1 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,960 Just make sure you're awake. 2 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:33,320 All right, we'll praise the Lord. 3 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:34,740 Shall we pray? 4 00:00:35,660 --> 00:00:38,160 Loving Father, Heavenly God, it is good. 5 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,320 I was glad when they said to me, 6 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,040 come let us go into the house of the Lord. 7 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,160 And now our feet are standing in your gates. 8 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,580 We are here in your presence. 9 00:00:51,580 --> 00:00:55,840 And in your presence there is fullness of joy. 10 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,840 Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. 11 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,160 So Father, we're expecting today to be refreshed 12 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,120 and to find something new in you. 13 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,160 To hear your voice and to be touched and to be changed. 14 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,440 But Father, the entrance of your word brings light 15 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:15,520 and gives instruction to the simples. 16 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,480 Father, we give praise to you today. 17 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,200 You don't leave us to ourself, but you come by your spirit. 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,200 You speak to our hearts and your word produces life. 19 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:28,880 So we thank you. 20 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,720 We are expecting, we are excited and we are glad. 21 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:37,360 We give you praise and thanks in Jesus' name, amen? 22 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:38,600 Amen. 23 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,600 We're doing better, we're waking up a bit. 24 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,640 We could get a little bit kind of, you know, 25 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,920 try a little, just where you are, a little wiggle. 26 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:47,760 Yeah, that's good. 27 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,760 Not too much, you might break something, but. 28 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,380 Right, well it is a joy. 29 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,960 Right, well I'm gonna talk about babies. 30 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,560 That'll be a good introduction. 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:04,560 Because I'm gonna talk about a hope that makes us endure. 32 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,200 A woman goes through labor, 33 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,040 and I've been there, man be glad you are man. 34 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:17,080 My word. 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,920 Anyway, my doctor said to my wife once, 36 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:24,200 because she went to her baby, he said, 37 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,880 oh, you look nervous, is this your first? 38 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:28,720 She said, no. 39 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,560 I know what's coming. 40 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,480 So we endure because of our hope. 41 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,520 Too many Christians give up because they lose hope. 42 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,960 Jesus, for the joy set before him, 43 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,560 the hope set before him, endured the cross. 44 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,400 And sometimes we have to endure 45 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,040 because we know how the story ends. 46 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:02,480 Who knows how the story ends? 47 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,560 We endure marriage because some, 48 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,000 let me finish, after 50 odd years, 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,280 because we know that the word of God has promised us 50 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,680 a good marriage, a good family, a good, 51 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,240 and because of the hope, sometimes you have to go through. 52 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,280 And those of you who say me and my wife 53 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:30,280 have never had to go through a line, 54 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,720 and we pray for the sinners after it. 55 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,560 We all have to go through, 56 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,600 but the hope is the thing that makes us go through. 57 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,240 And if you stop, that's why it says, 58 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,680 without a vision, people perish. 59 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:47,360 You've got to have a hope. 60 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:50,600 Because I'm gonna talk about the resurrection. 61 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:52,120 We're still in the Easter mode. 62 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,080 I think, quickly then, Easter and Christmas, 63 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,240 you know, it's kind of like, if we're not careful, 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,040 right, we're done Easter, move on. 65 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:03,240 We're done the resurrection business. 66 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,920 Jesus got up, he's alive, let's move on to, 67 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,640 I'm gonna talk about the resurrection. 68 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,760 The glorious hope of the Christian. 69 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,760 This is not the end. 70 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:20,200 Turn to somebody and say, please, 71 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,720 and say with a smile on your face, this is not the end. 72 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,480 Listen, the Bible says this, what is man? 73 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:30,720 He's but a vapor. 74 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,880 You know, gone. 75 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:35,280 He's like a grass. 76 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:40,280 He grows up, he flourishes, he dies, he withers, 77 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:43,360 the wind blows, no man remembers his place anymore. 78 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,880 We are talking about something eternal. 79 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,880 This is just a thing in eternity. 80 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:55,920 If you do not see the end, 81 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,280 if you do not see that this is just a somimentary, 82 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:04,080 we can start getting, 83 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,080 we can start getting, listen, 84 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,440 old age should be something you embrace. 85 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,320 When I get there, I'll tell you, 86 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,120 should be something you embrace because it's not the end. 87 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,520 You are nearer than when you started this journey. 88 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,320 How many old people do I get who get miserable? 89 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,160 They should get happier. 90 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:29,760 They should be more excited. 91 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,480 Soon and very soon, I am gonna meet Jesus. 92 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:35,200 Face to face. 93 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,200 So let's talk about the resurrection. 94 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,520 My Lord, we'll get there. 95 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,880 1 Corinthians 15 and 19 says this, 96 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:54,520 if in this life only we have hope in Christ, 97 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,040 we are of all men, 98 00:05:58,640 --> 00:05:59,720 most pitied, 99 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,240 most miserable. 100 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:03,880 Most miserable, 101 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,000 if this life is it, 102 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:07,800 we will be pitied. 103 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,920 Oh, I've given up all this. 104 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:11,240 I've given up all that. 105 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:12,560 I've taken up a cross. 106 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,080 I'm following Jesus and then I'm gonna die. 107 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,440 If that's it, we are of all men, the most pitiable. 108 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,440 But we are not those. 109 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,840 But we are not those. 110 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:32,960 1 Titus, chapter 2 and verse 13 says this, 111 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:37,960 we are those who are looking for the blessed hope 112 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,040 and the glorious appearing of our Lord 113 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,120 and Saviour Jesus Christ. 