A Sure Hope

The glory of the rapture is that we will not experience the horrific judgments that we are learning about from Pastor Dave here in the book of Revelation. Today, you’ll learn that there are many pre-components of the false religious system that are spoken of here in Revelation chapter seventeen.

God has this way of removing everything in our lives that we worship that is not Him. This is what the Bible means when it says that we serve a “jealous God.” This isn’t jealousy the way we think of it. It’s a jealousy based upon the truth that God KNOWS what is best for us, and simply will not allow anything else in our lives BUT that.

Now THAT is an important question! “Are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ?” Remember, there are two instances where your eternal destiny becomes 100% sealed…death OR the return of Jesus. So, take Pastor Dave’s words today seriously, and make sure that you are right with God.

Amazingly, the judgments that Jesus rains down on the earth seem to match the actual heart’s desire of those being judged. As the darkness descends on the earth, it directly reflects the hearts of those who have rejected the light of Jesus…He gives them exactly what they want…DARKNESS.

In the midst of all this talk of the horrific judgments that will fall on the inhabitants of the earth, those words from Pastor Dave a moment ago are a much, much-needed bit of encouragement. If you know Jesus as your LORD and Savior, you will not experience the judgment of God as it rains down in the last days.

Pastor Dave is now diving into some of the most challenging portions of Revelation, the judgments. As humans, we have a hard time fully grasping the devastation that these judgments will bring. Today, you’ll learn that these judgments are the just hand of God giving those who have rejected Him what they deserve.

There are a few ways that God is often depicted. Sometimes we see Him angry and full of wrath. Other times, we see Him as a wise yet stern figure. And other times, we see Him as a warm, loving father. Today, Pastor Dave shares with you a picture of God as He weeps over the souls of the wicked, who refuse His forgiveness.

Imagine a being stranded out in the open ocean, and a boat comes along and throws you a lifeline. Would you take it? Of course you would! Who wouldn’t? In today’s message, Pastor Dave warns you about rejecting the salvation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can give you eternal life - won’t you take it?

You know how in musicals, people are just going about their daily lives and then all of a sudden everybody starts to sing and dance? Yeah, that’s not very realistic… At least I’ve never seen it happen. In Pastor Dave’s message today, he encourages you to cut loose and sing praises to God in whatever circumstance you find yourself in.

Have you ever been in town and noticed a large crowd gathered in one spot? Whenever you see that, the tendency is to want to see what everyone’s looking at. Did something bad happen? Or maybe it’s a performance of some kind?… Today, Pastor Dave points out that the crowd in heaven is always focused toward God!

Somehow, we’ve characterized heaven as a tranquil resting place in the clouds, and hell as a grungy pit of fire. But as Pastor Dave shares with you today, the thing that makes hell so rotten is the absence of what makes heaven so great: the presence of the goodness of God. Where would you rather spend eternity?

Have you ever watched sand fall through an hourglass? It seems like right as the last of it flows through the funnel, it speeds up. Doesn’t it feel like the evil in this world has been speeding up lately? Today, Pastor Dave tells you that the day is coming soon when Jesus returns and time will be up on the reign of darkness.

Have you ever seen the traditional winemaking technique? Still, in some places today, they’ll climb into a giant vat FULL of grapes and crush them with their feet in order to squeeze out all the juice. In Pastor Dave’s teaching today, he shares with you that one day, Jesus is going to crush His enemies under His feet like grapes.

It’s funny how when you’re young, it seems like you’ve got all the time in the world. But the older you get, the more you wonder where all that time went. In his message today, Pastor Dave wants you to see time from a whole new perspective; his hope is that as a follower of Christ, you’ll see time through spiritual eyes.

Russian roulette is a terrifying idea. …a single bullet in the chamber…a quick spin…and then you aim the gun at your head and pull the trigger!!! BOOM!!! Your life could end in that moment. Pastor Dave just said that leaving your decision about Jesus is the EXACT SAME as playing Russian roulette.

“My grandfather was a pastor, I’m a Christian.” We’ve all heard someone say that when asked if they were followers of Jesus. Saying that you believe in Jesus is not the same as FOLLOWING Jesus. Pastor Dave reminds us today that placing your faith in Jesus results in a changed life.

You’ve probably heard the phrase… “there’s no going back”. People use that phrase to say that some things cannot be undone. Death and eternity fall into this category. Pastor Dave just shared this truth a moment ago. Once you pass on from this life, whatever your choice was regarding Jesus SEALS your eternity.

Can you think back to when you didn’t know Jesus? … what was the predominant feeling that marked your life? For most of us, it was deep shame and regret. And yet, Jesus has this way of changing our hearts…bringing about a deep work of forgiveness and then sending us out into the world for His kingdom work.

Sadly, what Pastor Dave just shared is true. There is an extreme amount of darkness pervading our world today. If you spend any time on social media, you’ll see this darkness spreading. You’ll learn today that God has called and gifted YOU to be a light in the darkness…to share the light of Jesus Christ with those around you.

Isn’t THAT the truth!?!?!? God has this amazing way of taking the horrible and awful things that we all go through…and making them turn out for good. Today, Pastor Dave will share with us just HOW MUCH God loves us and desires to work that transformation from bad to good in our daily lives.

Sadly, what we just heard a moment ago from Pastor Dave is 100% true. There are actually churches that refuse to talk about the reality of hell. They justify this by saying that this will drive people away. Friends, if hell is real, it needs to be something that we talk about. And more importantly, we need to talk about the only source of escape, JESUS.

Imagine you’ve painted the most beautiful picture to hang on your wall. You pause to look at your accomplishment, and the painting speaks, “I think you should have used more blue than yellow.” …it’s preposterous, right!?!?!? And yet, this is exactly what we do when we try to tell the sovereign God who made us what to do.

The end of times as we know it all points to the grace of Jesus. Now, given the awful judgments that we read about in the book of Revelation, it can be hard to believe that. And yet, we know that God’s faithful love is also seen in His faithful judgment. If He doesn’t judge, He doesn’t love.

Though the book of Revelation can be somewhat difficult to understand, Pastor Dave just brought some REAL clarity. God has had a plan for humanity since the beginning of time and the book of Revelation, as well as many other portions of Scripture, all point to the very last days when Jesus will return and make all things new.

The beast of the book of Revelation is a figure that has been discussed at length for hundreds of years. Today , Pastor Dave will share more about some of the things that this beast will do. And as we just heard from Pastor Dave, the anti-Christ may even be someone who leads a union of countries in Europe.