This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:00] Go ahead and grab your seat and grab your Bible and open it with me to Philippians 3:18-21. We'll be our text this morning. And one of the most important things that happened in my life is I started to see people as souls. I no longer saw them as bodies based on their outward appearance. But I began to see them as spiritual beings created in the image of God who will live forever.

[00:00:35] The Bible is very clear that God created us male and female in his image. And it's also clear that God is Spirit and those who worship here must worship him in spirit.

[00:00:47] That's you. You are a soul.

[00:00:50] Yes, you have a body. But you are not a body. You are a soul in all. Souls are forever.

[00:00:59] See, there's this idea that we're only going to be alive for a limited amount of time and some people are acting more and more like when we die. That's it. That's the end. But the Bible clearly teaches that when we die, our soul will leave our body and we will be there, be in the presence of God or we will be apart from God for all of eternity.

[00:01:23] And so we need to start seeing people as souls if you're not already looking at them that way. You got to stop seeing them is skin and bones and see who they really are. And maybe sometimes if you're tempted to get angry at a person, maybe that'll even be a hopeful moment for you to think about how you're getting angry at an eternal soul that's going to live in heaven or hell. Maybe next time you're driving on the four or five.

[00:01:50] Anybody ever been there before? You know what I'm talking about, right? Word association. Anger for 05. You know what I mean? Those people have the audacity to be driving on the same freeway that you're driving on at the same time. How dare they? Right. Right. And you if somebody cuts you off, they go slow in front of you.

[00:02:09] You want to get angry at them? Well, at least for now. That's not just a car on the road. There's a soul drive in that vehicle. Somebody is going on at your neighbor's house. They're getting loud. You don't like what's going on. The place is messy and you're ready to get angry at your neighbor's house. Well, you know who lives in your neighbor's house? There's at least one soul live in their.

[00:02:31] I remember one time I was at Chick fil A. It sounds like a weird place to get angry, but I was at Chick fil A and I'm sorry to bring up Chick fil A on a Sunday. That's not very nice. Sorry about that. But it's a true story. I was at Chick fil A one time and, you know, I did something dangerous. I did something rare. I didn't just talk to the person on the box.

[00:02:52] I actually went inside and ordered face to face with another human being. And I got frustrated with the guy who was working there at Chick fil A because he didn't give me my Chick fil A sauce. He didn't even say.

[00:03:05] My pleasure. If you know what I mean.

[00:03:10] And so here I am getting angry at a person.

[00:03:14] Acting like he's my personal condiment dispenser and he's failed like his purpose in life or something. So you're right.

[00:03:22] And I'm getting ready to give him a piece of my mind when I notice that he's got a name tag right there.

[00:03:29] And I noticed he's got a name. And I realized, why am I getting angry at this guy? This guy's a soul that's gonna live forever.

[00:03:36] Either in the presence of God or apart from God for all of eternity and immediately, I'm not wondering where my Chick fil A sauce is. I'm wondering, does this guy know Jesus Christ? Because Jesus Christ is the difference between heaven and hell. And I'm and I'm praying for him all of a sudden I'm at Chick fil A praying for this guy based on the name, on his nametag, that Jesus Christ will save his soul. And I'm really seeing him for who he is. And you've got to learn how to see people as souls and if you are seeing people as souls. And you got to realize everybody's going to heaven or hell. Let's just make that very clear. We throw it around like it's a cliche, like it's a joke, like it's just kind of kind of some thing that people say. But what we're gonna see from our texts today is this is true. And there's been a lot of false information about what happens to our souls.

[00:04:30] All Souls Day is a day where people pray for those in purgatory who are somewhere between heaven or hell that is praying for their dead soul, that there is no such place. That's part of the misinformation that's out there. The Bible is clear. There's only two possible destinations for your soul after death.

[00:04:51] We've all heard now at this point, many people say and act like when I die. That said, my body's who'd for the worms. I'm just gonna be there in the ground. My body is gonna decompose. Nothing's gonna happen. That's a lie. Every time you hear it.

[00:05:06] That's not true.

[00:05:08] We are not confined to physical bodies and we are not confined to space and time, we are souls that will live forever.

[00:05:16] And we're starting to see horrific consequences of what happens when we take people being made in the image of God and we start to think that we're just going to live for in this body and we're just going to live for a limited time. And all of a sudden, people who haven't really started living in their body or people who've lived in their body, but their body is not really working anymore. Our culture has become comfortable with murdering those people because we're thinking they're only in this body for a limited time and not that there's souls who will live forever.

[00:05:48] We won't be doing abortion and euthanasia if we saw everybody has a soul who's going to live for eternity in heaven or out.

[00:05:55] That's the truth.

[00:05:57] And so we got these terrible way that we're looking at life. And it's affected all of us. And we need to get our mind renewed in the word of God, and this is a passage. It talks about hell and it talks about heaven, like these are real places and you're going to one of them. And so let me read this passage for us. And out of respect for God's word, Amen ask if everybody would stand up for our scripture reading here today. And this is Philippians, chapter three versus eighteen to twenty one. And this is telling you the two places that your soul will spend all of eternity in one or the other. Please listen to this. Like your life depends upon it. Philippians Chapter three. Verse 18. For many of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears walk as enemies of the Cross of Christ.

[00:06:52] Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly. And they glory in their shame. With minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior.

[00:07:10] The Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body. By the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

[00:07:23] That's the reading of God's word. Please go ahead and have your seat. And you can see if you're taking notes on the handout that we give you there in your bulletin. We got two points because our passage breaks down very clearly here into two sections. There are the many that Paul is talking about.

