God is in control

Welcome to the Cross Power Church podcast.

You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX.

We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the

cross. Now let's join the service.

You know, it's funny how people in different professions or

careers, I guess you would call it, they look at things

differently. And a scene where Bob Tallman,

he was much a part of our life for a lot of years.

He retired. And if you ever heard watch the

Fort Worth Stock Show or been there, he's the voice of it for

five decades. And me and Bob Rodney, a lot of

us, we've heard him day after day for years.

And they were interviewing some people up there that had worked

with him for a number of years. He said, I'll never forget what

Bob told me one time. This sounds just like him.

He said never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

I said, boy, that's good. That's good for Bob because it's

not really life or death. I guess it could be some of the

stuff he's seen but has been, But I can't, I can't do that.

Amen. I, I got to let the the truth

get in the way of a good story. I would be much more popular if

I did that. But I can't let the I can't not

let the truth get in the way. Amen.

Because he's the way, the truth and the life.

But God's in control titled this message today.

He already knows what he's going to do.

Pretty simple, isn't it? But I think sometimes we think

that God doesn't know what he's doing, but he always already

knows what he's going to do Amen.

Let that sink in a minute. He always knows what he's going

to do. I want to prove you that to you

in Scripture this morning and John chapter 6, the setting of

John 6 · chapter mention

the Scripture finds Jesus feeding 5000.

Some translation say that it was 5000 plus women and children.

So they're very easily could have been 15,000 that day

rounded off number. But Jesus, he went over the Sea

of Galilee in John six and one and verse 2 says a great

multitude followed him because not because they really knew who

he was yet because they had not been to the cross, but they

followed him because the signs which he performed on those who

were diseased, He was healing the sick, He was raising the

dead. So the signs that Jesus was

producing in his ministry, hello, 'cause people to follow

him today. I'm weary about many ministries.

The only thing that makes a lot of people follow any ministry or

any church is if they're prospering or if that church is

prospering. And Jesus went up on the

mountain and there he sat with his disciples.

Can you picture this? Maybe fifth, men, women,

children coming up the mountain to hear what Jesus had to say in

the past? That was the Passover of the

Feast of the Jews was near, and Jesus lifted up his eyes, seeing

a great multitude coming toward him.

Think about that. Jesus seen this great multitude.

I begin to think of women there that had to feed more than they

thought they were. Go.

You want to see a woman get real real, real anxious, real antsy,

have more at the supper table than there's food for.

They don't like that. I learned that early on, 35

years ago, that you don't just invite all your buddies into the

dinner table that are out there waiting to eat, right?

When there's nothing to eat, it does not make a woman happy, Am

I right, women? But Jesus was seeing this coming

up the mountain, you know, but he already knew what he was

going to do. But yet he still, I mean, I've

read this a lot of times, never got this.

So he looks at Philip and think about this question that Jesus

asked. He said, where shall we buy

bread that these may eat? Jesus was kind of humorous at

times. They had no Walmart delivery.

They had no DoorDash. They had, you know, I was

working the other day and my son's moves way out and he was

going to order it, so I'll get DoorDash.

I said, ain't no door here. We're out in the middle of a

field. I really did not know what he

was talking about. In the middle of nowhere.

And I said they ain't going to do it.

I'll just order DoorDash. We don't have to stop, Let's go

for it. But so there was some

miscommunication there. We didn't get the food.

We were too far. I guess you got to have a closed

door. I don't know, but they did not

have that, but yet Jesus asked Philip, he said where shall we

buy bread that these may eat? No Amazon get this verse 6 but

he said this to test him. Jesus knew he wasn't going to be

able to buy enough. They didn't have enough.

He said this to test him. That makes me wonder how many

times in my life have I failed the test that I wasn't really

even going to receive anyway. It was just a question that God

was asking me and Oh my God, I panicked.

I took it into my own hands and I think I got to fix it.

I got to do this, but God was just had.

Jesus was just asking the question.

Y'all preach with me this morning.