114 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,200 It is the blessed hope. 115 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,600 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. 116 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,440 Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. 117 00:06:58,440 --> 00:06:59,600 We have an assurance. 118 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,080 We have a blessed hope. 119 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,920 Whatever you're going through is not the end. 120 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,320 If you're gonna die, guess what? 121 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,000 You're meeting Jesus. 122 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:17,360 See people, oh, poor old Fred died. 123 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:19,320 No, Fred is dead. 124 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,240 He's with Jesus if he's a believer. 125 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:26,240 If he ain't, then it's a blessed hope. 126 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,080 Now the Bible is not this, when we talk about Bible hope, 127 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,240 we ain't talking about, well, maybe perhaps. 128 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,080 When we talk about hope, Bible hope says this, 129 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,520 God said it, that's settled. 130 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,960 Oh, I hope it's gonna be sunny lunchtime. 131 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:48,960 I hope I win the lottery. 132 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:52,360 I'm looking for your own up. 133 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,760 Now, listen, Bible hope, as God said it, 134 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:58,560 it cannot fail. 135 00:07:58,560 --> 00:07:59,960 It will happen. 136 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:01,320 This is an assurance. 137 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:04,240 This is a promise from a God who doesn't change, 138 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,360 doesn't fail, is faithful. 139 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,560 So when I talk about the resurrection, 140 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:14,560 the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our Lord 141 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,960 and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Jesus put it like this. 142 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,160 We always read this text, it's from John 14, don't we? 143 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,160 The vicar comes in with a morbid old face, 144 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,160 I am the resurrection and the life. 145 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,960 In my Father's house there are many mansions 146 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,360 and I go and prepare one for you. 147 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,160 And when I have prepared it, I will come for you and say, 148 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,760 no, I have word, that should, he should die. 149 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,960 No, I have word, that should, he should dance down the aisle. 150 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,360 Jesus is preparing a home for us. 151 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,560 And when he has prepared us, guess what? 152 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,560 He's coming to take us home. 153 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,360 Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. 154 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,760 Jesus put it like this, John 11, back there, 25, 26. 155 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:07,560 I am the resurrection and the life. 156 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:12,560 He who believes in me and dies will live. 157 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,960 But he who believes, oh, he's up there. 158 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,360 And he who ever lives and believes in me shall never die. 159 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,760 Question is, do you believe this? 160 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:31,960 Notice there are two groups of people. 161 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,360 There are those who died and live 162 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,560 and there are those who are alive and will never die. 163 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:42,960 Stick with me because we're going to talk about the resurrection. 164 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:46,560 What is death then? 165 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,760 Well, firstly, it's not soul sleep. 166 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:56,360 You know, you pop your cogs, judgment day comes, poof, you're gone. 167 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:00,160 Wrong. 168 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:02,760 It is not purgatory. 169 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:07,960 Some state where you can get better through suffering and then God might accept you. 170 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:11,360 It's not reincarnation. 171 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:13,360 Well, you messed up on this one, didn't you? 172 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,360 But you know, you were an ant, you can come back. 173 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,760 Well, you were a spider, but you messed up, so you'll come back as an ant. 174 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,160 But if you did really good, you can come back as a frog. 175 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,160 No, it's not reincarnation. 176 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,160 Neither is annihilation. 177 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,160 I told you that one before, I used to love that. 178 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,160 Listen, I didn't believe in God. 179 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,160 But if I got it wrong, I'd go up there and look at me and go, poof, and that'd be it. 180 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:36,160 Done. 181 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,160 What have you got to lose? 182 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,160 That's just what I used to think. 183 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:42,160 That isn't the way it is. 184 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:45,160 Man is an eternal being. 185 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,160 When God created man, he breathed into him the spirit. 186 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:53,160 God is an eternal spirit and he breathed an eternal spirit into man 187 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,160 and man will spend eternity somewhere. 188 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:01,160 Get this, you are going to live forever. 189 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:14,160 Now you will either live with God or you will live separated from God, 190 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,160 but you will spend eternity somewhere. 191 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,160 What is death? 192 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,160 Death is the end of the world. 193 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:27,160 What is death then? 194 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:33,160 Death is the separation of the soul and the spirit from the body. 195 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,160 Is that fair enough? 196 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:43,160 Do you know the moment you stop breathing, corruption sets into your body. 197 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:49,160 From that moment, life is in the blood, oxygen and all that business, 198 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,160 when you stop breathing, the life stops pumping around the body 199 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:57,160 and the body goes to corruption. 200 00:11:58,160 --> 00:11:59,160 This gets even better. 201 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:04,160 You should get excited now because we are talking about the resurrection. 202 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:07,160 There are two groups of people. 203 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,160 There are the believers, he who believes in me and dies, 204 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,160 the implication being some will not believe and die. 205 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:20,160 You don't have to figure that out, you just have to stick with me and we will get there. 206 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,160 Both of them will experience the same thing. 207 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,160 Death is inevitable. 208 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:34,160 But it will either come as a friend or it will come as an enemy. 209 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:42,160 For the believer, the cessation of life, the pumping of blood and all that, 210 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,160 it comes as a friend. 211 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:52,160 For the unbeliever, it comes as an enemy. 212 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,160 That's why you never speak about it. 213 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:59,160 And it's funny, it's inevitable that you never speak about death. 214 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:04,160 Christian people are afraid to speak about death. 