As I sat in the front row near
the choir, I was happy I didn't have
a pink shirt on when I heard they
were missing one.
For fifth grade I was asked to be
removed from our music class.
There was someone throwing the whole group off
and that was me.
I'd like one announcement before we study the
Word of God together.
Last night we handed out a little magazine
we're putting out for believers.
And we put a few with permission in
the back right as you go down the
stairs.
They're absolutely free.
And if you would like to be on
the mailing list, we'll put them out, Lord
willing, periodically.
Don't know how often.
You just write the address at the bottom
and we'll be happy to put you on
the mailing list.
The name of it is Chronos.
That's the Greek word, the biblical Greek word
for time.
And it's different.
You want to read the heading of what
the purpose of the magazine is.
It's allegorical in the front and the back.
It's meant to make you think.
And the Scriptures are given at the bottom.
You might say, I don't understand that.
Then we want you to look up the
Scriptures and see exactly what God says in
comparison to how man might have reported it
in a daily newspaper.
Then the inside will be teaching from the
Word of God to build up the believer
in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So you feel free if you or some
friends can use them to help yourself.
Now this morning as we study the Word
of God together, if you'd begin in Isaiah
chapter 42, please.
The prophecy of Isaiah chapter 42.
We'd like to entitle the message today, if
we could give it a title.
What on earth is God doing today?
Before I say any more on that, if
we could read the first four verses of
Isaiah 42, where God is asking us to
look at somebody, behold somebody, His servant who
will be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 1 of Isaiah 42.
Behold My servant, whom I uphold, Mine elect,
and whom My soul delighteth.
I have put My Spirit upon him, and
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles,
that is, the nations.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the
street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and
the smoking flack shall he not quench.
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, for
He has set judgment in the earth, and
the owls of the coastlands shall wait for
His law.
And God, oh bless His Word.
We asked the question just a minute or
two ago, what on earth is God doing
today?
Maybe it's crossed your mind.
You look at the problems, and you look
at the world, and you see big problems,
don't you?
Somalia and hunger, homeless even in our own
country.
Bosnia and rebellion and war, the potential of
nuclear problems in the Mideast, the Mideast crises
and so on.
We have the debate on homosexuality and AIDS
and abortion, and economic problems.
And you might say, if there is a
God, where indeed is this God, and what
is He doing about it?
What on earth is God doing today, you
might ask.
And then as a believer you might say,
if I understand the Bible right, such as
1 Corinthians 3.9, that we are called
as believers to be laborers or workers together
with Him, then what kind of work should
I be involved in, if I'm a worker
together with God?
Well, it might help to know what God
is doing, if we are to be workers
together with God.
Am I called?
Should I go out and change this world?
Can this world become Christianized?
Am I just wasting my time?
Am I playing church, you might say, when
I come to the assembly, involved in worship,
teaching, preaching, whatever?
Are we ignoring a hurting world that needs
changed?
Are we playing church, we might ask the
question.
Is a mother wasting her time, sacrificing her
career to stand beside their husband and raise
those children in the fear of God, when
the world has big, big problems?
What on earth is God doing today?
I believe you can understand it, if you,
mine will reflect back a couple of months
ago, two or three months ago, to when
your own country, the United States, went through
a governmental change.
Administrations were changed.
If you look at that, you will see
in the way in which it was changed,
indeed we'll picture what on earth God is
doing today.
Before there could be a new government, for
better or for worse, there had to be
an election.
A man had to be chosen by the
people before he could assume power.
Had to be elected.
Had to be chosen.
We read here, brothers and sisters, in Isaiah
42, that God has a plan someday to
bring truth, judgment, that is ruler, leadership, to
the earth.
And all the world is going to wait
for His law where there is a righteous
judgment.
But according to Isaiah 42, God has chosen
His servant.
He has elected somebody to do that.
And He delights in this person and He
has put His Spirit upon him.
And as you know your New Testament, that
person that God has elected, the one chosen
by God to bring truth and to rule
on this earth someday, is His servant, His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, you get to the New Testament
and God indeed has delighted in Him.
