It's easy to get discouraged, even disgusted with the state of governance in our society today, with the bitter political divisions that threaten to boil over into violence. But there's coming a day when Christ Himself will come to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will come to personally reign and rule on this earth. It was our first President, George Washington, who observed that it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. Just look around, you can see the current events, the current headlines bear this out. The further we get from God, the more chaotic and destructive our government and our society becomes. I've got a couple of quotes from some of our other founding fathers. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States said, In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the savior. He wrote quite an essay about that. You'll look it up sometime. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity. Samuel Adams, known as the father of the American Revolution, expressed the following, I can see if we cannot better express ourselves by humbly supplicating the supreme ruler of the world, that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing in the holy and happy period when the kingdoms of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be everywhere established." Now, I'll say something straight, that won't happen until He splits the eastern sky. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the book of Revelation, we'll be going there a little bit later on. Revelation 1, I think it's either verse 6 or 7, tells us that the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him when he does split the eastern sky, because all these divisions and all this strife and chaos that so marks our time will be coming to an end. These people who, yeah, yeah, there's, oh, here's my notes. Good thing we've got the Bible. I've had to do that more than once, forget my notes, just use the Bible. Worked pretty good. But that's going to happen whenever Christ himself personally splits the eastern sky. It was said that during the American Revolution, I believe at the Battle of Lexington or Concord One, when the colonists were facing off against the Redcoats, the British commander commanded the colonists to lay down their arms in the name of George III, their sovereign king, to which one of the colonists supposedly said, we have no king but Jesus. He should be, and He is indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If we get there today, Revelation 19, we will see that in all capital letters. Understand He is the same thing as the great I Am that I Am of Exodus. Remember in Moses? Moses was approached by God there in the desert, saw this burning bush, and it wasn't burned up. You don't see that every day. And Moses went to investigate this, and his boys told him, take off thy shoes, for they are on holy ground. And when Moses got his marching orders to go back to Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of that nation, He asked this voice, who do I say sent me? And he said, I am that I am. And that wasn't I was or I will be, I am, the eternal present Christ. That Christ that said at the end of creation week that everything was very good, created the stars, planets, created the earth, all of its myriad life forms, the fowl of the air, the beast of the field, and the fish, and whales of the sea, and all this business, Christ said it was very good. He is coming to redeem his creation. Matthew 24, 22 tells us that if, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. If Christ did not come back, man would destroy himself and probably all other life on the earth. So Christ's coming the second time is not just coming in wrath and fury. He most assuredly is doing that. Isaiah 63 tells us of the winepress of the fury of His wrath. He is most assuredly coming to destroy those who rebel against Him and will not repent and ultimately will take the mark of the beast. But He's also doing this to save a remnant of humanity. These people will of course go into the millennial reign of Christ when Christ shall reign and rule on this earth. Isaiah 9, 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Now that we've got the kids back in school, this will be the next thing, will be Christmas. And we'll start thinking about Christmas cards, and a lot of them will have that part of Isaiah 6 on them. That's all good as far as it goes, but it's so incomplete. The whole thing, verses 6 and 7 should both be on the cards. How about that for peace on earth, goodwill toward men? To have both of those verses there. and the government shall be upon his shoulder. You should want to shout just there. Think about it. When he does come to reign and rule on this earth, and we come to reign and rule with him, we'll be joint heirs with Christ, there'll be no Democrats, no Republicans, no Libertarians or Greens or Independents. It will be Christ in you, the hope of glory. It will be Christ reigning and ruling on this millennial earth. When this earth is under new management, after men of the devil nearly destroy it, The deserts will bloom like a rose. The old people will jump like a heart, like a young deer. The great physician will come to make things better for all people on this earth, those who have not rejected him. His name shall be called Wonderful." Notice the capital W in Wonderful we are talking about one of the names of Christ Himself. He has many names and many crowns. As we will see if we get to Revelation 19 today He has a name written in His thigh that no man knoweth but He Himself. I can only surmise it pertains to His deity, His absolute sovereignty over this universe. Christ is sovereign over all things. I told