215 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,160 Why? 216 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,160 It's the blessed hope. 217 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,160 It's the joy that's set before. 218 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,160 Why am I running a race? 219 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,160 Because I'm going to get a prize. 220 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:18,160 Why am I fighting a fight? 221 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,160 Because I'm going to win the victory. 222 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:26,160 Why, if you haven't got the end before you, why bother enduring? 223 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:32,160 Listen to this, Ecclesiastes, chapter 12, verse 7. 224 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:42,160 The dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return to God who gave it. 225 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:51,160 Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if God won't have us, the devil must. 226 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,160 What about Psalm 104, verse 29? 227 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:06,160 You take away breath, they die, and return them to dust. 228 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,160 I'm sorry, some of you are very attractive bits of dust. 229 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,160 You paint the dust to make it look lovely. 230 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:18,160 Some of us are turning it into skinnier dust. 231 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,160 Some of you wear very expensive clothes on the bag of dust. 232 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:25,160 But guess what? 233 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:30,160 In the end of the day, you are dust. 234 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:39,160 Hi there, bag of dust. 235 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,160 Oh my word, that's an attractive bit of dust. 236 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:45,160 It's dust! 237 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:53,160 Why am I saying this? 238 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:58,160 Because at the moment of death, what happens, I said to you, is separation of body and spirit. 239 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,160 Let's talk about your spirit and soul. 240 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:07,160 For the believer, two groups of people, the believer and the unbeliever. 241 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:14,160 For the believer, two Corinthians 5 and 8, absent from the body, present with the Lord. 242 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,160 The moment you pop your cogs, you are in Jesus' presence. 243 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:22,160 In the presence of Jesus. 244 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:28,160 Go on, together. 245 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:30,160 Like that. 246 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,160 In the presence of Jesus. 247 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,160 Come on, do you sometimes in church? 248 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:51,160 Yeah, get my tongue caught up in words. 249 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,160 That's why I keep going, getting ready. 250 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,160 Absent from the body, present with the Lord. 251 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,160 Now you should be happy with that. 252 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,160 That's enough, that's enough, isn't it? 253 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:03,160 I know how the story ends. 254 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:08,160 I popped my cogs on with Jesus. 255 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:09,160 But for the unbeliever, it's a different one. 256 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,160 If you're an unbeliever today, I want to sound a warning to you. 257 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:13,160 You need to listen to me. 258 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:17,160 Jesus in Luke 16 tells a parable about a rich man in Lazarus. 259 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:23,160 And it says, there was a rich man who lived in opulence. 260 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,160 And there was a poor guy who lived by his gate, begging. 261 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,160 And he was that poor that he had saws all over him. 262 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,160 The dog would come and lick his saws. 263 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:33,160 It's very graphic. 264 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,160 And they'd die. 265 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:43,160 And the poor man, Lazarus, goes to the bosom of Abraham, the presence of God. 266 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,160 What does it say about the poor man? 267 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:49,160 The rich man, by the way. 268 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,160 What does it say about him? 269 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:57,160 It says, and being in Hades and in torment, 270 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:05,160 he looked up and saw Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. 271 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,160 Where do you go? 272 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:12,160 I said, the moment you die, you instantly go to Jesus as a believer. 273 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,160 For the unbeliever, the moment you die, you go to torment. 274 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,160 Hades just means a place of departed spirits. 275 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,160 You go to torment. 276 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,160 Why don't you choose that? 277 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,160 Why don't you choose that? 278 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:35,160 That's what the Bible says. 279 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,160 But praise God, destinations are not fixed. 280 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,160 You can change from one to the other. 281 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,160 Resurrection Sunday, isn't that? 282 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,160 Well, Good Friday, Jesus on the cross. 283 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:48,160 The penitent faith. 284 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,160 What happened to the penitent faith? 285 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,160 He gets converted as a revelation of who Jesus is. 286 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:56,160 Let's put it like that. 287 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,160 He says, remember me when you come into your glory. 288 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,160 And Jesus says to him, what? 289 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:11,160 Today, today, you will be in paradise with me. 290 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,160 And those of you like that, it's a paradise, it's a Persian word. 291 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,160 It's a paradise, it's a Persian word. 292 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:23,160 When we come, when the church can think of a more blessed state, 293 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,160 what is the most beautiful thing they knew? 294 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,160 It was a Persian king's garden. 295 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:29,160 Paradise. 296 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,160 So they nick that word. 297 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:33,160 I'm going to paradise. 298 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,160 And I'm going to hang out with Jesus. 299 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,160 You don't mind if I preach for you today, do you? 300 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,160 Who knows the story? 301 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,160 Who's old enough to remember? 302 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,160 I am going to the city. 303 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,160 I'll just hold him. 304 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,160 My wife knows it because I sing it all the time. 305 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:58,160 Where the roses never fade. 306 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,160 I've got to get back up there, I'm told. 307 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:06,160 Here they bloom but for a season. 308 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:11,160 Then their beauty is decayed. 309 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:21,160 I am going to a city where the roses never fade. 310 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,160 Hallelujah. 311 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,160 I tell you, you should get excited. 312 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,160 One day soon. 313 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,160 See, Jesus is coming back. 314 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,160 Die or fly, we are the Lord. 315 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,160 Jesus is coming back and we're going to meet him face to face. 316 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,160 That is the hope. 317 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,160 We don't preach it very often now. 318 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,160 We've made this heaven. 319 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:50,160 This is just a blink of an eye in comparison to eternity. 320 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:57,160 And yet here we are willing to give up eternity for a bag of beans. 321 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:02,160 All right. 