The End Begins

Chase: Our scripture this morning comes from Revelation 7, 9 and 10. The great multitude in white robes. After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multipoon that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our Lord who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. This is the word of God. Praise be to God. Friends, you may be seated. Thank you. Before we get started, I do want to give a little bit of a preface. In the seat pockets in front of you, you've probably noticed there are prayer cards and a pen with sermon notes. I don't say this every week, but I will say it this week. You may want to take notes on this topic. We will be covering a very important, critical, often confusing passage of scripture. We're gonna be talking about the seven seals, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, like all that kind of of stuff stuff that you know when it kind of comes up we're like I'll deal with that at some point and kind of figure it out but let's deal with it now and get it right because here's why I have a perfect example because I just can't stop my brain even on vacation. Part of our vacation was we went to a campsite that had this giant lake in the center. And in the center of the lake was an obstacle course, like one of those inflatable obstacle courses. And it was different parts of it, like you had to climb up like part of a mountain, the lily pads that were somewhat chained together but often moving, and then you had the monkey bars, a giant slide that would go down. And it seemed simple enough looking at it until you start and you realize: wait a minute, this was. built for kids and I'm 34 so this isn't really mathing very well but here's my point in all this if you didn't put your foot in the right place you're in the lake like that you really couldn't regain your footing on the way down and here is my point the book of Revelation is a lot like that If you lose your footing, you can find yourself in places you didn't expect to go, drawing conclusions that you're not supposed to draw. So we want to go slowly, place our feet where it's saying biblically and historically, this is what the book is saying. So taking notes will help us process our questions. And once you get it, it's simple enough, but we wanna let the Bible speak for itself and we don't wanna speak for it. Amen? So that's why I'm encouraging you. May want to go back and even re-listen, re-watch. Make sure you're subscribed to our podcast, because we also will be doing more in-depth teaching on this. Because again, we want people to have strong footing on arguably the most fought-over, misunderstood, misquoted book in the world. So we want sure footing. So take notes. Let's start with a painting by Picasso. Let's just start confusing, shall we? This is a famous painting by Picasso called the Guernica. You don't have to write that down because I don't even know how to say it. So Picasso painted this as his interpretation of the Spanish Civil War. Once you know it's an interpretation of a battle scene, you can see, ⁓ okay, I see like there's some animals, there's some horses, there's people being trampled on, but on its face, you're like, I have no idea what's happening here. So you need the context to understand. What Picasso is doing in this painting is saying, here is an interpretation of reality. It's not clean, it's not simple, it's not put together very well. But what inspired him to paint this particular painting is another one. This one was by 14th century artist El Greco. And this painting is called Opening of the Fifth Seal. It's such a famous painting that Picasso not only loved it, but he bought it and hung it in his home. And it was the inspiration for the one we saw before. This is again an artistic interpretation of. Of what is happening in the passage of scripture that we're going through, the opening of the fifth seal. What does it look like when people cry out to God for justice, for the world to be put to rights? If we don't understand what we're looking at, we can often be like, Looks cool, don't get it. Let's go to the next part of the museum and look at that painting because we'll miss the meaning behind it. Oftentimes it looks like chaos in our world, does it not? It looks like a distorted version of reality. The world doesn't always go the way we expect it to. Many times the world looks more like a Picasso painting than anything else. And that's what again the book of Revelation can look like until you take a step back and realize that Jesus is putting all the pieces together and helping us understand what's going on in the world and in reality. So let's start with a little bit of a review. For those of you who are new, we are journeying together through the book of Revelation this summer. Why? Well, we just kind of felt like, why not? No, that's not it. It's because I've never once been asked in the lobby, Pastor, I need to talk to you about the book of Obadiah. It's just wrecking with me right now, and I went down this YouTube wormhole or down a Reddit thread about the book of Obadiah. It's never happened. Always the book of Revelation. That's always the most requested book. Something happens in the Middle East, it's Book of Revelation. Something happens in our own nation, it's the sign of the beast. Like, so we want to get this book right so we can understand what it's saying, what it's not saying. Okay? But if you've ⁓ not been with us before, here's a little bit of a recap of where we are so far. So again, this is review. Chapter one: Jesus revealed. Jesus shows up. To the Apostle John on the island of Patmos, and he is revealed in