the pastor I took a drink here. Christ is sovereign over all things, don't believe me read Job chapters 1 and 2 when Satan wanted to afflict Job he didn't just go afflict Job he went to Christ for permission first and Christ said basically you can do this that and the other, he can take away all of his property, you can kill all of his children but you can't touch Job himself. Satan did this and yet Job remained faithful to Christ so then Job said, or Satan said, yea skin for skin. And Christ said, you can afflict his body, but you can't kill him. And Job was afflicted with boils from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. Satan could only do what Christ authorized him to do, that and nothing more. Whenever Christ confronted the maniac of Gadara, had 2,000 demons in him, and Christ asked him his name and he said, we are legion. Those legions asked him, what do we do? It's not yet the time. Will you let us go into these pigs down here?" And Christ suffered them going to the pigs down here. And they only did what they were told to do. That and nothing more. That's the fallen angels. But of the increase of his government, and the government should be upon his shoulder, and his name should be called Wonderful Counselor. What is a counselor? Somebody gives you advice when you're troubled, when you're confused, you're not sure what to do next. Christ always knows what to do next. There's a little song you probably maybe learned this when you were in Sunday school. It goes, Jesus never fails. Heaven and earth may pass away, but Jesus never fails. Maybe you learned this when you were a child. Well, Jesus never does fail. He doesn't make mistakes or anything of the sort. No, He always knows what's to do. And furthermore, He is the mighty God. Not a mighty God, He is the mighty God. This is what makes Christianity distinct from all the polytheistic religions of the world. Islam, Buddha, the religions of the Native Americans here in America. They had, you know, the god of the sun, god of the wind. They had the bear god, wolf god, all this stuff. Maybe you've seen a totem pole like they have up in the Northwest, up in Washington, Oregon, up into Canada. That's each one of those animals is a picture of one of their gods, plural. Well, we have a god in heaven. We know Him in three persons, God the Father, God the Son who came to be with us. When Christ was born in Bethlehem He was Emmanuel, God with us. When He was at Calvary He was God for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us. And someday He's coming to split the eastern sky and then we'll be with God. More to the point, whenever the rapture occurs. You know what the rapture is, the great catching away of the saints. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18, let's get that clear. Whenever the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Funerals, even for those of us who are saved, are still a bittersweet experience. When Brother Han died in 2007, I don't think anybody here knew him. Maybe, well, how about Brother Russell? He died just about three years ago. We knew he went to a better place. He suffers no more where he is now. Sister Nona, and so on and so forth. But having said all that, it still hurts when we bury them. We'll never see them again in this life. Still leaves a hole here, leaves a hole there where they used to sit, that sort of thing. We go to a place where there'll be no funerals. There are no cemeteries where we're going. We go to heaven itself. So he's indeed the mighty God. After all, Christ spoke everything into existence. He spoke the earth, the sun, moon, stars. In fact, he created the stars as an afterthought. Back there in Genesis, he created the stars also like an afterthought. We can't count them. It's just about, I think there are what, over 100 billion stars just in our galaxy, and there are supposed to be untold millions of galaxies, some of them bigger than this one. They were an afterthought to the mighty God. God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Sometimes the world will say all good things must come to an end, not this. When we go home to be with the Lord that doesn't come to an end. It doesn't run its course. It's not canceled after five seasons or anything of that sort. No, we go to be with Him for all time and all eternity. How does that song go? Not for the years of time alone but for eternity. That eternity has no end. And he is the Prince of Peace. And again, he is the Prince of Peace, not a Prince of Peace. It's not Jesus and Allah. It's not Jesus and Buddha. And no, it's not Jesus and Elvis. None of that. It's Jesus Christ alone. Christ, he knew the hope of glory. It's a fascinating phrase you read in verse seven, of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. That's a real distinction from earthly governments. What do earthly governments tend to do? They tend to get bigger, more expensive, more intrusive into our lives, but do they bring more peace? No. They cause more strife, more mayhem. And finally, nations break down into civil war at that, or they're utterly crushed under the weight of tyranny, one or the other. But there's no increase of peace. People today are not happier with the way government tries to run our lives, reach into our schools, even into our churches, and into the most minute details of our lives. That brings strife. This is that government of this world, that earthly wisdom is earthly, sensual and devilish. But now there comes a time when Christ will reign and rule on this earth. He'll reign and rule from pole to pole. He'll restore the earth to the way it was before the flood, when there was a firmament over the skies. and screened out all the destructive cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and that sort of thing. That's when the lion shall lie down with the lamb. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with the judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Understand something, we're not going to vote this in. This will not be an election. He'll just come one day and take over. Christ will come one day and trample His enemies to death in the winepress of the fury of His wrath." Isaiah 63 it is right on over there just a few pages over Isaiah 63. It is also referenced in Revelation 14, 14-20. Isaiah 63 Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bosworth, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Only one person can speak in righteousness, Jesus Christ, and certainly only one person can save, that is Jesus Christ. When I was a 12-year-old boy, I called on Christ as my Lord and Savior. Let's get something straight. Sister Jones did not save me. She led me in a sinner's prayer, but Christ saved me. People will say on occasion, the pastor saved me. Or someone say, no, no, Christ saved you. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. I couldn't save myself. I couldn't die for my own sins, nevermind yours. But Christ died for all of our sins. That's why we're told in Revelation 13, eight, that he is that lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. From that day when he said, let there be light, he had effectively signed his own death warrant, because he was going to die on an old wicked cross. He was going to hang on that cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us. While the crowds hooted and jeered, others he saved himself he cannot save. If thou be the Son of God, come down off that cross. No, he stayed for you and I. His love for us kept him on that cross, not the nails. His love for us, His love for you, His love for me, for every person on the face of the earth, for those yet to be born even. That there will come a time when He comes back in judgment, you know, first time He came as a little baby in a manger, gentle Jesus, meek and mild, but next time Christ comes, He comes in judgment, He comes in fury. art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat." That is the person that, you know, used to trample the grapes with their bare feet. Maybe you've seen this on the Travel Channel or something, but they still do that in parts of Europe. I have trodden the wine-press alone. Why would Christ trod the wine-press alone? I think Romans 12, 19 comes into play when Christ says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. There's a place for earthly justice. You can trace that all the way back to Genesis 9, 6, when Noah and his sons walked off the ark. And what did God tell them? That if man were to shed blood, that by man's hand was blood to be shed. That is, men were to put other men to death for a capital crime, especially murder. But vengeance is a different story. You just fly off the handle and go shoot someone because you're mad at them. No, you don't do that. Christ knows who has what coming to them. Christ knows those who are His, those whose names will be found written in the Lamb's book of life, Revelation 20, and those who are not written in the Lamb's book of life. When those books are opened, Revelation chapter 20. what does Christ say here in verse 3, When Christ comes at the Battle of Armageddon He will literally trample the that have come to fight Him. When those people all lined up all through the Valley of Megiddo and down through the Jordan River Valley and the like, He will come to trample and destroy all these people that have come against Him. For those who have, others who have taken the mark of the beast, they will be rounded up and be judged and destroyed. Verse four, for the day of vengeance is in mine heart and the year of my redeemed has come. And I looked, and there was none to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. Those who have exalted themselves against God will be brought down to the earth. This brings up a question. Do you know Christ as Lord and Savior? You need to know Him. Well, the day is yet called the day, and you can have a no-soul salvation. Hills of Missouri is full of people who think they're saved, hope they're saved, used to be saved, I've been saved three times, things like this. Now, you can know that you're saved. After all, it's John 10, 28 through 30. Let's turn it real quick. John 10, 28 through 30. What does that tell us about salvation in light of the fact that if you die in your sins, you fall into the hands of an angry God? John 10, verse 28. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And give is a gift, by the way. In about four months, you'll be looking for gifts under the tree. What will those gifts not have on them? They won't have a price tag, right? If they did, there wouldn't be a gift. So eternal life is a gift. And they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. That is the Son speaking. If you're saved, you're in the hand of the Son. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. So you're in the hand of the Father, you're in the hand of the Son. Furthermore, you're sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, which is why we're not to grieve not the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4.30. So all three of them have got you. No one can get you out. No, you can't get yourself out. If anybody thinks they want out, they're probably not in. If you've ever been taken off the highway to hell, why would you want to go back on that thing? Let's turn now to Revelation chapter one. What will it be like when he comes? Revelation chapter one. I want to start in verse 1 of this book and I will do so for a reason. Revelation 1.1, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Occasionally people will, you may open your Bible and see something to the effect of the revelation of St. John the Divine, that's wrong. Jesus Christ revealed what's going to happen. John just wrote it down. Which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. Now, some people may say, well, this has been 1,900 years. Yes, but a day with the Lord, 1,000 years with the Lord is just one day. It's been about two days since God gave us to John the Beloved, short period of time. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth. I want to stop there for a minute. There are multitudes of people that will not touch the book of Revelation. They say it's strange. They say it's weird. It doesn't make any sense. And I agree with Dr. Henry Morris when he said that the people that choke on what's in Revelation, it's not so much they don't understand it, they just can't believe what it means, what it says. So then they try to allegorize it, they try to, what is it called, the Peterston interpretation, they try to say, oh, this refers to bad things that already happened, like the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD or stuff like this. No, Revelation says what it means, it means what it says, and it wouldn't be a blessing if you could not understand it. We've all tried to read things we didn't understand, amen? Or maybe you watched something on TV, you didn't understand it because the thing was poorly edited or whatever, didn't make any sense, and you didn't enjoy it. No, blessed is he that readeth. This implies that if it's a blessing to read it, you can understand the book of Revelation. And they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand." That is that time when Christ will take His church out, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18. We know where the dead in Christ shall rise first, that we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. That comes next. Church is not appointed to wrath. We're not to be looking for the Antichrist." Lots of people are. They run various names of various, you know, public officials or celebrities through their computers and if it comes out 666 they say, that's it, Bill Gates is the Antichrist. Or Merrick Obama is the Antichrist. You ever hear stuff like this? When I was a kid it was Henry Kissinger. He was a womanizer, you know, and that sort of thing. No, no, we don't know. We're not to go around singing, sad day, sad day, the Antichrist may come today. We are to go about singing, glad day, glad day, Jesus may come today. And that's who we are to look for, the author and finisher of our faith, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. John verse four, John to the seven churches, which are in Asia, what's now the nation of Turkey, Asia minor, grace be unto you and peace from him, which is. was and which is to come. Remember the great I Am? He always existed in the eons of eternity past. He exists here and now. And He'll exist in the eons of eternity future. The question is if you know Christ as your Lord and Savior you'll be with Him. But if you don't know Him there is one other place you'll be a place called the Lake of Fire out there in outer darkness. You say that's paradoxical how can a fire have no light? It's simple all the energy is expended as heat not light. It is possible to do that. Have you seen somebody demonstrate, have a little Bunsen burner up here, and they turn up the flame real high, and it's a clear flame. You can't see it. If you turned off all the lights, it'd be pitch dark in here, but the thing will sure take the end of your finger off because it's hot. That's the kind of fire we're talking about. This is where people go if they die without Christ as their Lord and Savior. Grace be unto you, verse four, and peace from him which, yeah, okay, is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. And how does that song go? We shall be whiter than snow, whiter than snow, much whiter than snow. And it's made us kings and priests unto God and his father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. The kindreds are the families of the earth. Possibly this is referring to the ruling families of the earth. You hear names like Rockefeller and Rothschild thrown around or kicked around or whatever. people, the so-called deep state that seeks to deliberately misrule and destroy people. I believe this is synonymous with the Nicolaitans, Revelation chapter 2. Nicolaitans meaning the overcomers of the people. These people used lie, deceit, war, on and on we can go to overcome and destroy the people. Well someday Christ will come and destroy them. These people will have no place in God's Millennial Kingdom never mind eternity to come. Verse eight, I am alpha and omega. That's quite a phrase, I am present tense, alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Today he might say I am the A to Z. Not from A to Z, I am the A to Z. History is really his story, the story of a Christ who created this universe, who created the first man, Adam, and Christ breathed into Adam and Adam became a living soul. Stop and think about that. God did not breathe into the animals. I love my little puppy dog at home, don't get me wrong. But he does not have a living soul the way you and I do, for example. And Adam became a soul. And this brings up an interesting observation. You don't have a soul. You are a soul. Plain and simple. And that soul will go somewhere for eternity. You die without Christ as your Lord and Savior. That soul goes into a place called hell, Luke 16. And the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torments. And let's get one other thing straight. You don't go to hell for being