Living in Victory Through Christ’s Promises

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Revelation chapter one is where I want to ask you to go this morning, and I hope you’ll bear with me for a moment.

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Because I may preach a little bit long, but I’ll be short. Okay. Does it make sense? That’s like an oxymoron. Amen. A little bit long, but a little bit short. So this is my mama bear saying. Come on, I think she’s bring it home. She’s saying, mama, say it. All right, y’all, so I can preach law. I’m not going to preach that long.

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Y’all bear with me. But I am going to read to you the whole chapter of revelation, chapter one. And I want to ask you to pull out a Bible. Or if you don’t have a Bible, take your phone and you can you can pull up this passage of Scripture. You can just Google in there revelation chapter one and follow me.

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It’s it’s a little bit lengthy, but it’s not that long and it’s very powerful. And I’m going to begin reading in verse number one, revelation one, verse one, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ. If you ever wondered, I got a quick. But if you ever wondered what the Book of Revelation is about, it’s about the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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It’s he showing up, telling us who he is and what he’s about to do. Okay? Not only what he has done, but what he’s about to do. How many of you know God is it through work and God is? God has a plan of redemption for man. It began in Genesis. It ends in revelation, and God is faithful to accomplish that plan that he set in motion before he ever spoke time into existence.

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And so he says the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

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So many look at each other and you say, the time is near. I hope you realize this morning we are one day closer than any other generation or any other people group in all of history, to the return of Jesus Christ. When you hear this preacher stand and say, we are living in the end times, we are close to Jesus coming.

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I hope you realize we’re closer today than we’ve ever been in history. One day closer. And so he says in the next verses is greeting. He says, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia. By the way, let me just talk a minute. John is the same John who Jesus called the beloved. He’s the same John who wrote the book of John in first John, second John, and third John.

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And I’ll tell you a little bit more about John, and he’ll tell you something about himself right here in just a moment. But he says, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was, and who is to come. Have you ever wondered, is God truly a triune God?

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We’ll read that verse again. He says who he is, who was and who is to come. Meaning he is three who are one. He’s an eternal God. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests of his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

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Amen. Have you ever wondered why it’s important to say Amen in church? Because the Bible says to say Amen right there. Just say, behold, he is coming in the clouds. Verse seven. Let me say that again. Behold, he is coming in the clouds. They may doubt it. They may scoff at it. They may say, it’s not going to happen, but the Word of God has never failed.

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It’s never missed. It never been wrong. And it says, behold, he is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will what they will mourn because of him. Even so. Amen. Verse eight. If you have read the Tradition Bible, this is in red. And he Jesus steps up and he speaks.

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He says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha and the Omega is the first letter and the last letter in the alphabet in Jesus day. And so when he says that he’s saying, what he says next, I am the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty and John, both your brother and companion in tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

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I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as a trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see? Write in the book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to the I retire to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to lay all to see you.

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Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me. In having turned. I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with the white garment, clothed with a garment down to his feet, and girded with a chest, with a golden band. His head and his hair were like white as wool and white as snow, and his eyes were like a flaming fire.

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His feet were like fire and brass, as if he were refined in the furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth with a sharp two edged sword. And his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead.

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But he laid his hand right hand upon me, and saying, do not be afraid, for I am the first, and I am the last. I love verse 18 this I not get cranked up right here. He says, I am he who lives and was dead. But behold, I’m alive forevermore. Amen. You’ll say Amen right there. He says, I was he who was dead.

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Imma live forever, Lord. And then he says, I have the keys of Hades and of dead. Hades is the Greek word for hell. Jesus saying, I got the keys to death and to hell. And then he goes on to write these things which you’ve seen, and the things which are and the things which will take place after this.

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And the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Angels is always a word, a reference to the messengers, meaning he sent this letter. He sent this book to the pastors of the seven churches which are in Asia. And he said, the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches.

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And the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. So let me just read to you the entire first chapter of the Book of Revelation. And if you don’t mind, this morning I’m going to just explain to you why that is so important, why the first book of revelation is so critical and important for you and I today.

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Most people in our day and hour, if you start somewhere in the Bible, most people don’t want to start in the book of revelation. And I understand that completely because it is. It’s a very complex book, but it’s a very rich book. It’s a book that, of course, the Bible just told us as we were reading, that if you study it, if you hear it, then blessed is he or she who reads it.

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In other words, there’s some really awesome things in the book of Revelation. But what you have to understand and let me give you the context in the back story of the book of Revelation, by this time that this book is being written, and by the way, it’s dismissed by so many in our world today, and it’s often even dismissed among those who call themselves Christians.

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But when this book was written, you’ve got to understand that most of the disciples or apostles were dying off. Most of them were dead by this point. Most of them had been murdered by their faith for their faith. Thomas was in India and they pierced him through with swords. They hung Matthew in a tree. They they took Peter and crucified him upside down.

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These men were paying with their life for believing the gospel. They were playing with their life because they had followed Jesus. But let me remind you, these are the same men who had set with Jesus. Eight With Jesus followed him as he did his miracles, watched him as he did his ministry on this earth. And the last one left was the Apostle John.

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As a matter of fact, history tells us he’s the only one as a matter of fact, Jesus prophesied to him that he would be the only one that would not die as a martyr. But they tried to kill John. As a matter of fact, they took John and they were so tired of him preaching. They were so tired of a man of God standing up and speaking the truth.

