The consideration that we have this morning is to be careful for nothing. To be careful for nothing. Four points that I'm going to be looking at there. One is fear dispelled by joy in Christ. The next is calmness witnessed by the authority of Christ. The other, anxiety overcome by hope for Christ. And then finally, confidence assured by peace through Christ. It's about being careful for nothing. It's about being unconcerned. It's about having our hearts settled. It's about having our lives and everything in a moderate state throughout our lives in as much as is possible for us to attend to. We go through every year a series on prophecy and I'm compelled to do this at least once a year. for at least a month of the year. And the reason why is because God has called me to preach the entire counsel of God, not those portions of scripture, which seems to be comfortable for us whenever we want them to be comfortable. Series on prophecy, the Bible is nearly a third filled with prophecy. And when we're living in days where the reality of the Word of God is coming to fruition before our very eyes, it's very difficult to just stick our heads in the sand and ignore it. It was 2020 where my interests had peaked to a level where now it affected me personally. Now, the interesting thing is that the Bible talks about those that have the greater knowledge also have the greater sorrows. And it doesn't mean that I've got more knowledge than anyone else. It just means that I read my Bible and I read it very frequently. And as a result of that, I've had always that interest in linking the things that are in the world to the Word of God, and then watching for those things that are coming. It's almost like the Bible is my little telescope that I'm standing on the wall, and I'm watching the enemy come his way. As an effect of that, one of the things that does tend to happen is a tremendous somberness in my heart, a grief sometimes, and sometimes a level of anxiety, a level of fear, a point of consternation. And this week particularly, I spent a tremendous amount of time in prayer and deeply contemplating my countenance and how I am to live my life in the light of those things that I know are there. And the contradiction between this sorrowful state that I had and the joy that the Bible represents that we're supposed to have. There's a point at which I could either spend time excusing and coming up for all these good reasons why my heart is troubled, and excuse that or I could realize that there's a discord, there's a disconnect. The Bible tells me and the reality tells me that I ought to be joyful, that I ought to be settled, that I ought to be moderate. that my heart ought to be at a wonderful level playing field. Yeah, those things that are difficult within our lives will reach their certain peaks, but my life and my walk should be one that looks more like this rather than having these extremes, and we'll touch on that as we go through. You see, I hadn't been feeling that way. I'd been feeling quite miserable. And I realized that this isn't right. And I wanted to ask the Lord, what's the answer? The answer can't be complicated. The world wants to tell you that there's a complicated answer. The Bible tells us that the answer is simple. So I asked the Lord, what's the answer? And he gave me that Sunday school answer, Jesus. Isn't it amazing though, you know, you're in Sunday school and 99% of the times you ask a question and the kids answer Jesus, most of the time they're right, you know. And I'm like, yeah, what does that mean, Lord Jesus? Oh, what does it mean? What does it mean? I started thinking about the Lord. I started thinking about his power. I started thinking about his authority. I started thinking about what he's done for me, the salvation that I've wrought. and that I've received from Him, knowing that I'm kept by Him, knowing that I hear His voice, and knowing that He is the one that is going to be coming for me at that last time when the trumpet sounds, and He is my blessed hope, and He is my joy, and my peace, and my comfort, my rock, my high tower. He's everything, and immediately I receive comfort. And it's that that I wanted to really bring out for you this morning, because we're in the middle of our seven-part series. We're dealing with the state of the church in the last days. The Bible says, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, and it goes on. And as a church, we've experienced a large part of that. But this is also a picture of the church in general around the world. Three messages have been preached to by myself and one by Brother Philip and this one right in the middle, I wanted it to be one which would encourage us as well as bring us understanding. You see, we have two potential points that we can or two potential options that we can have. We can either dig our heads deeply into the sand and pretend that none of these things are happening and think that everything is okay and have a fake pretentious joy, but it's not real. It's not real. Or we can accept the truth and still have what the Bible presents as comfort, hope, moderation, a moderation, a comfort and a hope that is evident to everybody that is around us to the point that they ask us of the hope that is in us. And when you look at Peter and you look at the dispensational point of reference that he's speaking about, it's speaking about the end of history. It's at that point in history when it's the end. And it's at that time that our hope should be so much greater and so evidenced by the world that they would ask