rich. After all, Abraham was over in the paradise part of hell, yet he was a wealthy man in his time. Had many, many flocks of sheep, goats, cattle, this sort of thing. Had gold and silver. Was quite a wealthy man. So it was really two rich men in that parable there. But the one rich man went to hell, not because he was rich, but because he did not know Christ as his Lord and Savior. And he's still down there today, I guess, calling for somebody to dip their finger in water, if they may cool my tongue. So he is the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Again, time and again, the Almighty, the Counselor, the man who wore the scarlet purple robe. I want to come now to Revelation 14, 14. Revelation 14, 14. I meant to get to this a little bit sooner after we got through with Isaiah 63. I meant to put these together. But John is writing here. And John writes, and I looked and behold a white cloud once sat like unto the Son of Man." When you first see Jesus, first literally see Him, you'll know who He is. Nebuchadnezzar knew who He was. Remember we had the three Hebrew children thrown into the fiery furnace, and what did Nebuchadnezzar say? Did we not throw three men into the furnace and behold I see four? And the fourth is like unto the Son of God. Oh, that's it, the break's here. How did a pagan king know who the Son of God was? I'm going to tell you that I believe that it's a factory setting, so to speak. When you're conceived, it's already on file up here. It's a default setting. And whenever you die, however you meet Christ, hopefully not at the great white throne judgment, but hopefully at that other judgment, judgment of the saints, but either way, you'll know him. He won't look like the pictures where they show him with long flowing, beautiful hair and all this business, no. I think popular mechanics got it pretty close at least. They said when Christ walked the earth for the first time, he had short, dark hair. He was probably about five foot one or something like that. He would show his hair, then it would be white like wool, but it won't be long and flowing. Just threw that in for free. And another angel, verse 15, Revelation 14, and another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle and reap. For the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. I believe we're getting close. I can't set a date and say next year's when the rapture occurs or something like that. He'll simply come in such an hour as you think not. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle saying, thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe. angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God." We just saw this in Isaiah 63, and the winepress was trodden without the city, and the blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse's bridles by the space of 1,600 furlongs. If I recall correctly that is about 180 miles, about as far as from here back over to Paterson. going to be covered in blood, the blood of God's enemies. The good news is you don't have to be here. Today is still the day God's offer of grace is still offered. Christ said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. So, you can still be saved now but don't put it off. It's a limited time offer and I believe the time is really limited. Revelation 19, Revelation 19 verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse." Time and again, you see the color white. White referred to purity, holiness. Revelation 20 talks about the great white throne judgment, where all who are lost will be judged. And once again, he sits on a white throne, symbolic of his purity, his righteousness. Nobody is going to, quote unquote, buy their way into heaven. You ever hear something like that? A few years back, we had a presidential candidate. He would like for me to tell you his name. I won't do it. But this clown said that when he died, he said, if there's a heaven, I won't even check in with God. I'll just walk right in. That man's going to be in for the rudest of awakenings one of these days. If he dies in his sins like that, he'll walk in, all right, but not to heaven. What did somebody wryly observe? Hell has open borders, anybody can go there. But in heaven only certain people can go. Where were we at, verse 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. Once again, those are the capital letters of Faithful and True, just like we saw in Isaiah 9, 6, and 7. That same Christ who is coming to be the wonderful counselor For him to be that, and to reign and rule that way, he first has to come, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. Flame of fire, this is like the zeal of the Lord of hosts. Christ means business, Christ is lively, he's active. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Let's pause for a moment. What do you read in John chapter one? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1, 14, and that Word became flesh and dwelt among us when Christ was born, the babe in the manger. This is the same Word coming back this time as conquering king, coming back as a man of war. which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." That's you and I, all of us who are saved. We come in fine linen, white and clean. And of course as many have pointed out nobody wears linen into a battlefield. That's because we're not doing battle. Christ is doing battle. What did we read in Revelation in Romans 12, 19? Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. He'll take care of everybody that needs to be taken care of. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should spite the nations. That implies all of them. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. God's millennial reign will not be a democracy. It'll not be a republic. There will not be campaigns. There will not be mudslinging ads on TV. God will reign and rule with the rod of iron when he sits on the throne of David, there to our east over in Jerusalem. Democracy, frankly, gets a black eye in the Bible. What happened to the majority in Noah's day? They all rounded like rats. What happened to the majority of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah? Burned alive. What was it, Lot, his wife, and their two daughters got out, and then even she turned and went back to see what was going on with that place, and she was turned into a pillar of salt. I'm sorry about that, Micah. But she was turned into a pillar of salt. Pilate held kind of an impromptu election. The night they brought Christ before him, they wanted him to put, you know, the Romans put him to death, and Pilate had an idea. He said, I'll present Christ here and Barabbas there. and we'll have an election. That's really what happened. Well, who did they choose? They said, give us Barabbas. Barabbas was a thief. John 10, 10 tells us the thief comes out but to steal and to kill and destroy. Yet that's who they chose. And what did they say about Christ? Let his blood be on us and on our children. And boy, has it ever. It wasn't just the Nazi Holocaust. All through the past 2,000 years, the Jews have been dispersed from their land, been persecuted everywhere as they went. in the Tribulation Period the Antichrist will seek to finish the job Hitler started and he will slay two-thirds of the Jews. And just when it looks like Israel will be utterly annihilated Christ will come and rescue His nation Israel. And in that grand and glorious day they will finally accept Him as their Messiah. Verse 16, And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And you notice that's all capital letters. He's always been sovereign over this world. Christ has allowed sin and evil to run its course because man had to have a choice. When God put Adam and Eve in the garden, he did not want robots that just said, we love you, love you, because they didn't know anything different. He wanted people that had chose something different. And of course, they made the wrong choice. They chose sin, and because of that, sin and death passed on the human race. and to be honest I cannot recall where I heard this at. But a man had brought a friend of his to church. This friend had never been to church in his life. But they came to church and this guy was saying, oh please God don't let him read out something boring like Revelation or Genesis 5, all those genealogies. Low and behold the preacher started reading out Genesis 5. All these guys lived to be 900 years old, 912 years old, but they had one thing in common. And he died. The next one lived to be 895 years old, and he died. And he read this. And this guy just said, no, no, this will bore my friend to death. Long story short, his friend got saved. You know what he said? He said he got to think about all these people that died, and he realized he was going to die someday. He said, I better call on Christ as my Lord and Savior while the days get called today. And from reading that, quote, unquote, boring genealogy of Genesis 5, a man was saved. I wanna close up now, Revelation chapter 20. Yeah, Revelation 20, 11. We'll have to close with those last four verses. And I saw a great white throne. Once again, the color white is prominent here. And him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. Have you ever heard the phrase, you can run, but you cannot hide? That'll be this. There'll be all kinds of folks trying to run and hide from God. They can't do it. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. That's from the Joe six-pack down the street that never got saved to the great. Tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein. the tyrants of antiquity such as Nebo who used to set Christians on fire and used them to light his garden while they had garden parties and things like this. They'll all stand before God someday. And the books were opened. What's in those books? Everything you ever did. I want to tell you something. You can potentially put hundreds of books on one of these. If we can do that, what can not God do in the way of books? He can put a lot of stuff on there. Everything you ever did, ever thought, All those things you thought nobody knew about, He does. For the eyes of the Lord are everywhere's beholding, both the evil and the good. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were just out of those things which are written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. Now remember this, next time you hear about somebody getting their ashes scattered over the ocean, you ever hear of that? They do that with the idea that God can't find them. Yes, He can. He knows where those ashes go. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Somebody like in hell to the county jail, you do something wrong, get arrested, taken to the county jail. The lake of fire is the penitentiary where you go to where the lost go to spend eternity. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." So we need to be about our Father's business trying to win souls and disciple converts. But we are out of time. I hope God could use this to bless you today. Let's have a word of prayer and we'll be dismissed. We thank Thee, O Lord, for this day, for the many blessings of life. Thank Thee for Thy holy word which changes not. We pray now that you'll be at the 11 a.m. service, be at those yet on the way, give them safety, and may this be more than just a time of fellowship, but a time when we can draw closer to thee, in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you all for your time and attention.