Sermon

Why Being Prepared for Jesus Changes Everything

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  1. Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast.

  2. We hope today's message is encouraging to you.

  3. This message is definitely an interesting one because I was

  4. supposed to preach next Sunday. It's supposed to be after our

  5. Unrest series. Pastor Tim will be back next

  6. Sunday. And so I got thrown to today and

  7. I was praying through like what this would look like.

  8. And so I heard Pastor Tim's message and God just spoke

  9. something to me. And so I was super excited.

  10. I wrote down the whole message and I sent it to the Pastor Tim

  11. and he goes, wow, that is great. But it has nothing to do with

  12. our series. I was like, so where do we go

  13. from here? And he was like, you know what?

  14. I want you to run with it. So aren't you grateful that we

  15. have a lead pastor that listens to the Lord like he is not

  16. ashamed of God interruptions. He's ready to be obedient to the

  17. Holy Spirit. And I believe that's what it is

  18. today. And so this series, I want you

  19. to imagine any, anyone seen Ice Age before?

  20. Anyone. OK, fun fact, Ice Age came out

  21. 23 years ago. Yeah.

  22. So if you felt old, I'm sorry. All right?

  23. But that that's the reality. Does anyone remember the

  24. squirrel in Ice Age? OK, Yeah.

  25. It's so cool. It's like this whole.

  26. I remember being a kid putting the VHS.

  27. They're like, I don't know what you're talking about.

  28. I already lost the youth and that the VHS in in the whole

  29. system here. And you know, you pop it in and

  30. it starts whining it. And I remember like watching

  31. this whole squirrel on the screen and like halfway through

  32. it, I'm like, this is so entertaining.

  33. But like I literally that has nothing to do with the movie.

  34. Like I feel like I got bamboozled.

  35. But once I got done, I'm like, this was the greatest thing

  36. ever. That's what I hope this message

  37. is for you today. All right, so it wasn't planned.

  38. You're coming here for unrest, but here I am.

  39. I'm so grateful I'm here. So I hope God speaks to you

  40. today. I'm really am excited.

  41. Last Sunday, Pastor Tim the the heart of the message was talking

  42. about a preparation for a wedding.

  43. I think he brought up this list that there was like 72 things

  44. from like this website of these, this planning and preparation

  45. process before you get to the big day.

  46. And so when I was thinking through that, I just was

  47. reminded of my wife and I's wedding.

  48. We got married in August of 2020 in Key West.

  49. Super excited for it was a destination wedding.

  50. It was during the COVID year, true story.

  51. We had flights booked, hotels booked, venue booked, everything

  52. booked, family flying in. And Key West was actually shut

  53. down. And so here we are literally a

  54. month before the wedding and I am on the Key West government

  55. page, like refresh, refresh. Like Lord, please, I'm trying to

  56. marry this girl. Like help me out here.

  57. Praise God. Three weeks before Key West open

  58. and I was able to get married. Praise God for that.

  59. My wife and I will hit five years.

  60. Actually exciting stuff. We just found out yesterday,

  61. December 12th, we'll be having a boy.

  62. So exciting stuff. We're pumped for that, but

  63. that's enough for the good news. Let's get to the bad stuff.

  64. So, so the wedding, right? So everyone flies in, We have

  65. about 20 people, right? Small wedding, COVID wedding,

  66. fun stuff. And so all the planning and

  67. preparation. And so we got all of the family

  68. together and we said, hey, listen, it's going to be on the,

  69. the beach in Key West. Each stair had a, a label, a

  70. number label. In a sense, you're like, hey,

  71. the numbers, it's #10 make sure you figure out where it is if

  72. it's a little confusing for you because you want to make sure

  73. that you are ready. And so, yeah, everyone's good.

  74. We, we, you know, I was like 123 break, you know, we all go do

  75. our thing. And then so here we are.

  76. It's the, it's the night of the wedding, right before the

  77. sunset. And I'll never forget it.

  78. I was sitting there at the altar.

  79. We had the chairs up. And I'm noticing that five key

  80. people are not there. OK, when the wedding has like 20

  81. people, that's like 25%. OK, So like, we're running low

  82. on this one. So I'm like, hey, they're like,

  83. we're missing quite a few. And all of a sudden I see my

  84. wife come over the sand dune and she starts walking.

