going to college.

And I'm in the back on Monday, and I feel very uncomfortable while I'm eating. I don't know. You ever felt nervous? You got this nervous gut feeling. What in the world's going on? The next day I come back, I get back there to eat, and I shake for an hour. I'm shaking. I'm thinking, I need to go see a psychiatrist. Something's going on with me. On Wednesday, I'll never forget this. On Wednesday, I decide I'm not going to the John Deere house. I'm going to stop at the little cafe on Highway 84. They all know me in there. The waitresses know me in there. The owners know me in there. That's where all the farmers go eat. I'm going to go in there and eat a chicken fried steak, and then I'll go to work. and I get in there, and I get my food on my table in front of me, and I look out across there, and there's all these farmers I know that I've waited on and sold parts on at the John Deere house, and I stood up and said, Can I have your attention, please?

Now, it got quiet in there, I'm telling you. And I said, Y look it dead sitting there is I feel inside of myself And I going I losing my mind And then I said, they tell me Jesus is the answer.

And then I went, what in the world did I just do? I just walked out the door. I didn't pay for my meal or nothing. and later the waitress called down to the John Deere house and said, Ben, is Kerry okay?

Said, he left and didn't pay his bill, but tell him all the farmers covered it for him. He's okay.

I said to Ben, Ben, something's going on with me between 12 and 1 every day. Hank smiled and said, yeah.

Ruby and the girls are praying for you every day.

My response was, call them off. Call them off.

You know, about a week later, I'm down on my knees in my bedroom at that apartment.

I give up, Lord.

I grew up hearing the gospel.

I know you're real.

I give up.

Well, one, two, three weeks later, I surrendered to preach.

I am a product of prayer. I believe in prayer. Lord, you know what's going on in Indy's life. I give him to you. You know what's going on in TJ's life. I give him to you. You know what's going on in Roddy's life. I give him to you.

I pray that you will save them and fill them with the Holy Spirit and that no matter what their circumstances are in life, they will trust you. I pray that for Dyson and Desi. I pray that for Joy.

I pray that for Alicia.

Prayer is the most powerful tool we have as Christians.

It's where we say, I give up God and I just want you to move in people's lives.

Get out of the way. He's going to do it.

He will move.

So how do you endure?

Well, you don't just sit in your pew.

you take steps to endure You take these steps Be born again Be filled with the Spirit Study the Word

Fellowship. Break bread. Pray.

That's what will change your life. That's what will bring life to you. You wonder why you say, I don't feel God. Well, I believe in God by faith, but it's awfully nice. When I start practicing those things, all of a sudden I begin to feel God. I start seeing God move.

Prayer.

We endure to the end, and we gain life eternally.

Hallelujah. So, I don't know when he's coming back, but he's coming back.

But I'm going to tell you where I'm going to be.

I'm going to be one of those enduring saints.

If things don't go the way I want them to go, that's okay with me.

I will endure. I will trust him I'll stand firm I'll believe in his sovereignty I'll not give up I pray that over all of us today I speak that over your lives today some of you got family and grandkids and loved ones and friends that you know are outside the kingdom, not experiencing abundant life.

I join with you today in prayer for your loved ones that they'll come to know Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Amen. Amen.

Thank you all for being patient and listening to me today. I had that on my heart and had to say it. Amen.

Let's bow together and clear. Lord, thank you for this day. And Lord, I give you praise for the things you're going to do in people's lives this week. Things they don't even know you're going to do. you're going to change some of these young people's lives forever and they will endure till you come back Lord help us as a church embrace the Holy Spirit this week In Jesus' name. Amen.