God has ignored the men of this world
and He has chosen the God-man, Jesus
Christ, to reign and to rule the nations
with a rod of iron, to use Revelation
2.27 language.
And as God looked at the walk of
His Son, Jesus Christ, He could say in
Matthew 75, This is My beloved Son in
whom I am well pleased.
God delighted in Jesus Christ.
He was elected to do this.
The men crucified Him, rejected Him, entombed Him
and said, That's the end of Him.
God countered, as Acts 2.32 says.
This Jesus that God raised up, wherever we
are all witnesses.
God raises Him up, exalts Him to the
very right hand of Heaven's throne, and He
sits down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high.
God says, Behold, look, set your eyes.
I have elected One.
I have chosen One to bring judgment and
truth to the earth.
He is My Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He obeyed Me.
He died for men.
I have raised Him up.
And so just like to be a governmental
change or had to be an election, God
indeed Himself has made an election.
He has made a choice.
But now I ask you, when that choice
happened back in November of last year, did
the new President-elect come into power right
away?
You say, well, no.
There's a transition period.
There's a period of months before he does.
And so while he's elected, he has no
power to rule yet.
He has no power to change things yet.
And I'd like you now to go to
Hebrews in the New Testament, chapter 2.
Book of Hebrews, chapter 2.
The Lord Jesus Christ has been elected, chosen
by God to bring forth judgment to the
world and to rule in truth.
But He is not empowered and thrown on
this world yet.
He is only head over all things to
the church.
In verse 8 of Hebrews 2, speaking of
mankind of whom the Lord Jesus Christ is
a head representative, says this, Thou hast put
all things in subjection under His feet, for
in that He hath put all in subjection
under Him, He left nothing that is not
put under Him, but now we see not
yet all things put under Him.
But we see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor, that
He by the grace of God should taste
death for every man.
Verse 10, For it became Him for whom
are all things, and by whom are all
things, and bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the captain of their salvations perfect through
suffering.
Right now we do not see all things
put under Him.
But we see Jesus, who has tasted death
and has a goal of bringing many sons
unto glory.
Our president-elect was elected, but he had
no power in that transition period.
Jesus Christ chosen by God, but we see
now all things put under Him.
He is not ruling the world.
That's why there's no peace, no righteousness, and
so on.
He's been rejected by this world.
But God has a plan.
And so what happens in the meantime?
What did our president-elect do in that
transition time?
You say, well, he formed a new government.
He started to go into the society of
bankers, lawyers, whatever, and call out people who
would be part of his administration and cabinet.
And so while he had no power to
rule, he was forming a government by calling
people out who would rule when the day
came.
Brothers and sisters and friends, that is exactly
what God is doing on earth today.
He has a plan to change the world,
but not yet.
But what the Lord Jesus Christ is now
doing is forming a body called the church,
a government, if you will, that will indeed
rule the world someday with Him.
For the church of God, the assembly of
God is told in verses like 1 Corinthians
6.
Know ye not that the saints shall judge
the world?
Verse 3 adds, Know you not that we
shall judge angels?
We're going to rule the world with a
rod of iron with the Lord Jesus Christ,
the elect servant.
That's the grace of God.
The blood-washed people whose sins are forgiven
cry out in Revelation 5.10. They say,
Thou hast made us kings and priests unto
God, and we shall reign on the earth.
We shall reign on the earth.
The future of the church is to reign
in a world of justice and righteousness and
peace.
What the Lord Jesus is doing now is
calling out people out of the sin of
this world and calling them to be part
of His family and body.
To use His own words in Matthew 16
.18, the Lord Jesus said this, Upon this
rock, I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The greatest work that God is doing on
earth today is building His church.
You understand the word church from the Greek,
ekklesia, simply means a called-out company.
Ones who have been called out.
That's what the word church means.
And He is building His church.
He is calling people out of a world
that's in rebellion, that's in sin, that is
appointed indeed for the judgment of God, the
punishment of God.
He is calling people by grace who will
be saved and become part of His family,
the body, the church.
He is building His church.
That's what He's doing today.
Forming a group of people that will govern,
that will reign in righteousness.
How does He build His church?