He asked him this to test him come for he himself talking

about Jesus for he himself knew what he would do.

Father, we thank you for your word this morning.

We thank you that your word's life, it's truth.

We pray that it would Pierce into our hearts this morning in

our minds and help us to realize that you're in control.

God, that you already know what you're going to do in the

situation that we're not answering the question and can't

even answer the question. We know that you're in total

control because you already know what you're going to do.

It's in your son's name. I asked to preach this the way

you showed it unto me in Jesus name, Amen.

He asked him this only to test him.

I told you all a while back, what you was going through is

only a test, it will not stay. But Can you imagine Philip

trying to answer this question? He could not answer it.

But Jesus said this to test him. See, while you're in the test,

he already knows what he's going to do We don't.

I don't know why he chooses not to reveal it to us many times,

but he does and he's God. And he can't look at your

neighbor and say God already knows because God's in control.

Makes me wonder how many times we we fail with a question that

was just sent to test us. Right.

He was just sent to test us, but Jesus was fixing to show him how

to pass the test, which seems impossible.

But with God all things are possible.

It seems like there's no way out.

You know? Jesus, I I found this amazing

here. He really didn't need an answer

from Phillip. Why?

Why didn't he need an answer from Phillip?

I just read it to you. He already knew, knew what he

was going to do. Hey, man, he just wanted to see

maybe test Phillips, See. Hey, Willie, is he going to

doubt me right here? I'm fixing to open his eyes,

'cause I'm fixing to feed all these folks.

He already knows what he's going to do.

Well, that excited me. Stop trying to answer the

question of your mind. Many times that are only formed

out of doubt, fear, and weary. We think if we can answer the

doubt, fear and weary in our mind.

Man, I'm dealing with this right now in my own life.

If I can answer the doubt and the fear and the weary, then is

that going to help the situation?

No, it'll help my mind, but it's not going to help the situation.

Many times the only thing that's going to help the situation is

to have a God kind of faith and know that your God already knows

what He's going to do. In Galatians chapter 5, it says

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

what we we try to we got to grasp this this morning in

Galatians 5 and 16. I want to read the rest of that,

but I won't finish the this if I do, but it says walk in the

spirit that you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

That does not just mean sexual immorality and the the the toys

in the world. It also means that things that's

popping up in your mind that's causing doubt, fear and weary

from you receiving that which God has trying to get to you.

See in the Greek to walk means this walk when it when somebody

said walk in the Greek, it there's there's four things that

means walk on, walk at, walk by or walk with.

But like that right there. I can preach right there.

Sometimes I need to walk on what the enemy has placed in the

question that has come my way. I need to put him under the

soles of my feet where God has promised that he is, Amen.

And take my authority as a child of God and walk on the doubt and

walk on the fear. But sometimes the Holy Spirit

will allow to see me, to see it before it gets to me, and I'm to

walk at it, Amen. I'm to attack it.

I'm just jump on it and I'm to get it out of my life and pray

about it and seek God's guidance and walk right at it, Amen.

Not walk around it. Christians are very good at

walking around it, Amen. But sometimes when I know that

God already has it in control and he already knows what he's

going to do, I can just walk on by it.

Hey, man, I can say you're not going to come now.

My, my dwelling 1000 may fall at one side, 10 and 1000 at

another. Just get away.

I'm going to walk by it. But there's sometimes you can't

walk on it. There's sometimes you can't walk

at it. And there's sometimes as a child

of God, we refuse to walk by it. So when we when we with that

happens in your life, sometimes we got to walk with it, but

always know when you're walking with it.

He's with you. He said I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you. What are you walking with this

morning? What are you walking in doubt

and fear or do you or do you have a steadfast in your spirit

that knows that God already knows.

It doesn't matter if you know today.

God already knows. 2nd Corinthians 5 and 17 says if

anyone is in Christ, there that word is again in walking in the

Spirit. If anyone is in Christ, he's a

new creation. Man, I'll never forget the one

of the first times I read that if I'd read the Gospels over and

over as a child. But but as I got older, I

ventured on in the rest of the New Testament and in my 17 or 18

years old. And I read that and I thought if

anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation.