us of the hope that is in us. And we are commanded in that text to be ready to give an answer. So as a result of that, I thought that it's a disconnect. I can't be justly feeling and experiencing my emotions as justifiable. There has to be a way to be able to understand it in a different way. We've been watching all of these things unfold around the world and as we're seeing these things unfold, we're trying to understand how they came about. How did these things come about to the point where we can understand it? Because otherwise we end up with Remember King Theoden in the Lord of the Rings and he's awoken out of a deep, deep, mesmerizing sleep and then he stands there while these armies are just about to overthrow the kingdom and he's getting his armor put on and he asks one question, how did it come to this? How did it come to this? You see he's been asleep. He hasn't seen the military build up on the outside. And for many Christians, we've also been asleep. Many Christians were only woken up in roughly 2020. And they think that we can change things simply by protesting, simply by force of might, simply by our voices and petitioning and this and that and the other. But no, no, no, we can't. We can't. You see the underpinning of our entire fabric of society has been removed one law at a time. 1967. It's the year I was born. There was a game invented. And I thought it'd be a really good illustration. Anybody know the game? Kaplunk. This is the game. And I thought it would be a really good object lesson for us to give a decent consideration at the bottom of that as a whole. And each of these has little trays. And what we have here is the underpinning foundation of our constitution. Laws that have been put into place within our Western civilization, that is to uphold our freedoms, our liberties, our human rights, so to speak. But it didn't just happen on its own. You see, the Western world had a foundation in the Word of God. When you have an absolute authority in the Word of God, that underpins and balances off everything that goes in there as far as the laws are concerned. The laws are now absolute. Every single one of those laws are absolute. They're founded on the Word of God. This is our constitution, but what underpins the constitution and takes priority is the scriptures. And as a result of that, when we have this foundation carefully laid, society then is able to, well, support all our freedoms, all our laws, our human rights, so to speak. And as our human rights are developed, society gets to live life free and prosperous. Healthcare systems work our ability to be able to invent things work when we have all these things put into place. But then, sadly, you take away the Word of God, and once you start to take away the Scriptures, every preceding government decides to come along the way, and they begin to slowly unravel the laws that underpin it. It's their turn. Now, if they're good governments, the good governments take out laws that are sort of fairly discreet. You don't realise that they're actually removing the laws that actually underpin our human rights. We think that they're good governments. They're not necessarily good. They're clever, but not necessarily good. And as these laws get removed one by one, we're starting to realise that the foundations for our human rights is beginning to unravel slowly. Until they fall. Now, if you're a good and clever government, you're able to do it in a way that no one else sees it. You're a good and clever government, you're able to do it in a way that nobody sees it. And then it's the turn of the evidently wicked government. The governments that we all recognise are wicked. And all they're doing is making it pretty obvious that these laws have been removed. And the marbles fall more and more onto their side. And our human rights are becoming more and more unravelled. Now, the end of the game is when all our rights are gone. Next government comes into place, again, only takes out subtle laws very few would notice, and there's no marbles that fall. Let's call it, I don't know, the conservative governments. Okay, let's call it the conservative, just for frame of reference, all right? Conservative governments are still removing our laws, but not to a point that you would identify and you would see. And then it gets to the turn of our socialist governments, the Labour Party in Australia, for example, or the Democrats in the United States. These governments evidently evil, and next thing you know, all our underpinnings have been removed. and our human rights are gone. Kaplunk. That's what's happened, beloved, in our world. I hope that was an interesting object lesson. That it gives you an understanding of where we are today. You take the word of God out and there are no longer any laws that have any absolute authority. You see, we have a constitution within our nation, but when a government is not held accountable and individuals within the government are not held accountable to uphold that constitution, they can do and decree anything they like. Our freedom of speech, one of those marbles, our freedom of travel. one of those marvels. Our freedom to have representative government removed by a system that has, you know, other things put into place that would elect only those people that pay the right amount of money to have them put into place. Preference system here in Victoria, for example. All of these things being removed one at a time and most of it being done in a way that, lucky to have one in a thousand people that can see it, that