Abolishing Anxiety, Part 17

Sermon Description:

In this final message of the "Abolishing Anxiety" series Pastor Lance Sparks delves into the importance of true worship, recognizing idols in our own lives, and confronting false assurance, ultimately emphasizing that seeking eternal life requires denying oneself and keeping God's commandments.

Sermon Breakdown:

1. Salvation from Idolatry: This sermon explores the concept of salvation as liberation from idolatrous worship.

2. The Importance of True Worshipers: Jesus seeks true worshipers who will worship him in spirit and truth, emphasizing the need for genuine devotion.

3. Matthew 19:16-30: The passage is discussed as a model for seeking eternal life, highlighting Christ's emphasis on keeping the commandments.

4. Denying Oneself: Jesus teaches that one must deny oneself to truly follow him, illustrating this with the example of the rich young ruler who was asked to give up his possessions and follow Jesus.

5. Recognizing Idols: The preacher highlights the importance of recognizing idols in our lives, which can prevent us from truly worshipping God.

6. Confronting False Assurance: The sermon emphasizes the danger of false assurance and self-deception, encouraging listeners to examine their hearts and reject idolatry.

7. Seeking Eternal Life: Jesus responds to the rich young ruler's question about how to inherit eternal life by emphasizing the importance of keeping the commandments and denying oneself.

8. God-Centered Living: The sermon encourages listeners to focus on God-centered living, recognizing that true worship begins with a genuine desire to honor and glorify God.

9. Overcoming Anxiety: By addressing the heart's idolatry and false assurance, this sermon provides a framework for overcoming anxiety through an eternal perspective.

10. Conclusion: The preacher calls listeners to rest in God's sovereignty, anticipate Christ's return, and overcome anxiety by seeking true worship and salvation from idolatry.

Full Sermon Transcript:

God is so good to us. You know, 20 weeks ago we began this series, Abolishing Anxiety. It was only supposed to last just a few weeks, but you know, as it goes, sometimes it just goes on and on and on and on. And so we want to make sure that we eradicate all anxiety in your life. And so whatever we can do to do that, that's what we intend to do. But today is the last message in the series, Abolishing Anxiety. Because if the last 20 weeks haven't caused you anxiety, I can guarantee you that the next 20 weeks will cause you some kind of anxiety. If you think this COVID thing is over, think again. It's not, it's just beginning. It is only just beginning. We're not even near the halfway mark, let alone the end. Of course, I'm not a prophet, nor am I son of a prophet, but just to let you know that this is going to go on for a long while. And yet, over the course of time, you're going to find yourself facing all kinds of issues that are going to raise the anxiety level in your heart. It could be the fact that you've lost your job, you're looking for a new job, and you can't find one. It could be the fact that you're about to start a new job, and you don't even know what the new job consists of. It might be the fact that you planned your wedding for the first week in October. But you don't know if you're going to be inside the church, outside the church, whether you'll even be able to gather with the people that you want to have at your wedding.

There are all kinds of things that come our way. Some of you have been to the doctor this past week. You're waiting for the results from maybe your COVID test. I don't know. It'll probably come back positive. Don't worry about that. That's what's going to happen. But all that to say is that you went to the doctor for another reason, and you're waiting for him or her to call you back and to give you the results of whatever tests you were taking. And so those things raise the anxiety level in our hearts. There are many things that we encounter every day. And yet, if you were to come see me at any time during the 25 years that I've been here and beyond, I would always begin by talking to you about the principles that we have given to you. The 10 principles. And I would do that in a 45-minute time span. I would go through, number one, make sure you understand how to rest in God's sovereignty. What does that mean? Yada, yada, yada. And go on down through the list. And you're saying, wait a minute, if you can do that in 45 minutes, why does it take you 20 weeks to get through it? That's simply because I've got to explain them all to you in detail. But I would go through all these with you to explain to you how you can abolish anxiety over the things you're facing every single day. What is it you need to do and understand about God and His Word that will move you through times of stress, times of anxiety, times of fear? What do you do? And so we have spent a good amount of time looking at these principles to help you understand how you can abolish anxiety. Today is principle number 10. I'm going to state the principle for you. And then you're going to have to allow me time to explain it to you. All right. Because I'm going to say it to you and you're going to think, how does that abolish anxiety? Because each principle on their own does do that. But when you put them all together, it helps you through the whole process with ease. So let me give you principle number 10. And then I'll walk it through with you during our time together this morning.

