Be Patient

Well, Tim pretty much took my sermon, so I just want to say, Ditto and have a good day. I told that to Mr. Dove. He said, you know, we're all getting a little bit more tired as the day goes along, so just say it louder and we'll stay awake. Okay, fine. I can do that. Actually, I will be using some scriptures that he used, but I will be adding to them as well. Who will enter God's kingdom at the return of Jesus Christ? Well, we all know the answer to that, right? Oh, the church! Yeah, okay. Sort of. Let's get more specific and let's answer that question today. Feast of Trumpets pictures, the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the saints.

What an awesome day, this day pictures. Think back at all the people in the San Antonio and Austin congregations that we have lost.

I'm not even going to try to name them all. I've been here for 20 years now. There's been a lot.

And I miss the fajita barbecues on the beach in Corpus Christi at the feast. And those days, you know, some good times. And all those people, all around the world, old World War II vets, they used to tell the most incredible stories, are now sleeping with Jesus Christ. We'll see them again. This day pictures that.

So it pictures the return of Jesus Christ. It pictures the resurrection of the saints. It pictures the events that lead up to the return of Jesus Christ, as Mr. Seeley talked about today a little bit. Called the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is the judgment of God. And that's a very scary time. This is when God pours out his wrath on the earth.

Now I understand that Mr. Thompson gave a sermon on completing your metamorphosis to be prepared for that time. And I'm going to pick up on that. We're going to tag team today. It's going to be very similar. In speaking about the return of Jesus Christ, David, in Psalm chapter 2 and verse 1, speaking of the return of Jesus Christ, Psalm chapter 2 and verse 1, says this, Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast their cords away from us. What is that really saying? What does that mean? They're speaking against God and Jesus Christ and saying, They're keeping us in bondage. Where have we heard that before? We hear that all the time. It's God's law. It's his rules, the laws of love, the rules that he has for this is what love means.

And if you break them, you're not within the bounds of love. And they say, Those are bonds. Those are chains. And we're going to break them. And what does God respond to that with? Verse 4, He who sits in the heavens shall laugh and hold them in derision.

In other words, roll on the floor laughing. And then he will speak to them in his wrath. A lot of people get the feeling and paint the picture that the God of the Old Testament is this harsh, judgmental God, but Jesus is soft and loving.

I heard one comedian say, and he was a Jewish comedian, and he said that God of the Old Testament was harsh, and then he had his son, Jesus, and he lightened up. Not at all. Why does God give so much wrath? Why is he so hot? I mean, when God gets angry, people literally get scared out of their minds.

Is that harsh? Because this world paints the Old Testament as a harsh God. Why does he do that? Well, he says why he does it, and he's not harsh at all. But it sure can seem harsh. Reading on, yet I have set my king on my holy hill, Zion. That's Jesus Christ. And I will declare the decree the Lord has said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possessions. So first, God is going to send this wrath, this judgment on the earth.

And then, he sends Jesus Christ back to take over and solve all the problems once and for all. That time leading up to the return of Jesus Christ is called the Day of the Lord. It's a day of reckoning. There have been more than one Day of the Lord in history that we can look back on and see just how fierce God's wrath actually is. And it will leave us, you know, from a carnal point of view asking ourselves, Why is God so harsh?

Is he going a little overboard? What is he really doing here? The first Day of the Lord, remember, the nation of Israel was split in two after Solomon died. And the northern ten tribes were then called Israel with a capital in Samaria. And the southern two or three tribes, if you count the Levites because they were with all of the tribes, capital was in Jerusalem.

They were called Judea. So you have Judea in the south and Israel in the north. Well, Israel went first. They abandoned God immediately. As soon as the king took over, they changed the Holy Days, the times of the Holy Days, and they never went back, ever. There was never a righteous king in the northern ten tribes after that. There were a few righteous kings in the southern tribe of Judea, including Hezekiah, Josiah, and just a few others. Mostly bad kings. But the northern ten tribes, God sent the empire of Assyria to take them away. And it was a horrible Day of the Lord.