  85. And so I'm sitting there, like, or standing there like, what do

  86. I do? Like, do I stop it?

  87. Do I not stop it? And she starts walking and I

  88. start crying. So I definitely didn't stop it,

  89. right. So she walks down the aisle.

  90. It's this beautiful moment. And we're face to face.

  91. And all of a sudden, sudden I see my my eyes, my wife's eyes

  92. dart. And she darts left and darts

  93. left again and darts left again. I'm like, yeah.

  94. And all of a sudden she starts crying.

  95. And she goes, I can't do this. And so my wife walks back up the

  96. altar, back over the sand beam, and then the people show up.

  97. They get seated. And Can you imagine as the

  98. bridegroom, the frustration, the anger, like I wanted to beat

  99. someone up. Holy Spirit said no.

  100. I said, OK, Holy Spirit, I wanted to fight.

  101. They're not going to invite me back after this.

  102. No, but I'm like, come on. Like we, we plan.

  103. This is the moment we plan for this.

  104. And you're late. And so my wife comes down the

  105. altar and I cry again. I'm just going to be honest.

  106. All right? I bawl my eyes out.

  107. She comes down. It's a beautiful wedding, but

  108. you know, a little bad taste in my mouth.

  109. So we get back to the pool. There's this this pool at the

  110. hotel with this whole, this is where our reception was going to

  111. be at. And I see tape, like caution

  112. tape around the pool. And so I go up to the hotel guy.

  113. I'm like, hey, you know, what's with the tape around the pool?

  114. Like that's part of the experience.

  115. You know, we hang out, eat food and then we get in the pool and

  116. relax. He goes, Oh yeah, someone, a

  117. child poo pooed in the pool. I'm like, Lord, what are we

  118. doing here? Like help a brother out.

  119. I'm just trying to have a good wedding.

  120. So I was that was frustrated. And so anyways, we have a

  121. beautiful night. It's amazing.

  122. But but I would be lying to you if I was not disappointed.

  123. I would be lying to you if those moments weren't frustrating.

  124. It's because we had prepared and prepared and prepared for this

  125. moment and they weren't ready. We were prepared for this moment

  126. and the hotel was not ready for the arrival.

  127. And the disappointment was knowing all the time, energy

  128. and, and and money that was spent and they just weren't

  129. ready. And so when I asked the

  130. question, Are you ready? What's the first thing that

  131. comes to mind? For some of you it's a work

  132. deadline. Listen, they've sent like 18

  133. emails. Y'all got to get it done, OK?

  134. Some of you, that's for you. For some of you it's maybe a

  135. relationship decision. You're like, should I be in?

  136. Should I be out? For some of you it's rent or

  137. mortgage being due. For some of you it's their exam

  138. or paper or hopefully you pass and you don't have any exams or

  139. exam or papers. Or maybe it's a trip.

  140. Like you're one of those people that plan all the trips and you

  141. have every detail and every that's already.

  142. Or maybe it's even a hard conversation that you know you

  143. need to have, but you're just waiting on.

  144. And last week, Pastor Tim shared something very powerful that's

  145. really been sitting on my heart. And it's the it's the the heart

  146. of this message. He said that when we practice

  147. the Sabbath, it's like welcoming the bride on the wedding.

  148. We prepare, we expect, and we make space for the honored guest

  149. of God's presence to arrive. And when I heard that the Lord

  150. spoke this message, if Sabbath is a weekly rehearsal for

  151. welcoming the presence of God, then Sabbath trains us to be

  152. ready for him, not just for a week, but for eternity.

  153. And so the question is, Are you ready?

  154. Because the fact is, Jesus is coming back whether you're ready

  155. or not. The moment of the return of

  156. Jesus will not wait for convenience.

  157. It won't be rescheduled around your calendar.

  158. You don't get a notification the day before.

  159. You don't get to ask for an extension when it comes.

  160. Our eternity is sealed. And at that moment, the question

  161. won't be, how successful were you?

  162. The question won't be how happy were you?

  163. The question won't be how much money did you make?

  164. It will be, did you know Jesus? Did you follow Jesus?

  165. Were you ready for Jesus? We don't practice Sabbath just

  166. to rest from something. We practice Sabbath to rest for

  167. someone and his name is Jesus. And I, I remember when I stood

  168. there at the altar and my wife had to walk back.