[00:07:42] Paul's right in this letter from jail to the church in Phillip High. And he talks about many and he's told them about these many before. And now he's telling them he's getting emotional, he's crying even as he's writing this, that there are many people who walk the way that they live. The pattern of their life, how they conduct themselves, is against the cross of of Jesus. There are many people living like this. And then he gives us this detailed description of them in verse 19 and then he says, but our. So there's the many. And then there's us. He says, Paul and the and the church there and Phillip guy who all believed in the gospel of Jesus together they shared in the joy of salvation in Jesus Christ. He says, hey, we are where we really belong is heaven and we're waiting for Jesus to come back. So it's two different groups of people. Two different sections. Both of them. Two verses. So let's talk about the many first here. He says many and he's weeping about them.

[00:08:46] So if you do some reading on Philippians three 18, you'll read some different ideas about who are these many people that we're talking about that Paul would be crying about.

[00:08:58] And the prevailing thought is that these people must be people that the church there would have known, maybe even people who profess to be Christians who claimed the name of Jesus.

[00:09:09] But yet, even though they claim the name of Jesus, they're walking as enemies of the cross of Jesus. That would be how a lot of people would take this passage. But the truth is that the apostle Paul, who saw people as souls and he was a man of great compassion and he cared about his countrymen, the Jewish people, and he cried for them as lost people and he wished he could trade places with them. And he also carried about the gentiles. People of all different nations. And he was the guy known for taking the gospel, not just to the Jewish people of God, but to all peoples on planet Earth that they would know the good news of Jesus Christ. So he was ready to have this weeping, have this crying this morning for people who were lost, whether he knew them or not. He cared about people's souls.

[00:09:57] They would know Jesus Christ.

[00:10:00] And look at the description. Look at how he breaks it down, he says there and is destruction. And that's where they're headed towards the path they're on is a path of perishing. And we've been reading about the destruction that is coming upon planet Earth, the wrath of God that is going to be poured out from heaven on those who live their lives in sin. Against whom is anybody still reading the Book of Revelation? Even these even these terrible chapters we've been reading through the terrible chapters of the Great Day of Wrath that is coming. People think that God's just going to be okay with their sane people, think that they're getting away with this sin that they continue to do, not knowing that the entire time every single sin is storing up wrath that will be poured out by God on the day of judgment. And it's going to be absolutely devastating destruction that's going to happen to our planet. And then there's going to be this place referred to as the lake of fire, where people experience torment forever apart from God and weeping and gnashing of teeth, where there's a fire that does not die, where there's outer darkness and they can't even see what's going on.

[00:11:13] Utterly alone. That's what the scripture describes.

[00:11:17] Terrible destruction that is coming for those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

[00:11:26] Then it says, here's how they're live in their life. Their God is their belly and belly might be a funny word the way we use it today.

[00:11:33] But you could easily translate the word their appetite. Whose God is their appetite? Who are living to satisfy their own cravings and their own desires. I mean, this is literally now what we're teaching the young people in America that they should do whatever they want.

[00:11:50] That self expression is the ultimate form of expression. And especially when it comes to people's sexuality. They should do whatever it is they want to do.

[00:12:03] And it's saying here that's how people who are on their way to destruction are going to live their God, their guiding principle. The thing that they're living to serve is going to be themself and whatever it is, their heart desires. Whatever it is that they want, and this is how messed up it's going to get. The third description here. They glory in their shame. Their morality now is completely messed up.

[00:12:29] They're boasting and they're identifying with and they're being proud about scenes that they should be ashamed of before a holy God that they shouldn't even speak of in public because of the shame of what they're thinking about and doing and talking about. But instead of being ashamed of it, they're glorying in it and announcing to the world that this is who they are. And this is what they do. And they're thinking that wrong is right.

[00:13:02] This is a description clearly of what's going on all around us every day.

[00:13:07] People who are glorying in their shame, following their own appetites, not realizing, not fully understanding that the end of all of that is this terrible destruction and they are actually now enemies of the cross of Jesus. But because they're thinking life is in their body and because they're thinking you only have a limited amount of time and so you only live once.

[00:13:31] So you might as well get as much as you can right now because they're thinking wrongly about themself, because their mind is set on earthly things they cannot see. The purpose of life is to know God, to worship him and enjoy him forever as a soul mate in his image.

[00:13:49] And they can't see it.

[00:13:51] Because they're so focused on the here and now and what am I going to do to feel good with this body that I've got right now?

[00:14:00] And so because of that, it says there's a great destruction that is coming upon the people who live according to the way of this world.

[00:14:08] Now, I want you to go back to the original thing he said in verse 18, the thing he said through his tears that there are many who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

[00:14:19] Now, let's try to think that through. Let's try to process that. What does that mean? They're they're not just enemies of Jesus. It doesn't say so. This is the conduct. This is the pattern of how they live their life. They're not just Antichrist. It's not that they're just against Jesus. No, specifically, he points out that they are against are enemies of the cross of Christ. And what we know happened on the cross when Jesus was nailed there against that tree, what he did by the sacrifice of his body, by the shedding of his righteous blood.

[00:14:55] Is he paid for ah. What did he pay for? The Bible is very clear that the reason Jesus came was he came to die. And the reason he died was he died for our sins. So to know that Jesus died for our sins. That was what he accomplished on the cross. He says it is finished. It's paid in full. He took the wrath and judgment of God for our sins. And he paid it in full. To know that Jesus did that on the cross and then to be an enemy of the cross is seen. Jesus died for your sin.

[00:15:31] And then you keep doing it. Then you keep living in it.