his full glory. John was someone who knew Jesus, walked with Jesus, was part of the twelve, and then the inner three. And so he knew Jesus. And even John fell down at his face and worshiped Jesus when he was fully revealed in his glory. Chapters two and three were the seven chapters. Letters written to the seven churches of Asia Minor. Each of these churches has their own problems, each one has their own different level of faithfulness, but they're all called to the same thing. Will you remain faithful to Jesus alone? Each one has the same call, and that call also echoes to our church. Will we remain faithful even if we go against the headwinds of culture, the headwinds of society, no matter the problems of our Area of our year, of the time that we're placed, will we remain faithful to Jesus? That is the metric he's looking for. Not the size of the church, not the size of the church building, not the size of the budget, the size of your faithfulness. That's what Jesus is looking for. That's what two and three is for. Then four and five gives us a Pull back of the curtain. We use the example of like the Wizard of Oz. And you remember that scene where he pulls back the curtain? Who's the man behind the curtain? And then we see the throne room, what is happening in the heavenly realms. We see the throne of God, that everyone is worshiping the king on the throne, all of creation, all the heavenly beings, and all the creatures of earth are all shouting, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. That's what's happening in heaven, day and night, without stop. That is the goodness of God. He is not in contention for someone else sitting on the throne. He's in complete control. Therefore, he is in full control of the events happening on earth. This is very key to understand. And our segue into this passage that we're about to unpack is that God sitting on the throne has a scroll. Do you remember this? And he says, it's ready. It is time to begin the process of healing the world, bringing about a new heaven and a new earth. But who is worthy to open the scroll? And they can find no one. They can find no one in heaven. They can find no one under the earth. And John begins to weep. Who is worthy? Who is worthy? And one of the angels comes and says, Do not weep. The Lion of Judah draws near. He hears the lion of Judah. He sees a lamb who was slain. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus alone who is worthy to begin the process of healing the world and bringing about a new heaven and new earth with no more pain, no more death, no more suffering, no more evil. Only Jesus is worthy to do this work. Almost like it inspired us to put something on the wall. Дезус чанжен. So then he opens the seals. This is where we begin. First four seals are really, they go together, okay? And you'll see why in a moment. First seal is the seal of conquest. One comes out riding on a white horse, okay? Why a white horse? White represents the color of victory, okay? This is victorious. Conquest goes out into the earth. Second seal, the seal of war. A rider comes out, riding a red horse. Why red? Well, you probably can guess why red in war. Third seal, famine. A black horse representing death. Like the famine that comes from that. And they kind of pair three and four together, so it's like the horses kind of interpret each other. Fourth one is ridden by death, and it's a pale horse. Pale for like a corpse. Now This often gets me confused on first reading. Because when you read it, you're like, okay, they each have their own like quadrant of the world. It's almost like they lay out that map that you'd have in like sixth grade social studies class, and they're like, all right, red horse, you're gonna be in the top right corner, and pale horse, you're gonna be in the bottom right. And you're like, ⁓ man, I wanted the black horse, but I got the pale horse. That stinks. Like that's who's wrecking North America right now. That's not quite how it's working. What is happening? Is these four go together because they're communicating a truth that goes all the way back to the beginning of the story of the Bible. What is that truth? The truth is these four horses are representative of the consequences of what happens when we rebel against God. These are the consequences. These are not literal horses riding around like black horsemen looking for Frodo in the Shire. Okay? Not quite like that. Any Lord of the Rings fans in here? Where are my cool people at? In the back. Love it. Great. Got another one over here. They're always in the back. They're never up front. So What do you mean these are the consequences of not listening to God? Let me let me describe it. This is historically how this has been understood, because it's a very, very, very, very, very familiar pattern. Garden of Eden. The first sin that we've talked about is the sin that happened in the heart of Adam and Eve, doubting the goodness of God, right? But the first active sin. The first time they took their body and used it for sin was to take the fruit that they were not supposed to take, right? They took what was not theirs to take. This is what conquerors do: take what's not theirs. A horse of victory. I'll go and take it. I'll go and take that land. I'll go and conquer those people. I am victorious. This leads to war, the second one. Because if someone's trying to take what's not theirs, maybe they're trying to take what's yours, and you are going to battle them for what is yours. A war. Right? What happens when a war breaks out? Everyone's called to war. Everyone's called to be a soldier. All of a sudden, farming's not happening anymore, is