322 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,160 So we sorted out what's happened to your spirits. 323 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,160 And we are either down there or up there. 324 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,160 Like any good mystery, what happened to the body? 325 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:17,160 What happens to the bodies? 326 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,160 This is where we start talking about the resurrection. 327 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,160 This is where we start talking about the rapture. 328 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,160 This is where we start talking about lots of other things. 329 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,160 And we've got to do it very quickly. 330 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:37,160 Resurrection, the word, your wife, Anastasia. 331 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,160 Anna again, Stasia to stand. 332 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,160 To stand up again. 333 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,160 That's what the resurrection is. 334 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,160 We will stand again. 335 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,160 That's why the Bible uses that word about us sleeping. 336 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,160 Because what happens when you sleep? 337 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,160 You lay down. 338 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,160 What happens with the resurrection? 339 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,160 You stand up again. 340 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:03,160 Bless God. 341 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,160 There is a day coming when we will stand up again. 342 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:10,160 Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. 343 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:16,160 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 344 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:27,160 some to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt. 345 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,160 Look in your margin, the word there is abhorrence. 346 00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,160 Not a nice word at all. 347 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:38,160 Some will rise to eternal life, some will rise to eternal contempt. 348 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,160 Oh, that's Old Testament. 349 00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:41,160 Jesus put it like this. 350 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:42,160 This is a good one actually. 351 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,160 This is one we don't preach very often. 352 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,160 John 5, 28 and 29. 353 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:55,160 Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave 354 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:01,160 will hear the voice and come forth. 355 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:08,160 Those who have done good, to the resurrection of eternal life, 356 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:13,160 and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. 357 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:17,160 If you had an authorized version, it says damnation. 358 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,160 The word there is crisis. 359 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,160 C-R-I-S-I-S. 360 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,160 And it means judgment. 361 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:31,160 They will come to judgment. 362 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,160 Whilst we're talking about judgment, do you know we'll all be judged? 363 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:38,160 Come on, smile now. 364 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:39,160 Smile's gone. 365 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,160 Hallelujah to God. 366 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:47,160 2 Corinthians 10, 5 and Romans 14, 5 says this. 367 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:53,160 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, 368 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:58,160 to give an account for what we have done in the flesh. 369 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:03,160 That's what it says. 370 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:09,160 It's not a judgment, it's not a judicial judgment. 371 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:16,160 It's the one that comes from to judge a race. 372 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,160 The bench where all the judges sit and say, oh, you've done well. 373 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,160 Come and get your pride. 374 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:29,160 We must all appear before the prize-giving day. 375 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,160 Talking to believers, we're not going to be judged. 376 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:33,160 We've already been judged in Jesus Christ. 377 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,160 That's why he went to the club. 378 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,160 We can't be rewarded. 379 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,160 Those of you who lock yourself away and pray, 380 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:48,160 those of you who give sacrificially and no one knows anything about it, 381 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,160 you see what your Father sees in secret. 382 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:57,160 He will reward openly. 383 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,160 There is a reward day coming. 384 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,160 That's why it talks about crowns. 385 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,160 We ain't got time for that. 386 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,160 The reward day's coming. 387 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,160 Bless God. 388 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:18,160 Where are we? We're there, aren't we? 389 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:24,160 Jesus, I'm going to skip a bit for your sake. 390 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,160 All right, so now we've come, we've made sense now, haven't we? 391 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:33,160 We've got the spirit and the soul is there. 392 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,160 The body's in the ground. 393 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:41,160 Everybody's body's in the ground. 394 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:46,160 There's going to be an awakening, a resurrection, 395 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:54,160 some to reward, some to eternal judgment. 396 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,160 So far so good? 397 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:01,160 Now, this is where you get your shouting shoes on. 398 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:07,160 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 says this, 399 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:14,160 I do not want you ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, 400 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:23,160 lest you mourn or lest you sorrow as others who have. 401 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:27,160 I've been to too many Christian funerals. 402 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:31,160 Don't hit ashamed he's dead. 403 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,160 Please don't say that to me. 404 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,160 He's a believer. What's shameful about that? 405 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:44,160 Oh, he was only 94 and he's died. 406 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:50,160 He's a believer. 407 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,160 Please don't walk around. 408 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,160 There's a sense in which we should be sorry for. 409 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:58,160 Please don't get me wrong. 410 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,160 But we don't mourn like those who've got no hope. 411 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,160 I know where he is and I know where I'm going to meet him again. 412 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,160 See, if for a season we may be parted, 413 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:13,160 there's only a very, very, very, very, very brief season. 414 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,160 We don't mourn like those who've got no hope. 415 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,160 We don't mourn that he's at the end. 416 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,160 We don't mourn like he ain't going to get up on resurrection and mourn. 417 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,160 We don't mourn that he ain't with Jesus. 418 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,160 We don't mourn... 419 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:30,160 Soon and very soon. 420 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:34,160 I've got loved ones on the other side I'm looking forward to meeting. 421 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,160 I've got saints I used to fellowship with who I'm looking for. 422 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,160 There's one old boy I think of now who just loved the Lord with a passion. 423 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,160 There's so much to me from Sheffield. 424 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:51,160 I think in heaven he will just be doing something absolutely crazy because he loves Jesus. 