[00:15:36] Like, there it is, the good news. All of my scene has been paid for, it's been paid in full Jesus blood has paid it all. And then here I go. And I just keep racking up charges over here.

[00:15:48] Like it's all paid for.

[00:15:52] So that's somebody who knows about the cross. But they're actually an enemy of it because the thing that Jesus died for, they're still living to do. And there are many people going to churches here in Southern California worshiping Jesus on Sunday and walking in sin every other day of the week. And they might be some of the many that we need to talk about with tears that are actually enemies of the cross, not people saved by the cross. Point number one. Let's get it down like this. If you're taking notes, point number one, stop living in the San Jesus already died for. Stop living in the sin that Jesus already died for, to believe in Jesus death on the cross is to change your mind about sin.

[00:16:37] It's to repent of your sin, to turn from that sin to Jesus, because he already paid for that sin and he dealt with it in full. And if you know the truth that Jesus died for your sin and yet you keep walking in a pattern of sin where you know what Jesus did and you know what you're doing, but you keep on doing it.

[00:16:59] You're not someone who's been saved by the cross of Jesus. You're actually an enemy of the cross of Jesus. Still following your own appetites, still desiring things that you should be ashamed. Still on the path to destruction. Talking to Hebrews, Chapter 10, verse 26, I need everybody to turn over to this passage because Hebrews is trying to tell the Jewish people who are in the old covenant way of all the animal sacrifices and the high priest in the tabernacle or the temple.

[00:17:31] And he's trying to say, hey, the new covenant we have where Jesus is the sacrifice, where Jesus is the high priest, where Jesus is the temple of the living God, where he is the one who paid for our sin. The new covenant is greater than the old covenant.

[00:17:43] But when he gets to chapter 10, verse 26, he talks about people who know the sacrifice of Jesus and where and how he shed his blood on that cross. They can see that Jesus died for our sins. As the Bible says.

[00:17:59] And yet they choose willfully they deliberately know about the truth of Jesus and they continue in the practice of sin. It says here in Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 26, for if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

[00:18:22] Hey, you can't you can't do it like that. You can't know the truth that Jesus died for your sin and deliberately, willfully continue in sin. And yet still expect the sacrifice of Jesus to cover your sin. That's not how it works. Now, if you know the truth that Jesus died for your sin. It has this purifying, sanctifying affect in your life. But the people who continue deliberately and go on sinning. Well, then that's sacrifice. It's not going to cover their sins. In fact, it goes on to say what those people should have is not confidence in the sacrifice, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversary's.

[00:19:08] Now, you shouldn't think I'm OK. Have you ever heard somebody today in a church in Southern California? Somebody who would say they're a Christian? Who would be doing sin? They're doing a lot of sin. They're doing continual sin. But they'll act like it's OK because Jesus already died for it.

[00:19:24] So they shouldn't be acting like they're saying it's no big deal because Jesus died for it. It says here they should be in a fearful expectation of judgment because Jesus died for my sin and I'm still living in it.

[00:19:35] And that doesn't add up. Which means I'm still on the path to destruction. They should be afraid, is what it's saying. There should be a fear. People shouldn't be boasting about how they sing in church. They should be repenting of it.

[00:19:52] That's what he goes on to say here. Now we have this messed up thought that we've heard. Those of us who've been at church for a while and even if we know the thoughts, not true, I think it's a messed up. All of our brains, because we have this idea that in the Old Testament, at the time of the law of Moses, God was really harsh and intense. And in the New Testament at the time of Jesus, God's really loving. Who's heard that before? Anybody heard that before that idea? Let me just ask you guys a question. Is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever? Has God changed from the old the New Testament gate? We shouldn't even think that there is some false dichotomy that separates the Bible into two different sections. All of this is inspired by God. It's all the same. It's all telling us about Jesus Christ from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation. This is all about Jesus and the law of all the sacrifices, everything that Moses wrote about the temple. It's all a picture of what Jesus is going to do for us on the cross.

[00:20:50] It hasn't gotten harsher. The harshest days are yet to come is the truth of what the book says.

[00:20:56] You think it's been harsh? Where do you see what's common?

[00:21:00] Look at what it says here in verse 28. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. You talk capital punishment and the law of Moses was harsh. Wait for this verse 29.

[00:21:14] How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the one who is trampled underfoot? The Son of God has profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has outraged the spirit of grace.

[00:21:30] Like they have the law of Moses. And if they broke that law and there were witnesses to their crime, to their sin, they would be put to death. We have something greater than the law of Moses. We have the blood of Jesus Christ. The son sacrificed his body on the cross. His blood is like forming a little pool down there at the foot of cross. The spirit is opening your eyes to see Jesus. They're dying for you to pay for your sin. He's showing you the grace of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And you're gonna see the blood of Jesus on the ground and step over his blood on your way so you can go keep sinning. And you don't think God's gonna be angry about it. You don't think God's people today say, God, it's OK. God's going to be OK with my sin because Jesus already died for it? That's the whole point. Jesus already died for it. And you're stepping over his blood.

[00:22:26] The father is not going to be okay with you profaning the name of his son like that.

[00:22:31] No, there's nothing here that says it's OK. In fact, what it says is we know him who said vengeance is mine? I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[00:22:47] That's what it says, you should be terrified right now if you're continuing in sin. And, you know, Jesus died for it and you're stepping over his blood to more saying. You should be afraid for your soul here today.

[00:22:58] That's what it's saying.

[00:23:00] We had something that happened, right? Right. When this service got started, I was right out here in this front lobby and we had this thing that just got all of our attention. This bird flew into these windows right here in front of our church. It flew in at a high rate of velocity.