can recognise it. We're at a point, beloved, at the moment where all our human rights and all our freedoms are quite literally gone. Government can simply now take you, put you into prison, not charge you with anything, and leave you there for an inordinate amount of time. There's no restriction on the time that they can actually leave you there. You have a look at Julian Assange and what's happened to him. Perfect representation. And he's gone from nation to nation. He still does not have any rights, none, none whatsoever. When we look at what's happened with Donald Trump, we think about Donald Trump, and that's one thing. I don't think about Donald Trump as much as I think of John F. Kennedy in 1963. He had a man that wanted to remove the Federal Reserve banking system. Most people aren't aware of that. He created the Treasury Note, a Treasury Note that was actually based on the American judiciary system. and remove the Federal Reserve System. He, like Lincoln, attempting the same thing, killed for the cause. Beloved, what do you do? When you're watching these things occurring within the world, where is your heart at? Is your heart at a point where now the consternation, the fear, the anxieties, all of those things are going to continue to build up? Contrary to what the Bible actually says, we should be experiencing. We should be experiencing still joy. We should be in the world, but not of the world. Looking at what's going on as spectators, yet these things are affecting us. We know that they're affecting us, they affect our lives, they affect our relationships, our families. Word of God now being taken out of the way and we are seeing churches also being pulled apart because the members of the churches aren't reading the very book that they have in their laps. How many of you are actually reading this book? If you are not daily reading this book, you are a part of the problem. You are a part of the church falling apart. And I'm sorry if you don't like to hear that, but that's the truth, and I don't want you to keep your head in the sand. The very reality is that the world has already rejected the Word of God, and the reason that the world has been happy to reject the Word of God is because Christians don't hold to it anymore. Christians don't hold to it anymore. and they won't read it. And as a result, beloved, you're going to find yourself in varying degrees experiencing the same emotions that the world experiences. More Christians are depressed today, probably on average, than the average person in the world. And if they're genuine Christians, that's probably true. Why? Because we also have a struggle with the flesh. It doesn't make you happy, you know. But if we're reading the Word of God, then our moderation can be seen by all men. And we'll talk about that. Be careful for nothing. Be careful for nothing. Let's go into it and see how the Lord would bless us before we do that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. An object lesson, dear Lord, has been given to us, dear Father, just to begin this consideration this morning. I ask and pray, dear Lord, that you would click in the hearts of many that are here, that they would see the wonderful hope that is found in the word of God and the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless us, dear Father, and open our hearts to your word. We thank you, dear Lord, for this in Jesus' name. Amen. The first point there is fear dispelled by joy in Christ. Verse four and five in the text says, Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. The Church of Philippi was founded by Paul during his second missionary journey and you can read about it in Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16 shows the foundation and the founding of the Church of Corinth. During that journey, he preached the gospel. One of his first converts was Lydia, a seller of purple. The second was a woman that he had cast a devil from, and as a result of that, he ended up intensely persecuted, beaten, and thrown into prison, where we find the third convert, and that was the prison guard. The prison guard was converted by Paul because an earthquake had shaken the foundations of the prison, unloosed their bonds and opened the doors and they were still there. To their self, no harm, we are all here. He was about to thrust himself through because he'd assumed that the prisoners had all escaped. But these prisoners didn't think that the doors flinging open and the bonds being loosed was a sign from God to escape. These weren't charismatics. Sorry. They didn't see it as a sign. There was something in them that called them to remain where they were. And as a result of that, this Philippian jailer was saved. The word joy appears 60 times in the New Testament as the reasonable distribution of the word. Matthew's gospel has it occurred six occasions, Luke on 10 occasions. Philippians, like Matthew, has it also occur on six occasions, but there are only four chapters in the book of Philippians, and there's 28 in Matthew's gospel. And Luke has 24. The ratio is simple enough. Matthew's gospel, it appears only once every 4.6 chapters. Luke's once every 2.4 chapters. But in Philippians, the word joy appears one and a half times every chapter. That's not the only one. Rejoice. The word rejoice appears in Matthew on only two occasions, in Luke on 12 occasions, or once every two chapters on average. But the epistle to the Philippians, the word rejoice appears no less than 12 times or three times per chapter. You're starting to get a little bit of a hint