And I looked at my life. I said, you know what?

There's a lot of me that ain't new.

There's a lot of me that's the same as it was.

I'm not a new creation. Those old things have not passed

away and behold, all things have not become new to me, right?

So I had to do some work and then I flipped over to Romans

81. It says, therefore there is no

condemnation for those who are in.

There's that word again, walking in the Spirit for those who are

in Christ who do not walk according to the flesh.

But there it is again. But walk according to the Spirit

who but so many times our actions as Christian, just like

Phillip, he's I don't know what we're going to do.

There's nowhere to buy and he just bump fuzzling that he asked

that right. I'm like Phillip Sometimes God

will ask me something and I get hung up on the question because

it's too big for my mind to conceive.

But so many times the way that I want to ask you all this, the

Holy Spirit I had this wrote down to say these things the way

they it's like I'm preaching at y'all or somebody else.

So I changed it to the way we you can answer it.

You can look at somebody say I'm not walking that way.

So they are walking that way. But I think it's better to say

we the way we talk sometimes, the way we act, the way we look,

the way we treat others, the way we think, the way we dress, the

way we love, the way we react, the way we worry, come on

somebody, the way we doubt, the way we, the way that we don't

keep our word, the way we answer the question of the test.

All of these things reflect what on our faith.

Sometimes the question is just a test to make us wonder what is

God up to? He was fixing the show, Philip.

What he was up to, he already knows.

Say it with me. He already knows what he's going

to do. God's still in control.

He already knows. I think of Peter.

He had been warned. He had been, He had denied

Christ when he was asked the question.

Standing by the fire, they said, are you with that Nazarene?

Are you with the Jesus of Nazareth?

You talk like him. I've seen you on the streets

with him when he was preaching that Gospel.

Say Peter, it was just a test he had to answer that question and

he answered it the wrong way. He did what he did exactly what

Jesus say it with me already knew that he was going to do.

He said, Peter, you will deny me before the rooster crows three

times. You will deny me and and and and

and the the measurements of that thing.

When you look it back where Peter was standing in the

courtyard. Jesus was at the counsel table

and they say that scholars believe that Jesus could see

Peter as he denied. Can you imagine looking at the

Master? God already knew that he was

going to do it, had already warned him what was going to

happen, and yet Peter did it. And we're like that so many

times. But thank God, even when Peter

denied, even when we fall short, say it with me.

He already knows what he's going to do.

What did he do? He reinstated Peter, he forgive

Peter. And he asked Peter the another

question. Do you love me?

Feed my sheep. Peter knew not to question this

time. He just got busy feeding right

as I preached last week about Steven as he was passing the

test and and God already knew what he was going to do.

He was going to let the stones hit him, but he injected him

with some grace. He injected him with the power

of God from on high. And I don't believe he felt the

stone. He just said go ahead and throw

him because I see Jesus standing and the heavens are opened up at

the right hand of the Father. God already knew what he was

going to do. I think of Jonah and I'm going

to preach to you a little bit right here out of the book of

Jonah because I've preached it many times.

It's only four chapters. I've preached the whole book of

Jonah probably 15 or 20 times in the last 10 years.

But I got something I never got out of it.

You know, I hear Christian say, well, I've already read the

Gospels that you know, ain't no need to reading them again.

Hello, hello. I loved, I didn't even watch the

Super Bowl. I refused to watch it, but

somebody sent me a clip of another guy, you know, and, and

he was out there and I hope his heart's right, but you know it.

What gets me is, is when you sell out to Jesus Christ.

I guess some people's different. I had to get rid of everything

of my old identity. I couldn't go be this other

person with this other name that they knew me under and then step

out and talk about Jesus and be different.

But thank God he's moving. Hey man, they'll get to that

level. But I love what what?

What's his real name? Not he ain't calling him the

Rock no more. What's his real name?