it? Especially in the ancient times. Farmers had to put down the plough and pick up the sword was a famous saying. Famine. War and famine affects everyone. Death comes. When we take what's not ours, leads to war to defend what's ours, leads to famine, leads to death. To me, and to all ancient historical biblical teachers, this is an average day on planet Earth. Right? Do we not have wars today? Have we not seen this pattern? You read the Old Testament, you read when Babylon comes as conquerors over Jerusalem. What do they do? They surround the city and they choke out its resources, and people are starving to death. Nebuchadnezzar rides in, captures them, takes them off, and it's completely devastating. That's what the Old Testament prophets are always warning about. Isaiah, Jeremiah, turn back to the Lord. Turn back to the Lord. До на режект. Don't we see this all in the Old Testament? Pick your battle. We see it all over. Don't we see this in the fall of Rome? The Huns are at the gate. They cut off food to the city. Everyone, whether you're a farmer or a blacksmith, it doesn't matter, you're defending your city. City starts to rot from the inside. People are dying from famine, disease, everything listed right there. And the horsemen. Didn't we see this in Germany in World War One? Авторитли девасий, лето скаротін інфляці рейс. Leads to the rise of an authoritarian leader. We'll take back what's ours. What was the first move of Hitler? Conquer what was ours. And then some. It's a pattern. What happened to Europe in the Southeast Asia during World War Two? Conquest, war, famine, and death. What's happening in Ukraine right now? What's been happening in Africa? What's happening every day around the world? New wars all the time. Same pattern. Why? Why is this happening? This is our world. This is the sin of Adam and Eve. Taking what's not ours to be conquerors. This is what God is saying. The seals broken are revealing to us this world is not our home. We shouldn't get comfortable here. This is a broken world. It's revealing the problem. It's revealing that everyone's been affected by this. It's not a future time, it's happening now. We are blessed that we have lived in a period of time of peace. But in the history of the world, the period that we've been living through these last 30, 40, 50 years as Americans is rare. World history is marked with blood and conquest and war and famine. This is what was happening in Rome. During the writings of these letters. This is why context matters. Because the audience would have understood, ⁓ yeah, that makes sense. When someone goes to conquer what's not theirs, leads to someone defending, leads to war, leads to famine, leads to death. And on and on and on the pattern goes. This is the pattern of our world. This is God revealing the problem. Are you with me? Okay. So what breaks the pattern? The fifth seal. The martyrs, it says, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood. And each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer. Until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been. The martyrs are the fifth seal. Those who were sent Christ's followers, like you and me, like we've talked about in the first week, those who were thrown into the gladiator pits, those who were thrown into the lion's den, those who were lit on torches for Caesar, are crying out, this world is broken. We we tried to do what you told us. We tried to love our enemies and they crucified us. We tried to love our enemies and they threw our children to the lion's den. Every nation, every empire at some point has persecuted those who are truly trying to speak truth to power. This is not the way of the kingdom of God. And they were killed for it. Does your heart not cry out for justice when you watch the news? Does your heart not cry out for justice? For the world to be made right when you're scrolling social media and that friend or that family member has blown their life up again, it seems like. Does your heart not cry out, it's not supposed to be like this? You understand the cry of the martyrs. How long, O Lord? Have you said that in your prayer time? As you look at the state of our world, geez, we need you come back. Anyone ever prayed that prayer? Do the rest of you not watch the news? Our world needs Jesus, does it not? We need it to be put back together, does it not? We look at the war and we're like, ⁓ my gosh, what are we doing? That's the cry of 2,000 years. That was the cry of the disciples. That was the cry of the first century, second century, third century. Every nation, every tribe has cried out, God, when are you going to make it right? That's the fifth seal. So God is showing the first four the problem, fifth one is the cry of our hearts. Every one of us, I don't care if you're a churchgoer, I don't care if you're a Christian, your heart has cried out for that. Every religion cries out for it, every person cries out, it's hardwired into you. This isn't right. This is unfair, this is evil, this is the fifth seal. This is what they're crawling out for. We tried to bring the kingdom of God, and we were killed for it. Not only in fact, we were killed, Jesus, they crucified you. This is the cry. This is Psalm two. If you've never read this psalm, read it with me afresh. Why do the nations conspire? Other translations, why do the nations rage? And the people plot in vain. The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles. The one enthroned in heaven laughs. Didn't we talk about that two weeks ago? The one enthroned in heaven who's in full control? The Lord scoffs at them, he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain, I will