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They sold the Roman government so wanted to shut him up. And the Hebrew religious system so wanted to quiet him that they had tried to kill him. Do you know how they tried to kill him? They took and dipped him in a boiling fat of oil, like like chicken grease or something like some Crisco oil. Imagine that. And somebody dipping you alive in that.

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And they thought this a killing. This has shut him up. What they forgot was the prophecy of a holy God that said he would not see death that way. Can I just tell you something? It no matter what the devil tries to do to you, God already has a sovereign plan for you. And the devil can’t do anything to you.

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The man or woman of God is invincible until God is through with him. Somebody ought to tell the devil that this morning. You wondering, are we running around? What? Worry and and wondering what’s going to happen to you, whether this is going to overcome you or that’s going to overcome you? You need to know something. I’ve already read the book and it says today we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ.

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Listen, I, I’m getting tired of hearing Christians so scared of dying. Listen to me. You only have to die one time in your life, but you’ve got every day of your life to live for the glory of God. And by the way, when you die, you ought to die for the glory of God. I think about Paul, I think about Peter.

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I think about all those men who lost their life for the gospel, not because they were tax evaders, not because they’d committed some crime, but because they dared to stand and proclaim that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And it offended. It ascended the culture they were living in. Can I just tell you something?

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If you stand up and you proclaim that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, it is going to offend this culture and good riddance to it, because I’ve already buried the back of the book and it says, we win. All right, I’ve got nothing to fear this morning. So whenever he comes, which is he? John is the only one who is alive at this time.

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They’ve dipped him in oil and that didn’t work. So they took him out to the Isle of Patmos. Patmos was like a modern day Alcatraz. How many of y’all remember what Alcatraz was? A few of you are okay if you don’t study in history off the coast of California. There was this this little island out there, and they built a prison.

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And it was supposed to be escape proof, though they say there was some people that escaped it, but they had to swim across the bay. And and if they swam across the bay, they had to deal with a great white shark. So I don’t really think anybody really ever escaped. But it was a horrible place to be. And that’s the way that Isle of Pat was when they when they went to exile, somebody who they considered committing a crime, they would put them there and leave them to die.

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Now get this picture, John sitting there on the pile of patents on a Sunday morning and you say, how do you know it’s a Sunday morning? Because he said, so. It was the Lord’s Day. See, we Christians worship Jesus on the Lord’s Day. If you ever get one of those arguments with folks and say, well, you Christians don’t worship exactly on the Sabbath, well, the Sabbath was a Saturday in the Jewish calendar, and I get that.

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But according to tradition and Christian history, and according to the Bible, they begin. Christians begin meeting on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. See, we don’t think of it in our culture today. We don’t think of Sunday being the first day of the week. We think this being the end of the weekend, we always think of Monday being the first day of the week.

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But in our culture, Sunday was the first day of the week and even as Christians today, why do we gather on Sunday? Because that’s the first day of the week and we come together to give God our best, our praise and our worship on the first day. In other words, I want to start my week with God. If you do that, you got a lot better chance of success in your week.

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So John is on the other pad. Mr. dude is burned up. He’s he’s he’s got big blisters on him and he’s all alone. He’s been left for dead. All the other apostles by this time most likely are dead because they were martyred, killed for their faith. And you can only imagine in that moment. Put yourself in his shoes.

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He had to be wondering, was this worth it? Following Jesus? Was it worth it? It was was those years that I left my family and those years that I gave to commit to follow him? And then all those years after his resurrection, all those years after Pentecost, when, when God poured out the Holy Spirit on the church where all those years were, sit and he’s sitting there and the Bible says on the Lord’s Day, now, how many of you think you had a bad day when you got up this morning not to raise your hand?

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I know that answer. Most of us right. How many of you felt like mean? You got up and everything started falling apart? I mean, y’all acting all sanctimonious and righteous, right? If I was a flier riding in your car to church, especially if you got kids. Come on, I had kids. I know what it’s like to ride to church on Sunday morning.

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You’re fussing and fighting when you come through that gate. But the minute you get in here, it’s not all. We fight and we’re good. We ain’t upset, they ain’t no problems. And I’ve had some bad days coming to church, but nobody bullied me in oil or put me on all of Pat, Mister Alcatraz. But that’s where Johnny is.

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That’s where he’s at. And he’s. He’s thinking to himself. He’s gotta be I. This just doesn’t look like what I thought it would be. But the Bible says he was in the spirit on the Lord’s day. You ever showed up to church and said, well, I just can’t get into it. I’m not trying to be mean to you, but what is your excuse?

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What in the world are you? You you hadn’t been dipped in oil. I’m looking at you. You still got your clothes on. It’ll bring you closer if your hair’s combed. Those of you got hair. You’re doing all right. But none of us been through that. But he is in the spirit on the Lord’s day. Do you know what that means?

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It means he was worshiping the Lord Jesus on the on the Lord’s day. Why did I come up a while ago when we were seeing you? She wouldn’t say, hey, if you’re under attack, start singing. Hey, let’s stand up and praise him, because I got news for you. When you’re under attack, the best thing you can do is just begin to praise the Lord.