Richie who? Robert Ritchie when he was a

self and not a stage name, he proclaimed something that we

proclaimed for years. The preachers of the God dust

your Bible off because there's a man that's on a cross say man

and he died for you. What a great message.

What a great thing to reach for in the world that we live.

You know, we're seeing some bad things in these times, but but

God's also sending revival and God's also move it in the lives

of some people. And I pray God that they would

realize the magnitude of it. But I think of Jonah many times

he went through a test in the belly of a whale.

Jonah was probably questioning this because see, I've preached

to that Jonah was a young preacher that didn't want to do

go do the will of God. I would have done it.

It's one way to preach it, right?

He didn't go what go do what God wanted him to do.

And then he did what God wanted him to do.

And now life finds Jonas sitting out by a tree and he said, oh,

at least I got a shade. You know about that time God

causes the leaves to fall off the tree and the tree died.

Now he's really down in the Mullah grubs.

God, I went and preached to Nineveh what you told me to that

you was going to destroy him and then you didn't do what you said

you was going to do. You saved them instead of

destroyed them. I preached it every way you can

preach it. But get this.

It's always amazed me how Jonah, when he obeyed God, he went

there and not just the people of the town of Nineveh, but 120,000

people. It says set and sackcloth and

ashes and fast to try to get 120,000 to fast, much less set

in the sackcloth and ashes in the streets and they repented.

It's always amazed me how how but the greatest, probably the

greatest conversion of all time was right there in the book of

Jonah right far as man goes at preaching the gospel.

But God already knew what he was going to do.

See that he was put in the belly of a fish of a whale and he was

swallowed because God already knew what he was going to do.

But the Bible says the book of Jonah that the we've known this

story since we was little. I remember the whale shooting

the water out the top of his head and Jonah up there kick

back on it. Y'all seen the pictures?

I don't know if it happened like that, but I do know that

wherever he got swallowed, it wasn't real close to Nineveh

where he was going. I do know that God turned that

fish and He put him on the beaches of Nineveh with one

day's journey from where he had first told him to go, and he

spits him out upon the beach or upon dry land, and Jonah begin

to walk. But there was people there, I'm

sure, that begin to see him. They thought we got us another

preacher. And see, Nineveh was known for

killing preachers. Wasn't that Jonah didn't want to

just go there and preach because there was a history of preachers

going there, prophets, apostles and preaching to Nineveh.

And they would cut their tongues off, they would skin them alive,

and they would hang their skulls on the wall because they

worshipped a God called Dagon. All right, get this.

This is intro. I never caught this.

I thought that God was getting Jonah's attention with the belly

of the fish. I'm sure Jonah was in there

questioning, right? But now he's been in there three

days and three nights. And this is a scripture when

Jesus is asked about his walk up on this earth that he tells the

scribes and Pharisees that it's much like Jonah.

As Jonah was in the belly of the whale 3 days and three nights in

Matthew, he says, so will the Son of Man be in the center of

the earth 3 days and three nights.

But see, here's where it gets interesting because the whale

turns and he comments Jonah out where?

On the beach and he's one day's journey from going and

preaching. And he goes and tells him a

simple message. You're going to hell, God's

going to destroy you. Not something you go and and and

are welcomed with very many places.

But get this, they I'm sure they said, oh, we got us another

preacher. Let's sharpen the knives.

Let's get ready. Let's get ready to cut his

tongue off. Let's get ready to do this.

But why didn't that happen? It it always is down.

One man went to one big city. 120 thousand were converted and

repented that day. Why didn't it happen?

Because see, you go back to First Samuel, I think it's 5 or

6, when they brought the Ark of the Covenant back to its

rightful place and they had placed it there.

There was also a God there that was called Dagon, which the

Ninevites worshipped. And it was a the God that was,

well, God say it with me. God already knows what he's

going to do. He already knows.

So the God of Dagon was half fish, kind of like a man on the

top and a mermaid tail on the bottom and it was an image that

they worshipped. So as as God put Jonah in the

belly of the fish. Say it with me, y'all ain't

getting this. He already knew what he was

going to do. He said I'm going to bring you

the real God and what you're worshipping as a fake God.