  169. Can I be honest? No matter how many times it

  170. took, I would still be ready. Hopefully only one time next

  171. time. OK, let's be honest here, but it

  172. doesn't matter. No matter if we had to do 345, I

  173. was going to be ready for her arrival.

  174. Is that the same mentality you have for Jesus?

  175. That regardless of what happens, you'll stand there waiting.

  176. So what does it mean to be ready?

  177. I believe God gives us the answer in His Word.

  178. We're going to be in Revelation chapter 22, verses 12 to 17.

    Revelation 22:12–17

  179. If you want to flip to your pages there, if you need a

  180. Bible, we have ushers that will hand out Bibles.

  181. If you want to pop your hand up, they will give you a Bible.

  182. Revelation chapter 22. It's the second easiest chapter

    Revelation 22 chapter mention

  183. to find in the Bible. OK, the easiest chapter is

  184. Genesis 1 is the beginning. Revelation 22 is the last

  185. chapter is the end. OK, so to keep flipping to them

  186. pages, you'll get there eventually.

  187. And so Revelation chapter 22, the thing about a story is you

    Revelation 22 chapter mention

  188. don't read a book. I suppose we have one more over

  189. here to the side. We don't we don't read a book at

  190. the very end because I mean, we don't understand what's

  191. happening before, right? If we don't understand the

  192. context, we won't understand the culmination of the story.

  193. And So what is the context? We see in Genesis chapter 1, God

    Genesis 1 chapter mention

  194. creates everything, male and male and female and creation.

  195. And it was good, good. And in Genesis chapter 3 or

    Genesis 3 chapter mention

  196. Genesis chapter 2, God put Adam and Eve over creation to steward

    Genesis 2 chapter mention

  197. it and to rest to enjoy the good things that God had created.

  198. In Genesis chapter 3, we know the fall of Adam and Eve.

    Genesis 3 chapter mention

  199. They decided to become a gods for themselves and and take and

  200. eat of the fruit. And because of that moment, sin,

  201. darkness, pain, evil entered into the world and Adam and Eve

  202. were separated from the garden. And the question was, how do we

  203. get back there? And so God and his glory and his

  204. grace decided to to show himself to someone named Abraham.

  205. And he said, through you there will be a worldwide blessing.

  206. And you are going to have a people, and I'm going to give

  207. you a land from my glory. And so we see the story of

  208. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

  209. After Joseph, the Israelites are enslaved in Egypt.

  210. We get this these beautiful moments for God is is sending

  211. these these mass miracles to free the Israelites out of the

  212. slavery of Egypt. And then we get the person of

  213. Moses who's who's following God as a servant of God.

  214. They get out into the wilderness and then God says, we have a

  215. people, I'm promising you a place and then you need a law.

  216. You need a way for you to live in relationship with me.

  217. And so the story of the Israelites, if I had to sum up

  218. the Old Testament, it says is God says, do this.

  219. And Israel says, I ain't doing that.

  220. OK, I'm going to be honest. That's kind of what happens.

  221. Like literally after Moses comes down from the Mount Sinai, like,

  222. hey, God spoke and like, hey, this golden calf looks so good.

  223. Like, what are we doing here? That's that's kind of what

  224. happens. And So what happens is Israel

  225. gets judged for their disobedience.

  226. And what happens is we see them cry out and say we need a king

  227. to save us. And so even though God was their

  228. king, it was a theocracy. God was in control.

  229. They said, you know, I'm going to give you what you want.

  230. I'm going to give you a king after your own heart.

  231. And we get the story of Saul. And then God chooses King David,

  232. who will be a man after my own heart and I'm going to fulfill

  233. my promises through him. And then we get King Solomon.

  234. And after Solomon, there was more disobedience.

  235. The, the, the country of Israel split up the northern and the

  236. southern Kingdom. And then we get this 400 years,

  237. it's called the intertestamental period of silence.

  238. There was no prophecies. There was no hope, there was no

  239. vision. It was awaiting.

  240. And all of a sudden this man named John the Baptist shows up

  241. and says, repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

  242. And while he's preaching his message, we see this man come

  243. over and he says, look, behold the Lamb of God who takes away

  244. the sin of the world. This man named Jesus enters the

  245. space declaring his Kingdom and his king ship that I'm going to

  246. have a people that serve me and I'm going to rule and reign over

  247. them. And we're going to spread this

  248. Kingdom on this earth. I'm not going to find a people

  249. that circumcised in flesh. I'm going to find a people that

  250. circumcised in heart, born again by the Spirit of God.