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Because the devil hates the praise. And Christian, he puts him on the run. The Bible says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The last thing the devil expects is when you’re under attack for you to begin to praise the Lord. That’s that’s so against everything he wants to do to you. And when that happens, all of hell gets on notice.

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The kids are like, this isn’t working out the way we thought it was. And I’m sure the devil thought that that day when John is in the spirit on the Lord’s Day. And guess who showed up? Of all people, none other than Jesus. The Messiah shows up on the Isle of Patmos and says, John, it’s alright buddy, I got something to say to you.

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I need you to pull out your pen. I need you to begin to write something. I’ve got something to say to my children, and I want you to do it. There’s a reason you’re not dead yet. There’s a reason you’re here. I still got something. Maybe the biggest thing yet in your life for you to do and fulfill.

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Some of you came to church today feeling like you’re ready to give up. I’m here to tell you the fact you’re here. God is saying to you, don’t give up. Don’t quit. Don’t throw in the towel. God still got the biggest thing in your life for you to do, and it’s just ahead. If you dig in, worship him, praise him this morning, give him glory and let him use your life.

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It ain’t over. It’s just about to get started, Don’t hang on. I’m going to start preaching. So John is there and all of a sudden Jesus shows up and notice what it says about him. I’m going to preach this as fast as I can, but boy, there’s some stuff here. I gotta tell you, when John sees him, when John sees him, I want you to notice what the Bible says he looked like.

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The Bible said in revelation one, John hears his voice. By the way John knew his voice. Jesus. He walked with Jesus. He had talked with Jesus not just in the three and a half years under his ministry, but all those years of serving him. Now, John is an old man. He’s used to. Jesus said this. He said, my sheep, I am the good shepherd, and my sheep hear and know my voice.

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People say to me, how do you know the Lord’s voice? Will you spend time with him? You know, if you hollered at me across the parking lot today, I might might not know who it is hollering. But if my wife hollers at me, I promise you I know who it is. You know what? Could I spend some time with her?

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I know her, but more importantly, Jesus, don’t have to holler at me. All he’s gotta do is speak. And that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. And I know exactly who that is. I remember that voice I heard it the first time when I was five years old, sitting in a revival service at a preacher for five nights in a row at Golden Gate Baptist Church.

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Brother Blakely, I, Fred Ruggles, remember this. My mom and dad remember this. I was sitting in for five nights. I don’t know what the man preached, but I know all I understood was that hell was hot in heaven is not. I don’t want to go to hell, and I’ve got sin in my life. As a five year old boy, I need Jesus and men.

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Every night I would tug on my mama as a kid. I go to the altar. Can I go play? Can I go pray? And of course, being a good mom, she didn’t know if at five years old I understood. But let me just back up for a minute. You’ve heard me say this at five years old, I knew more Bible than most adults.

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And you know how I knew that? Because my mom and my daddy raised me in church and they took me to the house of God every time it was open. I thought the preacher’s kid was a backslider because I was there more than he was. Oh, and my mama taught me the word man. I knew the Bible. And so by the time I’m five, and I’m not saying, oh, five year olds know this, don’t misunderstand.

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But at five I knew I was a sinner. I knew what sin was. I knew my sin separated me from God. I knew if I got what I deserved for my sin, I was going to die and go to hell. And I didn’t want to do that. And Jesus was my only hope, my only answer. And so Friday night, somewhere around 8 or 9:00, I don’t know how the preacher, how long the preacher preached.

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I probably couldn’t even tell time on the watch, but I didn’t even ask my mom mother that now. I said, that’s it, I’m going. And I ran to that altar and the bell money. I never forget the pastors who came and prayed for me. She said, what do you need, Jeffrey? Don’t ever call me Jeffrey. Only my mom.

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Mean, what do you need? Jeffrey said I need to be saved. And she led me from the Bible to Jesus that day. And that day I heard his voice. I had heard it every day of that night. Every night of that revival, I had heard the voice of Jesus calling me to a relationship with him. And I’ve never regretted that moment or day in my life.

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I knew it. So John hears him and he hears his voice. He knows it’s Jesus. And he says, I turned and I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to his feet, girded with a chest, a golden band. His head and his hair were white like wool, white as snow in his eyes, like a flame of fire.

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His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. How would you. I’m just going to stop right there. Listen, that’s not the hippie Jesus we see painted on pictures today. You know, the the hippie Jesus of the 70s has got some long hair and pretty blue eyes.

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Oh no no no no no. That Jesus telling him the Jesus John saw. Wouldn’t that Jesus that he that it the same image that he thought he saw when he was walking with him? Because when Jesus came the first time, when John first met him, he was a suffering Savior. But when John sees him again in revelation, he says, I’m the reigning king.

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I’m the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. And I love what John says about him, because John has got to be sitting there and he’s going to be wondering, he’s got to be thinking, is this the way it all ends? Is this the way my life wraps up out here on our of Patmos? Nobody even knowing where I’m at, nobody even knowing what I’m doing.

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But God knew what he was doing. And that’s when God called him to his greatest assignment. So I’m going to say it one more time. You may feel like giving up this morning. You may think God hasn’t got anything to do with your life, but I’m here to tell you your greatest assignment is just ahead. It’s just ahead of you.

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Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Dig in. Lift up your hands in your voice and praise to him this morning and call upon his name. Trust him because he’s got the best waiting for you. So John says as he sits there, he hears the voice of Jesus. I love what he says in verse seven.