Hello, anybody been there? What you thought was your life,

what you thought God was sending your way, it just come on in and

wrecked your world and saved your soul.

Oh, can you give God praise in the house?

But Jonah, God delivered Jonah spit him out there in the form

of their God. They didn't kill him because

they thought that, hey, the God that we've been worshipping has

spoken. This is our God.

He ain't a God at all, but he has sent us a man.

Hello, he sent us a man out of the belly of the fish.

See, it wasn't about Jonah at all.

God knew that those folks were worshiping Dagon, which was half

God, half man and half fish. So he just sends them in that

wow preach many times. Never caught that like this, but

daggone it. Like I said, it was it was in

there and when they brought the ark of the covenant.

But but God prepared the whale. He already knew the people would

listen because God sent his man and what they thought was their

God. You know, we still try to do

that today. A lot of churches, we still try

to present the gospel and mix it with some of the world.

And I guess if it's reaching people, it's working.

But you got to be very careful. I did that with rodeo.

I, I would present it to kids with learning to ride bulls and

horses. And as I've said many times, if

the bulls and horses were there and we were bucking them and

having a competition, I would have 100 and 5200.

If not, it would drop to single digits.

Sometimes if I announced it the week before, we're not going to

buck buck bulls and horses. We're just going to have bring

the word. It would go from 150 to 8.

It still does unless you feed them.

I thought about wrapping up as a big old cinnamon roll one time a

walking in the chart. If you feed them, if you if you

bring food, they will come. They may leave before the

preaching, so you better preach first.

I figured that out. Christy and Trish told me one

time their dad's church had dwindled down to nobody.

They said he tells them all these guys, Jesus, that's not

enough. And you know what, the older I

get, the more I'm with him because that's enough.

But God had prepared the well. He already say it with me all

ain't getting it. He already knew what he was

going to do. God knew Jonah would run.

He already knows what we're going to do.

How many times do we pray out of the will of God?

Because the question that God asked was sending us to test it,

and we're hung up on the test that we're praying about.

And it really ain't even the direction God's wanting to take

us. He already knows.

He already knows what he would do.

But when Jonah came out of the belly, they thought that their

God had sent it. They listened, they repented.

And as I close today, the test of your faith at many times

could be how you answer the question.

Do you get hung up on it? Do you?

Do you discern which question is just to test you or which one it

is? It is requiring action because

God does ask us things just to see where our faith is.

Most of the time we focus, and I see this so much.

Something has never changed and 30 years of ministry.

It's a simple 3 letter word called why people are missing

the call of God on their life because of why did God, Why

didn't God? Why won't God?

Because we refuse to walk by that.

See, there's some things that you got to walk in.

There's some things that you got to walk at.

There's some things that you got to walk by.

Hey man, walk by the why walk by it because the why will trouble

your soul. The why will keep you from from

receiving the miracles and the blessings of God.

Because I learned a long time ago when the why comes just I

don't know why. I may never know why, but it's

not going to get in the way of what God has called me to do

Amen. Jesus in Matthew chapter 12, in

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38, he was preaching to Baptist and

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

Methodist that day. Oh, I'm sorry, scribes and

Pharisees and he said, teacher, we want to see a sign from you.

How many know somebody in their life?

You ever heard that? If God would just show me a

sign, there's a big old cross that's standing in the way, He's

alive. There's your sign, that's only

sign you need to follow Him is the cross.

When you accept the cross and you accept that He already knew.

You know, I thought many times, what if Abraham wasn't offered

up Isaac on the mountain, that God had not have found him a

man, what would he have done? Why does it matter?

He already knew. You hear people reading the

Bible. Well, I thought God should have

done it this way. He already knew.

I realized a long time ago, God does not care what I think.

If Christians would realize that you would grow this tall that

fast, He don't care what I think.

But some of the scouts of Pharisees answered saying,

teacher, There's that word teacher again.