Here's principle number 10. Make sure that you recognize life's ultimate tragedy. Recognize life's ultimate tragedy. Believe it or not, there is an ultimate tragedy. When you understand that, hold it in perspective. The thing or the incident or the situation that you're going through now pales in comparison to life's ultimate tragedy. When you understand that, you begin to eradicate your anxious feelings. I know that some people think that it's tragic that we have had to go through this whole situation with COVID-19. And for some people, it's been tragic. And rightly so. They've lost loved ones. They've lost friends. They've lost family members. They've lost coworkers. And anytime someone dies, it's a tragedy. I think we would all agree to that, right? We know that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. We understand that. We understand that when someone passes from this life into the next life, it's a tragedy. Unless, of course, that person goes home to be of the Lord, then it's a celebration. Yet you still experience the loss of that person in your life. And when we look at this situation that's taken place with some 15 million plus cases around the world, okay? With some 4 million plus deaths around the world, realizing that what has taken place is tragic. And when you begin to understand what has happened even in America with the 165,000 plus people that have died in our country, it is tragic. But if you just go back 100 years and you realize that 500 million people were infected with the Spanish flu and 50 million people died, over 675,000 in America, that's a tragedy. But when you compare it to this one, it pales in comparison, doesn't it? I mean, this one does compared to 100 years ago. And yet life's ultimate tragedy is far worse than any of that. And so when you recognize life's ultimate tragedy, you begin to realize that what it is we go through even today pales in comparison. So some would think that what has happened now is tragic. And it is. But it's not life's ultimate tragedy. Some would say, well, you know what? In the future, during the tribulation period, during the coming of the Lord, that's going to be a tragic time. And it is. It's going to be an horrendous time. The seven-year tribulation called the great and terrible day of the Lord, called the time of Jacob's trouble that takes place on this planet for seven years. It will be a tragedy. But even that is not life's ultimate tragedy.

There are pastors today who will tell you that we are in what Christ spoke about in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, commonly called the Olivet Discourse. There are some pastors who said that we are now embarking on that time. Those guys are wrong. We are not embarking on that time. The question was asked by the disciples, what will be the end of the age? The sign of your coming, the end of the age. And Jesus gives the answer, the longest answer in the scripture to any one question ever asked him is centered around his coming again. And that's where the Olivet Discourse comes in. Because the men were wondering how their house could be left to them desolate. But this great monstrosity that had been built by Herod is now going to be left desolate if he's the king of kings and lord of lords. So when they asked the question, Jesus began to give them the answers in detail as to what would happen at the end of the age. And when you read them, they are quite tragic. I mean, they're horrendously tragic. And he begins by talking about the fact that there is going to be immeasurable deception on the earth. In Mark chapter 13, in Mark's account of this, he says, Now, if you go through the scriptures and you realize that there's going to be an impact, immeasurable amount of deception that takes place during the tribulation period, just by looking at today's events, you can understand how easy it is for the entire world to be deceived. So easy. I mean, when you think about it, how is the Antichrist going to explain the church being translated from this earth into glory before the tribulation period begins? How is he going to be able to explain that to people? How is he going to be able to convince them that the evil ones are gone and the good ones remain? How will he convince them that he is to be the leader of the world? In fact, Revelation 13, 8 tells us that the whole world worships the beast, worships the Antichrist. Everybody bows in subjection to him. How does he get them to do that? How is it that the Antichrist can mislead the entire world? That they can buy into his deception? We know that Satan is a master deceiver. We understand that. The Bible speaks explicitly about that. And yet, how does the Antichrist accomplish this feat as you read through Revelation 6 through Revelation 18 and all that takes place and to convince the world that he is the Messiah?