[00:23:16] It was a big bird. There was. It's not funny. There was a boom. And the bird was dead on the ground.

[00:23:22] The bird died. It was done.

[00:23:26] And it shook up everybody right here at the beginning of this service. Everybody who was leaving from the nine o'clock, as some of you were just coming in to this service, maybe you saw it. Some of you that were coming in. When this bird died right out here. Blood started to form around the bird.

[00:23:41] OK. Did you hear how some people just food for the bird? Why are people doing that for Jesus Christ?

[00:23:49] I mean, it was everybody in the lobby was physically affected by seeing the blood of a bird. And the blood of the Holy Son of God has been shed for you and you're going to continue to walk the way that you want to live your life.

[00:24:08] Like how you have gotten to a place, how all of us as a as a Christian culture in Southern California have gotten to a place where we think God is going to be okay with that. We are so wrong.

[00:24:20] And we should be terrified at the thought that the holy son of God shed his righteous blood to atone for my sin. And I would know that he would die for me. I would see his blood there at the foot of the cross and I would just keep on living my life the way I want to in my sin.

[00:24:42] No, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands. Of the living god.

[00:24:47] There was a time in America before it ever was America. What people don't really understand sometimes about the history of the United States of America is that before we were states, before we had the founding fathers, before we ever declared independence here in the colonies, there was a movement that God did that really shaped the foundation of our nation. It's a time they still teach about in U.S. history. It's called the Great Awakening. And it was this mighty movement that God did to save many souls and the 1740. So this is a back back in the early days of American history.

[00:25:24] And there was this man named George Whitfield who traveled around preaching the gospel of Jesus from town to town. And when he would come and preach, the entire town would stop what they were doing. Everybody would just drop their work that they were doing and they would run, not walk to go here.

[00:25:42] George Whitfield, preach the gospel of Jesus. Benjamin Franklin went to hear George Whitfield preach outside of Boston when he came to Boston and Benjamin Franklin, who was not a Christian but was greatly impressed with George Whitfield. He calculated that a group of people there listening to George Whitfield was greater than the entire population of the city of Boston at that time. People were coming from Miles and other towns to hear this man preach.

[00:26:09] Benjamin Franklin described that when he would walk through the streets of Boston, the sound of families reading the Bible together and singing songs of worship together would echo through the streets of this city. And what a great thing it was, even though he was a man who did not believe in Jesus Christ for salvation.

[00:26:29] George Whitfield was friends with this pastor. Perhaps the most famous pastor in American history, his name is Jonathan Edwards. And they started preaching together. They traveled around and did some preaching together. And Jonathan Edwards preached. What is the most famous sermon in American history? And it gets its title from this verse right here in Hebrews, 10 31 Sinners in the Hands of an angry God. And what Jonathan Edwards did in this sermon was he went there, he went straight to the lake of fire, straight to the pit of hell.

[00:27:01] And he described it in vivid detail. And he wanted to warn people that if they continued in sin, their end was going to be destruction.

[00:27:12] And Jonathan Edwards, he had this fascination that he wrote about with spiders. He liked to study spiders. Apparently he held spiders in his hand and he looked at them. Now, I, I, I have a different take on spiders personally. OK. Not a fascination as much of a fear of spiders. I'm not holding any spiders in my hand. I'm not even smacking spiders with my hand when I see a spider. I usually ask my wife what she's up to at that present time. And does she see the spider and does she think anything should be done about it? You know what I mean? That's my attitude toward spiders. But he's stuck.

[00:27:52] He gave this description in his sermon about holding a spider in his hand over a fire. And he said, You are the spider. You're in the hand of God and you're sinning against the only one who can save you from hell. And the only thing keeping you from being an owl right now is the merciful hand of God that he could take away at any time. And you would drop down into the flame. And I want to read to you a portion of what he preach. And I want to encourage you to actually go, if you haven't yet, and read the entire sermon that Jonathan Edwards preached that they're still teaching in the public high schools to this very day as a part of American literature and indicative of the preaching of the time.

[00:28:40] Here's what Jonathan Edwards preached.

[00:28:43] The God that holds you over the pit of hell. Much as one holds a spider or some load, some insect over the fire, you have offended him infinitely more than ever.

[00:28:55] A stubborn rebel did his prints and and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment it is to be ascribed to nothing else that you did not go to hell the last night, that you were suffered to awake again in this world after you close your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell since you have sat here in the House of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful, wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yes, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

[00:29:44] And he said the use of this awful subject. Maybe four awakening unconverted persons in this congregation, this that you have heard is the case of every one of you that is out of Christ. And he began to describe the destruction that the person who continues to live their life in sin is going to experience in this place called the Lake of Fire, that we usually use the term how?

[00:30:12] And he described how if there was one person here among us and we could know who that one person was, that would end up burning in this torment forever, how we would all plead with that person to not experience that, how we would be horrified even to look on that person and think what would happen to them and how if we could know who that one person was that would experienced this pit of hell, that our heart would go out to them and beg with them today to turn to Jesus Christ, to believe in him and to be safe. But then he said there is not just one person like that here in this room. There are many unconverted persons here that will surely experience this very misery for all of eternity. In fact, he said, there are people who have heard services just like this one who are already now experiencing the torment of hell and how they could wish for just one chance to go back to church on a Sunday morning and hear a sermon like this, just one chance for their soul to be saved forever.

[00:31:17] That's what he preached.