425 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:58,160 And I think I might even join him. 426 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,160 And those of you who've got a face like a wet weekend in Brighton, 427 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:13,160 then get saved because this is the joyous, glorious hope that you have got. 428 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,160 The end, Christ's appearing. 429 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,160 Here we go. 430 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:23,160 Christ is risen from the dead and has become what? 431 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:27,160 The first fruits of those who... 432 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,160 Pardon me, I didn't give you the scripture. Did you want that? 433 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,160 Yeah, you did. 1 Corinthians 15 and 20. 434 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,160 Now Christ is risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who fall asleep. 435 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:42,160 What has happened to me? If you've got the first fruits, what does that mean? 436 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,160 The harvest is going to follow. 437 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,160 Jesus is risen from the dead. Guess what? 438 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,160 The harvest is going to follow. 439 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:55,160 When we celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we are celebrating Jesus' resurrection, 440 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,160 but we're also celebrating Aaron. 441 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:06,160 Because the first fruits is risen, so we will rise with him. 442 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,160 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 14. 443 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,160 We believe that Jesus died and rose again. 444 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:22,160 Even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. 445 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,160 Please, if you're underlining anything in your Bible, you need to underline that bit. 446 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,160 Those who sleep in Jesus. 447 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,160 Remember I told you two groups of people, 448 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,160 and they're talking about the ones that believe in Jesus. 449 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,160 I believe in two resurrections. 450 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,160 And I'll explain that to you. 451 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,160 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 14. 452 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,160 We believe that Jesus died and rose again. 453 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:45,160 Ready? 454 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:51,160 1 Corinthians 15 verses 22 and 23 says this. 455 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:57,160 Those who are in Christ shall be made alive for each one in his own order. 456 00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,160 Christ the first fruit. 457 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:06,160 And after that, those who are Christ's at his coming. 458 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,160 Are you Christ today? 459 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:14,160 Do you know when Jesus comes back, he's coming back for you? 460 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:18,160 If you don't, you need to get saved. 461 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,160 I think so. 462 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,160 I hope so. 463 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:24,160 What did I say to you? 464 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,160 Bible hope is a confidence, is an assurance. 465 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,160 I know so. 466 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,160 If for this life I have believed in Jesus, I am more pitiful than anybody else. 467 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:34,160 I'm looking to the future. 468 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:35,160 I'm looking to the skies. 469 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:41,160 I'm looking to a hope that cannot fail from a God who promised. 470 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:42,160 Listen to me this one. 471 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:44,160 At his coming. 472 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,160 Oh, I've got a good one. 473 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,160 Those who are Christ's first fruits. 474 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,160 Afterwards, those are his at his coming. 475 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,160 Two things very quickly. 476 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:56,160 One is Jesus will come like a feast in the night. 477 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,160 Remember he said that? 478 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:12,160 Surprisingly, surprisingly, suddenly, secretly and stealthily. 479 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,160 Is stealthily a word? 480 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:21,160 Anyway, surprisingly, secretly, suddenly, stealthily. 481 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,160 Oh, the signs ain't been fulfilled yet. 482 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,160 Be very, very careful. 483 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:33,160 You know, people have all these charts. 484 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:38,160 I remember years ago when we first went to this bloke, he had all these charts about how it's going to work out. 485 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:45,160 You know, God just might not do it that way. 486 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,160 That's why you live ready. 487 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,160 Because there's a danger to the one who lives slack. 488 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:59,160 I could not tell you if Jesus wouldn't spit the sky like now. 489 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:05,160 Oh, at his coming. 490 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,160 And that one is a bridegroom. 491 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,160 Have a picture. 492 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,160 You read it in the Gospels. 493 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:21,160 The bridegroom coming for his bride. 494 00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,160 Don't you like that? 495 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,160 Song of Solomon chapter two, round about verse 10, is it? 496 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,160 What's he going to say? 497 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,160 Rise up, my beloved. 498 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:39,160 Rise up, my beloved, and come away with me. 499 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:43,160 Don't you get excited about that? 500 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,160 Oh, I don't know. 501 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:49,160 1 Thessalonians 4.16. 502 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:51,160 Ready? 503 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:58,160 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven 504 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:04,160 where the archangels shout and the trumpet of God. 505 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,160 That's right, that's right. 506 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:08,160 I always have to look over my shoulder. 507 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:19,160 And the dead in Christ will rise first. 508 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,160 Are you in Christ today? 509 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,160 And if you should die, you will rise. 510 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:28,160 Jesus, can you listen? 511 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:34,160 Walking down the road and all of a sudden. 512 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:38,160 Rise up, beloved, and come away. 513 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,160 And you're gone. 514 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,160 Have you heard these preachers before? 515 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,160 I'd love to be in the graveyard. 516 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,160 Sometimes I've seen some chairs that I've been to. 517 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:55,160 I'd love to be in the graveyard. 518 00:32:55,160 --> 00:33:01,160 And in the midst of it, a shout, a trumpet. 519 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:10,160 And all those who are the Lord's pop out the ground. 520 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,160 Now, they've been in their years and they've rotted. 521 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:19,160 I can hear your cogs going now. 522 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,160 Listen, the God who made the first one on that morning 523 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,160 will just call it all back together. 524 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,160 Nothing goes to nothing. 525 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,160 You're going to be a molecule, or you're going to be an atom, 526 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,160 or you're going to be something floating around. 527 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:35,160 And God will speak it. 528 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,160 And if he created the first one out of nothing, 529 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:42,160 he'll create you, recreate you. 530 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,160 Different. 