In fact, if you've got your Bible, turn to Revelation 16 for a moment. And by the way, this is not life's ultimate tragedy. I'm just setting the tone for what I want to tell you. Okay? By the time you get to Revelation 16 and the bowl judgments, realize this, that in the book of Revelation you have the seals that are broken, the trumpets that are blown, and the bowls that are poured. Seven of each. The seven seals span the seven years of the tribulation. And upon the breaking of the sixth and the seventh seal comes the blowing of the seven trumpets. They happen near the very end of the tribulation. And with the blowing of the seventh trumpet come the seven bowl judgments that come upon the earth in succession in probably days no longer than weeks. Okay? So you understand that. Seven seals span the tribulation. Seven trumpets toward the end as the seventh seal is broken. And then seven bowls of judgment flow out of the seventh trumpet that is blown. And they happen in succession over a period of days, probably weeks. You need to understand that. Because in Revelation chapter 16 it says this. So the first angel, verse number two, went and poured out his bowl on the earth and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. Now by the time you come to Revelation 16, listen carefully. A quarter of the population has died in the fourth seal being broken. And now a third of the population dies according to the trumpet judgments in Revelation chapter 8. So over half the world is gone by this time. They're dead. Not counting all the people who died because of all the plagues that came outside of all those other people. Realize this. That in prophecy, the United States of America is not mentioned. And you can see why. All you got to do is watch the news. Look what's happening in our own country. We are a divided country. We are moving toward a civil war. Now whether that actually happens or not, I don't know. But I do know this, that nowhere in Scripture is the United States of America mentioned in prophecy. In fact, let me show it to you this way. As he goes through the bowl judgments, the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. Every living thing in the sea dies. Now we know that half the world is already dead. Not everything in the sea dies. And yet this is not life's ultimate tragedy yet. We're not there yet. Listen to this. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water saying, Righteous are you who are, who were, O holy one, because you judge these things. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun. And it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat. And they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. And they did not repent so as to give him glory. In other words, they know who's causing the plagues. They know it is the Lord God of Israel. They know that. Yet they will not repent and they continue to blaspheme his name. Read on. Verse 10. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. And his kingdom became darkened. And they gnawed their tongues because of pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. And they did not repent of their deeds. So listen. Man is already filled with malignant sores. Man has already been scorched so as by fire. Man has already begun to chew off his tongue because he is in excruciating pain. Yet this is not life's ultimate tragedy. You would think it would be, right? But it's not. We're not there yet. But they will not repent of their sins. They will not turn from their sins. In fact, in Revelation 6, when the sixth seal breaks, you're at the end of the tribulation, men are crying for the rocks to fall upon them so that they will die so they don't have to face anymore, and the Bible tells us, the wrath of the Lamb. They know the wrath upon them is from the Lamb of God.

Don't think there are any atheists in the world. There are not. They might say they are. They are not. They might say they're agnostic. They don't believe that there is a God and don't know there is a God that exists. They're wrong. They're lying to you. Why? Because the Bible is very clear. Eternity has been set in the heart of man. Man suppresses the truth. He will not accept the truth. And Revelation 16 exemplifies that for you because in the midst of excruciating pain, they will not repent. They will continue to blaspheme the name of God. And then it says this. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river of the Euphrates, and as water was dried up, that the way would be prepared for the kings from where? The east. The east. Because there are no kings in the west. They're only from the east. They only come from China. They only come from Japan. They only come from the eastern part of the globe, not the western part of the globe. Because there's no kings from the west to come. And the question comes, how is the drying up of the great river Euphrates a judgment? Can you think about that for a minute? Why does the Lord have to dry up the great river Euphrates so the king of the east can come and gather at a place called, as Revelation 16 tells us, the place called Armageddon? It says in verse number 13, And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. That's the unholy trinity. That's Satan trying to mask the triune nature of God, the beast, the dragon, and of course the false prophet. And they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. And they gather them together in a place called Armageddon.