that the book of Philippians is a book that speaks of joy and rejoicing. And we can understand that when we're reading the book of Philippians, it seems to be in every way a very happy book, a very happy book. Paul wrote there in chapter 4 verse 10, he says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Now what we're seeing on the surface there is that this is a book of joy. It's a book of rejoicing and we're seeing that on the surface and we can receive the plainness thereof and it's a wonderful blessing to say it and we get encouraged by it. But what if the book is not just seeing that on the surface, but it's a very example of joy? We'll see. Verse 22 of chapter four, he gives his salutation and says, all saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. In chapter one, he tells you that he is currently in bonds. Paul wrote the book of Philippians from a prison cell in Rome. Now, consider the perspective. Consider the perspective. whatever state I am to be there with content. The book of joy written by Paul in a cold prison cell in Rome. Now he had no idea at that particular point whether he was actually going to live or die. And there's arguments around different theologians believing that he probably thought he was going to die. I don't necessarily hold that view. And the reason I don't hold that view is because of chapter one. 1 and verse 21. I believe that there was an expectation of Paul that he would be freed, so I don't think that this is his last. Unlike 2nd Timothy where he knows that he's going to die, in chapter 1 of Philippians he gives the impression that he believes he's going to live, yet he was prepared to die. Have a look there at verse 21. He says, for me to live is Christ. This is Philippians chapter 1 verse 21. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour. Yet what I shall choose I want not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again." How's your heart's desire? You know, is your heart's desire, do you recognize that it'd be far better to depart and to be with Christ than to abide here in the flesh? Paul's was happier for him to die and to be with Christ. He'd prefer that. He'd actually prefer that, yet to remain here in the flesh is far better for the Philippians. Beloved, this is you. This is still you. You see, you still remaining in being here is far better for those that are around you than for you to depart and to be with Christ, though that be better for you. Though you would prefer that above everything else than to live in this dreary world, your desire would be to depart and to be with Christ. But God has set you to be more valuable to him for the people that are here. Beloved, though we desire the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also consider to tarry to share the hope of Christ to those that are around us. In this he had joy, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. For I have learned in whatsoever state that I am therewith to be content. The very simple question that I wanted to ask at this point is do the anxieties of your life rob you of your joy in Christ? Does it rob you of your joy in Christ? Or does your joy in Christ dispel your fears of life? You see, if we have joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, then come what may. Come what may. Come what may. We don't concern ourselves with the troubles and the trials of this life. Next point here is calmness witnessed by the authority of Christ. Again, verse four, but the focus is one portion of verse five. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. There's something that happens to a man when he has his joy firmly planted in the Lord. No matter the news of life, no matter the trials of life, no matter the struggles in life and the sufferings of life, There's a calmness. There's a level headedness. There's a measure about him outwardly that is measured stable the more he rejoices in the Lord and the hope of his Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. There is a calmness within us that is to be witnessed by the people around us. Though they struggle, though they have troubles, though they have anxieties and though they have fears, with us there is a calmness because there is a joy in Christ. That's what the Bible says. If you're not experiencing that, understand that whatever your experiences are, it's outside of what the scriptures say should be your experience. What's the problem? And that's our challenge for us today. That's our challenge. How do we get that joy in the Lord? We're going to be talking next week about the Ephesian church a little bit and how they have left their first love and the Lord tells them to return. Or have you left your first love? Did you first and foremost have hope in Christ and your foundation was in Christ, but now life has just taken on its own journey and now you have left your first love. The hope is no longer there, the joy is no longer there. Now, this is something that is a real difficulty. What we know of the Lord Jesus Christ, however, is the key, because it's easy enough to sit there and say, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and that's it, and know nothing about him. Now, I was part of a charismatic church before I, you know, found a church that actually taught the word of God. And they had their focus not on the scriptures, but on feelings. on emotions. And they like to use the word Jesus, the name Jesus, but in the end the name Jesus just became like this little magic word that they would say every now and again to sort of pep them