Well, you get to Acts 2.47 and
it says this, And the Lord add daily
to the church such as should be saved.
He builds His church by saving men and
women and adding them to this spiritual body
called the church.
Or the assembly.
You see, you don't go to the church
to get saved.
He says He adds to the church daily
such as should be saved.
You get in the church of God by
being saved first.
And as we were telling the young people
last night, how indeed can one be saved?
If God's activity today is to call people
out to be saved and to build His
church and you can only become part of
His church by being saved, how is one
saved?
Well, we reminded them last night of Ephesians
2.8 and 9 when God's word says
this, For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast.
God does not save men and women and
add them to His church by our works,
for our works come short.
Because Ephesians 2 looks at us as dead
and trespasses in sin.
That we are dead, that is spiritually dead
to God, cannot relate to God, cannot know
God, cannot understand God, cannot live God, but
God in our spiritual dead state.
So what does a dead man need?
We asked last night, according to Ephesians 2,
you say, well a dead man obviously needs
life.
And that's exactly what God does.
He quickens us.
He makes us alive together by Christ.
By grace ye are saved, Ephesians 2 verse
5.
God gives us His very life into us
when we put faith in Christ.
He does not save us by works, for
a dead man can't perform works.
He saves us by grace, by giving us
what we don't deserve.
And through Jesus Christ He takes away our
sin.
Ephesians 1 verse 7 tells the believer in
whom?
Jesus Christ.
We have redemption through His blood.
The forgiveness of sins.
You say, on what basis?
What do I have to do?
According to the riches of His grace.
Forgiveness of sins is based on God's grace
taking away your sins, not on what you
did, but on what the Lord Jesus did
for you, shedding His blood in love.
But it does more than that.
The gospel, by adding you to the church
and making you part of this government that's
coming, not only takes away your sin, for
that really wouldn't change you, that gets you
out of hell, but that doesn't change you.
He then gives you life.
You see, He makes us alive together with
Christ.
The unique promise of the Christian gospel, of
the true Christian gospel is this.
Listen to Acts 2.38 as Peter preached.
Repent and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
And this promise is to you, he went
on to say.
The unique promise of the gospel is that
God Himself, through the Spirit of life, if
I could use Romans 8.2 language, comes
into you and makes you a new creation.
You're no longer dead in your sins, headed
for wrath.
You are now alive unto God.
The way you got alive, God Himself came
into you.
Listen to Galatians 4.6. And because you
are sons, that comes by receiving Jesus Christ.
Because you are sons, God has sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying out to the Father.
You see, Christianity is not a school of
thought.
It is not religious rules.
It is not a code of conduct.
It is not a philosophy.
It is not reformation.
Christianity is life.
God's life.
The unique promise of the gospel, you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
And when a person trusts Christ alone, the
Holy Spirit of God invades their heart, and
in the language of 2 Corinthians 5.17,
if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
Jesus Christ would put it this way in
John 5.24. You are passed from death
unto life.
It's life.
It's a new life.
It's a life that you're now alive unto
God and therefore aware of God and serving
God.
That's the kind of gospel this is the
Bible presents.
You see, that's what he's doing today.
He's calling men and women out from this
rebellious world.
As Acts 15.14 puts it, how God
is the first to visit the Gentiles, that
is nations, to take out of them a
people for His name.
Or we could use Galatians 1.4 language,
speaking of the Lord Jesus, who gave Himself
for our sins, that He might deliver us
from, out of this present evil world.
He is calling a group of people who
will repent of their sins, turn to the
Lord Jesus Christ alone, He'll forgive you, He'll
save you from wrath, and He'll come into
you and make you a new person with
a new spiritual life, alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
That's what God is doing on earth today.
Forming a government that is changed, that is
saved, and that will rule on the earth
someday.
Now brothers and sisters, if you want to
be involved in the greatest work on earth
today, and if you're involved with your gifts
and your calling, and telling other men and
women how to be saved and witnessing, you
don't have to be ashamed that you're wasting
your life.
You are involved in what God is doing.
For God is building this church, and He
builds this church by adding to it daily,
such as should be saved.