Why does that have to happen? Why can't they take a flight there? Why can't they take a car there? Why can't they just get there easily? Why do they have to come by way of travel through the great Euphrates River? Because in the end, there will be no technology. In the end, we will be going back to the way it was in the beginning. That's why you have men on horses. That's why you have men on horseback. That's how they come to battle. That's how they come to war. That's why the Bible says that blood will flow for 1,600 stadiai, which is about 200 miles, up to the horse's bridles. Why? Because that's the measurement by which John would use to see the blood splatter during the battle of what is commonly called the Battle of Armageddon. But if you've been to Israel with me, you know they only gather in the field of Megiddo. They don't actually fight the battle there. The battle's fought in Bozorah. So why do I tell you that? I tell you that because this is where the world's going. But that's not life's most ultimate tragedy. Even though it's horrific, even though you read this, you think you're reading some kind of sci-fi script for some kind of movie that's going to come out. Whoever knows when all the movie theaters are closed. Probably not until 2024. Who knows?

But the fact of the matter is that this is all true because this is the word of the Lord. And Satan, who orchestrates the whole role of Antichrist, helps you understand his deception. 2 Thessalonians 2 says that, you know what? Now, this lawless one will deceive the whole world so that everyone who takes the mark of the beast will fall down and worship him. Now, I know there are people who say, you know what? Let me tell you something. If the rapture is true and the church is gone and I'm still on earth, I know I have seven years to give my life to Christ. I'll do it then. The answer is no, you won't. Because you'll fall prey to the deception as well. 2 Thessalonians 2 says these words. 2 Thessalonians 2 speaks to the fact that what takes place with the Antichrist in charge says this. That lawless one, verse number 8, will be revealed from the Lord who will slay with the breath of his mouth and brain to an end the appearance of his coming. That is the one who is coming in accord with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders. And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. In other words, God will allow you to receive a deluding influence because you knew the knowledge of the truth. You understood the gospel of God. You suppressed that truth, would not obey that truth. Therefore, you enter the tribulation. Having heard the gospel, there will now be a deluding influence that will come over you and you will believe the lie of the Antichrist. You will take the image of the Antichrist and you will perish for all eternity. Very important to understand that.

So why do I tell you this? Because to recognize life's ultimate tragedy is a way to abolish anxiety. And it all begins at the beginning of the tribulation with an immeasurable amount of deception. That's how it begins. The Antichrist will come on a white horse according to Revelation chapter 6. He comes with no arrows, just a bow because he comes in peace. He comes to make peace. He comes to grant peace. And men fall for his deception. And the question comes, how can that possibly be? Well, all you have to do is understand what has happened already in our country. How many of you in the audience have an iPhone? Raise your hand. Just raise your hand. Don't be ashamed. It's okay. This is going to apple on the back of it with a bite out of it. Don't be ashamed. Okay. And I'm sure that you have automatic updates on your phone, correct? Sure you do. So at night when you go to sleep, your phone automatically updates. That's the novel idea of having iPhones or whatever Android you might have. They automatically update themselves. And so just two months ago, three months ago, you were automatically update with iOS 13.5. Does anybody know what happens when you download or your phone is caught up to speed with iOS 13.5? What, you didn't read it? Let me read it to you. It says, iOS 13.5 speeds up access to the passcode field on devices with face ID when you wear a face mask. And introduces the exposure notification API to support COVID-19 contact tracing apps from the public health authorities. In other words, they know everywhere you go. They know everything that you do. Very important to understand that John Eastman from the Claremont Institute made it very clear that if you think that the government does not know where you're at, think again. They have always known where you're at. But now they're just declaring it openly so you can know that you know that they know where you are at. Why is that important? How do you think the Antichrist will find those who try to flee from him during the tribulation? How does he behead the believers? Where does he find these believers at? How does he get a hold of them? They developed this thing called contact tracing. Right? Contact tracing is a big deal. In fact, what they want to do is that they want to mandate masks and mandate vaccines and mandate contact tracing. And so they developed this bracelet called I am safe. That if worn, they'll be able to contact where you're at plus contact those around you to see if they've tested positive for some kind of infection. The key, though, to contact tracing is that they only work if you are a certain amount of feet apart. And guess how far that is? Six feet. Absolutely. I mean, all you have to do is just do a little bit of reading to understand exactly how easy it will be for the Antichrist to deceive the whole world into believing what it is they want to happen.