  251. And so Jesus lives the perfect life.

  252. He fulfills the law. He dies in place for our sins.

  253. He raised again and he gives us his Holy Spirit.

  254. He says, listen, it's better for me to leave so I can give you my

  255. Holy Spirit. And so now we are a part of that

  256. story. You are a part of that story,

  257. the story of God rescuing a people for his own possession.

  258. And so we find ourselves as exiles in a land that we're in

  259. this world, but we're not of this world that we're in this

  260. country. But our ultimate kingship is

  261. King Jesus. It's him.

  262. And then we get the Book of Revelation, this story we're

  263. about, this chapter we're about to read because it's a

  264. revelation of Jesus to the church where he makes a

  265. statement. I'm coming soon.

  266. I'm coming soon. I am going to restore what was

  267. broken because I don't know if you live in the world that I

  268. live in is yes, and we've been redeemed and saved by grace.

  269. But the world is crazy. The world is broken, the world

  270. is evil and the question is that God created it as good.

  271. So what do we do now? This is the return and waiting

  272. of King Jesus who's going to restore all things and we get

  273. this picture. I'm going to read this here

  274. chapter before in Revelation 21. It says here in verse 2.

  275. I also saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out

  276. of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her

  277. husband. Then I heard a loud voice from

  278. the throne. Look, God's dwelling is with

  279. humanity and He will live with them and they will be his

  280. peoples and the God himself will be with them and will be their

  281. God. He will wipe every tear from

  282. their eyes. Death will will be no more

  283. grief, crying and pain will be no more because the previous

  284. things have passed away. Then the one seated on the

  285. throne said, look, I am making everything new, say new, making

  286. everything new. And he also said right, because

  287. these words are faithful and true.

  288. So the question is, Are you ready and how do you know if you

  289. are? We see a couple things here,

  290. proclamation and exhortation and an invitation.

  291. Let's start here in chapter 22, starting in verse 12.

  292. Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each

  293. person according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega,

  294. the 1st and the last, the beginning and the end.

  295. So what is the proclamation of Jesus?

  296. A promise of his return. When will that happen?

  297. Jesus says soon in the Greek. It literally means swiftly.

  298. If you had to describe the second coming of Jesus in one

  299. phrase, it's repeated all throughout the New Testament.

  300. I am like a thief in the night. You won't expect it.

  301. I'm coming at any time and you better be ready.

  302. And so I I remember as a child getting the dreadful phone call

  303. from my parents, remember picking up that phone and they

  304. said, hey, I'm a be home soon. The house better be clean.

  305. Anyone else? And guess what you started

  306. doing? You started moving real quick.

  307. I mean, I was such a good kid. I'm like, I'm gonna wash the

  308. dishes. Like, they're not even gonna get

  309. nothing on me. I'm gonna do everything right.

  310. I'm gonna clean up my room. I'm gonna make sure my my

  311. clothes are folded. I'm gonna do the dishes and, and

  312. make sure everything's spotless. And just to be clear, Soon was

  313. never the same. OK?

  314. My parents version of Soon was 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or three

  315. hours or any time in between. All I know is you better be

  316. ready. And So what happened is my

  317. expectation of them coming home moved me to action.

  318. What's the principle? Our lack of action reveals our

  319. lack of faith. Because if you really believe

  320. Jesus was coming back, shouldn't it move you to something?

  321. Why? Why does Jesus come back?

  322. He says that I am going to repay each person according to his

  323. work. The word payment, it literally

  324. means wage. And so with what?

  325. It's according to what you have done in First Corinthians, the

  326. biblical principle, First Corinthians 3 verse 13 to 15, it

    1 Corinthians 3:13–15

  327. says the fire will test the quality of each one's work.

  328. If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive

  329. a reward. If anyone's work is burned up,

  330. he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved, but only

  331. as through fire. One of my favorite movies is

  332. Gladiator. Not a Christian movie.

  333. OK, let's just get that out of the way.

  334. But it's a great movie. It's a classic movie movie.

  335. Russell Crowe opens the scene. There's this beautiful scene

  336. where the the Romans are going to attack the Barbarians and

  337. he's trying to encourage them and he's trying to get them

  338. ready for battle. And he says this quote that

  339. gives me goosebumps every time. He says what we do in this life

  340. echoes in eternity. Here's the truth behind it.