up temporarily. But did they know Jesus? Did they know much about Jesus? Did they open their Bibles to actually see everything that was written of Christ in order to have a firm foundation in Christ that they may be comforted by Christ? No, they didn't. No, they didn't. We would pray. We would pray, earnestly pray. We would pray with all sincerity. We would pray, but the Bibles would be closed in front of us. You know, and that's not how we are to live. That's why the encouragement that you'll hear from this pulpit all the time is to read your Bible, to read your Bible. If you're not reading your Bible, you will never have the absolute assurance. You know much of Jesus with any degree of certainty. If all you think you know of Christ is that which you have learned from others, then you also cannot know as you ought to know. You'll trust us to be in the book. Not the preacher of the book, the book. You don't put your confidence in man, you put confidence in the one who created man. You put confidence in the word of God, that way it's stable, it's sure. It'll never let you down. People will let you down and you've got to roll with it. But the Word of God is your final authority. Peter wrote of this. He said, Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. We have a more sure word of prophecy. He just finished telling you that we saw Christ on the mount. We saw him transfigured before us. We saw Moses and Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ, yet the word of God is more sure than what we even saw with our own eyes. We have a more sure word of prophecy and we don't do ourselves any service when we only open it when we come to church and we stand to read it on a Sunday morning. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. How you handle the trials of life is witnessed by others who also undergo their own trials in life. Knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us, Romans 8.18, certainly adds a layer of comfort. We know that, it adds a layer of comfort. Knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God, Romans 8.28, not only has that comfort, but also adds another layer of purpose. You got that? You're with me so far? So knowing the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us gives us comfort. But knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God adds purpose to that comfort. Got it? Those two now come together in a marvelous union. But knowing that Jesus and the power of his might, and that he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Ephesians 3.20, adds to that comfort and purpose a calmness and a hope that is known unto all men. It's witnessed to all people. Knowing that Jesus can do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, it's like the weld. It's like one thing gets put together with the other and having this over the top just welds that union so perfectly together. And it gives us a calmness. When the things that go on within this life, when announcements are made, we just look at it and go, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, I saw that in the scriptures. Well, that's interesting. You roll with it. There's a calmness. There's not the anxiety. There's not the fear. Turn your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3, because this sort of solidifies this point that I was trying to make. 1 Peter 3, 15, chapter 3, and he says this, and it's interesting how it mirrors what we've just read in Philippians. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you of a reason a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. There is an evident expectation due to your relationship to Jesus and your true knowledge of him, that an evident hope is witnessed in you to inquire of, to inquire of. Guys, If you look as miserable as everybody else, who's going to ask you of any hope that you got? You know? If you're going to walk along this world like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, who's going to ask you of the hope? Who? No one's going to give you a miserable sod you are, you know? Everything that goes on in this world is like, oh, you know, yeah, this world is, nah, it's just a mess. I know what it's like, beloved, because I'd done it. I'd done it. I did it too often, especially around 2020, 2021, you know? trying to and I found a disconnect with the joy that I'm supposed to be sharing with other people and you know and and yet this misery that I knew I was coming and you know I was complete epitome of Eeyore you know. And we've had people in the church who are exactly the same, you know, and I'm trying to encourage them because they were almost reflecting me. And I'm like, dude, you can't be like that, Eddie, you're being like that. OK, all right, I've got to change something here. So there is to be hope in us. There is to be joy in us. We have eternal life. Not only we have eternal life, but our foundation, our hope is in Christ. He is our rock, our high tower, our shield, our strength. And he's also promised us all these wonderful blessings that with regards to our own nourishment, the clothes on our back. He says, these things the Gentiles seek. You don't have to worry about these things. I'm going to be providing those things. How tightly do we hold to this world? Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Brings me to the next point. Anxiety overcome by hope for Christ. By hope for Christ. The Lord is at hand. I've studied prophecy for many years. And especially since 2020, I think my desire for it had ramped up dramatically. We started the May Day series, I think it was 2017, 2018, something along those lines. And every year we've built on those things and taught about the different events that are going on and all that sort of thing. And it's been a wonderful joy. It declares and demonstrates to us the nearness of the Lord's coming because we know that He is to come prior to that tribulation period attending. Otherwise he wouldn't say the Lord is at hand, would he? Why would Paul say the Lord is at hand? Paul was expecting in every way the Lord to come imminently. There wasn't a whole bunch of things that actually had to happen prior to his coming. Why? Because the Lord is at hand. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. He is there. Paul expected him imminently. Plenty of passages demonstrating that. James expected him imminently. Peter expected him imminently. John expected him imminently. If it is imminent, then there is nothing that must happen before he comes. And if that is true, the only position that you can hold is one that testifies to him coming prior to the tribulation. Okay, okay, just to qualify something as a side issue. There's very clever individuals that say because he can come imminently, it also means that he can come in the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation. Very clever. Clever use of words. Semantics in every way. Because in theory, yes, that's true. But if he's coming imminently, you can't hold the position that he can't come until the end of the tribulation or the middle of the tribulation. Does that make sense? So In theory, that makes sense. In theory, what they're saying is true. If he means come at any time, then he can come in the middle or at the end. All right, I'll grant you that. But you can't now say that he can't come until the middle or the end. Because you're waiting for certain things to happen. If it's imminent, then it's imminent. You can't be saying that he can't come until the three and a half year point of the tribulation, or he can't come until the end of the tribulation. Paul believed that it would be imminent, that the Lord is at hand. You see, my fears and my anxieties are now completely overcome for my expectant hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us, as it does with Paul's letter to the Philippian church, that the return of the Lord is imminent. It can happen at any moment. Even in Paul's day, the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ could interrupt anything. It didn't matter that he was going to go to Rome. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ could interrupt that. It didn't matter that all of these other things were supposed to be happening, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ could interrupt that. There is nothing that needs to precede the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is at hand. It's the reason why our anxieties and fears can be overcome. Every day we see things that occur that prove the Bible respecting what it teaches about the last days. Now, whether it be the implementation of a digital identification system, You didn't think that that's just happening in Australia, did you? Did you really think that that just passed in Australia, that's it? No, no, beloved, it's all over the world at the same time. It's in Europe, it's in the United States. Well, they need to have a digital identification system in place in order to have their central bank digital currencies to link you to those currencies. And that's happening all over the world at the same time. It's the reason why it got forced through Parliament without debate. It's the reason why both parties, like our little thing here, agree. It's just another one that they... All right, don't walk around there. It's dangerous. You'll see me now walking. All of these things are falling apart, you know, and this is demonstrating before our eyes the preparation for Revelation 3.17. Revelation 3.17 speaking about the mark of the beast and the number of his name. No man should buy or sell save he that has the name of the beast or the number of his name. Ongoing persecution of the Jews that we're seeing rise up again all over the world is demonstrating the latter times. Isaiah 43, five and six, fear not for I am with thee, I'll bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up and to the south, keep not back, bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Isaiah 11 11 and it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people. When was the first time? Anybody know? Anybody? The Babylonian captivity? After the Babylonian captivity, he brought them in the first time. There hasn't been a second time yet. The second time is now. I'll bring them in a second time. So when my wife sends me videos from her office at the top of Collins Street, and we see in those videos the chants of all the Hamas supporters in upper Collins Street heading to Parliament, and I see a window, the window of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ beginning to shrink that little bit more. When nations around the world cede their sovereignty to a supranational organisation such as the United Nations or the World Health Organisation, that window shrinks again. When wars and rumours of wars build, that window shrinks. When I see the rise and the wealth of the kings of the East, such as China and India, rise like it's never been seen before, and the wealth of the people of Western nations diminish like I've never seen before, that window for his coming shrinks again. Some of you are old enough to