You don't have to feel guilty that you're
playing church.
God is not changing the world yet.
He has a plan.
He's simply forming the government.
And now I take you back to our
example.
What did the president elect do next after
he started to call people to be part
of his government?
You say, well if I remember right, he
began to train them.
There were economic summits in Little Rock, Arkansas
and so on.
He began to indoctrinate them.
He began to teach them in his policies.
For what good is a government that doesn't
know the leader's policies and so on?
And that is exactly what God is doing
on earth today.
Once He saves you, once He forgives your
sin instantly, once He comes into your life
through the Holy Spirit, you are saved.
You are a new creation.
You have life.
You're alive unto God.
Saved from the wrath of God and saved
from sin.
But you know what He does next?
He begins to build us up.
He begins to train us into His ways.
I'd like you to see that if you'd
go to Ephesians chapter 4 please.
The New Testament, the epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 4.
Once He saves a person, God then starts
to distribute spiritual talents, that is gifts.
That is the activity of God from heaven.
He gives gifts unto men.
Verse 11 of Ephesians 4 describes some of
those gifts.
And He gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.
Now why is God giving gifted men to
the church?
Why this activity by God to give talent
and spiritual ability to people?
Verse 12.
You see, for the perfecting of the saints,
as some of your translations will have it,
for the equipping of the saints.
God wants us not only to be saved,
but to be equipped, to be perfected, that
is matured, to be able to do something.
To be able to do what?
Well, the perfected saints, the equipped saints are
to get involved in the work of the
ministry, verse 12 says.
And why are they to get involved in
the work of ministry or in the work
of serving?
It says for the edifying of the body
of Christ.
You see, what God is concerned about, His
number one goal on earth today, is the
body of Christ, for the church is His
body.
We're living stones.
We're alive with the Spirit of God in
us.
Not an institution, but God's church is living
people who have been born again.
Living stones, so says Peter.
Build up a spiritual house, that's the church
of God.
A spiritual house, people who are alive with
the Spirit of God, by faith in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what He is now doing is now
perfecting us, so that we can be involved
in the work of the ministry.
You see, your body is important to you.
You spend a lot of time.
If something gets hurt, you run to the
doctor, grab an aspirin, whatever.
You feel a little hunger, pain, and you
say, I have to get to the refrigerator
fast.
You take care of your body, and then
you get on a scale and you say,
oh my, I got there a little too
fast, I've got to take some of it
off.
And we're always giving attention to His body.
Do you know what God is giving attention
to today?
It's only natural.
The church is the body of Christ.
Therefore, the center of His attention is His
church, is His body.
He cares about the growth of His body.
And that's what God is doing on earth
today.
In the church of God, He is building
it up.
And we are to be involved in the
work of that ministry.
Now, brothers and sisters, as you study the
New Testament, you will find there are 22
letters of instructions.
We call them epistles, letters of instructions.
They are there to tell us what God
wants out of our life once we're saved.
Did you know He gives no plan to
change the world in this present age?
He gives no strategy to solve all the
problems in our world.
What did you spend 22 letters talking about?
Well, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ and His
body.
And all throughout it are instructions for the
growth of the body, the work of the
ministry, the edifying of the body.
You will read such things as the intelligence
of the body.
If we have a body, we're concerned about
its education, its intelligence, the wisdom that comes
from the brain.
And you will see that's what God is
concerned about.
That we are drawing our wisdom for life
from the right source.
You get to a little letter like the
book of Colossians.
You know what it's concerned about?
That you're filled with all wisdom and spiritual
understanding.
Colossians 1-9.
So you need to have a source.
If God wants you to live a life
that has wisdom and understanding so you can
walk worthy of God, where do I get
this wisdom?
What seminary, what church, what philosophy?
God says, well, I'll tell you where you
get it.
You get it from the head.
That's usually where your body gets its wisdom,
isn't it?
Well, you get it from the head in
Colossians 2-3 says, in whom Jesus Christ,
the head, it's taught He's the head, has
hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Christ is the head of the church.
We are the body.
And so we are to get the wisdom
for our life from Jesus Christ through His
Word.