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He says, behold, he is coming. I want to back up for just a moment and ask you to go back in the scriptures for a moment. He says, behold, he’s coming. He’s coming in the clouds, and every eye will see him. Even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.

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Even so. Amen. And in verse eight he hears the words of Jesus as he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning. In the end, who is and was, and who is to come. The Almighty. What did that mean to John? You know, we live in a day today who so many.

00:23:41:15 – 00:24:32:07
Our world is more biblically illiterate than any time in history. And I have to be honest with you, that’s a sad thing. The fact that our nation was founded as a Christian nation, it’s sad for any nation, but it’s extremely sad for the United States of America. Do you know that in this country, every Ivy League college that you and I hear of today was first founded as a seminary to teach young men to go out and preach the gospel and the same Ivy League seminary colleges today that you see in the news with a bunch of idiots, all y’all are idiots.

00:24:32:07 – 00:25:05:06
That’s the nicest thing I could say. Standing on campus protesting is true and supporting Hamas, and in some cases, burning an American flag on campus. Those very seminaries, those very colleges once were seminaries where they preached and taught men to preach the gospel. Oh, I know you’ve heard the lie, because many of us haven’t been taught accurate history in school because we’ve become a woke generation in culture in the country.

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Donald Trump said, if you become woke, you go broke. I say if you go woke, you’re a joke. Amen, young. Quote me on that and put it on Facebook. You say you’re trying to offends the people. I’m counting on it. I want you to understand something this morning. Do you know there were 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

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56 men who, They didn’t just sign a real estate contract. 56 men, if you read it. Signs saying we pledge our life, our fortune, everything to this. What they meant was, even if this cost us everything, including our why, we still declare independence from King George in England. Who has oppressed us. Read the Declaration of Independence. You’ll find 27 grievances that they had that the that those men had against the King in England.

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All 27 of them, by the way, had been sermon excerpts from preachers for the ten years leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, that those men signed and they listed those grievances, and they said, King George, we declare independence from you, even if it means war, even if it means everything we had. And did you know of all the 56 of those men, 29 of those men were preachers who study history.

00:26:29:13 – 00:26:48:17
I’m not giving you a bunch of woke garbage you find in some watered down public school. And yes, I said it watered down public school. Go back to 1933 and you’ll find out that the same man who wrote the Humanist Manifesto was the man who promoted what we call modern day education today. I got to tell you, I don’t care what president stands up.

00:26:48:17 – 00:27:21:06
I don’t care what politician stands up and says it. I’m going to declare to you this morning that America was founded as a Christian nation, founded upon Judeo Christian values found in the Bible. And yet we live in America today, and we’re the most biblical, illiterate generation of any generation that’s ever inhabited this land. So today people will say, well, I think that the I think that the Old Testament might be outdated, but let me remind you what the Apostle Paul said.

00:27:21:06 – 00:27:40:15
The apostle Paul said concerning the Old Testament. He said, listen, all Scripture is profitable for doctrine and reproof and instruction. And by the way, when he was writing that he was writing the New Testament, he was referring to the Old Testament. So what I’m trying to tell you is, whenever you hear something like that in the statement made, that’s just the person speaking in ignorance.

00:27:40:15 – 00:27:56:15
They don’t understand. They don’t know that you’ve got to understand the whole Bible, to understand the whole Bible. You’ve got to go back to Genesis. And it is very important to understand revelation. So when Jesus says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, I mean he who was, who is and is to come.

00:27:56:19 – 00:28:21:12
What he’s declaring is from the beginning. He’s just clearing what God had purposed long before man ever got here on this earth, long before God ever spoke this world into existence. In Genesis one one the Bible says, in the beginning, God, in the beginning God, what in the world does that mean? It means in the beginning that God created everything there is.

00:28:21:17 – 00:28:43:21
If you brought your Bible, I want you to turn to Colossians for just a second. I want you to see something concerning who Jesus is. I’ve got to remind myself now, got to remind you that when John heard Jesus speak those words, he says, I am the Alpha. I’m the beginning. In John one one the Bible says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

00:28:43:24 – 00:29:09:02
And in Colossians take go there. Colossians chapter one, verse 16, in Colossians one verse 16, it says, for by him that means Jesus. For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him. And what?

00:29:09:02 – 00:29:39:25
And for him. And he says, and he is before all things in by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church. He was the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, that in him all things he might have the preeminence. In other words, the most important. I want you to think about that. The whole world and everything in it, visible and invisible on earth and space and heaven and earth, wherever you want to put it.

00:29:40:01 – 00:30:02:04
All things were made by him. What I’m trying to tell you is Jesus was declaring, I am the God of the universe who was there in the beginning. I think about the scripture that that, kind of read earlier today whenever Jesus was ministering and, and he was talking and he asked his disciples because there was a dispute.

00:30:02:06 – 00:30:24:04
I’m reminded in, in John chapter six, and I’m reminded of other places, Matthew 16, where where they would hear Jesus speak. And the religious leaders were like, well, who is this dude? We know him. He’s just Jesus of Nazareth. We know his mom and dad, Joseph and Mary, and he declares to be God. Do you know why they killed Jesus, by the way?