  341. Work for yourself, last for a moment, work for Jesus, last for

  342. eternity. Things that we do in our life

  343. that are self-centered only focus on us.

  344. It's only just a moment and it feels good.

  345. But the work for the Kingdom we will receive the reward and,

  346. and, and, and how will Jesus come back?

  347. I will say in authority, Jesus shifts from what he is doing to

  348. the authority in which he will do it.

  349. So on this earth in the Gospels we see Jesus in his earthly

  350. unglorified state. The Book of Revelation is

  351. written by John who is one of Jesus disciples.

  352. And so this was a disciple that lived with Jesus, that walked

  353. with Jesus, that ate with Jesus, that for 3 1/2 years was one of

  354. his inner circles. But that was Jesus here.

  355. And when Revelation One, when John sees the glorified King, he

  356. says I fell at my feet as though I was dead.

  357. When he saw Jesus in his glory, in His Majesty and his dominion,

  358. the only response is woe is me, because he saw the King not just

  359. as a man, but fully enthroned in his glory.

  360. And Jesus, he's in this space of a timeless existence.

  361. He's not worried about the past, He's not worried about the

  362. present, He's not worried about the future.

  363. We get this words, Alpha and Omega.

  364. They are the 1st and the last letters of the Greek alphabet.

  365. So what is Jesus saying? Nothing in your life that is

  366. being written is a surprise to him because He knows your story,

  367. the whole story, not just your story, but from beginning to the

  368. end, He is the Alpha. He is the Omega, He is the

  369. beginning, and He is the end. So readiness is being expectant

  370. of His return. Are you ready?

  371. Let's continue in verse 14 and 15.

  372. Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have

  373. right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

  374. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerer's, the sexually

  375. immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who

  376. loves and practices falsehood. So we get here an exhortation.

  377. What is the exhortation? A purity from his people.

  378. And so we get 2 categories. We get those that are blessed to

  379. enter and those that are barred from entry.

  380. So what does it mean to be blessed in the text we read here

  381. that those who have been who have washed their robes.

  382. What's interesting though, is this is not the first time this

  383. was said. If you actually go back to

  384. Revelation Chapter 7, verse 13 and 14, it says this.

    Revelation 7:13

  385. It says then one of the elders asked me, who are these people

  386. in white robes and where did they come from?

  387. I said to him, Sir, you know. Then he told me, these are the

  388. ones coming out of the great tribulation.

  389. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the

  390. Lamb. Why is that important?

  391. Can I get a little nerdy here for a second?

  392. Is that OK? Let's just dive into the text.

  393. So in the underlying Greek in in Chapter 7 verse 14, it is an

  394. heiress tense. What does that mean?

  395. This happened at a point of time in the past in verse chapter 22,

  396. verse 14. It is a present tense, which

  397. means it's a continual process. Why does that matter?

  398. Jesus has cleansed these people Chapter 7 verse team and and is

  399. cleansing these people in chapter 22.

  400. It's the justification, the moment where you are made right

  401. with God. You have repentance and faith in

  402. Jesus and Jesus washes you clean.

  403. And then there's a process of afterward of sanctification

  404. where Jesus continues to to wash you, to make you clean, to

  405. sanctify you by the power of the Holy Spirit, to make you the

  406. image of a son. That is the process that we are

  407. seeing here. And what is the result of this

  408. cleansing? It's a partaking in eternity

  409. seated with God in the heavenly places.

  410. And then we get those who are barred, and what do we see about

  411. them? At the end, it talks about those

  412. who love and practice falsehood. It's this idea of being devoid

  413. of truth because being devoid of truth lead you to a place of

  414. false worship. If you're not living in truth,

  415. you're going to create truth for yourself and therefore follow

  416. the things of this world. And so we see this.

  417. We talk about spiritual warfare a lot.

  418. Yes, there's deliverance and there's demonic activity in the

  419. world, but most spiritual warfare is an issue of truth and

  420. lies. Jesus said I am the truth.