They would surround the city of Samaria and just starve them out until they had no food left, and they were literally eating dead human bodies. And then, they would open the gates and surrender, and they were carried off into slavery by putting hooks in their mouths. And they would tether one to the other by their lips. One hook in your mouth, one hook in your partner's mouth. So if you ran, you'd split your lip wide open.

And if you didn't run, by the time you got to wherever they took you to become slave labor, hey, free labor! I mean, this was an efficient empire. This empire would take over people. They would grab, take over countries, grab all the people and get free labor out of it. They were making money hand over fist. Very, very efficient, the Assyrians were. And then, if you got to the place where you were going to work safely, you had a big hole in your lip. Your lip was pierced. So if you ever ran away, there was a reward on your head.

Because you couldn't hide the big gaping hole in your lip, even if once it heals over, it's a big scar there. You can't hide it. And everybody can see, hey, there's a former slave. He's running away. I think I'm going to turn him in for a reward. Very efficient system. And so they remained into slavery until the collapse of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian Empire sent an army to Judea.

Tried to take over Judea. But there was a righteous king on the throne in Judea, in Jerusalem at the time. His name was Hezekiah. They sent 100,000 troops around Jerusalem, seaging Jerusalem and trying to kill them and starve them out like they did Samaria in the north. Only Hezekiah went to the temple of God and he prayed. And God sent a death angel and killed 100,000 in one night of those Assyrians. Woke up in the morning, there's a dead army outside your city gates.

So they were delivered and Judea did not fall. It wasn't their day of the Lord. The Assyrian Empire fell. The northern tribes that were once called Israel, their names had now changed, migrated north and eventually ended up somewhere in Europe, depending on the tribe. They have been tracked. Some historians have tracked them. They stayed together. They were very warlike. We know that the apostles knew where they were. When you read the book of James, it was written to them. But we have since the world has lost track of those tribes. However, the Jews have a different story. The southern kingdom of Judea.

Even though they did have a few good kings, they actually went further in their unrighteousness than the northern kingdom did. It was said of the southern kingdom that their unrighteousness was worse than the gentile nations around them. They slaughtered innocent people for dishonest gain. They said the blood of the innocent cried out from the ground.

They were extremely immoral. I won't describe it. There's no need to. It was hideous. God sent worse punishment on them. He sent the Babylonians. The Babylonians weren't as efficient, but they were extremely brutal. They killed more people. They let more people starve. They burned more things to the ground. The Assyrians would not do as much destruction because they wanted to use the land, the cities, that they conquered. The Babylonians wanted to make a point. If you make a point, you do some damage.

Nebuchadnezzar was quite the destructive guy. Mankind cannot stand up to this kind of fierceness at all. I don't care how brave you are. God's judgment is fierce. When he sent judgment on Judea, he said it was going to be worse than what it was going to be on the northern. And it was worse. Speaking of the day of the Lord, that came on Judea when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and when he burned down the temple for the punishment of Judea's idolatry was recorded in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Why Ezekiel? Well, Ezekiel, who was he?

Nebuchadnezzar first conquers Judea, takes the king off of the throne, and puts him in prison, puts another king on the throne, and makes a treaty. He says, as long as you pay your taxes and you let me govern your land, I'll pretty much leave you alone. So, they broke the treaty. When Nebuchadnezzar first takes over Judea, he takes a bunch of slaves as a payment, and Ezekiel was one of those slaves.

So he goes into exile before Judea actually gets completely conquered. So, Ezekiel now gets to witness the day of the Lord from sort of a third-party point of view. He's actually a slave in another country, and God is prophesying through him, watching the destruction of his own country from the outside.

And in Ezekiel 7, we'll pick it up in verse 16. He describes how you cannot stand up to the fierceness of God. Ezekiel 7, verse 16. The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains, like doves of the valley, and they will all moan. Not one person will feel like, oh, yay, I got away. They will be hungry in pain and terrified, and they will moan. For each for his own sins. Verse 17. Every hand will go limp, every leg will be wet with urine. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror.

Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble and sin. You can't use your gold to buy something that doesn't exist. And when God's wrath is poured out, there won't be food, enough to eat to fill your belly.

There won't be water, enough to drink. People will barely stay alive. Some will die from starvation. Malnutrition or dehydration. Dropping down Ezekiel 21, verse 5. Now, let's start in verse 1. Ezekiel 21, verse 1. I'm going to come back to the New King James. I was in the NIV for that one.

This is New King James. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face towards Jerusalem. Preach against the holy places and prophesy against the land of Israel. And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am against you. You never want God to say that. You never want to hear that. You will be terrified. Behold, I am against you, and I will draw my sword out of its sheath, and cut off both righteous and wicked from you. Once this day happens, nobody will stand. Because I will cut off both the righteous and wicked before you, my sword will go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.

Continuing this conversation about God's judgment and who will not stand, God will take on in the day of the Lord all nations. It won't just be Israel. No nation will actually stand up against God. Why is God doing this? What is the purpose? A lot of times when we read prophecy, we read it like an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. It's action-packed, and we kind of get into it. And when we do that, we miss the point.

When we treat prophecy like it's a good movie, we really miss the whole point of why God does what he does. Remember, the Bible is the story of the children of Adam and Eve finding their way back to the Tree of Life. Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They said, I'll do it my way. I'll throw off the chains of God. I won't follow his rules anymore. I'll figure out how to live myself. And throughout the roughly 6,000 years of human history, what has mankind tried?

Everything. Every culture, every form of government, every form of family structure, they've tried everything. Monarchy, oligarchy, republic, democracy, anarchy, and everything that you can sort of wiggle in between. And look at the condition of the world. We're either in chaos, war, disease, famine, or we're afraid of all of those things about to spill over into us. Because that is the state of the world, and it seems to be constant. And it is getting worse. And that's not just a saying. It actually is getting worse.

So God brings his judgment on the whole planet, and says, once and for all, enough is enough. Why does he go so far? Why does he go so far? Ezekiel 30, verse 1.

He says over and over why he does it, but sometimes we sort of read over it as like a byline in an article. This article is by the Lord, and we just sort of miss the statement. He says it all the time. Why he does what he does. And we sort of just skip it for the good parts. And when we do that, we miss the point.

Ezekiel 30, verse 1. The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord God, Wail, woe to the day, for the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near. It will be a day of clouds and the time of the Gentiles. In other words, there's going to be some serious wars going on on this planet. The sword will come upon Egypt, and great anguish shall be in Ethiopia. And when the slain fall in Egypt, they will take her wealth, and her foundations are broken down. Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia, all mingled people, Chub and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus says the Lord, those who uphold Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall come down from Migdol to Syene. Those who shall fall by the sword, on those within her, shall fall by the sword, says the Lord God. They shall be desolate in the midst of desolate countries. There won't be anything to buy. That's why they throw the gold in the streets. They're desolate. Her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste. And verse 8, and this is what we skip over, and then they will know that I am the Lord. When I have set a fire in Egypt and all her helpers are destroyed, then they will know that I am the Lord is repeated over and over and over throughout the Bible. The purpose of God's judgment is to show mankind that He is the only true self-existent one. That's what Yahweh means. Self-existent. He doesn't depend on anybody or anything for His own existence. He is the source, in other words. So then they will know that I am the source of life.

I am the only self-existent one, He says. He is the one to follow, the one to imitate, the one to live by. Why does God go so far with His judgments to get our attention? And only to get our attention, we've seen fathers lose their temper, kind of lose control. They go a little bit too far, and they don't quite have control of their faculties, and then they can be really fierce. And that can be the picture that we look at when we read every arm will be limp and every leg will be wet with urine. Wow, God's lost it! No! God's actually in full control. He hasn't lost it.

What He's doing, He's still doing out of love. What He's doing, He's still doing under perfect control. He's calm.

His heart's not up in His throat. He's looking forward to the end result. Sometimes we read prophecy like it's an action movie.