531 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:50,160 1 Corinthians 15 and 51, and now you're getting on 532 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,160 shouting on the ground, 533 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,160 Behold, I tell you a mystery. 534 00:33:55,160 --> 00:34:01,160 We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in the moment, 535 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:06,160 in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 536 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,160 Read it. 537 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,160 Keep going. 538 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:14,160 We shall be changed. 539 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:16,160 And the mortal shall put on the immortal, 540 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,160 and the perishable shall put on the imperishable. 541 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,160 And then should come to pass the saying, 542 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:22,160 when the mortal is put on the immortal, 543 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:23,160 and when the perishable is put on the imperishable, 544 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,160 and then to come to pass the saying, 545 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:29,160 Oh, Dachshund, where? 546 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,160 Hark! 547 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:33,160 Where is your fig tree? 548 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:36,160 Oh, great, where is your sting? 549 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,160 Christ has defeated you. 550 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:40,160 Ready? 551 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:41,160 I read a quote this morning. 552 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:44,160 It said this. 553 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:51,160 When God brought Israel out of Egypt, 554 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:55,160 Egypt, if you read your Bible, House of Bondage, 555 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,160 He did not leave a single thing in there. 556 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:03,160 When God brings us out of the grave, 557 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,160 out of the House of Bondage, 558 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,160 He will not leave a single thing in there. 559 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,160 Not one thing of you will remain. 560 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,160 If one hair on my head falls to the ground down here, 561 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,160 on resurrection morn, I will come back together. 562 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:26,160 The skinny version. 563 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:27,160 I am closing. 564 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:28,160 Well, almost. 565 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,160 Ready? 566 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:36,160 Then we who remain, 1 Thessalonians, Chapter 4, Verse 17. 567 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,160 So we talked about the dead popping out of the ground. 568 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:47,160 Then we who remain will be changed in a moment. 569 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:51,160 And we shall be caught up together. 570 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,160 We will not precede those who have fallen asleep, 571 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,160 but we will be caught up together with them. 572 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:57,160 Can you be there? 573 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:58,160 Resurrection morn. 574 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:03,160 My wife said, no, get back on the stage. 575 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:04,160 Can you imagine it now? 576 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:05,160 You're there. 577 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,160 Suddenly they all pop out of the box, 578 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,160 all pop out of the grave, all start going up. 579 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:11,160 And guess what? 580 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,160 Suddenly your feet start lifting off the ground. 581 00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,160 Well, we who remain will not precede those who have fallen asleep, 582 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:23,160 but we will be caught up together with them in the clouds 583 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:25,160 to meet the Lord in the air. 584 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,160 And thus we shall always be with the Lord, 585 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,160 comfort one another with these words. 586 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:33,160 Are you comfortable this morning? 587 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:35,160 Yes. Yes. Yes. 588 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,160 There is a resurrection for the living. 589 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:41,160 And now I've got a warning for those of you who are not Christ. 590 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,160 That's not the end of the story, is it? 591 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,160 Very quickly, what happens here, I believe, 592 00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,160 people want to argue with you on this, different views, but this is my one. 593 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:54,160 The moment the church is gone, 594 00:36:54,160 --> 00:37:04,160 there will be seven years of unprecedented tribulation on the earth. 595 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,160 And I can prove why I believe we've gone. 596 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:10,160 We've not been ordained for wrath and so on and so forth. 597 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:18,160 Why? Because in Revelation chapter six, it talks about who likes the idea of the Lamb of God. 598 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,160 Lovely, isn't it? The Lamb of God. 599 00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,160 Soft and fluffy. 600 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:29,160 If you went to Revelation chapter six, is it around verse 16? 601 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:33,160 Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb, 602 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:39,160 for the Lamb is also the lion of the tribe of Judah, and judgment will come. 603 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,160 Fall on us. 604 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:49,160 Hide us from the face of him who sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 605 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:53,160 And then, as I say, this seven years of unprecedented trouble goes on. 606 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:56,160 Terrible, terrible, terrible. Unimaginable. 607 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,160 Why people want to stay. 608 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:02,160 Now, turn to Revelation chapter 20, verse 11. 609 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,160 This is my last script. 610 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:06,160 Verse through to about 16. 611 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:12,160 Then I saw the great right throne and he who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heavens fed away. 612 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:16,160 And there was found no place for them. Keep going. 613 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,160 And then I saw the dead. Hang on. 614 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:24,160 These are those who are not Christ. 615 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:30,160 Small and great, King and pauper. 616 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:32,160 Standing before God. 617 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:35,160 And the books were open. 618 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:41,160 And another book was open, which is the book of life. 619 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:48,160 And those whose name, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things that were written. 620 00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,160 Keep going. 621 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,160 In the books, keep going. 622 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:56,160 And the seed gave up their dead and those who were in it. 623 00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:03,160 And death and Hades, the powers of the spirit, delivered them up. 624 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,160 And the dead in them. 625 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:07,160 And they were what? 626 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,160 Judged. 627 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,160 Each one according to his works. 628 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:13,160 Keep going. 629 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:17,160 Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. 630 00:39:17,160 --> 00:39:25,160 This is the second death. 631 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:31,160 Oh, verse 15. 632 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:37,160 You need me to stay up here for those who are listening from home. 633 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:52,160 Anyone not found in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. 634 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:57,160 My friend, there's a joyful hope for those who are the Lords. 