God's concerned about the intelligence of the body.
Not only that, you'll read all throughout the
epistles, He's concerned about the welfare of the
body.
You know, if something goes wrong with our
body, we take care of it.
And He's concerned how the body, the love
of the body, that we're kind to the
body, one another that is.
And you'll read right here, for example, in
Ephesians 4, right in front of us, you
look at verse 32, And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even
as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.
All throughout, you'll read that love is great
and to love one another and be kind.
And when somebody needs forgiveness and asks for
it, forgive them.
Be tenderhearted.
Seek others' welfare above your own.
It's only natural that you would want your
body treated that way.
And that's how He wants the body of
Christ treated.
So God's concerned about the intelligence of the
body, the welfare of the body.
And may I say to you, He's very
concerned about the diet of the body.
You're concerned about the diet, aren't you?
We want the right kind of food and
the food we like.
All throughout the Scriptures, God will be telling
you to be careful what you eat.
He'll say, Desire the sincere milk of the
word, that ye may grow thereby.
1 Peter 2.2 He teaches there are
false gospels, false churches and false doctrines out
there that through satanic doctrine, they might not
even know it, give you the wrong kind
of food.
And He says right here in Ephesians 4,
He says that.
You look at verse 14.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed
to and fro, and carried about with every
wind of doctrine by the slay of men
and cunning craftiness whereby they lay in wait
to deceive.
He doesn't want us to be like children
who believe anything they hear, but to know
the truth of God so we can grow
into Christ.
You see, He's concerned about our diet, that
we get the truth of God.
You know what the Lord Jesus said in
John 8.34?
He says, You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall set you free.
Free from Satan's deceptions.
Free from the bondage of serving men and
things God didn't ask you to do.
Free from yourself and free from sin.
Now, if truth sets you free, tell me
what error does.
Error binds you to men, and binds you
to Satan, and puts you in the wrong
direction.
God's concerned that we get the truth, for
truth liberates so we can know God and
serve God.
And so that's the type of things God
is concerned about.
Many other things also that time won't permit.
He's concerned with the working of the body
that we may grow.
Look at verse 15 here.
Actually, look at verse 13 first of Ephesians
4.
Verse 13.
Till we all come in the unity of
the faith and the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ.
Verse 15.
But speaking the truth in love may grow
up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ.
You see, just like a child, you're born
instantly.
A baby is conceived and comes into the
world.
It's here.
It's born.
You get saved from your sin.
You become part of family, the church of
God, instantly.
You're born again.
He comes into your life, takes away your
sin by His blood that He shed, comes
into your life, instantly you're a child of
God.
That's not process.
That happens the minute you receive Christ.
But is your baby full grown?
And you say, well, no, there's years ahead
till he comes to maturity.
While it is true we are instantly born
again, it's not a process that we get
saved, the fact of maturing is a process.
And He wants us to grow and become
fully mature like Jesus Christ.
He's making us like Christ through the Spirit.
And so what might be cute for a
baby is not cute down the road.
Some of you, I know, have new babies.
We've had three in our lifetime, my wife
and I.
And when they're one year old or something,
you'll say, Dad, Dad, Dad, isn't that great?
He knows my name.
And you're all excited.
But in fact, he comes in when he's
12 years old and says, Dad, Dad, Dad,
we've got a problem here.
There's been no growth.
You see, while He's my Son and born
instantly into my family, we want maturity.
God's concerned about the growth of the body.
This is where God's energy is today.
I want to tell you, brothers and sisters,
if you are involved with your gifts and
your calling in the church of God, and
if I could use 1 Corinthians 14, 12
language, seek that ye may excel to the
edifying of the church.
You are not playing church.
You are doing exactly what God is doing.
I will build my church, not only numerically,
but spiritually, conforming us to the image of
His Christ.
You're not wasting time.
You're in the very center of God's will.
For His will isn't to change the world
today.
It's to call people out of it, and
to save them, and to indoctrinate, teach us,
build us up into Jesus Christ so we'll
be ready and able to reign.
So first there's the calling out, and then
there's the training.
That's what God is doing on earth today.