God looks at it kind of like a spanking. It's a spanking, so He can get the attention of His kids, so that they will go, Oh, you're the Lord. You're the one I need to follow. You are the one that I need to imitate and ask and live by every word that comes out of your mouth. Matthew 4-4. But Jesus answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Why does God go so far?

He literally shakes the earth. Something like a smoking mountain comes down from outer space and smashes into the earth. The sky goes black. People fall into caves and ask them to fall down on top of them. All these things that are written in the prophecies. Why does God do that? Why? So that man will live by every word that proceeds out of his mouth.

Christ's return is prophesied to be a permanent solution to mankind's problems.

God lets mankind go, and I remember my parents used to do that. They would give me instruction and then they would let me go. And I would be out there the whole day, oftentimes forgetting their instruction.

Getting stung when I shouldn't have gotten stung. Getting wounded and cut when I shouldn't have gotten wounded and cut. Be careful with a knife. I will. Great knife. They gave me this pocket knife. Super sharp. Loved it. Started using it as a throwing knife. Oh, yeah, smart. I was barefoot. Oh, I'm brilliant. Be careful with that knife. I will. Boom. Forgot everything they told me. Went out, chucked the knife at a log. As hard as I could, tumbling towards the log. Does it stick in the log? No. You know, I'm not a marksman. It hit the butt end of the knife, not the point. Downstried back and went right in between my toes. But it didn't miss the flesh. No, it didn't. It gave me a little cut. Super sharp. Now, how am I going to explain that? You know, yeah, I was careful. I was just chucking it as hard as I could at a knife with no shoes on.

God lets us go. We take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew we would do it, and we try it our way. And once he says, enough is enough, he gives us, from his perspective, a little spanking. The great and terrible day of the Lord from us. We're down here wedding ourselves, and he says, it's a little spanking.

And then, permanent solution. Are you ready to do it my way? He gives, and we're humble. And he's got a humble world to work with. And when he recreates that world, and he resurrects everybody, well, that's getting into the Feast of Tabernacles. We'll answer that later. Daniel chapter 7, verse 13. When Christ returns, it will be a permanent solution. Once he's through letting us do it our way, we will never do it our way again. Ever. We will never mess it up again. Daniel chapter 7, verse 13. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion. Once God puts Jesus Christ there, he's not ever taking it back.

Which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

So as I asked at the beginning of the sermon, who's going to be there with him? The saints will be there with him, and they will have renewed bodies. And I think you probably heard this in the first sermon.

But let's go to Daniel chapter 12. You're close, so just turn a few pages over. Daniel 12, verse 1.

At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. Isn't that great? There's an archangel just dedicated to the safety of the church. His name is Michael.

Just as an aside, he's a great prince. He's a great leader. He's a great leader.

Just as an aside, the name Michael is a really cool name. It's a question. And the question is, who is like God? His name, his existence, his purpose is to point people to God. Who is like God? Well, the answer is nobody. That's what the name Michael means. At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation. This is the day of the Lord.

Even to that time, and at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone who was found written in the book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. And there's going to be this huge reunion.

And many people of those who fell asleep and will awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise, who are they? That's what I want to talk about for the rest of the sermon. And those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament. And those who turn away to the righteousness, like many to righteousness, sorry, like the stars of those forever. So who will be there? Well, let's drop over to Matthew 24, and this is what we heard in the sermonette. And let's pick it up. Matthew 24 and verse 44. Who will be there?

Matthew 24, 44.

We're going to read quite a bit of this. We're going to go through verse 51. Therefore, you also be ready, son of man, for the son of man coming is coming at an hour when you do not expect.

Who then is faithful and wise servant? Who is master made ruler over his household to do what? To give them food in due season. Food in due season!