proclaim the Lord's decree. He said to me, You are my son. Well, that's interesting language. That's interesting language. Don't tell me there's a different God from the Old Testament and the New Testament when it clearly talks about a son of God in the Old Testament coming. Son of God, you are my son. Today I've become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance. ⁓ again, that's very interesting. Because you remember when Jesus was baptized and a voice from heaven comes that says, You are my dearly beloved son, with whom I'm well pleased. He goes into the desert, and what's the first thing that the devil does? He tempts him. And what's one of the promises he says? I'll give you the nations. He tries to give what's God's to give. The exact same thing to the same son. You are my son, today I've become your father. Ask me, I'll make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron, you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Therefore, you kings, be wise, be warned, you rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, celebrate his rule with trembling, kiss his son. Wonder who he's talking about. Or he will be angry, and your way will lead to your own destruction. For his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are those who take refuge in him. The pattern gets broken. The pattern of conquest, taking what's mine: war, disease, famine, and death, that gets broken. The martyr's cry gets answered when the Son of God reigns fully and finally. The pattern gets broken when people of the earth start submitting to him as the true king. This is what the scriptures say. But then you think to yourself, wait, are are there any world leaders doing that? Like I don't really read in the news a lot of world leaders who are like, I just broke my two-week fast, and I've read the Bible in six months, and I was at the altar call in my local church, and I I just don't read that, do you? I don't read that in the news. Maybe it's happening, but I just don't see it very often. And God says, Turn back to me, and your nation will be spared. You are a servant. You are not God. You are stewarding my world. You are not God. When kings start acting like God, it leads to their own destruction. So are you saying, Pastor, that I should expect volatility and war and famine and disease and death as long as kings keep acting like God? Yeah, you should. You should. Do you mean, Pastor, that I shouldn't put all my stock and weight in the right or in the left because both of them are incapable of actually bringing about the kingdom of God and peace forever. ⁓ yes, I am saying that. Do you mean, Pastor, that I should stop cutting out family and friends and using all my energy on politics and money to destroy other people I love? Yes, I am saying that. The only hope of this world is Jesus Christ. Period, end of story. Period, end of story. All of the energy. All of the resources, all of the money has left us drained. Is anyone else exhausted by the culture wars? Is anyone else just like, are you kidding me, this is political now? Jesus Christ, what if we gave all that energy and attention and resources to his kingdom and expected volatility until he comes back? Because the Bible describes it as birthing pains, birthing pains for a new world to come forth. The baby comes after the pain. Ladies, am I right? I've just been a witness to it, I've never done it. So Mel's either a really good actress, or that's how it works. There is pain. There is volatility. It gets worse for it gets better. This is how the Bible describes the new world that's coming. And the contractions began with Jesus Christ coming out of the grave. As he came out of the grave, he said, A new world's coming. This is just the beginning of the contractions. No one knows how long, but it's the beginning of the new world. It's the beginning of new life. This is why resurrection day is so, so, so critically important. And why we should put all of our attention, all of our energy, all of our focus onto the kingdom of God, which does not know political division, because it's not up for debate. It doesn't know should so and so be ruling next to God? ⁓ it's God alone. Is Jesus point blank end of story? So I'm loyal to him, I vote my conscience, I'm a great citizen, but they're not getting my hope. They're not getting the hope of my heart. I will do all I must to be a great citizen, just as every Christian in every nation must do their best to further the good will of the people, which is what we're told to do, which we've talked about in previous weeks, not by seizing power, but by doing the work of the kingdom. Are you with me? Like one of you's with me, so that's okay. Let's see how the story continues. The sixth seal, back in chapter six. Let's see where all this is going. So they're crying out how long? God tells them just a little longer. And then the sixth seal is broken. And this is the answer. Revelation 6, verse 12. I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There's a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, and the figs dropped from or as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens received or receded like a scroll, being rolled up. Every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves among the rocks of the mountains. They called out to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it? If you're new here, we're so glad that you joined us this morning. This is tough. It's supposed to be tough. Because what we've seen with the first four is the problem of the world. The fifth is the cry of our hearts. This is the solution. That's quite painful, is it not? Like, if