635 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:01,160 There's a terrible expectation for those who are not. 636 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,160 Heaven and hell is real. 637 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:10,160 If there's a real heaven, there must be a real hell. 638 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:12,160 Simple question. 639 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:22,160 When I open that book, is your name written in there? 640 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:27,160 When it talks about works, it's not talking about works. 641 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:32,160 The best work you can do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 642 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:35,160 You can't be saved by doing good. 643 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:38,160 Not by good works. 644 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:44,160 The one work that will save you is believing that Jesus Christ died for you. 645 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:53,160 And the thing that will condemn you is refusal to believe. 646 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:55,160 Simple as that. 647 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,160 I'll get a shatting ground for the saints. 648 00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,160 My word. 649 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,160 We should get so excited. 650 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,160 Let's get excited with a tear in their eye. 651 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:09,160 If heaven's real for us, my friend, hell is real for us. 652 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,160 If we're excited about going, so excited about going, 653 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,160 we want to tell others, come with us. 654 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:20,160 There's room for you. 655 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:30,160 Should we stand in the presence of God? 656 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:35,160 You know, when the roll is called up yonder, 657 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:44,160 when the angel opens the book, will your name be there? 658 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:48,160 And you know today your name can be there. 659 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:51,160 Think of the penitent faith. 660 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:54,160 He had lived a life. 661 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:58,160 He weren't there because he was a nice guy. 662 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:05,160 In fact, he says, we are receiving our just reward. 663 00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:11,160 And if God was to send each one of us to hell, he would be right. 664 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:17,160 None of us could shake our fist at him and say, you have not been just. 665 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:27,160 But God in his sovereign mercy, wherein he loved us, sent Jesus. 666 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:37,160 And we celebrate Easter because Jesus died for us in our place. 667 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:41,160 When God judged him, he judged you. 668 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,160 He judged sin. 669 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:46,160 But what happens is this. 670 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:53,160 We need to enter into that, those who are in Christ. 671 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:55,160 How do we do that? 672 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,160 Lord, you're right, I am a sinner. 673 00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:05,160 But I choose today your remedy for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ. 674 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:12,160 I know I have got nothing that should make you love me. 675 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:19,160 I've got no right to claim your forgiveness, but you sent Jesus. 676 00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:28,160 And today I reach out to you in whatever faith I've got and lay hold of him. 677 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:34,160 I take hold of your provision and I ask you to forgive me. 678 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:41,160 And do you know what the Bible says the moment you do that, God in his sovereign mercy will forgive you. 679 00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,160 And the angel takes up that pen and what is your name? 680 00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:52,160 I'll just write it in a book and on that morning you will be sucked out of here with the rest of us. 681 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:55,160 That's your choice. 682 00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,160 That is your choice. 683 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:06,160 But I would be amiss today if I did not give you the opportunity to respond to that. 684 00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:13,160 So while every head's bowed and every eye's closed and everyone's praying for you, my friend, 685 00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:19,160 why not today? Oh, when I get home I'll do it. You won't. 686 00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:22,160 The devil will come and steal it away. 687 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:27,160 Oh, when I'm better, well if you could be good enough, why did Jesus die? 688 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:32,160 The Bible says today is the day of salvation. 689 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,160 Today if you hear my voice, harden not your heart. 690 00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:38,160 And I'm not going to play around with you. I'm not going to mess around with you. 691 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:41,160 This is between you and God. 692 00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:48,160 If today someone would say to me, Pastor, but I can, I need you just to agree with me. 693 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:56,160 I want to indicate now before God that I am willing. I want, I need, I am responding. 694 00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:01,160 If that's you, would you raise a hand? Would you say to me, Ken, that's me? 695 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:03,160 I'm looking for you. Heaven's looking for you. 696 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:07,160 I don't labor these things. I don't play games. 697 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:13,160 If you hear God's voice to you today, well, that's great. 698 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:17,160 On Resurrection Day we're all going together. 699 00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:22,160 You're sure now? 700 00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:28,160 When he comes to call away his church, will he come and call for you? 701 00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:34,160 I just want to share a scripture with you this morning from the first letter of John. 702 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:42,160 And it's pretty much in the introduction and it says, this is the message we have heard from him to proclaim to you. 703 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:45,160 And this is like the summary of the message. 704 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:51,160 And it says, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. 705 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:54,160 God is light, no darkness at all. 706 00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:58,160 You know, this scripture, we can apply this to so many areas of your life. 707 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:00,160 There is so much you can take out of this. 708 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:12,160 But I believe one of the main things that the scripture means is to do with the fact that our holy God cannot coexist with sin. 709 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:18,160 Right? You know, if you would qualify age-wise to come to kids' church this morning, the topic is sin. 710 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:20,160 We're going to look at what is sin. 711 00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:31,160 And you know, sometimes in our mind we make up this thing that some sin is a bit more tolerable than other sin. 712 00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:42,160 You know, I don't know if you ever thought about, you know, as long as I maybe, as long as I don't murder, God surely is going to tolerate this sin. 713 00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:46,160 You know, how we kind of think there is a certain tolerance. 714 00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:58,160 You know, when you get a speeding ticket, you know, when you drive up the road and there is this device that measures the speed and it's got like a certain percentage of tolerance, doesn't it? 715 00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:05,160 And you know, if the zone is 30 but you're driving 32 or 31, it's like this percentage of tolerance. 716 00:47:05,160 --> 00:47:11,160 But the truth is God does not tolerate sin at all. 717 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:13,160 Right? God is a holy God. 718 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:19,160 And you know, if we're not careful, we start to allow sin in our lives. 719 00:47:19,160 --> 00:47:29,160 Right? And once sin is allowed, the next step is to kind of, is to tolerate sin. 720 00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:39,160 Right? So instead of just letting sin in and out, sometimes we then start to say, oh, okay, you know, this sin is okay. 721 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:47,160 If we, you know, if we sin by doing that, you know, if we, with children, I guess we're going to speak about disobedience. 