[00:31:20] That's why there was a great awakening, because when we talk about how less people go there. Because we need to warn the world what is going to happen, you cannot glory in your shame and get away with it. You can not do what you want and get away with it. No, if you set your mind on earthly things, you will reap eternal destruction. And there are people in this room right now that your soul is on the line and you're headed right now to perish. Apart from God for ever, and today's the day that you need to change your mind about sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

[00:31:55] Can I get a man for anybody on this?

[00:31:57] This could be your last chance. There you have right now for your soul. To get right with God.

[00:32:05] By putting your faith in the righteous blood of Jesus Christ and seeing that blood. For what it really is, it is your life.

[00:32:15] The blood of Jesus is not something you can know about.

[00:32:20] And continue in Ensign, if you really believe that Jesus shed his blood. And you really understand who Jesus is as the perfect, spotless lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world as the high priest, who takes us into the presence of God as the temple, the place where we come to worship and meet God.

[00:32:37] If you really understand all that the law of Moses has been building up to in Jesus Christ and the significance that his blood was shed. So your sin could be forgiven. There is no way you could keep living in your sin. If you really believe in the death of Jesus Christ.

[00:32:54] Liquidate already said here in Hebrews, chapter nine, verse 13, it already explained what we're supposed to know the blood of Jesus does for us.

[00:33:03] Hebrews, nine 13, says, for if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, if you could sacrifice the blood of animals and sprinkle that blood on people who are defiled.

[00:33:16] If that is for it to sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

[00:33:34] Notice the words here, sanctify, purify the blood of Jesus Christ. Actually does something.

[00:33:43] There's an interaction that takes place when your soul trussing the death of Jesus on the cross.

[00:33:50] His blood. It has this purifying effect to cleanse you from sin. It has this sanctifying effect to set you apart from who you used to be and to set you apart for the purpose and life of God. Now in you.

[00:34:05] You cannot believe in Jesus and know the information that he died and not experienced, the transformation of his life.

[00:34:15] And so if you know the truth about Jesus and you find yourself deliberately going on sinning, you need to understand today that the sacrifice of Jesus has not covered your sins.

[00:34:29] That's not how it works. And you need to see that you have to still turn from that scene and trust in the blood of Jesus. And it will have this purifying, sanctifying effect on you. And you will no longer walk in sin because Jesus already died for it. Look what goes on to say here in Hebrews nine twenty six, right in the middle of the verse there, Hebrews nine twenty six, it says, but as it is, he has appeared. This is Jesus. He appeared once for all. At the end of ages, underline this right here to put away seen by the sacrifice of himself to great what Jesus has put away, saying Jesus has already dealt with sin.

[00:35:20] Now let's just make it very clear what I'm saying. Am I saying that once you believe Jesus died for your saying, you will be a perfect person? Is that what I'm saying here today? No. Are we still going to have sin that we have to deal with in our life? Here's the difference. We're going to deal with it because Jesus already dealt with it. Jesus already put it away so we can put it away. All right. We're not going to keep going on in it. We're not going to continue in it.

[00:35:44] We're not going to willfully choose to keep doing so and deliberately keep going down the path of sin. No. When we see sin in our life and we believe in the blood of Jesus Christ, we'll know that he already paid for that, saying that it's already done, it has no power over us anymore. That we've been freed from it. Forgiven for it. And we'll say no to those temptations in turn to Jesus Christ.

[00:36:07] That's how we'll respond to the sin in our life. We will never act like me.

[00:36:12] Sinning is no big deal when I understand that the blood of Jesus on the cross is what paid for my sin. When I really see it for what it is, and I hope that if you know today. That you have not yet really believed in Jesus. And you are a walking as an enemy of the cross. You are continuing to live in the sin that Jesus already died for. I just want to plead with you right now. I want to beg with you right now that your sin is not worthy. It is not worth it. The destruction that is coming, the judgment of God. I do not wish on any anyone. I'm really encouraging you to strongly consider the fact that if you keep living in sin, you will go to hell. That is where your soul will be for eternity. And you got to change your mind about that sin. And today is the day of salvation. Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be safe. God has been patient with you and he has long suffering. And he does not want you to perish, but he wants you to reach repentance. Can I get a man from here, right, who is believed to Jesus that if you know you need to be saved, there are many people in this room who would love to talk to you right after this service to make sure that you have really transferred your trust to Jesus Christ. No, go back to Philippians three because it describes now those of us who do know Jesus.

[00:37:38] Those of us who have been saved. And it doesn't say our end is destruction. No. The cross of Christ has made a huge difference in our soul. It has saved us.

[00:37:50] And it says our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:38:00] OK.

[00:38:00] Now, this is a description of how Christian people have been known for the last two thousand years. If we had just kept reading and Hebrews nine, they would say that it's appointed for a man to die once and after death comes judgment. And judgment is where your soul goes to heaven or hell.

[00:38:17] And Jesus, he came wants to die for all sin to pay, for sin, to deal with sin. And Jesus is coming a second time to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. So this description, Christians are people who put their faith in Jesus. And part of the fruit of our faith in Jesus is we wait for Jesus to come and get us. We don't just believe that Jesus came a first time to die for our sins and rise again. We believe that Jesus is coming a second time to take us home to be with him.

[00:38:50] And Christian people are people who wait for that. They look for that. They expect that. So it's Philippians 320.

[00:38:57] It's Hebrews nine 28. Its first Thessalonians. Chapter one. Verse 10. Those are three different passages that describe Christian people as people who are waiting for Jesus to come and get them from heaven. That's a manifestation of our faith in this life. That's how Christian people not only describe themselves.

