ONLY THE REDEEMED
Luke 21:26(KJV)
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
I. Unsaved people are full of fear because of the things that are happening today.
A. What kind of things is happening today in America and around the world that make people afraid? The answer is evil things are happening around us.
1. We are at war along with many around the world and most of the civilized nations are allied with us in our war against terrorism.
2. We have a subtle and elusive enemy.
3. We have been threatened for the first time on our own borders.
4. We are being terrorized in our every day life by the threat of biological warfare.
B. The sad thing is that the common unsaved person doesn’t realize the significance of the events taking place in America and all around the world.
Matt 24:3-8(KJV)
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Matt 24:33-34(KJV)
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
1. They do not realize that everything that is happening around us is taking us sequentially “step by step” closer to Jesus snatching away of His church and His imminent return to rule and reign upon the earth with them. “ALL THES THINGS MUST COME TO PASS.”
2. Many of those around us will be taken by surprise at Jesus return. The Bible says that “He will come as a thief in the night while people are asleep.”
3. Christians have an obligation to tell those around us out of love that Jesus is coming soon and that only those who have been saved and redeemed by His blood will He take with Him.
How are we as believers affected by the events taking place around us and how should we react or respond?
II. As Believers living in these last days, it is natural to be concerned by the horrible things that are happening around us, but we should not be troubled, afraid or fearful.
A. Christians can and should have peace in the midst of the storm.
1. In order to have peace, we must allow Jesus to help us.
Jesus is able to soothe our tattered nerves, calm our fears and speak peace to our heart and inner-spirit.
2. It is very important to Jesus that His people have peace in the midst of the storm.
3. Why is it important to Jesus that we have peace in the midst of the storm? It is important for two reasons:
1) He wants us to be healthy.
2) He wants us to be a witness. How can we be a witness to the world and people around us if we are “cracking up” just like them?
4. In fact, it is so important to Jesus that His flock have peace that one day Jesus gathered His disciples around Him and delivered to them a wonderful sermon on “how to cope with your fears”!
That sermon is found in the gospel of John, chapter fourteen, verses 25-27. Let’s look at it together.
5. According to Jesus, He told His beloved disciples that it was the ministry of the Holy Spirit to soothe our tattered nerves, calm our fears and speak peace to our troubled heart and inner-spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit help us according to Jesus words in John chapter 14, verses 25-27?
John 14:25-27(KJV)
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
He will help you remember God’s promises of peace given to us in the scripture.
He will speak over you or impart to you a lasting calm and peace vs. temporal peace that the world provides to us.
He will remind you that you are God’s child and that God always takes care of His children.
He will make sure that we are never alone. He will walk with us, hold our hand and show us compassion and love.
He will give you courage.
B. OTHER THINGS THAT CAN CAUSE US TO EXPERIENCE FEAR, NERVOUSNESS OR UNEASINESS IN OUR SPIRIT OR INNER-MAN (i.e., a lack of peace) …
1. The Maladies of the soul affect us physically - Psa. 42:11
2. Occurs because of:
A circumstance - Current text
A spiritual slump, weakness or failure - 2Cor. 2:6-8
Strained relationship - 2Cor. 2:6-8
When you feel overburdened - Mary/ Marth
The guilt of sin - 1John 3:20
3. Jesus discerns, observes, and is acquainted with all of our
known and unknown sorrows.
III. As Believers living in these last days, we should expect God to do great things through His church.
Acts 2:17-21(KJV)
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
A. Revival will occur around the globe through His church.
1. Revival will be within the reach of God’s people in the last days.
2. People will be saved and transformed in a very simple, effortless and miraculous way.
3. He will show His people visions and dreams.
4. I believe that each individual church will have the opportunity to be a part of this last day sweep of revival through the nations.
5. However, to be a part of this last day revival, individual churches will have to have a strong REMNANT that is willing to throw away the god’s of the past and do it His way.
B. I believe that in any church where God finds a remnant of believers that is willing to do church His way, He will prepare their entire church through purification and judgment.
Eph 5:25-27(KJV)
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
1. He will deal with our sinfulness. In other words, as a surgeon skillfully cuts open a patient and removes life threatening cancer cells or tumors, God will begin to pry deep within us and remove everything that is unlike Him. He will strip us of our pride, lust, jealousy, anger, selfishness, desire to control and have our own way. Afterward, He will place within us the character of Christ and enable us to demonstrate the fruit of the Holy Spirit externally to others.
2. He will deal with obstinate members or members who become a hindrance to His plan. In churches that have a godly remnant truly seeking Him and His direction, He will remove those who refuse to seek Him, live in unity and practice brotherly love. Additionally, He will judge those who seek to throw wrenches into the gears and wheels of His plan.
1 Pet 4:17(KJV)
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
3. We should never confuse God’s love and long-suffering as an inability to bring judgment. God allows us a long period to repent, because He loves us and wants us to be blessed rather than judged and condemned.