Who is this talking about? Well, it could be the ministry, right? Speaking from the pulpit, that's food in due season. Right? This is the Feast of Trumpets. So what are we talking about? The Day of the Lord, the Return of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection of the Saints. Well, that's food in due season. What about preaching the gospel? What about Mr. Petty and Mr. McNeely and Mr. Myers on the Beyond Today? And all those people who write the articles in the Beyond Today magazine. That's food in due season. Yeah, but that leaves out you. Or does it? And I say, nay, nay, it does not leave you out. You are to give food in due season.

It can be brethren encouraging one another with the Word of God. When you see somebody down, you don't just pat them on the back and say, it'll be okay. You give them food in due season. You'll give them the scripture that encourages you. When you're down, everybody gets down. When you see somebody making a mistake, like gossiping, for example. I remember when I was first ordained, right out of the chute, I counted 12, 12 different rumors going around about me.

And only some of them were true.

There's always a half-truth there somewhere, you know. Satan told a half-truth in the Garden of Eden. That's how he got Eve to lie. Partially, it was true. Their eyes would be open. That part was true. The whole part where you will not die. Oh, that was the little lie he slipped in.

But what if you hear somebody gossiping? Can you give meat in due season? Yes, you can. What do you do? Hey, that offends me. We shouldn't gossip. Okay, that's okay. But why don't you give meat in due season? Why don't you turn to the scripture about gossiping? There's lots of them! Old Testament, New Testament. Pick one and read it to them. Now it's not you telling a friend, this is my opinion, now you're giving meat in due season. You know, the Word of God, when it backs you up, there's not much that can be argued with. Meat in due season. Encouraging people when they're down. Correcting people when they're going astray. Do you know how much help that is to them?

I'm starting to get the picture that what Jesus Christ is talking about here in Matthew 24 is how we treat each other.

Isn't that interesting? It's how we treat each other. So here is this Olivet prophecy, right? This is the the road map that we use to interpret all other prophecies and put them in order. It's Matthew 24. It gives the order of events that of things that will happen towards the return of Jesus Christ. And right smack dab in the middle of the Olivet prophecy, what's he talking about? How we treat each other.

That's the important point. Who's going to be there when he returns? He doesn't just kind of sprinkle that in. It is his point. Let's read on verse 46. Bless is the servant who is master when he comes. Find so doing. Find you doing what? Giving people meat in due season?

Wow. In reference to the return of Jesus Christ, in reference to the Feast of Trumpets, and everything that this day pictures Jesus Christ tells us, blessed are those who give other people meat in due season.

Who's going to be there?

I hope you walk away with one point from this sermon, and you remember this one point today, and I haven't given it yet. So stay tuned. Assuredly, I say to you, verse 47, that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if the evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming. And Mr. Seelig talked about that very well.

We take our eye off the goal that Jesus Christ is coming, and as soon as our eye is off of that goal, we start to satisfy ourselves. We start to become selfish. We stop giving meat in due season. And what do we do? Notice the description when we take our eye off the goal. My master is delaying his coming, and he begins to beat his fellow servants. It's all about how we treat other people.

And to eat and drink with the drunkards, that selfishness, that gluttonous comes back in.

The master of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, in an hour when he is not aware of. Of course he's not aware. He's too busy stuffing his face and treating other people badly.

And he will cut him into and appoint him with the portion of the hypocrites, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And every time Jesus Christ says that, he is talking about the second death. He is talking about once you have God's Holy Spirit, the weeping and gnashing of teeth is when you have given that up and you were thrown in the lake of fire.

If you're that person, you won't be weeping and gnashing your teeth. We will. Whoever's left, assuming I'll be there.

We will.

Those people who beat their servants will not. They're fellow servants. That doesn't mean they're subordinates. It means they're brethren.

Including the sealings. Even the sealings. You got to treat them well.

So who will be with Jesus Christ at his return? First, we see it's those people who treat the brethren well. Second, we're going to see it's people who don't quit.

So it's people who treat people, other people, well and give meat in due season and it's people who don't quit. Matthew chapter 10 and verse 16. Matthew 10 16.

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.

You know what that means to me? It means that this is not a nice world. And most of us know that. Now it might ought to be a nice world.