[00:39:18] That's how other people said those people, they live like it's not just limited to this body. It's not just limited to space and time. They live like Jesus is coming to get them for a better life somewhere else than what we've got right here.

[00:39:35] I mean, just tell you, if you're my brother or sister and you really believed in Jesus and he's really saved you from your sin, you are not a citizen of the United States of America. Let's just make that very clear. You are a citizen of heaven. That's where you belong.

[00:39:48] That's your home. And you might think, well, I have great pride in my nation. Well, let me tell you. The Philippines, where people we know had great pride because they were made a roaming colony there in Phillip High and they were given Roman citizenship.

[00:40:05] So that's why he uses this idea of citizen throughout the Book of Philippians, because the Romans were run in the world at that time. And Phillip, I had this rich privilege of being kind of a Roman outpost. And so they understood the difference between being just kind of a normal person and a citizen of Rome. And they would have had this very high view of being a citizen of Rome, much like some of us might have this high view of being a citizen of the United States of America. That's why he's making the point here. Don't identify with the nations of this earth, identify with the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

[00:40:40] That's who you're a citizen of. You're not Assis in here.

[00:40:44] You might have a driver's license. You might have a Social Security number. And if somebody calls you and they tell you that they need to get your Social Security number over the phone, don't give it to them, everybody.

[00:40:53] All right? Don't do it. And you might you might identify as a citizen of the United States, but you should really identify as a citizen of have and you should believe that it's gonna be so much better to live with Jesus in heaven than it is to live in Orange County or L.A. County and Southern California. So much better. And I got to ask if you're really convinced about that.

[00:41:17] I've got to ask you if I could say about you. And by the way, that you think, by the way, that you conduct yourself, that you're a person who's living this life like you're waiting for Jesus to come and rescue you.

[00:41:29] To come and save you.

[00:41:32] Would that describe you are you so caught up in the things of this Earth that if I bring up the idea that Jesus could come back at any moment, he could come back today and we could be with him and with all or all of eternity, it says something amazing here that we're awaiting a savior.

[00:41:47] And it says when we see him, verse 21, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. When Jesus comes to get us and we see him in all of his glory and we get to be with him in his presence forever, we will be made to like him. And we will no longer have perishable bodies, but imperishable, immortal eternal bodies just like Jesus. Anybody looking forward to that right there?

[00:42:16] That's good news right there. And yet we got Christians acting like I think I'd rather keep living right here right now. What's gonna happen with my business? What's gonna happen with my family? What about this thing I'm doing right now in my life? Aggregate Christian people today acting like they'd rather live on planet Earth and be in heaven with Jesus.

[00:42:37] And what's crazy is when you read the the letters of the of the early church, the first century Christian people, people like the church and Thessalonica, it's clear that these people expected the end of their life not to be death, but they thought the end of their life was going to be Jesus coming back. This was the first century. Fast forward 2000 years to the 21st century where the average Christian I talked to expects to die rather than have Jesus come back in their life.

[00:43:08] How messed up is that thinking, how do we get it so twisted?

[00:43:12] If you read the words of Jesus at all, if you've ever read through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you will see that Jesus is always talking about the story of a master who left his servants to do his work. And the master went away for a while and the master's coming back. And the big question the master has.

[00:43:31] The Lord has is who is he going to find serving when he comes back? And the main thing that he wants his servants to be for when he's going to return is he wants them to be.

[00:43:40] What are you stand ready. Are you live and ready? He comes back right here right now. This is the day you meet Jesus. Are you live and ready to meet him right now? Are you like, oh, bring it on, glory. Yes, please. How do we get it to happen? That's what I want.

[00:44:00] See, Jesus has made it very clear that he's coming back and his people have responded for two thousand years. That when Jesus says I'm coming soon. The people say calm. Lord Jesus. That's what crucial. People have been known for saying it's a Aramaic word that has been passed down, that some of us have heard AIDS. This word, Maranatha, any means come Lord Jesus or really you could translate it. Come, O Lord Jesus. Like there's passion to it. There's longing. There's desire.

[00:44:36] I mean, just let's compare it to our closest human relationship of a man and a woman who are married and who love one another, and they want to be with each other and they're separated by space by time for a period.

[00:44:50] Like lovers who are separated from one another and longed to be back together. Even more than that, we should long to be with Jesus. We should be saying, calm, Lord Jesus, we should be thinking about it when we wake up in the morning and hoping that when we go to bed at night that tomorrow will be the day I get to meet Jesus Christ.

[00:45:12] So let me ask you if we had a Maranatha Meter. Right.

[00:45:15] And tens like I'm ready to go right now.

[00:45:19] And ones like I haven't thought about it much at all.

[00:45:22] And we could somehow detect where you're at in your readiness for Jesus to come. You're waiting for Jesus. You're wanting to be with him. Give me out of this world.

[00:45:32] Give me out of this body. I want to experience the fullness of my salvation. I am tired of just seeing you by faith. I want to see you in all of your glory. I want to worship you in your presence. I want to hear your voice. I want to know that you know me.

[00:45:50] Are you at 10?

[00:45:52] Or you add a one, and here's what we do with the Maranatha Meter right away, right? We want to put ourselves in the five, six or seven spot. You know what I mean? Look, you're either waiting for him or you're not. You're either ready for him or you're not. It's not like, well, I could work on my degree of readiness. You know? No, it's like live. Ready? Live like today's the day.