One of the great promoters of a technocratic state is a Democrat from Maryland named Jamie Raskin. Because they want everything in America to be technocratic. That is, everything under the realm of technology. So that you are able to be found out and traced wherever you go and whatever you do. In fact, Wesley Smith from the Discovery Institute has said, talks about mandatory tracking, mandatory tracing, mandatory masks, mandatory everything. In fact, think about this. Disney World came out this past week with these rules and regulations. And we know Disney owns at least half the world, right? Probably three quarters of the world. So here are the regulations at Disney World. Because Disney World is open, Disneyland is closed. More deaths in Florida than ever in California per capita. And yet Disney World is open and Disneyland is closed. So in Disney World, you can only wear just any face mask. You have to wear a particular kind of face mask. And you have to wear it all day long unless you're in the pool or you're eating and drinking. But you cannot eat and drink on the move. You can only eat and drink by standing still or sitting down. Those are the new rules of Disney World. You can't take your Frappuccino and walk around Disney World sipping on it because that's now illegal. You must be stationary. You must be stationary. It's all part of the controlling aspect of how the world wants to suck you in and see how easy it is to control your behavior. And if Disney World can do that at Disney World, they're thinking, how can we do this throughout the entire world? Those are just little ways in which people fall easily to the deceptive measures of our society. It doesn't mean you've got to read something into everything. I'm just saying, as we move toward the end, as we get ready to face life's ultimate tragedy, you must be aware of what's happening in our society.

There's a race to fifth generation technology. It's called 5G. In fact, I was listening to Daniel Golden, who's a former NASA administrator, talk about 5G technology and how China and USA are racing to dominate 5G technology because whoever dominates the fifth generation technology dominates the economy around the world, dominates politics around the world, and dominates the military around the world. So both are in a race to develop 5G technology to such an extent that they can dominate the world politically, economically, and militarily. That's where our world is going. And how easy it would be for them to deceive America.

Think of all the things that we've bought into today about what is happening and what's going on on TV. We get stuck in so easily. We've got to be careful. We've got to be discerning. We've got to be wise. We've got to keep our finger in the text. All that to say is that, listen, none of that is life's ultimate tragedy. And you're saying, well, wait a minute. I came thinking you were going to abolish anxiety, and now that I'm hearing all this, I have more anxiety than I did when I came. The good point is this. I'll take you back to point number one, rest in God's sovereignty, right? Everything's happening on time. God has a plan for this world. Everything's going on course. Nothing's out of whack in God's eternal plan, His timetable. We understand that. So everything is running on time. Everything is running according to His plan. So we rest in that. And because we rest in that, we know that come the tribulation, we'll be gone, because Revelation 3.10 says that God will take us out of, not from within, but out of, spare us from that opportunity. You okay? It's just a bug. Life's final tragedy right there. Ultimate tragedy right there. Martha, it's just a bug. It's okay. If you just stay quiet, don't move. It won't hurt you. Now it's moving its way back. So everybody else can experience what you experienced. You're good. It's over there, Martha. Oh, the glories of being outside.

All that to say is that when you look at Scripture and you realize there's coming an ultimate tragedy. And listen, the ultimate tragedy is not that people die. We all know that we're going to die. Everybody sitting here today knows you're going to die. It's appointed a man who wants to die after death, the judgment, right? The wage of sin is death. We know the soul that sins is going to die. We know that we're all going to die. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 says it's the time to be born and there's a time to die. But death is not life's ultimate tragedy. It's just not. Life's ultimate tragedy is this. Not that you die. But that when you die, you die thinking you're going to heaven and wake up in hell. That's life's ultimate tragedy. Because the people in Revelation 6 who cry for the rocks to fall upon them, to hide them from the Lamb, don't understand that the one they want to be hidden from is going to usher them into the presence of the Lamb who's going to cast them into eternal fire. You see, we miss the fact that death is not life's ultimate tragedy. Thinking you're on your way to heaven, die and wake up in hell, that's the greatest surprise in the history of man. And there are many people in that category.