  421. Jesus said the truth will set you free and the enemy is called

  422. the Father of lies. So if we're talking about

  423. spiritual warfare, the reality of it is truth and lies, because

  424. here's the reality that beliefs affect your being and your

  425. behavior. Beliefs affect what you think

  426. about yourself and what you think about yourself effects

  427. what you do and how you act. And so we get a couple pictures

  428. here. It uses the word dogs, which is

  429. this picture of someone who isn't willing to come back to

  430. the house, someone who is, who is, who is dirty, who is

  431. unclean. And so this is what that would

  432. look like. That because I've been saved by

  433. grace, that gives me a license to sin.

  434. That's a belief. So now my being is I don't need

  435. to change. And the behavior is I stay in

  436. sin, or we get this picture of sorcerers, that God's not

  437. enough. I'm going to control my destiny.

  438. And I'm now going to turn to other things like witchcraft,

  439. like cards, like crystals, all these things that are not of

  440. God. And it stems from a belief.

  441. What about murders? My anger is justified.

  442. I'm the victim. I'm going to hurt others.

  443. Idolaters. God wants me happy.

  444. My worth is in my stuff, therefore I worship my success.

  445. Or what about lovers of falsehood?

  446. Jesus isn't the truth. I decide what is true and then I

  447. reject God and lead others away. Our belief effects who we are in

  448. what we do. I remember when I worked at a

  449. warehouse, one of my managers, he was a believer and he was

  450. frustrated that his wife would not go to church.

  451. And so him and I were having some conversations like, hey,

  452. like, you know what it was her did she used to go?

  453. Did she not like what happened? He's like, yeah, she used to go

  454. to church. And then something happened.

  455. She said, I was like, what happened?

  456. He goes, well, her, her cat passed away.

  457. Now, just to be clear, 50% of you are like, that's not a big

  458. deal, OK? You're like, I don't like cats.

  459. The other 50% are like, I completely understand.

  460. Like if my cat passed away, I definitely get it.

  461. But he's sharing with me that her cat passed away and she he

  462. said that since that moment she got angry at God and she fell

  463. away from church. She no longer attends because of

  464. that. And he was like, I don't get it.

  465. Like I don't get why would God allow my cat to pass away?

  466. And I'm sitting there obviously not having all the answers.

  467. I don't know why God does things or doesn't do things, but He

  468. spoke to me in that moment. He said to reveal who she

  469. belongs to. Because our behavior reveals our

  470. belonging. Our ability to step foot in this

  471. house week in and week out shows that we do belong in His house,

  472. that we are a child of God. First, John 219 says.

  473. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us, for if

  474. they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us.

  475. However, they went out, so that it might be made clear that none

  476. of them belongs to us. What am I saying here?

  477. That readiness is living in purity.

  478. Are you ready? Are you ready?

  479. Verse 16 and 17 I, Jesus, have sent my angels to attest these

  480. things to you for the churches. I am the root and the descendant

  481. of David, the bright morning star.

  482. Both the Spirit and the Bride say, come, let anyone who here

  483. say, come, let the one who is thirsty come.

  484. Let the one who desires to take the water of life freely.

  485. And then we get an invitation, which is a plea for restoration.

  486. That's what we get here in verse 16.

  487. It talks about the descendant of David.

  488. And this was a call back to the Old Testament.

  489. We actually read this promise made to King David in Second

    2 Samuel 7:12–13

  490. Samuel 7, verse 12 through 13. It says when your time comes and

  491. you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your

  492. descendant who will come from your body, and I will establish

  493. His Kingdom. He is the one will build a house

  494. for My name, and I will establish the throne of His

  495. Kingdom forever. Over 1000 years before this Book

  496. of Revelation was written, Jesus is declaring this was already

  497. the plan. This was always the plan, this

  498. was always the future, that I would be established as an

  499. offspring of David and I would make things all right and true

  500. and restored. And the question is, Are you

  501. ready? And he gives us an invitation.

  502. We had this invitation first to Jesus.

  503. It says both the Spirit and the bride say, come, let me ask you

  504. this church, are you wanting to see him?

  505. Because a ready church isn't dormant, but expectant.

  506. It's moving. It's not just sitting around,

  507. it's walking and building God's Kingdom.

  508. And then there's an invitation to us individually.

  509. Are you ready to see him? Because a ready church isn't

  510. rebellious, but repentant. A ready church is willing to

  511. acknowledge when the Holy Spirit is challenging us and convicting

  512. us and go back to the cross where we conceive grace and

  513. mercy. And then there's an invitation

  514. to the believer. Are you ready to know him?