[00:46:15] Now, this is a point that God really wants us to get here at this church right now, OK, because we're studying this passage here in Philippians three and we've just been going through Philippians. And then over a year ago, we started doing this thing called Scripture of the Day, and we started reading through all 260 chapters from Matthew to Revelation. And it just so happens that God would get us to this passage in Philippians. And then this week, if you look at it on the back of your handout, we're gonna go read the last four chapters of the Bible revelation, 19, 20, 21 and 22. And so this is the sermon this morning.

[00:46:53] You wake up tomorrow morning, you open your Bible, you read Revelation 19. What happens in Revelation 19?

[00:47:00] Jesus comes back. That's what happens. Literally, he rides out of heaven on a white horse and comes back to establish his kingdom. And so this is amazing to me. This is not something I planned.

[00:47:14] This is something God planned that he wants to make this point to this group of people that have been saved by Jesus, all of us who are in Christ. He wants us to be waiting for Christ. He wants us to believe that it would be better this very day to be with Jesus in heaven than to be here on earth.

[00:47:32] And he wants us. To say, calm, Lord Jesus.

[00:47:37] Now, when Jesus would pray there was such a powerful thing that happened when Jesus prayed. It was literally to the disciples who could view Jesus praying at certain times.

[00:47:48] They knew there was something so powerful, like like Jesus was going before the throne of the father in heaven, like there was a communication taking place from heaven to earth through the prayer of Jesus, they asked Jesus, Lord, teach us to pray like you pray. And when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to pray. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom what?

[00:48:13] And has the kingdom come and is it coming without a king? We're supposed to be praying, taught by Jesus, to pray for him to come back. When was the last time you asked for him to come back? Point number two. Let's get it down like this.

[00:48:26] Ask Jesus to come back soon. Ask Jesus to come back soon.

[00:48:34] That should be a regular part of our prayers and it should be expressing a constant desire of our heart that we believe the best days are yet to come when we get to behold Jesus and be with him. And so I invite you to turn with me to the Book of Revelation. And I'll give you just a little taste of what we're going to be reading this week.

[00:48:55] If you read these chapters and if you've never read one chapter of Scripture of the day, I'm asking you right now if this is your church, if I'm your pastor, I am asking you to read these four chapters of scripture with us this week. We've got some questions you can answer about them on the back because you need to know where you're going. And if you don't want to go there, if you're not waiting for it, if you're not looking forward to heaven, then you're thinking about it wrong. You're like a junior higher who doesn't want to go into high school is how you're thinking. All right. You're like a kid who doesn't want to grow up and drive a car and be responsible. It's an immature way to think to think that you would rather be here on this planet than be in the presence of Jesus Christ.

[00:49:37] And what's amazing is we get so excited about traveling to places. People get so excited about trips, they're going to go on and even like cities of the world that we're gonna go see.

[00:49:48] And and even I hear people talk about their trips and they've been all over the Internet finding the deals. And they're going to go to New York City. They're gonna go to the greatest city in the world, and they're gonna go and they're gonna go to this show and they're gonna go to this restaurant because there's this great food with this chef and they're gonna go to this landmark and see this thing. And then you say, wow, that's cool. You're passionate about New York City. Okay. What are you excited about? Heaven.

[00:50:14] And it's like they know nothing about it. And I plan in a trip.

[00:50:19] They're not studying what it's like. They act like, well, we don't know what's going on and have a look. We got chapters of the Bible telling us what's going on in heaven. I mean, look at Revelation, chapter 21, verse one. Look at what it says right here, Revelation 21, verse one, this page 1041. This is the end here. Now we're getting to the last two chapters here. Revelation 21.

[00:50:42] Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven. And the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

[00:51:01] You know what heaven's gonna be like, it's gonna be like the most beautiful, awesome city that you always wanted to go to and visit. And Jesus Christ right now is preparing a place for you, because in his father's house are many rooms, a city full of places to live.

[00:51:18] The New Jerusalem.

[00:51:21] It's such a beautiful thing to see the city that you and I. Our souls are gonna get new bodies and we're gonna spend eternity with Jesus and God in this city. It's so beautiful that the only thing John can think to describe the beauty and the glory of this city is the beauty of a bride who's walking down the aisle to see her husband that she loves and be joined together with him as one. That's the only thing here on Earth that could possibly compare to the beauty of where you and I are going to live forever.

[00:51:51] And we're acting like we don't even want to go there. We don't even want to read about it.

[00:51:55] I mean, it gives the dimensions of the city. I mean, it gives you vivid details, there's a lot you can know about where where you can start planning your trip right now. All right. There's a lot that it says. And so because it's so regular for Christian people today to act like they're not that excited about going to have and we actually took the trip.

[00:52:19] The people are excited about. And a few of us got on a red eye and went to New York City. And we filmed the last few Scripture of the day videos there to just compare how lame it is compared to the new Jerusalem. All right. And so are we. God wants us to get this point at this church right now that if you don't want to go to heaven today, you're doing today wrong.

[00:52:44] And you should be waiting for Jesus to come and get you.

[00:52:48] Yes, he has saved you out of your sin. You've been freed from it. You've been forgiven from it. But you want a new body.

[00:52:54] You want to leave this fallen world behind. You want to be with the one that you love. You want to be made perfect as he is perfect. You want to behold his very glory. Not by faith, but by sight.

[00:53:09] And you would do a lot better in your Christian life if you were passionate about being with Jesus. You go to the last chapter, Jesus is trying to he's trying to speak to you here in Revelation.

[00:53:20] You know, it's so funny that so many people act like the Book of Revelation is so hard to understand. And there's a lot of symbols of judgment that I understand what they mean by that. But there's also parts that are so clear. It's like the most clear part maybe of the entire scripture. Here it is, last page of the scripture. And Jesus is still trying to talk to you. Last page.