We talked to you about it last week in Matthew chapter 7, that many will say to me on that day, Lord, we did all this in your name. He's going to say, depart from me. I never knew you. You practice lawlessness. You who did not hear my words, apply them to your life, believe in me. You did not do that. And yet they thought that they were doing the things of God. These people are serious. They think they're serving God. But in reality, they're going to wake up one day in hell because they did not repent of their sins and follow Christ and submit to His Lordship. So the question for us is, are you ready to die? You got to be ready to die. I'm ready. Are you ready? Do you know for certain that if you die today, you'd spend eternity in heaven with the Lord? Very, very important. How do you know you are ready to be with the Lord? So that when you die, there are no surprises. When you die, you wake up in the presence of the Lord. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5a, right? So how do you know that when you die today, you wake up in glory the very next moment? And that you are not surprised and end up in eternal damnation? Number one, have you repented of your sins? That's number one. Have you repented of your sins? Remember the story that Christ gives to us in Luke's gospel, the 13th chapter, when he says this? Verse number one. Now, on the same occasion, there were some presently reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. In other words, there were some Galileans going in to worship the Lord. And Pilate slew them and mixed their blood with their sacrificial blood. And it says, Jesus said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate? Do you think that how they died made them worse than everybody else? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the Tower of Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who lived in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jesus made it very clear. Listen, everybody's going to die. How you die is going to be different than everybody else. It's not always going to be the same, but everybody's going to die. The question is, when you die, unless you've repented of your sin, you will perish for all eternity. You need to make sure you give your life to Jesus Christ, that you have turned from your sin and trusted in the living God. That you actually have repented of your sin. That you have turned from living the life against God to living the life for God.

That's why in Luke chapter 24, verse number 47, when Christ gave the Great Commission, he said to go into all the world. And when you preach, preach the forgiveness of sins based on man's repentance. Because forgiveness only comes to those who repent. God's forgiveness is never unconditional. It's always conditioned. It's conditioned on man's repentance. Over in 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse number 25, it tells us that repentance is a gift from God. God grants man faith. 2 Peter 1.1. Grace. Ephesians 2.8.9. And he grants man repentance. That he can turn from his sin. That he hears the gospel, wants to turn from his sin. Have you repented of your sins? That's number one. Number two, have you embraced Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Have you embraced Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Do you have to believe that Jesus is the Messiah to be saved? Answer, yes. There is no other name given among men, given under heaven, given among men, whereby you must be saved. And that is the name of Jesus. And we know that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter said, thou art the Christ, when he asked, who would have been saved that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. That's who you are, Lord. You are the Messiah. The long-awaited Messiah, that's who you are. You are the living God. And what did Christ say to him? Son, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. Because man cannot reveal to somebody else that Jesus is God in the flesh. He says, but my Father has revealed this to you. God opened your heart. My Father has opened your heart, softened you to the gospel, so you know that I am the Messiah, the Son of the living God. You know that now because it's a gift granted by God. But the Bible says in John 20, 30 and 31, that these things are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. John's whole gospel about the deity of Christ is written, so you believe that Jesus is that Messiah. And have you embraced the Lord as your Messiah? If you confess Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. What did Jesus say in John 8, 24? Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Unless you believe that I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3, you will die in your sins. Because that's where you get the tetragamaton, those four Hebrew consonants that make it the name of God. And by the way, always translated in the Septuagint, kurios. And Romans 10, 9 and 10 says, If you confess with your mouth Jesus as kurios, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. You've got to confess that Jesus is the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He is the great I am. He is the living God of the universe. Very important. That means you've repented of your sins, and you embrace Christ, the Messiah, as Savior and Lord of your life. He is your deliverer. He is your redeemer. He is your Savior. He is your King. He is your Master. He is your Lord. Lord, whatever you ask, that will I do. Because you're in total subjection to His Lordship. You want to follow Him and follow Him only. That's why the command from Christ was always, Come and follow me. Why? Because that's what Christianity is. It's all about following Christ as Lord. Have you repented of your sins? Have you embraced Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? Have you acknowledged the Scripture, point number three, have you acknowledged the Scripture as your sole authority in life? To this man would I look, Isaiah 66, verse number two. To this man would I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart, and who trembles at my word. Have you acknowledged Scripture as the supreme authority to all things in your life? That is, you're always looking to the Word of God for direction. You're always asking God to lead you in the right way through His Word, because His Word is truth. That's why in Revelation 19, when He comes back on His thigh, His name is called the Word of God. Why is His name called the Word of God? Because He is the incarnate Word. The Word of God is the spoken Word of the incarnate Word. That's why Psalm 138, verse number two says, Thy Word, O Lord, is magnified even as Thy very name. Why? Because at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And you bow in His presence according to His Word, because He and His Word are one in the same. And how do you know that you'll never face life's ultimate tragedy? Because you have repented of your sin. You've embraced Jesus as the Christ, the Savior, and Lord of your life. You've acknowledged the Scriptures as your sole authority in life. And number four, you denounce Satan and his world system. You denounce Satan and his world system. You've denied yourself. Now you denounce Satan and his system. We know 1 John 5, 19 says the whole world lies under the control of the wicked one. We know from 1 Peter 5, verse number eight, that Satan goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. But those who are ready to go to heaven will only say, I denounce Satan. I denounce this world system. All that the world gives is nothing compared to the riches of my Lord, because I've embraced the pearl of great price. I've embraced the hidden treasure. And all I want is Christ. That's all I want.