722 00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:55,160 But it could be anything, you know, look at the Ten Commandments, could be lying, it could be stealing, it could be envying, it could be jealousy, it could be so many things, 723 00:47:55,160 --> 00:48:10,160 worshiping other gods, worshiping money, worshiping other things, and then that tolerance, if we tolerate sin long enough in our life, the next step is then the cultivation of sin. 724 00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:14,160 Right? We start cultivating, actively cultivating sin in our lives. 725 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,160 You know, what does cultivating mean? 726 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:24,160 You know, I don't know if you ever cultivated any vegetables, you know, in your garden, we've tried courgettes for a period of time. 727 00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:36,160 You know, when you cultivate something, when you cultivate a plan, you significantly, actively do something towards encouraging and growing it. 728 00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:41,160 Right? And this is when, if we're not careful there, this is when sin takes over. 729 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:47,160 So I just had this, you know, read the scripture this morning and I just felt like God speaking to me. 730 00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:50,160 We have to stop tolerating sin. 731 00:48:50,160 --> 00:48:57,160 God is a God who has a zero percent tolerance to sin. 732 00:48:57,160 --> 00:49:01,160 Zero percent. There is no allowance. 733 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:08,160 If we allow it to creep in, we're going to allow it and then we're going to tolerate it and then we're going to cultivate it. 734 00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:13,160 And cultivating means we're actually teaching our children sin. 735 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:20,160 Right? Because children learn by role modeling, whatever I do, that's the right thing for them. 736 00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:24,160 And they start to learn and cultivate it themselves. 737 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:28,160 So I don't know how you feel about entering the presence of God this morning. 738 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:35,160 You know, sometimes we come into church and we just feel like we can't really approach. 739 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:38,160 We're not really feeling the presence. We're not really feeling it. 740 00:49:38,160 --> 00:49:42,160 And it's sometimes to do with the fact that there is sin. 741 00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:50,160 And I want to encourage you this morning to to to lay the sin down and to ask for forgiveness, to repent. 742 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:56,160 The Bible says, repent, make that active step of cutting the source of your sin off. 743 00:49:56,160 --> 00:50:04,160 Because remember, there is a zero tolerance of sin. 744 00:50:04,160 --> 00:50:09,160 Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Yes. Yes. Hallelujah. 745 00:50:09,160 --> 00:50:12,160 God, you deserve the glory, Lord. Hallelujah. 746 00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:18,160 Let give a round of applause to our Lord Jesus, our Savior, our King. 747 00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:24,160 Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. You are wonderful, God. 748 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:27,160 You are precious, Lord. We thank you, Lord God, for today. 749 00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:30,160 We thank you for your presence here among us. 750 00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,160 We thank you for your word. 751 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:38,160 How you reminded us of the eternal and blessed hope that we have in you, Lord. 752 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:42,160 We thank you because one day we will see you face to face. 753 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:45,160 We will rejoice with you for eternity, Lord. 754 00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:47,160 We thank you, Lord God. 755 00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:52,160 And in the meantime, as we serve you, Lord, we just want to pray for strength, Lord, 756 00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:58,160 as we witness your word to those around us who, you know, who are still who are perishing, 757 00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:00,160 who are dying without you, Lord. 758 00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:07,160 Help us, Holy Spirit, never to be shy in sharing your word, in sharing the message of your gospel, Lord God. 759 00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:14,160 We thank you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen. 760 00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:18,160 Can we just sit for a minute before we go? 761 00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:25,160 Well, first of all, I just wanted to remind you that in July we're going to have our baptism service. 762 00:51:25,160 --> 00:51:28,160 I already have some people who asked to be baptized. 763 00:51:28,160 --> 00:51:36,160 If you are an adult, if you have given your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized, 764 00:51:36,160 --> 00:51:40,160 feel free to approach me at the end of the service and to talk to me. 765 00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:44,160 If you are new to the church and wondering, you know, I've been baptized as a baby. 766 00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:50,160 What do you mean? You know, if you're an adult here, we baptize adults because we like to follow the model 767 00:51:50,160 --> 00:51:57,160 that we find in the Bible and a person needs to be understand what, you know, what they do, you know, 768 00:51:57,160 --> 00:52:01,160 they need to be adults, really to understand what's going on in our life. 769 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:07,160 That's why we believe that only an adult person can take the decision to follow Christ and therefore to be baptized in water. 770 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:13,160 This is the model that is in the New Testament. We see Jesus baptizing his disciples. 771 00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:18,160 Jesus himself got baptized the Son of God, you know, just before when he was 30 years old. 772 00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:25,160 And so as well, you know, the church in Acts, you know, you always see people believing and then being baptized. 773 00:52:25,160 --> 00:52:28,160 So baptized. So we're going to have our baptism service. 774 00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:35,160 If you are, as I said, an adult, if you're giving your life to the Lord and you want to seal this choice that you made to follow Christ, 775 00:52:35,160 --> 00:52:40,160 you know, come and talk to me and we'll see to get you baptized. 776 00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:43,160 Can you go something else? Yeah, very quickly. 777 00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:51,160 You know, we have an annual trip to Uganda and part of that annual trip is a medical day. 778 00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:54,160 And historically, we've raised an offering for it. 779 00:52:54,160 --> 00:52:59,160 Basically, there is no medication unless we buy it and take it. 780 00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:06,160 Well, we buy it, we buy it in country and employ local medical people there. 781 00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:14,160 So between now and we go in the 19th of June, we will raise an offering to help toward that. 782 00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:22,160 I know the church usually gives and various individuals give, but we'll have an offering for that. 783 00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:32,160 Secondly, in the light of that, we say with me, Nickers, Nickers, it's not bad. 784 00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:40,160 We will probably try to take 200 pairs of children's underwear. 785 00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:44,160 My wife's not going this time in. Jason and Steve are going. 786 00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:47,160 So we'll be traveling like that. No, we need Nickers. 787 00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:52,160 You're laughing your head off. 788 00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:54,160 I'm interested in when the customs search a bag. 789 00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:57,160 But, you know, I thought, why not? 790 00:53:57,160 --> 00:54:05,160 Why not just, you know, we do take toothbrushes, spectacles. 791 00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:08,160 We can take them. Various sizes. 792 00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:16,160 My wife will... I think Joanna's got a big plan of having a little chart of how many Nickers we have accumulated. 793 00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:20,160 Little girls. 794 00:54:20,160 --> 00:54:23,160 Yeah, the only way to say it is this. 795 00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:29,160 Then you. 796 00:54:29,160 --> 00:54:31,160 Wonderful. Yes, thank you very much. 797 00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:36,160 If you would like to give towards the mission trip to Uganda, just go and talk to Ken. 798 00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:38,160 He's going to head up the group from the church. 799 00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:43,160 He can give you all the information and how you can help and give. 800 00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:50,160 Well, you know, we come to an end. Why don't we just stand and just we close very quickly. 801 00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:54,160 Doing something again important. We're going to pray for the week ahead. 802 00:54:54,160 --> 00:55:00,160 Lord God, we thank you because you love us and you prepare good things for us ahead. 803 00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:03,160 And we pray for this week that is ahead of us, Lord. 804 00:55:03,160 --> 00:55:07,160 We pray that you may walk in your way, Lord, that you may be with us, Lord. 805 00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:13,160 In all what we do, follow us with your blessing in Jesus precious name. Amen.