They still thought he was a teacher, not the Messiah.

But he answered and he said to them, they said, we want to see

a sign. He said an evil and adulterous

generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to you

except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jesus thought this Jonah thing was pretty important, didn't he?

He knew about it. For as Jonah was 3 days and

three nights symbolic right in the belly of a fish, so will the

Son of Man be 3 days and three nights in the heart of the

earth. But yet they still didn't know

what he was talking about. I'm sure these dudes had heard

about Jonah since they was a little kid like we did and they

had a pitcher draw to the will spewing him out but yet they

still didn't really believe it. Then here comes the Messiah

saying hey say thankfully to happen again just in a different

form. Jesus went on in 41.

He said the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with

this generation and condemn it because they repented.

Wow. Jesus was moved by the repenting

of those 120,000 that God used a fish in the form of their God to

spew out a profit to save them. It doesn't matter what God uses

at the preaching of Jonah, but he said it and indeed a greater

than Jonah is here and you still don't believe 3 days and three

nights. Let's look at that.

I want to look at this a little bit.

I am going to close, but it says that it says those back up to

44. As Jonah was 3 days and three

nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be

3 days and three nights. Where in the heart of the earth.

He wasn't just laying in the tomb, you know it was cool.

He never died. His flesh died, but his spirit

was on the move. What was in the heart?

What was in the core of the earth in those days they

referred to it as paradise. They referred to it as Abraham's

bosom because man did not know where people were going that

were Saints of God. So they reserved, the Bible says

in the core of the earth. They were, you can go back and

look it up. They were reserved there until

the Day of Atonement, right? Why were they reserved there?

Because before the cross, before Jesus, what he prophesied was

going to do. And use Jonah as an

illustration. He said, I went three days and

three nights in the heart of the earth, but he was doing

something. Go to Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8 and 9.

Ephesians 4:8

We can read about this. What was going on.

There was something going on and what they thought was the

graveyard, the Saints was about to rise.

Can I tell you there's something fixing to go on in the graveyard

again, when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall

be no more. There's something great going to

happen. The dead in Christ are going to

rise 1st and then those that are alive and remain will be caught

up to meet Him in the air. And you know what, there's a lot

of Christians that love Jesus but don't believe that.

Hey man, but you better open your eyes, child of God, because

it's already happened and it's about to happen again.

But what was happening right here?

The apostle Paul said, he said, but to each one of us in

Ephesians 4:00 and 7:00, to each one of us, grace has been given

according to the measure of Christ gift, Amen.

And what did he do when he was sending?

We're going to read on. Therefore, he says when he

ascended on high, you can go to Acts chapter 1 and read about

Acts 1 · chapter mention

it. When Jesus ascended, they were

standing there watching him, and He appeared, He ascended into

the heavens, Amen. And that's what he's talking

about. When He ascended into heavens on

high, first he descended, He went to the pits, to the core of

the earth, and it says He led captivity.

Those that were in Abraham's bosom or in paradise, he took

them because, see, they were held captive because what the

blood of a goat and a bull and a sheep could never do.

The blood of Christ had just hit planet earth.

And the blood of Christ is what we learned last last week, the

martyrs, the blood of Christ. The blood is the seed for the

Church, right? He led captivity captive and he

gave good gifts to men. We ought to get excited about

that. Now, Apostle Paul really

confuses Now this he ascended. What does it mean?

It means he went up to the Father.

He ascended into heaven, but first he descended into the

lower parts of the earth. Who descended is also the one

who ascended far above the heavens that he might feel all

things. God already knew what he was

going to do, right? But yet we're so worried about

it. But he went there and he took

the keys to death, hell and the grave.

He took those that were captive and he said, because Can you

imagine Moses and all those, Can you imagine Isaiah that had

prophesied this great king coming, this Messiah that would

come from the from the, from the lineage of David?

Can you imagine him being in Abraham's bosom and seeing Jesus

that he said come on, we're fixing to ascend on into heaven.