00:30:24:11 – 00:30:44:19
That he killed him for the miracles that he did? They didn’t kill him for the men that he raised from the dead. They didn’t kill him for healing. And people were casting out demons. They kill him because he declared to be the Son of God. And I love what Quinn, you wrote a little bit ago when she read it, Jesus is talking to his disciples and he goes, hey guys, who do men say that I am?

00:30:44:22 – 00:31:01:13
There is a lot of talk about me, but who the people say I am. I said, well, some people say you’re Elijah and some people say you’re John the Baptist reincarnate. He says, but who do you say that I am? And it was Peter who said, Jesus, you are. You are Jesus, the Son of God, the living God, the Messiah, the chosen One.

00:31:01:18 – 00:31:22:05
And that’s when Jesus turned to says, Samson at Simon Bar, Jonah, Simon Peter is flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. Only my father. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal that to you. And so he declares, in that moment Jesus said, you’ve rightly said, and upon this rock, what rock? The truth that Jesus was the Son of God.

00:31:22:07 – 00:31:43:03
Upon this law I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. You know why? I know that no matter how bad it gets in America or around the world, for the Church of Jesus Christ, that it will not, cannot, and never will fail is because Jesus declared that he spoke, that that hell will never prevail against the church.

00:31:43:09 – 00:32:00:05
You’ve heard me say this over and over and over. The more through history they’ve persecuted the church, the more it flourished, the more it grew, the more they tried to put our neck out, put our neck on the chopping block, and the more they tried to shut us up, the louder the church gets. The more it prevails. You know why?

00:32:00:11 – 00:32:26:03
Because it’s been purchased through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so I need you to understand. John knew. He knew the Old Testament. He knew Genesis. He knew when Jesus said, I am the beginning and I am the end. John had watched him. John was there the day that Jesus went to a wedding. That was the first recorded miracle that we have in Scripture.

00:32:26:04 – 00:32:52:16
Jesus ever did. He’s invited to a wedding, and John was there whenever they ran out of good wine, and his mama comes to him and says, they guest have run a run. They need some wine. And he turns water into wine. Yeah, that was a miracle. He John was there that day. They were they were pressing through the streets and and and there were so many people there in in this people were trying to reach out and touch Jesus.

00:32:52:23 – 00:33:23:07
And he was there. The day Jesus stops and he says, who touched me? The Bible says, For he felt virtue, that power go out of him. And he turns around and there on the ground, almost a shriveled up position as a woman. And this woman has had an issue of blood. She’s been hemorrhaging for 12 years. The Bible said she’s been all her money, everything she had on doctors trying to find a cure and nobody could find the cure.

00:33:23:11 – 00:33:52:09
And so, as a result of it, she had to live outside the city with the lepers because she was considered by the priest unclean, unwanted, un deserted, un unable to be among her family, friends or anybody. She had been an outcast to everybody, but she knew if she could come and touch the hem of his garment that she could be healed, and instantly when she reached out and touched the hem of his garment, it was it the garment that cleansed her.

00:33:52:11 – 00:34:15:14
It wasn’t the garment that healed her. It was the Savior wearing that garment that healed her. And when she touched him, she was instantly made whole. And in that same moment came a Roman shoe turian who said, Jesus, my son is 12 years old. It is a home dying. I know that whatever you say, you will be done.

00:34:15:14 – 00:34:36:29
I know that you can just say that it be healed and he’ll be made whole. And he sent him away. And the Bible tells us, when that man, Jesus, followed that man back home. And when he got back home, he raised that boy back to life. It was Lazarus. Excuse me? It was John who was there at the tomb.

00:34:37:01 – 00:35:09:01
Mary and Martha had run out to meet Jesus. They were crying. They lost their brother. They thought in that moment God had maybe let them down. Jesus was late because four days before they had sent for him. Come. Lazarus is so sick. He’s going to die. And then the Bible says, Jesus didn’t go until four days later, and he gets word that Lazarus is dead.

00:35:09:03 – 00:35:37:24
And when he gets there, John is among those disciples that sees. As Jesus walks into that cemetery, you can read this story in John 11 and the Bible says in John 1135, the shortest version, all the Bible is only two words. It says, Jesus wept. They saw him. God in the flesh, moved with compassion for the sting of death that you and I always.

00:35:38:01 – 00:36:03:00
All of us know. But John was also there whenever Jesus said, roll that stone away. And he said these words, Lazarus, come forth. By the way, if you’ve never heard me appreciate, you ever heard that. Why did he say Lazarus can afford to read it? It says that because, as he just said, come forth. Everybody in the cemetery would have risen from the grave, because the name of Jesus and the words of his and the power of his words is so powerful.

00:36:03:05 – 00:36:26:25
But all of a sudden, here come a man all wrapped up in grave clothes. He’d been dead for four days. The Bible says in the King James that he stink as he stank. Okay, that redneck language. He’d been dead so long he done stink. And he comes walking out and Jesus says loosing. And the minute they lose him, there’s Lazarus, the man who had been dead for days alive and well.

00:36:26:27 – 00:36:49:09
John saw that it was John. He was with Jesus. In Mark chapter five. Jesus that fed the 5000. And that was a miracle of itself. How did he do that? There were 5000 men plus women and children. Some scholars say 15 to 20,000 people present that day. Andrew, Simon, Peter, brother, he comes to Jesus, says, hey, there’s a lad here.