It might ought to be a fair world, but it isn't.

I will send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. You know what a serpent does? He moves out of the way as quietly as he can.

But when he's cornered, he's not harmless. He fights back.

This instruction to us is harder. We're to be wise as a serpent. Get out of the way of trouble as quietly as we can. But as harmless as a dove. When cornered, we don't bite. And that's hard to do. Verse 17, but beware of men.

And that's mankind. That can be women, too. Beware of men. Mankind. For they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in synagogues. People get worried when they start to hear this. I didn't sign up for this. Actually, you did. But don't worry about it. Verse 18, you will be brought before governors and kings. Why? Okay, I agree to treat people well, but I don't want to stand before, you know, some tribunal with some generals staring down at me. That's not what I intended when I was baptized. Why would we do that? Well, here's why. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. We weren't called only for personal salvation. That's not the purpose of being a first fruit. We were called to be a witness, a light to the world. And God will use us like that. And He makes that akin to being sheep in a wolf's world.

You take on the mantle of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, and you live surrounded by wolves. They will deliver you up, but do not worry.

I don't know what to say. I wouldn't have any idea. Yeah, you and everybody else in this room, you don't need to know what to say. You need to come to church. You need to listen. You need to do your personal Bible study, and you need to put it into practice. That's what you need to do. You don't need to worry. What will I say when I'm called, you know, to some tribunal. Don't even give it thought. That's what Jesus Christ is saying here. Don't even give it thought. You don't need to worry about what you say. You should speak for it. We'll be given to you in that hour what you shall speak. You can imagine all the scenarios you want. That's useless. If you are a witness for God, He's going to show you what to say, and you're going to say it. Because you're a follower of Him. You will respond to Him, and He will guide you, and you will speak His words. God's got this. God's got this.

Verse 20, it is not you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now brothers will deliver up brother to death, and father is child, and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.

That's not the end. That's not your end. That's just taking a nap. Your trial's over. Verse 22, and you will be hated by all men. Why? For my name's sake. It's not a day. This is not the day of personal salvation. This is the day of the witness of the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's who you and I are. That's who we are. Yes, part of the deal is we get salvation. But that's only part of the deal. And then he says, But he who endures to the end will be saved. So now we have two concepts. We have the first concept is we have to treat each other well, and give meat in due season, which means not our own opinion, but actually speaking the word of God to each other. So we have to actually grow from, well, I think you should do this, to, well, you know, God says this in Proverbs chapter whatever, meat in due season is not your opinion. Meat in due season is the word of God. So that's part of it, where we're actually treating each other well, looking for the return of Jesus Christ, and helping each other with Scripture, not opinion. And the second thing is we have to hang on, because we're not going to get acceptance. This world does not accept that the law of God should be kept. This world, as we read earlier, considers that chains. We read that in Psalms chapter 2. Chains that need to be broken. That's what God does from people's point of view. He wraps a chain around you, and you know what that chain is called? The law.

Although the apostles called it the royal law of love, the world calls it a burden.

So you have to endure a very harsh world. You have to endure what some call persecution, what other people call rejection, not fitting in. Always kind of being the odd man or the odd woman out. And this is actually repeated in Matthew chapter 24, when he's talking about his return. So these two concepts are actually merged together, treating each other well and giving meat in dew season, and enduring. How do you do that? And I want to leave us with one concept today. One concept that will help us to do both of those things. Because when we get angry with each other and we give up on each other, we don't give meat in dew season. And when we lose heart, and we lose our tempers, and we lose control, and we drop our standards, then we give up. And we don't endure. And there's one thing that's like sticky glue that holds those two concepts together. I hear so many people saying things like it's not fair to some of those when they're facing trials. And that's especially true when they're being picked on by other people. And I hear that a lot. And you know what? I'm not going to ridicule you for that. Because I know. I know. Sometimes it doesn't feel fair. And you know what? Sometimes it isn't fair. It's not fair. I'll give you that. It's not a fair world. And you're right. It's not fair. But what should your response be so that you can make it through to the end? Who's going to be there? People that give meat in dew season and they don't beat their fellow servants, but they help their fellow servants and people who stick it out all the way to the end.