The promise that you preach for years and believe for years even

though you had to die for it. It is now here.

Come on up here with me. He already knew what he was

going to do. But see many times we question,

we fail the test. Let's go to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Notice this is my third time to say it.

Third time's a charm of closing Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 1. I mean somebody say glory, how

Acts 1 · chapter mention

many is excited that this world ain't your home?

In Acts chapter 1 and verse 6, the Holy Spirit was about to

Acts 1 · chapter mention

fall upon the disciples and many other people, but he said you

shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you should be able to witness in Jerusalem and in all

Judea and Samaria and other most parts of the earth.

Think about this. The last time that Jesus Christ

would speak up on planet earth in a form of a man.

Think about it verse 8. But you shall receive power.

He didn't say we were to be weak and lowly Christians.

He said you shall receive power. I've already been here, but I'm

going to send the Holy Spirit and He's going to come upon you.

You ain't going to know where He comes from.

You ain't going to be able to control him.

He's just going to fall upon you and something unique is going to

happen to you. You're going to have to go

witness all over. You're going to talk a new

language. There's some things that's going

to come up on you that you're not going to understand, but

that's OK. He thought that was pretty

important if that was the last words he spoke.

Now, when he had spoken these things in Acts 1 and 9, while

they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of

their sight. And while they looked

steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, men stood by,

and white apparel. Who were those men?

They were men in white apparel. That's all we're told.

The rest is speculation. I'm trying to get away from

speculating in the Bible. Amen.

There were men in white apparel who also said men of Galilee.

Can you imagine them as you stand your feet standing there

looking up at Jesus as he just floats on through the sky?

He had already floated through the door of Thomas's doubting

question. Thomas didn't know what he was

about to do, but Jesus, what he already knew what he was going

to do. He already knew what he was

going to do. He said, men of Galilee, why do

you stand gazing into heaven? Say it with me, this same Jesus.

It's not another Jesus. It's the same Jesus that's got

the nail scarred in his hands and probably the crown of

thorns. He's got a few scars up on his

head. He's got big old scars in his

feet. Say it with me, this same Jesus

who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like

manner as you saw him go. One of these days he's going to

part the open the eastern sky, He's going to open them clouds,

and Gabriel's going to blow the horn, the trumpet, and it says,

when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound.

Say it with me, those who know it.

Time, my God, can you think of a life where time is nothing?

Can you think of a life where time as we know it will be no

more? Because there will be no time

frame. It's going to be forever,

infinite, like a laser. And this keeps going.

Time forever will be changed. In the moment, in the twinkling

of an eye, the graves are going to burst open.

And this same Jesus, what a word from God.

He already knows. You know, there are those that

are still doubting they can fly when the rapture takes like,

boy, I'd like to go, but I just don't know if I can fly.

You ain't going to have to worry about it.

I'd like to go, but boy, I just don't know about that fly.

He already knows. There's a cool thing too.

You're going to be changed. That thought in the moment, in

the twinkling of an eye. Oh, doubt.

I'll worry. I'll fear all pain will be gone.

We're going to be different. Who's going to be in heaven,

Will? I know him?

Doesn't matter. You're going to be different in

the moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

This, this, this. Immortality going to take on

immortality. I'm never going to die again.

See, I fear people believe the cross, but they don't believe in

what God already knows that he's going to do.

The trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no

more. In a moment, in the twinkling of

an eye, we will be changed forever.

Because who ascended? Well, you just don't know what

I've done. It don't matter.

God knew what he was already going to do.

What did he do? Why can't we step into the

press? It doesn't matter what I done or

didn't do, or what I could do, because all that's going to

matter is that debt has been paid.

You see, I owe the debt. Would you lift your hands?

And we closed with this course. I owed a debt that I could not

pay. Thanks for listening to the

Cross Power Church podcast. May you know that true hope,

peace, and salvation can only be found in Jesus.

If you're near Campbell, TX, we would love for you to join us in

person. You can find service times at

crosspowerchurch.com.