And if you're involved in the church of
God, you're involved in the very center of
God's will, for that's what He's doing.
But now I ask you what happened next,
if you can remember.
First, the president-elect was elected, but he
had no power.
And so he called people out to be
part of his government.
And then he trained them.
And then something happened next.
He called them, as Inauguration Day drew close
on January 20th of this year, he called
them to be at his side at the
capital city, and he called all the members
of his administration to join him in Washington,
D.C. And may I say that's a
picture of what God will do next.
When the church is complete, men and women
and boys and girls are saved, that are
to be saved, and have trusted Christ, and
now are changed and growing by the grace
of God, you know what He does next?
He's going to call every Christian, whether dead
or alive, to be with Him in heaven.
We call that the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4.16 puts it this way,
The Lord Himself shall be sent from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up, raptured, snatched up together, put
them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so shall we ever
be with the Lord.
He's going to call every believer who is
saved, and only believers are saved, to be
by His side and to be forever with
Him.
1 Corinthians 15.51 puts it this way,
Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed.
In a moment, in a twinkling of an
eye at the last trump, we shall be
changed.
That is bodily.
In a twinkling of an eye.
He's going to call His church home to
heaven to be at His side for Inauguration
Day.
He's going to gather everyone to His side.
And then I ask you what happened next
before He came into power.
I'd like you to go to Revelation chapter
19.
The end of the Bible, please.
Revelation chapter 19.
The scene in Revelation 19 is in heaven.
It is Inauguration Day.
Jesus Christ is ready to split open the
heavens and descend the planet Earth to judge
the sinners and to rule in righteousness and
peace for God and to change this world.
And those that are saved are coming with
Him.
But before that happens, verse 1 says this
of Revelation 19, And after these things I
heard a great voice of much people in
heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God.
What happened next?
You remember there were victory balls of celebration
that evening before the inauguration.
And that day those in the new government
were having celebration balls.
And that's exactly what is happening in heaven
after He calls us to Himself.
We're saying, Alleluia to the Lord God.
Now you look at verse 6 here of
chapter 19.
And as I heard as it were the
voice of a great multitude and the voice
of many waters and as the voice of
mighty thunderings saying, Alleluia for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth.
It's Inauguration Day.
The celebration at the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb is in verse 9.
And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are
they which are called unto the Marriage Supper
of the Lamb.
And He saith unto me, These are the
true saints of God.
There will be a victory celebration in heaven
as Jesus Christ is ready to descend on
a white horse with those that are chosen
and faithful with Him, the born-again family
behind Him, to reign on the earth.
But then there was one more thing that
had to happen.
You'll remember at 12 o'clock p.m.
on January 20th, the old administration had to
be removed before the new administration came into
power.
The two cannot co-exist.
And the rest of Revelation 19 is the
removal of the satanic world system and its
sinners.
He has to remove the old.
And you will see that He comes with
a sword in His mouth to make war,
it goes on to say.
And the final product will be in verse
21.
And the remnant were slain with the sword
of him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all
the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Isaiah 24-1 speaks of the coming judgment
upon this world for its sin.
It says, The Lord maketh the earth empty.
Isaiah 13-11, God says, I will punish
the world for its evil and the wicked
for their iniquity.
God's judgment is coming to this sinful, rebellious
world.
And for those who want to be saved
and believe God, He's calling you out right
now to be part of that church of
Him.
He's coming in judgment so that Isaiah 24
will say, the earth is going to reel
and to and fro like a drunkard.
It's going to be utterly broken down and
clean dissolved.
It's going to stagger.
There's going to be earthquakes.
Mountains will crumble and islands will sink.
This world will be shaken, it says.
And it will stagger off its axis like
a drunk person staggers.
This is the judgment coming to this world.
The old power of sinners and Satan must
be removed, as it always happens in government,
before the new power can take over.
And it will be violently removed for its
end, we've known.
It is at that point, brothers and sisters,
that Revelation 20 will introduce you to the
fact of Jesus Christ will be reigning with
His saints for a thousand years on planet
earth.
And then you'll see changes like you've never
seen.