00:36:49:14 – 00:37:12:16
His mama packed him a lunch. I like to say it’s southern style, okay? She I’ll just bear with me. It was some fish and loaves of bread, but like to say sufficient to hushpuppies. And so he brings it to him, and he he says, but it’s just a look. But what do they, among so many? And it was John who watched as Jesus took those loaves and bread, blessed it, and then told her, y’all just start passing it out.

00:37:12:21 – 00:37:35:19
It fed everybody. And then when they gathered up the fragments, it remained. The Bible says there were 12 basket fulls left, 12 basket full of 12 basket full. Because for every disciple and their families, Jesus didn’t do anything halfway. Y’all know that everything he ever does is in a abundance. He said, I came to give you life and life more abundantly.

00:37:35:23 – 00:38:05:22
Even when he breaks food and bread and blesses it, he does it in abundance. John had seen that, and then he saw in Mark five when he arrived in Kadara, what are we going here? Jesus? Why would we sell all not to go to this one place? And when they let that little rent ramp to that boat down, and Jesus steps on that boat onto the land to the shore of Judas, he hear the most blood curdling scream you ever heard in your life.

00:38:05:24 – 00:38:32:03
A man running up there among the tombs, a cemetery. You can hear his voice and he begins to run. And as they run, I’m sure the disciples stood behind Jesus. I would have they see this, this hairy, unshaved, unkempt, naked man running toward him, blood coming out of his body because the Bible said he was crazy. He was demon possessed.

00:38:32:06 – 00:38:57:08
And night and day the Bible says he ran around in those tombs and night and day he cut himself with stones because he was in such torment from the demons that inhabited him. But the moment Jesus stepped off that ship, the Bible says that men saw him from afar, and he came running, and he ran, and he fell at the feet of Jesus.

00:38:57:08 – 00:39:13:09
And he began to speak, what have thou to have to do with me? Jesus, thou son of the Most High? And Jesus looked down at him and said, what is that name? He said, my name is legions, for we are many. In other words, he was a demon speaking to him. And Jesus cast those demons out into the pigs and the pigs.

00:39:13:09 – 00:39:28:14
This Bible says, ran violently down the hill and they drowned themselves in the ocean. And then the Bible says in the next verse two, Jesus stood him up. The man wanted to go with Jesus. He’d been made whole, been made free, been set free, been delivered, saved by the grace of God. And he said, I want to go with you.

00:39:28:14 – 00:39:51:03
And Jesus said, no, no, no, I need you to stay here. And the next verse says, in that moment he was clothed, seated, and in his right mind. John had seen that. And it was John, by the way. It was John the only disciple who stayed at the cross. He realized of 12 disciples. One went out and hung himself because he betrayed Jesus.

00:39:51:05 – 00:40:23:07
His name is Jesus. There were 11 others, and one of them said, Hey, Jesus, wherever you’re going, man, I got your back. I’m with you. Whatever happens, I’ll be here. I’ll even die with you. That was Peter. And Jesus says, Peter, before the rooster crows once in the morning tonight you have denied me three times. The only disciple who stood by Jesus side who was there at the cross was John.

00:40:23:09 – 00:40:51:11
If any disciple knew what it looked like to watch their Savior die, it was John who heard those words. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It was John who heard those words. I thirst. The one who said he was the water of life, the one who told the woman at the well, if I give you water, you’ll never thirst again.

00:40:51:13 – 00:41:22:24
And he’s hanging on the cross, and he’s saying, I thirst. And it was that same Jesus. The John watched him as he cried out, it is finished! He bowed his head on a lifeless body. It was John who watched as that soldier came along and pierced him inside. But he was already dead. It was John who helped him take him off the cross and carry him to a borrowed tomb, and put him there and anoint his body with spices.

00:41:22:24 – 00:41:53:26
That’s Mary and Mark and the other women that were there. It was John who was sitting along with Peter in a dark room on resurrection morning. All hope seemed lost. I’m sure Peter asked him several times. Are you sure he was dead? He was dead. He was very dead. I’ve never seen a man beaten that way. I’ve never seen a man experience the shame and the the agony that he did.

00:41:53:26 – 00:42:12:18
Yes. When we put him in the grave, he was very dead about that time. Here comes Mary and some other women, and they’re beating on the door. And they said, guys, you got to come, you got to come. We were at the tomb. They we walked in and nobody was there. And then these, these men begin speaking to us.

00:42:12:18 – 00:42:28:08
But I don’t think they were men. I think they were angels. And they said, go tell Peter and John that he’s risen. And so they thought, how could this be in the Bible says, John records this. He says, Peter and the disciples of the Lord. Look, we ran and he describes the foot race. It’s a race to who can get there.

00:42:28:12 – 00:43:01:00
And it’s John who runs in first and he looks. And when he does, there’s nobody. He’s risen. So John knew all of this. And now he’s sitting on the other patents. The dipped in oil intended to be dead. And Jesus appears to him. And when he appears to him and he speaks, oh, John knew that voice. He knew his Savior.