Rom 2:3-4(TLB)
3 Do you think that God will judge and condemn others for doing them and overlook you when you do them, too?
4 Don't you realize how patient he is being with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
IV. As Believers living in these last days, we should be excited because our total redemption is near.
Luke 21:27-33(KJV)
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
A. Total redemption is when God will completely deliver us from this evil world and bring us into a land of promise and peace.
B. 3 fold process of redemption:
Believers (Jewish and Gentile)
1. Adopted into the family of God as a “daughter of Zion”.
2. Gathered to their Shepherd Lord, King and Messiah in the rapture. (Dead and Alive) At that time, our bodies will be changed into a body like Jesus body after His resurrection.
3. Rule and Reign with Him in Jerusalem.
Unsaved Israel
1. Gathered back to their motherland and country.
2. Restoration of relationship to their Messiah and King. “They will look upon Him who they have pierced”.
3. Rule and reign with Him in Jerusalem.
C. This is better known as the Abrhamic promise. The Promise that God was making to Abraham was a great theocracy were all God’s people (i.e. “The daughers of Zion”) would have a never-ending nation under God. God will give to us a new heaven and a new earth. Israel’s pledge will literally be as our pledge “one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all”!
Gen 12:1-3(KJV)
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
1. In that kingdom, their will be no end.
2. It will be a Kingdom of peace.
3. It will be a Kingdom with out suffering.
Gal 3:8-14(KJV)
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Gal 3:26-29(KJV)
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gal 4:26-31(KJV)
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
D. The promise that God has given us is an encouraging one not a fearful one. Every day we are one step closer to His return. That is why we can tolerate the suffering that we go through each day.
Rom 8:14-25(KJV)
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:14-25(TLB)
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.
19 For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children.
20 For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay-- the things that overcame the world against its will at God's command-- will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God's children enjoy.
22 For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event.
23 And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us-- bodies that will never be sick again and will never die.
24 We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don't yet have-- for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it.
25 But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn't happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.
1Thes 4:13-18(KJV)
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Titus 2:11-15(KJV)
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
HEAVEN
1. As used in a physical sense,‑heaven is the expanse over the earth.
Genesis 1:8 And God called the‑firmament Heaven. And the evening and‑the morning were the second day.
a) containing the stars -Gen26:4
b) source of dew
2. Dwelling place of God (However,‑even the heavens cannot contain God)
Genesis 28:17 And he was afraid, and‑said, How dreadful is this place! this‑is none other but the house of God,‑and this is the gate of heaven.
2 Chron 6:18 But will God in very deed‑dwell with men on the earth? behold,‑heaven and the heaven of heavens‑cannot contain thee; how much less‑this house which I have built!
3. Heaven will not be unusual to‑humans, it will be familiar.
a) an animal trainer would not‑put his animal in a unusual habitat. ‑He would not put a monkey in blizzard‑type conditions.
4. Heaven has a city, called New‑Jerusalem:
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto‑mount Sion, and unto the city of the‑living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,‑and to an innumerable company of‑angels,
a) dimensions are 1500 miles every‑direction (Jeff. County population
of‑665,478)
b) cast a brilliant light as a‑vibrant stone.
c) Enormously high wall that is‑200 feet thick. The wall has 12‑foundational
stones w/ the names of‑the apostles made w/ various prescious‑colstly
stones. This wall contains 12‑gates w/ 12 angels guarding these‑gates
named after the 12 tribes of‑Israel. The gates each are made of one‑solid
pearl.
d) City is made of pure gold like‑clear glass, including the streets.
e) Sea of glass/ tree of life
1 Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye‑hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither‑have entered into the heart of man,‑the things which God hath prepared for‑them that love him.
f) No street lights
g) No place of worship
5. This city is built for those who‑are faithful to Him.
Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a‑better country, that is, an heavenly:‑wherefore God is not ashamed to be‑called their God: for he hath prepared‑for them a city.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be‑troubled: ye believe in God, believe‑also in me.
John 14:2 In my Father's house are‑many mansions: if it were not so, I‑would have told you. I go to prepare a‑place for you.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a‑place for you, I will come again, and‑receive you unto myself; that where I‑am, there ye may be also.
John 14:4 And whither I go ye know,‑and the way ye know.
6. We need to seek this city
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city‑which hath foundations, whose builder‑and maker is God.
Deut 7:6-9(KJV)
6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Ps 31:5(KJV)
5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
Ps 107:2-7(KJV)
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Isa 43:1-28(KJV)
1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.
9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings; neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices. I have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.
Isa 52:1(KJV)
1 Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Isa 62:11-12(KJV)
11 Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Jer 31:10-14(KJV)
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11 For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
Luke 1:68-75(KJV)
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.
1 Pet 1:18-25(KJV)
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Rev 5:8-14(KJV)
8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.