What is your response going to be? 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 19.

I hope I can leave this one concept with you today.

What did you learn from the Feast of Trumpets in 2017? Should be one word. Hopefully. Hopefully you can remember lots. But if you can't, remember one. You can do that. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 19. For this is commendable if you, if because of conscience towards God. I'll come back to that. One endures grief, suffering wrongfully, so it's not fair.

And Peter admits this isn't fair. It's not going to be fair. And you're going to suffer and it's going to be wrong. And he says, what credit is it if when you're beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. What is the sticky glue that holds those two things together that we need to have to be there at the end? The sticky glue that holds together treating each other well and giving meat and dew season and never giving up is being patient. And the one concept I want to leave with you from the Feast of Trumpets is be patient with each other. Be patient with people. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient. Don't lose your cool. Don't lose your standards. Be patient. The word because of conscience towards God, conscience means discerning what is morally right or wrong. In other words, Peter is saying, because God expects this of you, because God is holding you to a high standard, you who are at first fruit, and when you take this life, this being thrown out to the wolves, patiently, you are so commended by God. He's so proud of you. He loves you. Pride is probably the wrong word. If you use it colloquially to mean well pleased, that's what I mean. He's so pleased with you.

That's my boy. That's my girl.

When you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. So what is our response to be? Be patient with each other. I just want to encourage us. You know, husbands, be patient with your wives. Some of us are going through that communication class together. Some of us aren't. Either way, you need to be patient with each other.

Wives, be patient with your husbands. I know they make the same mistake over and over and over again. You tell them, don't leave that there. They leave it there. Tim Hawkins made a great joke. His wife says, is that your underwear on the floor? He says, well, if it isn't, this needs to be a whole other conversation. Be patient.

Don't call him stupid. Don't lose it. Don't disrespect him. Choke off his air hose that he breathes in.

Be patient with your children.

I'm telling that to myself. You can listen to that, too. Be patient.

Be patient with God. Because he sends you trials. When he sends you trials, it's because he loves you.

You take it patiently and you learn. Don't lose it. Some people think that it's good to just blow off steam. You know, I just need to blow my temper once in a while. Then I feel better. No, you don't. You do not. Think it through. That is absolutely untrue. When you blow off steam, you don't feel better until you calm down.

When you're blowing off steam, you actually feel worse.

Be patient.

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 51, it talks about this day, this day when we're changed. I would imagine Mr. Thompson gave this in the sermon this morning. 1 Corinthians 15, 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. When Paul says, I tell you a mystery, what that means in Greek is I'm going to unravel a riddle for you. It doesn't mean I'm going to, he doesn't mean I'm going to give you a mystery and now you got to go figure it out. That it means the opposite. When he says, I tell you a mystery, what he means is I'm going to help you figure out something that you have been wondering about all your life. Here it is. Okay? So behold, I'm unraveling a riddle. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. And I'm sure they, just like us, are wondering what's it going to be like at the return of Jesus Christ. Not every one of us is going to die.

But a lot of us will. This harkens back to Daniel chapter 12. This change. We read Daniel chapter 12 in verse 3, Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. And then back to 1 Corinthians 15 and now verse 52. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must be put on immortality. I bet you read that, didn't you, Mr. Thompson, this morning? Yep, yep, er, knew it. Verse 54. So when this corruptible is put on incorruption, and this mortal is put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting, O grave, or O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. That's a whole sermon in and of itself I don't have time to go into, so we'll just move on. Verse 57. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So what do we do? Therefore, you always pay attention when Paul says therefore, because he's really wordy. He goes on and on and on. He starts something in one chapter. He doesn't finish the point, the one point, three chapters later, and you finally find therefore, and you go, finally the point.

He must have had a brilliant brain. It's like three times the mass of mine. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. What's the work of the Lord? What is the work of the Lord? He described it in Matthew 24, treating each other well. How do you treat each other well? Matthew 4, 4. By living by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.