00:43:01:02 – 00:43:27:25
But now he gets a glimpse of Jesus like he had never had before. So he’d been a suffering Savior. He’d been a Savior who had been crucified. He’d been dead. But that’s what Jesus said to him. And in revelation chapter one verse 18, he says, I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

00:43:27:28 – 00:43:50:15
You know what that means? It means Jesus will never die again. He conquered. The Bible says the next verse. He says, by the way you write this, John, you write that I have the keys to hell and to death. Do you know that your two greatest enemies in this world, in this life, though it may be sin, though it may be Satan.

00:43:50:15 – 00:44:13:19
But listen to me carefully. The one everybody fears is two, or they should, and that’s hell and death, because the Bible says it’s appointed in a man wants to die. And so the Bible says, and after this the judgment. So you and I, all, all of us, all of us have an appointment with death. And let’s just be real about it.

00:44:13:26 – 00:44:45:24
The one thing in life that is a little bit frightening is that prospect of when will you die? How will you die? What will that be like? But even the greater thing, the fear is what comes after that. The Bible talks about hell hope. It’s a real place. It’s more real than you and I standing here today. The Jesus said to John, you tell believers, you tell my children, you tell the churches.

00:44:45:26 – 00:45:12:02
You tell sons and daughters of all ages to come. Don’t worry, I have the keys of death in hell. I conquered death and hell. I did what no man could do. What was that a fulfillment of? That was a fulfillment of Genesis. Whenever Adam and Eve, whom God gave dominion over the whole earth and they sinned, and they gave that that away, that dominion away to Satan, Jesus was the Redeemer.

00:45:12:02 – 00:45:34:14
He came to ransom to buy back that which man lost in sin, to give it back. And so when you read Genesis to Revelation, it’s the story of God’s redemptive plan. And when you read revelation one, and I think it’s very important for us to read it this morning, it’s to tell us, don’t worry. It may seem like the world out of control.

00:45:34:17 – 00:46:03:02
It may even seem like your life is out of control. But God is still in control. His plan is right on time. It’s right on track. And don’t worry, he’s given us assurance that he’s already won the battle. When he appeared to John, he said to him, hey, listen, I’m coming, I’m coming, and I love what he says in revelation 19, when you get to revelation 19, all hell broke loose on earth.

00:46:03:04 – 00:46:28:27
We call that the seven year tribulation. It looks like the armies of the world I mentioned this last week have gathered around Israel, and they will forever wipe Israel off the map. I’ve heard a politician say this week, if he doesn’t get reelected, then Israel’s existence may cease to be. And I thought, well, that’s good for politics, buddy, but it ain’t biblical because it don’t matter when the whole world does turn its back on Israel.

00:46:29:05 – 00:46:48:03
God will be faithful, and you can mark that down. When the armies have gathered in Megiddo, the valley of Megiddo. That’s right there in Israel when they gathered there, and it looks like they’re about to overtake Israel, it looks like once and for all, Israel will be destroyed. Then from the to the clouds of heaven, they’ll split open.

00:46:48:03 – 00:47:10:11
And here comes one riding on a white horse, ten thousands of his saints following with him. And when he’s coming, he’s coming to make war. To make war against those who have come against his people. But more importantly, he’s coming to keep his redemptive promise for man. And he’s coming to say, I’ve always been God, I always will be God.

00:47:10:11 – 00:47:48:15
And in that moment, he’s going to show out and show up as God. And when he does, the Bible says, every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and every tribe and every nation will mourn because they’ve turned their back on him. But when he comes, it also tells me that every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, and every person, whether they be on earth or under the earth and every principality, everything that has breath will declare and bow their knee and confess him as Lord to the glory of God the Father.

00:47:48:18 – 00:47:55:28
So I’m going to leave you with this this morning.

00:47:56:00 – 00:48:01:27
Has God revealed himself to you?

00:48:01:29 – 00:48:30:11
In that moment that my wife read about at the beginning, Jesus is with his disciples. He says, hey guys, who do men say that I am? I? Some say you’re Elijah, some say you’re you’re John the Baptist. But who do you say that I Peter says, oh Jesus, that’s easy. You’re the Christ, the son of the living God.

00:48:30:13 – 00:49:03:04
And he said, hey, flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you. Only the Spirit of God could have done that. Maybe you walked into this building today not knowing, doubting, unsure, or, God forbid, lukewarm. And you don’t know who Jesus really is. You, undoubtedly, in this last few moments, have felt something unlike anything you had ever felt before.

00:49:03:06 – 00:49:35:12
And it ain’t me that’s called the Holy Spirit. And what he’s doing is revealing to you the truth of who Jesus is. Oh, I know the world’s dismissed him. I know the politics pushes him aside. I know that world leaders are ignoring him. That’s all right. They won’t much longer. He’s coming. But today he won’t. You. He wants a relationship with you.

00:49:35:15 – 00:50:11:09
He loves you. He came, left heaven in all of his splendor and glory. To live on this earth, to die for your sins and mine. They crucified him. He was dead. They buried him three days. He lies silent in a tomb. But on the third day he arose from the grave and is alive today. And today he sent me to tell you that he wants a relationship with you.

00:50:11:12 – 00:50:38:11
Maybe you’re a Christian, maybe you’re a believer in him. But maybe you’re defeated. Today. Maybe you’re discouraged today. Maybe you be like, I think John probably was. You’re sitting on the island of Patmos, and it looks like it looks like the world has one. It looks like Satan is one. Jesus showed up just in time to remind him, oh no, it hasn’t.