anyone comes to me next week, it's like, Pastor, you read my life first. And it's Revelation 6:12. I'd be like, we are gonna get you to a good counselor and we are going to process this trauma, what happened in your childhood. Because there's something serious here. This is painful. This is news. But there is always what we call the good news. So, what's the good news in this? I love the scriptures because they bring to the surface the problem and almost immediately give you the solution, which is chapter seven. Now, if you come to me and say, chapter seven is my light verse, I'm like, you should be the counselor. For the other person, because you get it. John is looking at this scene and saying, Who can withstand this? Who can withstand this? Do you see the list? It was the kings were the first to run. Why were the kings the first to run? Because they were used to having power. Power got stripped away from them, and they're like, Uh-oh. We gotta get out of here. Then the princes who thought they'd be next to inherit power, they don't inherit power, and they're like, We better get out of here too. Then the generals who are used to military power are like, ⁓ we can't do anything against this. So they run, and then it goes down the line: the rich, the mighty, the slaves, and the free, everyone all of a sudden is equal when Jesus comes back. Do you see that? All of a sudden, all these hierarchies don't matter so much. The board's been wiped clean when Jesus comes back. So who can withstand? What's the good news, Pastor? Chapter seven is great. News. This is why we had it as our scripture reading. But look, he says, look at the Lord's army. This is 144,000 were sealed. 12,000 from each tribe of Israel, 12,000 from Judah, 12,000 from Reuben, 12,000 from Gad, 12,000 from Asher. And you're like, okay, well, that's that's great for those hundred and forty-four thousand. I don't know if I quite make the cut. Like Been a lot of great people in history, and we don't even have we have more than that in like Ohio. So how is that gonna work? Again, remember, he hears it, but he sees it. Very critical. He hears these are the people who can endure. He turns and he sees in verse 9. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, and People and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes, as we just sang about, were holding palm branches like Palm Sunday, and they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell down on their face before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and honor, thanks. And power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen. What they're talking about in Seal six is what's known as the day of the Lord, when Jesus comes back to say, Okay, you've prayed for this, and I'm here. What I need to know. Is have you been sealed in me? The only ones who are going to be indure all that's happening on this last day are those who are sealed in Christ. That's it. That's it. Where do you get that from? Keep reading. Everyone's invited. Everyone's invited. Do you see that? Every tribe, nation, tongue. Everyone, everyone, everyone. Who? Everyone. Even me? Yes, everyone. I love this promise because on that day. Says, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. You can't shelter yourself, but he will shelter you. Well, how well is he gonna shelter me? Some of you are asking. Pretty good. Never again will they hunger. Wouldn't that be nice? Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them. Praise God. Nor any scorching heat, for the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will lead them to springs of living water, and God will what? Wipe every tear from their eyes. This is what will happen for those who are in Christ on the last day. You will not be hungry. You will never feel hungry again. When you look at the news and you see famine, and you see that there's not enough water. For children in orphanages in Africa. When you look out on the world, when you walk the streets and see the homeless without enough, that will not be a reality on the Lord's Day and beyond. It will not. You will be all sufficient, all satisfied. Every pain you've ever felt, every experience, will be wiped away like a parent wiping away children's tears. When the Lord comes back, it'll be either the worst day or the greatest day. The differences are you sealed by the blood of Jesus? That's the question. This is painful to wrestle through, to look fully. At the truth of scripture means you have to look up from your phone, you have to look up from the reality of the world around you, you have to look up from your budget, you have to look up from the questions you have and say, If this is true, my only hope is you. So I need to take this seriously. Because don't know when. Could be today. Tomorrow, or 2,000 years. But the question we wrestle through isn't: will I be able to accumulate enough power and money and status and stuff to make it? the kings are hiding, and the generals, and the princes, and the rich, and the poor, but those who are in Christ. No full satisfaction on that day. That's the Lord's answer. Here's the beautiful thing about Christianity, friends. Everyone can be a part of the Lord's gathering. No one has to endure that tribulation. We do not war with flesh and blood. Everyone's invited. Everyone. Yes, everyone. Everyone can be a part of that feast. Everyone can be a part of that protection as God wipes the map clean. Everyone, you do not have to endure that. No one has to. It's a choice. Are you with me? I cannot say this passionately enough. It is a choice. I do not walk you want you walking out of here thinking, I'm not sure what the