[00:53:41] Jesus in Revelation 22, verse seven, he says, And behold, I am coming, and when does he say he's coming? He says, I'm coming soon. And he says, blessed are the one who blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, blessed are the people who will read what it says, do what it says. It means something to you when it says it. And here's what he wants to say. Look at this. Can I have your attention, please? I'm coming soon. Look what he says in verse twelve. He says it again. He says, Behold, I am calming. And when does he say he's coming? When does he say? Soon, he said, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the aide of the Z.. I'm the first and the last. The beginning in the end.

[00:54:31] Then he says in verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming. And when does he say he's coming? You think if he says it to you three times, he's trying to get your attention.

[00:54:48] What does he mean by Sunni means, it could happen at any moment. That's what he means. It's imminent.

[00:54:53] There's nothing in the way of his return. He compares it oftentimes to a thief coming in the night at the moment when you might be tempted to not expect it. At the moment, when you've let your guard down at the moment, you're asleep and not paying attention. That's when Jesus wants you to know he's coming.

[00:55:12] And the response of his people has always been to give her 17. The response of his people. The spirit and the bride say. And what do they say? They say what? And let the one who years say what does he say? What? Even at verse 20, when he says that the third time, surely I'm coming soon.

[00:55:28] John's response writing This is a man calm, Lord Jesus.

[00:55:35] He's saying he's come in and we should be say it, calm, we're ready for you.

[00:55:41] We want to see you. Maranatha, please, Lord, let your kingdom come, please, Lord. I want to see Jesus.

[00:55:51] That's what people are supposed to say and then look at verse 17, because even here, I love this, it says The spirit and the bride say calm and let the one who hears say calm.

[00:56:00] And then it says and let the one who was thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price, even year. Jesus is telling us who are his people, that he's come in and the people of Jesus are saying calm. And even in that moment Jesus is looking at the people who are still in their sin.

[00:56:25] And he is saying to them, the reason I haven't come, even though I want to come back, even though his people want him to come back, the reason he hasn't come back is because some of those who are still live in trampling on his blood need to be saved.

[00:56:40] And he says, are you thirsty in your soul? Have you been searching for things that don't satisfy? Have you been living for sins that are taking you to misery? He says calm is back to the woman at the well and he's speaking to you. And he's saying, I want to invite you to come and have eternal life.

[00:56:58] That's why the celebration has been delayed. That's why the glory has not yet been revealed. Because even now, Jesus is speaking to the souls of some people here in this room today. And he is saying to you. Car.

[00:57:12] And take the free water that will give you eternal life. Let me pray for us. Father, we come to you. And father, we just need to confess right here today. That we get too caught up in earthly things.

[00:57:30] Now that we've bought into a lot of these lies, that it's about what's going on in this body, it's about what's going on in this space and this time, and we haven't seen people for who we really are as souls created in your image, as spirits that will worship you or be apart from you for all of eternity.

[00:57:52] And so can we ask that you would open our eyes to see these realities of how and of heaven to see that eternal life in the spiritual kingdom?

[00:58:02] It's all real God. And I pray for my brothers and sisters, God, that you would forgive us for wanting anything in this life or more than Jesus when being with Jesus is going to be so much better.

[00:58:16] And let us say from our hearts today, Maranatha, O Lord, calm, father. Send your kingdom. Let Jesus reign. Father, we want to see the new heavens and the new earth. We want to see this city.

[00:58:32] We want to be in your presence. We want a new body. Want to be in a place where there's no more death? Where there's no more crying, where there's no more pain. Where everything is as you intended it to be.

[00:58:48] And we can know you better than we know you right now. Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters, and I pray that you will forgive us for getting caught up in this world that's going to hell and that you will get our eyes on Jesus Christ who's coming to save us, and that we would be waiting for him. That we would be wanting for him.

[00:59:13] God, I pray for the people, the many who are here right now, who, if they were to die today, would go to hell and they would experience the torment of judgment. God, I pray for them that you would forgive them for choosing their sin over the plot of your sword. Jesus. I pray that they would turn from that sin, that they would believe in Jesus Christ today, that they would see his blood. There is holy, righteous blood at the foot of the cross that it would affect them and it would change then that it would purify and sing by them so they can no longer deliberately keep walking in sin.

[00:59:58] But they would love Jesus Christ who paid for their sin. God, please save souls before it's too late to save them today while they still have the chance.

[01:00:10] God, I pray that they won't be thinking about this moment in hell, but they'll be celebrating this moment in heaven with Jesus for all of eternity.

[01:00:20] God, please open our eyes to see what your words say. Just a city and we all have a room because of Jesus Christ. We all get to live there with him forever.

[01:00:33] Let us longed for that day. We pray in Jesus name.

[01:00:37] A man.

[01:00:54] For the rule. Uh, uh.

[01:01:01] For that, he is, uh. For the lobby is.

[01:01:17] TSCA.

[01:01:22] Oh, no.

[01:01:37] Nestore.

[01:01:41] Uh uh, uh, uh, uh.

[01:01:53] Something you'll see.

[01:02:00] See?

[01:02:08] In his. Through.

[01:02:22] Up there.

[01:02:29] Is the.

[01:02:36] For the.

[01:02:45] As please stands, we see.

[01:02:49] Oh, for the sea. Samia.

[01:03:10] In the.

[01:03:21] They see. So they so they asked me.

[01:03:59] And should have been.

[01:04:44] You see the you see.

[01:05:36] I have no need for.

[01:05:46] Maranatha, have a great day, everybody. Thanks for being here.