But it will be because that Jesus Christ,
the elect of God, the God-man is
now in control, the one who's capable of
doing it.
And His administration by grace is the born
-again church who's been transformed by the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ready and able to reign.
Then there'll be peace.
Then there'll be no racial bias.
Then there'll be no sickness, it says.
And there'll be health for all the nations.
It is when Jesus Christ is reigning.
Mankind today might be sincere, trying to solve
the problems of the world.
And we should have compassion.
And where we can do good, we should.
But that's not our main calling.
You can go not too far from here
to the United Nations.
And if you walk into the park which
they're remodeling, you'll see a statue.
And that statue is beating a sword into
a plowshare.
And there'll be a little verse, the goal
of the United Nations, below that statue.
It's quoted from Isaiah 2-4.
And they quote this part of the verse.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
That's disarmament.
And chain those weapons into use for the
good of mankind.
And nations shall not lift up its sword
against nations, neither shall they learn war anymore.
No war, no more military, no marines, no
navy.
You're not training people.
They're not fighting.
Disarmament and so on.
That's the goal of the United Nations.
Unfortunately, they have left the first.
You can see it up there.
It begins in the latter third of the
verse.
What they left out.
He shall judge among the nations and rebuke
many people.
He, God's elect, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
this world has rejected.
It's He that will do this.
And His born-again family.
And He will accomplish this.
And nobody less can do it.
God is coming to judge this world.
What on earth is God doing today when
it looks like it's falling apart?
He's building a church.
How does He do that?
By saving men and women.
And so are you saved?
I didn't ask you, do you go to
church?
For it says He adds to the church
daily such as should be saved.
You get in the church by being saved.
And that qualifies you to be part of
the body of Christ with the Spirit of
God with life in you.
You're saved by repenting and simply not by
works, but by faith in Jesus Christ who
died for your sins and rose again as
your personal Savior.
That's how you're added to the church.
And then He's building the church up.
And brothers and sisters, again I say to
you, if you're involved in the assembly of
God, the church of God with your time
and your energy, you're exactly where God wants
you to be if it's according to His
Word.
For that's what He's going to be.
Yes, He'll change this world.
But first He'll gather us to be to
His side.
The victory celebration.
The removal of the old power.
And then as Revelation 5, 10 says, we
shall reign on the earth.
May you be encouraged and be involved in
what God is doing on earth today.
We're going to close in prayer and ask
God to bless His Word to you.
Whether you need to be saved or you
need to be more encouraged in the work
for God.
I remind you of that free newspaper because
the middle section happens to be a condensation
of what I spoke about.
So if you missed a few points, hopefully
you can pick them up again.
Let's just close in prayer.
Our Father in Heaven, we come into Thy
holy presence through the blood, through the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank Thee for those of us that
are saved by Thy grace.
Not by works, but by grace.
Works don't give life, but Thy Holy Spirit
does give life.
The unique promise of the Gospel that our
sins are gone and the Holy Spirit has
come in.
And so Father, we just pray Thy Word
will reach the right hearts of some that
need to be saved.
Today.
And they can pass from death until life
through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can't do this, but Thy Spirit can
work it if they are seeking and will
trust Thee in their hearts.
And they'll be changed forever, a new creation.
So we ask the working of Thy Spirit
even now.
We think of those who are already saved,
and now you're not concerned about salvation but
growth, as we would about our children.
So we pray for the growth of this
assembly, to be conformed to Thy image, to
be involved in Thy will and spiritual wisdom
and understanding.
We pray to encourage the believers here, the
older ones and the younger ones, as the
world and even some elements in Christianity would
call us on a different mission.
The command still stands to preach the Gospel
to every creature and seek to excel to
the edifying of Thy church.
This world will be changed, but not yet.
So Father, encourage Thy people in what You
are doing on earth today, building Thy church
in the gates of hell.
It shall not prevail against us.
We ask Thy rich blessing on the Word
and to the young children downstairs that it
will take deep root in their heart.
Some need saved, others need values molded for
life.
Once they are saved, Thy Word can accomplish
both.
And so we lift this up in the
name of Jesus.