Just as a note on that, just think about this. When the rapture of the church occurs, and the church is taken in the glory, I don't really believe that Satan has to convince the world of as much. Because the true church is a lot smaller than we think it is. It really is. We got a lot of people in churches. That doesn't mean they're going to heaven. Okay? That's why they face life's ultimate tragedy. Sorry. That's why they face life's ultimate tragedy. Why? Because they think they're on their way to heaven. But when they die, they're going to wake up outside the presence of God in a place called utter darkness, blackness of darkness according to Jude, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, because you're completely isolated, alone, in blackness of darkness forever and ever and ever. At that one moment in Revelation 20, there's this great reprieve when your soul is now reunited with your resurrected body. The second resurrection, the unsaved dead, are brought before the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20. And they get to plead their case before the living God. And the books are open. And they have no just cause. And they are cast into the lake of fire for all eternity. You see, nobody wants to face life's ultimate tragedy. But many people are deceived, thinking they're on their way to heaven, but will wake up in hell. If you've repented of your sins, if you've embraced Jesus as the Christ, the Savior and Lord of your life, if you've acknowledged the Scripture as your ultimate authority in all that you say and all that you do, if you have denounced Satan and the world system because you love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, for all that's in the world is going to pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever, then you will be yearning for the soon return of the King. You are yearning for the soon return of the King. I watch what you watch on TV. I see the news as you see the news. I read what you read. And I can get depressed about it, or I can say, come quickly, Lord Jesus, because I know Jesus is coming again. And so I'm ready to die because I can't wait to see Christ. There's this yearning in the soul of a believer that if you don't have that yearning, if you don't want to be with the Lord, there's a good chance you haven't repented of your sins. There's a good chance you haven't embraced Christ as Lord and Savior. There's a good chance that the Word of God is not your authority. There's a good chance that you haven't denounced Satan in the world system. Because if you've done that, you yearn for the coming of the King, that great and glorious day where Christ is revealed from glory and you're able to see Him face to face because it purifies the soul. He who has this hope in Him purifies Himself even as He Himself is pure. And you want to proclaim the Gospel to other people, right? You want them to experience what you're going to experience. You want them to be saved from eternal hell. You don't want them to have to face life's ultimate tragedy.

That's why when you recognize life's ultimate tragedy and you realize that you will never be surprised, what you face today really pales in comparison to what those who face the lake of fire will face for all eternity. That's why John says, These things are written that you may know that you have eternal life. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have the life. And I wonder today if you had the life of Christ. I wonder today you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go home to be with the Lord. Make no mistake about it. That's the only thing that matters. Because you don't want to face life's ultimate tragedy. You want to escape all that. Because you know the Savior, the Deliverer, the Redeemer of man's soul, Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me pray with you. Father God, we thank You for today. We thank You for the opportunity to open Your Word. Lord, we thank You for a chance to be able to study the Word of God together and to realize, Lord, that You are going to come again. We hope that it's today, if not today, tomorrow, sooner rather than later, because we truly want to be in Your presence. But until that day, Lord, may we be faithful preachers of the Gospel, telling people the way to eternal life, that they might embrace Christ as Lord and Savior. We thank You, Lord, that You have allowed us this time. We trust that as we go through the rest of this day into this week, You'd use us mightily for the kingdom of God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.