remember all the Japanese tourists that we used to have in our country. Heaps of them. All the time. Japanese tourists. It was the famous thing. We used to do memes of them taking photos. They'd all come out with their little Sony cameras and take photos of everybody. Some of you are a little bit older than that, and you remember when the Americans used to be the main tourists in Australia. Okay? And then over latter times, it's been Russians, a lot of Russians touring around the world. And now what are we seeing? Chinese and Indian people. We have the rise of the kings of the East. They are the ones that are actually buying most of the gold reserves in the world. China became a net importer of gold some 10 years ago when they were prior to that a net exporter. They lifted the regulations and the rules on their population for them to be able to purchase silver and gold. Some of you who are aware of that at the time took advantage of the opportunities. We're seeing India now taking the place of China as far as their net import of gold reserves within the world. We recognize that there is a vying for positioning reserve banks of the world now purchasing gold. It's just incredible. You're seeing the Western nations diminish in their wealth, and you see the kings of the East rise up in their wealth. You see the BRICS nations forming so perfectly, creating for us a vision of one of the two feats of iron and clay. The BRICS nations are east geographically. The Western nations are west geographically. The BRICS nations have the same population as the population of the people in the West. You can do your own research. I did. And that was how I was able to identify both feet of iron and clay that Daniel speaks about in Daniel chapter two. They won't hold together, but they're all part of the same system. They're still part of the same system. When I'm seeing that come together, I know that summer is near. And I no longer have any fear, you see, because the Word of God is my strength and it's my stay. I know that Jesus is coming very, very soon. And it encourages me. Why? Because the Lord is at hand. The Lord is at hand. And the last point this morning. And the reason why we can be and should be careful for nothing. Confidence assured by peace through Christ. Have a look in your text there in Philippians chapter four from verse six. Verse six, he says, be careful for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Beloved, if it is true that your fear is dispelled by joy in Christ, if you rejoice in the Lord always, if you do indeed rejoice evermore, and if your calmness, your moderation, your measured life is an evident witness to the outside world, to your belief in the authority of Christ, the power of Christ, and that He and He alone is in control of all things, and that the world is not falling apart, but more rather the Word of God is perfectly coming together And if all your anxieties are truly overcome by your hope for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you know certainly that he's coming. imminently, anytime for his bride, and that you are one of those who love his appearing. That is, you're eagerly and earnestly looking for that blessed hope. You're so busy in the world, just one more, hang on, one more, just one more, Lord, one more for you before you come, just one more, one more, one more before that trumpet sounds, you know, and the end of our ministry is done. Because you realise when Jesus comes, when that trumpet sounds, you've got no more ministry to do, you know? You realise that your ability to be able to accumulate any reward for eternity is now, yeah? It's now. It's now. And only now. Because once that trumpet sounds, it's done. It's over. It's finished. It's now left for the people that remain. When your confidence is assured in that particular way, when you're looking for that glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior, then with all this already having laid the foundation of our expectation, there ought to be nothing remaining, but that our confidence is assured by peace through Christ. Be careful for nothing. Don't be worried. Don't be full of care. Full of care. It's literally what that means. Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10 and verse 41. Just take out just those two verses. You hear it from Jesus' lips and we'll give an understanding of that which is before it. Luke chapter 10 verse 41. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, Thou art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Martha had been busy. She'd been bothered. She'd been preoccupied and troubled about many things. And notice that Jesus did not deny the validity of the troubles. You notice that? He didn't deny the validity of the troubles. The troubles are certainly there. But he then demonstrates Mary, whose moderation is known unto all men. Mary has chosen that good part. It's not like Mary is without her own troubles. Her own brother is dying or dead. It's not like Mary is without her own troubles. And yet what we find is she is the example to Martha. And this is our example also. Be careful for some things. Be careful for nothing. Be careful for nothing. We can't turn one of our hairs white or black. We can't grow another inch. Some of you might want to, but you can't. That's it, it's done. Some of you might want more hair than you got. Too late, too bad, you can't. Don't worry about it. It's just, we're not to worry about these things. We're not to worry about the deep things that are going on in life. Instead, we are to have