pastor was saying. I am saying it's a choice. Please get right with Jesus. You don't know. Not only is it like you get protected from that, but you find new life. You find peace beyond understanding. You find joy in the middle of cancer. You find grace in the middle of whatever you're going through. If you are in Christ, it's not a someday, it's today. And then when that someday comes, you're like, ⁓ I'm kind of used to this. I've been with Jesus. The question is, have you been sealed? What does that mean? Have you given him your heart? Have you given him your heart? Don't send me on vacation again. I'll come back with a ninety minute sermon. That that line though will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Chapter eight He opened the seventh seal. And there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. I'd be quiet too if I was watching what God had to do to heal the world and answer my prayers. How long, O Lord? Even those who are protected are in silence of what God has got to do to give birth to the new heaven and new earth. This is holy ground your soul is treading right now. Holy ground. Take it seriously. There is nothing in this world that should have more attention than this matter. Nothing. This is the holiest ground you can walk on. Because without Christ, we have no hope. This is the world we've got. But even the least of us, if we have Christ, we have everything. This is the message of Jesus for 2,000 years. This is the message that has toppled empires. This is the message that has upended kings' reigns. This is the message that took the world's poor and placed them on top in heaven. This is the message that rescues the addict. This is the message that rescues marriages. This is the message that brings families back together. This is the message that holds people together in the deepest pain of their life. It's Jesus alone. If you have Jesus, friends, you are greater than the earthly kings without him. If you have Jesus, you are more powerful than the generals of the earth. That's the power in your heart if you have Jesus. Jesus says, if you have me, even if you were a slave in this life, you will be brought into the throne room of God as an MVP, as a VIP. Come in, come in, come worship. Come worship. If you have Jesus, you can endure anything in this life because you have been sealed for a greater promise. Jesus changes everything. Nothing, nothing, nothing in this world, not the greatest marriage, the greatest job, the greatest bank account, the greatest anything can compare, cast a shadow on 1% of what it means to have Jesus in your heart. He is the only treasure that will last, is Jesus Christ. Do you have him? Do you have him? Do you know him? Does he know you? Do you have him in your life? Have you laid your heart at his feet? Have you been sealed in his hope? Have you said, I've tried everything else in the world, and nothing can compare? I'm asking, do you know Jesus in your heart? I'm notice I'm not asking. I'm not asking what's your sin pattern like right now? I'm not asking, do you have everything together? Does the family look good? I'm not asking, how's the career going? I'm not asking, have you been in jail? I'm not asking, have you been an addict? I'm not asking, are you a thief? I'm not asking any of those questions. I'm asking, do you know that Jesus Christ came to save sinners? Of whom I am the least, is what Paul wrote. What we need is Jesus. Do you have him? Do you have him? Does he have you? All you need is Jesus. Today and every day, and especially on that day. Have you given him your life? Have you laid your heart at his feet? This is the question we must wrestle with. And I want to give a chance to respond. We're going to have a time of prayer. And if maybe you have known Jesus since you were a little kid. Jesus, I just want to be back with you again. Please, please. Take this day. Maybe you've always heard of this Jesus, but you're like, don't really know if he's for me. Well, he's for you. He is so for you. Perhaps you're like it's kind of been that lukewarm as we've talked about. Man, just run to him. Trust me, once you're exposed and he reveals his goodness to you, you can't unsee it. Take this time, be with your Lord. I want to invite the band to come forward. And as we sing this next song, if you feel led, raise your hands, scream out, sing out to the Jesus. Who has saved you, who has rescued you, who is healing the world and putting it back together, who is answering every prayer of your heart. Let us pray, Jesus. We trust in you alone. We trust in you alone. We've we we've we've tried everything else and it's just not been enough. But our hearts are yours. We've been seal. You've done the work. You're the one who does the saving. You've sent out the invitation. And we're just responding to the call on our hearts. Jesus, for those who have never had that opportunity to bring you in, may we see this as good news for all people. Да і дов'ян what we've done, what matters is what you've done for us. So if there's anyone in this room this morning who just needs more of you, needs to know your love, needs to know your goodness. That maybe it's not the Lord's day, but it's a bad day today. It's a painful day. And church was a trial. Is there something I can find here? Yes, there is. And it has a name, and it's Jesus Christ. May we lift our hearts to you and you alone. Knowing that you are the hope of our lives, the hope of the world, and everything we have is yours. Jesus, we love you, we thank you, we raise our hands, we raise our voices to you alone. You have our hearts. All God's people said. Amen.

Revelation 6:12 Revelation 6:12