00:50:38:14 – 00:51:01:22
No, I’ve already conquered it. See, I got the keys to death in hell. And by the way, if he does and you’re following him, you can’t lose. You can’t lose. You have an authority because you were a son or daughter of the King of the Most High. And the devil may be trying to defeat you, push you under, tell you, discourage you, distract you.

00:51:01:22 – 00:51:20:27
You fill in the blank. But I’ve come out to tell you today Jesus is alive, just like he did. And he spoke to John. And John begin to write. I don’t know about you, but I like to think of that pen he was right with. By the time he got to the end of revelation, it was smoking. Who?

00:51:20:27 – 00:51:46:26
This is good. And I want to remind you, when you find yourself defeated, when you found yourself down in despair and depressed, just begin to praise the Lord. Get in the spirit like John did. But all the sudden he began to write and Jesus began to speak. And he kept on writing. And by the time he gets to the end, Jesus has sealed it up.

00:51:46:28 – 00:52:11:10
This is where we started in Genesis, but let me tell you how it ends in revelation and coming. And I’ll make all things no new. And behold, I stand at the door, not read revelation 22 if you get a chance. Jesus said, behold, I’m coming quickly. I stand at the door, knock. If any man, any person, will open the door, I will come in and sup with him.

00:52:11:10 – 00:52:27:26
I have a relationship with him or her. Would you bow your heads waiting for me? Come on Dennis, come on Melissa, per team, I’m going to ask you all to take your place for a moment right here in this. I know I preached long, I tried to be as fast as I could. Thank you for giving the first day of your week to the Lord.

00:52:27:29 – 00:52:35:09
Thank you for taking time out of your day.

00:52:35:12 – 00:53:01:00
Before I close the service like this and we just ask you this question, if you died today, if today this was your last day on this earth, I pray it’s not a pretty God. Give everybody in this building many, many more blessed, healthy and happy years to serve you. But if this was your last day because someday it will be Sunday, it’d be my last day.

00:53:01:02 – 00:53:20:05
Are you ready to meet Jesus? Do you really have a relationship with him? You notice I’m not preaching religion. I’m not. I’m not trying to preach to all you need to join the church. You need to do this. You need to do that now. I’m inviting you to a relationship with Jesus. He loves you. He loves you so much.

00:53:20:05 – 00:53:34:16
He gave his life for you, and he wants to save you today. So if you don’t have a relationship with him when you pray a prayer like this. Father, I know, I know, I’m a sinner.

00:53:34:18 – 00:53:41:04
I know that I have broken your law. God.

00:53:41:06 – 00:54:14:03
And today I humble my heart before you. I ask you to forgive me. I ask you to wash me in the blood of Jesus. I turn from us in my faith. I trust what you, Jesus, did on the cross for me. I believe you died. You were buried, and you rose the third day. And the best I know how today Jesus, I give my life to you.

00:54:14:06 – 00:54:44:27
Be the Lord and Savior for me. You pray a prayer like that from your heart to God’s heart today and meaning. For the Bible says that with our mouth we confess the Lord Jesus, and with our heart we believe unto righteousness. And it says, whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Today. If you prayed that prayer with me to receive Jesus as your Savior and your minute, would you just lift your hand up?

00:54:44:27 – 00:55:02:15
Heads are bowed, so I’m not going to embarrass you and I’m not like that. Before you pray that, I just want to see your hand raised for a minute because I’m going to pray for you. Yes. Several hands. Thank you, thank you. Several hands. God bless you. I want to encourage you in a moment, if you will, to come out and let these that are standing to front pray with you.

00:55:02:15 – 00:55:25:02
Tell them, tell them I prayed that prayed to receive Jesus with pastor today. Jesus said, if we’re not confessing before me and you’re not, confess before the father. I know you’re not ashamed. If you truly manage to tell somebody today and these that are appeared at the front of their prayer team, they’ll be glad to pray with you and instruct you in the next step you should take as a Christian.

00:55:25:04 – 00:55:52:07
Maybe you’re a believer here today. You came in discouraged. Satan has been open on you all week. I understand that I’ve been there before, but I came to encourage you be like a John today. Just get in the spirit and worship him. Go home. Praising Jesus today. Tomorrow morning when you wake up and things are tough, just just lift up your voice and praise to him.

00:55:52:09 – 00:56:16:05
And let Jesus reveal himself every day to you. And what you’re going to find is he’s going to reveal that because he conquered death, hell, and the grave, he’s given you victory today and victory tomorrow and victory every day of your life. Father, I thank you for your word today. I thank you for the blessings that we find in the book of Revelation.

00:56:16:05 – 00:56:40:04
Thank you, Lord, for what you recorded in the life of John and what happened. Thank you for the wonderful book we hold called the Bible. Thank you for many hands that were raised to receive Jesus as Savior today. Bless each one and give them courage to be a bold witness for him. Lord, I pray for every brother and sister in Christ that’s in this building and listening to me online that may be discouraged today.

00:56:40:04 – 00:57:02:15
Encourage them. For those looking around at the world that we live in and thinking, man, we’ve lost hope, remind us to know we have it. Jesus is our hope and he’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And he’s coming, and he’s coming quickly. We love you today, Jesus. We thank you for loving us. In Jesus name I pray.

00:57:02:17 – 00:57:05:01
Amen. Amen. All right.