  515. Not just an idea of Jesus, not just a religious system, but the

  516. King enthroned in glory. Are you ready to know him?

  517. My last point, readiness is accepting His invitation for

  518. restoration. Are you ready?

  519. When I was a kid, I did not have the easiest childhood.

  520. My stepfather was a retired drill instructor and for a long

  521. time I lived my life and anger my whole life I was told that I

  522. would never be anything or do anything or amount to anything.

  523. And so I wanted to prove. I wanted to prove that I could

  524. be someone and prove my stepfather wrong.

  525. And so for most of my life I lived with this quote, which was

  526. my life mantra by Frank Sinatra. It says the greatest revenge is

  527. massive success. And all I wanted to do was I

  528. wanted to get to a place where I could prove that I could be

  529. something that I could do something that you were wrong

  530. about me. And so I had this dream.

  531. I was living in San Diego at the time.

  532. There was this massive, it was a $5.5 million penthouse in

  533. downtown San Diego. It was beautiful.

  534. I was like, I think I can afford the payments and no, absolutely

  535. not. It's like $80,000 a month.

  536. Like what the hell? We who affords This is crazy.

  537. But I was like, this is me. This I wanted.

  538. And by the way, this is also like pre COVID.

  539. So like really it's probably like 10 million now.

  540. So at this point, God called me the ministry that the ship has

  541. sailed. OK, let's just be honest here.

  542. I've already accepted that. But I had this dream that I was

  543. going to have this penthouse and I was going to be on top of the

  544. world, and I was going to prove that I could be something.

  545. By God's grace, he saved me by that ideology.

  546. And it was about four or five years later, I was taking a

  547. missions trip to Thailand. And if you've ever been to

  548. Southeast Asia, very inexpensive if you have U.S. dollars, like

  549. we were able to book a five star hotel for the price of La

  550. Quinta. OK, It was like $100.

  551. Crazy, crazy. And I'll never forget this

  552. moment. We went up to the very top of

  553. this hotel in downtown Bangkok, Thailand.

  554. And I come out of this elevator and there's this affinity pool

  555. with these lights, and there's this awesome music and there's

  556. all of these buildings. And I was like, I'm on top of

  557. the world. This is it.

  558. And in that moment, I felt emptiness because I realized I

  559. had been lied to my whole life. I thought this was it.

  560. This was the dream, this was the future.

  561. This is what life had to offer. And after that moment of

  562. emptiness, the Holy Spirit filled me with joy because in

  563. that moment I knew. Because I had Jesus, I had

  564. everything. In that moment I knew that I was

  565. ready because I found the greatest treasure.

  566. If the world gives me everything and I don't have Jesus, I have

  567. nothing. But if the world gives me

  568. nothing, but I have Jesus, I have everything.

  569. And so a church, a bride that is ready is 1 Hoping for the

  570. promise of his return, living in purity and accepting the

  571. invitation for restoration. What if you live like that?

  572. Anxiety would lose its grip because you know who holds the

  573. future. It's not you, it's Jesus.

  574. Sin would lose its appeal because you'd see the surpassing

  575. worth of His glory. Church wouldn't be a Sunday

  576. event. It would be a preview of

  577. eternity. Cities could change because

  578. communities would be saturated with grace and truth.

  579. And the world would not just hear about Jesus, they would

  580. encounter him through you. That's the church that is ready.

  581. And I didn't read this during first service, but I just.

  582. That's what the Lord wants. I'm going to read this in tech

  583. booth. Relax, not out there.

  584. So you're good. I want to read this this text

  585. here. Revelation 19, verse 11 And then

    Revelation 19:11

  586. I saw heaven opened and there was a White Horse.

  587. It's writer is called faithful and true.

  588. And with justice he rages, he with he judges and wake makes

  589. war. His eyes were like a fiery flame

  590. and many crowns were on his head.

  591. He had the name written that no one knows except himself.

  592. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word

  593. of God. The armies that were in heaven

  594. followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.

  595. A sharp sword came from his mouth so that he might strike

  596. the nations with it. He will also rule them with an

  597. iron rod. He will trample the winepress of

  598. the fierce anger of God the Almighty.

  599. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh.

  600. King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Are you ready?

  601. Thanks for joining us today. We hope God is speaking to your

  602. heart through this message. If you'd like to connect with

  603. us, you can text connect to 407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate

  604. dot church. Have a great week.