The work of the Lord. And it's actually giving that testimony to other people.

Abounding in the work of the Lord. Not kind of doing it when I have time. I'll get to the work of the Lord. No, you're abounding in it. Who's going to be there? Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Keeping that in mind of who's going to be there, let's go to Revelation 17, verse 12. Revelation chapter. Just a couple more scriptures. We're almost done.

Revelation 17, now verse 12. Talking about this judgment of God where we started. This great tribulation which ends with the day of the Lord in the return of Jesus Christ. It says in verse 12, Then ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as of yet. But they received authority for one hour as kings with the beast. And that one hour just means a very short period of time, just a few years. And then this is all coming to an end.

These are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast. And these will make war with the Lamb.

And the Lamb will overcome them for He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And those who are with Him are called chosen and faithful.

Those are the ones who will enter the kingdom of God as assistant rulers and priests to the King of Kings.

And a lot of us hear the prophecies and it makes us worry.

Or a lot of us get into the prophecies like they're an action movie and miss the point.

And either way, if you start worrying about it or you geek out about it because it's like some action flick to you, you're really, really, really missing the point. Oh, they're serious. They're action-packed. I'll give you that.

But God's going to take care of those things.

Prophecies are God's way of warning the whole world a spanking is coming.

And that's what it is to God. It's just correction to us. It's nuclear war and mountains falling out of outer space and destroying the atmosphere and the planet and the water.

To God, it's correction of his children. Just keep it in perspective.

But we don't need to worry about that. We don't need to let this day be a discouragement.

But instead, this day launches us towards atonement, where God starts to set the world back towards him, tabernacles, where Jesus Christ repairs the entire world, and that pinnacle of Holy Days, the eighth day, where God, picturing God, resurrecting all of mankind.

And all of the mess that the world is in, and the mess that the church is in, all gets straightened out and won't matter anymore.

So when it comes down to it, what really matters?

The problems in the church, whether North Korea is going to launch a nuke over into San Antonio and Austin? Not really.

You know what really matters? How well you treat your brethren and enduring to the end.

And you know how you do that? With patience.

That's how you do that. And God, He'll take care of the rest.

But, but, but, there's no but. Tell that to my kids all the time. There's no but!

Hebrews 12, verses 1-3.

New International Version, Hebrews 12, verse 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sand that so easily entangles us.

And let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.

Be patient. Keep going. Don't quit.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Not our troubles. Not what's wrong in the church. Not whatever is distracting you.

No. Just. Jesus Christ is coming to this earth, and I gotta be there.

The pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

You didn't endure the cross. You might have to, but you haven't yet.

But he did it. How did he do it? Kept the end in mind. He did it with joy. Because he had the end in mind.

Before him, he endured the cross. Scorning it as shame, sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners.

So that you will not grow weary and lose heart. And the whole point of me reading that? God's got this.

Your and my job is really simple. Treat each other well and do not quit.

You know how you do that? By being patient.

Don't lose it on people.

Don't lose it on your spouse. Don't lose it on your kids. Don't lose it on your fellow brethren. Don't lose it on people you work with, you shop with.

Be patient. Final scripture.

2 Peter 1, verse 10. 2 Peter 1, verse 10.

Peter's big picture.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call an election sure.

For if you do these things, you will never stumble.

For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly. God really, really, really wants to give it to you.

He's not metering it out slowly. He doesn't resent you.

He loves you and He wants you and He's going to fling the doors wide open into an everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

This day pictures a lot of things, but it leaves us with some marching orders.

It pictures the return of Jesus Christ. It pictures the events before the return of Jesus Christ. And those events are scary. And a lot of people think that makes God a harsh God. And it does not. This day pictures the resurrection of the saints. This day pictures your and my salvation. So who's going to be there?

People that give meat and do season, they don't beat their brethren.

They don't beat their fellow servants and people who endure to the end. And what do you do that with? One word. Be patient.