our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to have our focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and on him alone. We placed our entire soul in his hands. We believed that wonderful gospel that he came and that he died for our sins. We gave our lives completely over to him for the sake of forever. And should we now take it back because of a temporary trouble? No, be careful for nothing. Our temporary troubles, our temporary discomforts are nothing. Polycarp was the first Bishop of the Church of Smyrna. It was a church that suffered tremendous persecution. We'll talk about that next week. He was a direct disciple of the Apostle John in the first century. And he stands before the proconsul who now threatens him to be bothered by wild beasts. Polycarp was taken, he was found, he was taken from his home by all these soldiers and he prayed for them while they were there and he spoke to them of the love of the Lord and they were sorrowful that they were taking him back to see the pro consul in order for him to be potentially killed before a crowd of witnesses. And The proconsul tells Polycarp that if he will not deny Christ, he will indeed be consumed by wild beasts. And the record that we have says, Polycarp returning him answer, 80 and six years have I served him and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my king who saved me? Does Polycarp show any concerns? about his temporal life. I mean, you're talking about getting, you know, torn apart by animals. This isn't a comfortable death. His confidence is not assured by his temporal life. His confidence is assured by his peace in Christ. Be careful for nothing Polycarp gives to us a perfect picture of his confidence and he's not concerned about the manner in which he dies. He knows already and reckons that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. He's looking forward to a better resurrection, the Bible says. But the proconsul's not through with his threats. He sees that Polycarp is not bothered about being bothered by wild beasts, so the proconsul intensifies the trouble against this devout child of God and says, quote, if you despise the beasts, unless you change your mind, I shall have you burnt. But Polycarp said, you threaten the fire that burns for an hour, and after a little while is quenched. For you are ignorant of the fire of the judgment to come and of everlasting punishment reserved for the ungodly. Polycarp was indeed burnt, and we'll talk about more of that next time. And the flames did nothing to dispel his confidence in the Lord. He testified and understood that though the flames, he was burnt, well, he was to be burnt alive. He was to be burnt alive, but there was an interesting thing that happened with regards to the flames. And I'll talk a bit more about that next week, you'll have to wait. But there've been plenty that have been burnt alive, simply for their testimony in Christ. Some have been burnt alive simply because they were reading the word of God in their own language. Do you know that? Just because they were reading the word of God in their own language, they were killed. bothered by the temporal life? These witnesses bothered by the temporal life? We ought not to be bothered by the temporal life. We ought to have our hope firmly fixed on the eternal. We ought to live here. We have the blessing to enjoy the fruits of this life. There's no question about that. I'm not longing to die. I'm longing to watch my children and my grandchildren grow up. I'm longing to be able to play with them and enjoy my time with them. I'm longing to preach the gospel more and more to as many people who are willing to hear it. but I'm not holding on to this life as if that's all there is to it. I am aware that there is potentially going to be a coming a time in my life that I may be taken away from my family and I will never see them again until I enter into heaven. During the Second World War, this is exactly what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany, taken away from their family members. John Bunyan required a license to preach, and in order to have a license to preach, you had to tick the boxes of the government that was in place, the powers that be that were in place. And instead, he preached unlicensed, and he was taken and thrown into prison for 12 years. As a result of that, we have the book Pilgrim's Progress. And then he was taken and put into prison again. Beloved, we are not to be concerned with this life to that extent. The world is rapidly coming to a close. We're not to be caught up worrying about the affairs of this life. The single greatest blessing that you can be is to share the hope of Christ to the world that is around us. You want to upset the devil? Share the word of God. Share the word of God. Share the hope of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grow in your faith. Be in a testimony to the people that are around you and encourage them in their faith. And don't waste time with the pitiful, silly little arguments of other people. Grow in your walk with the Lord. It's the single greatest blessing that you can be. If you don't know the Lord, and you see the trouble that this world is in, and you are fearful, then believe the gospel. Put your faith in Christ. He died for you. He gave everything that you might have life. Your question for you is, will you believe the gospel? Will you believe it? Jesus is coming. Maranatha. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your blessing, for your work, for your word, and for the glory of God. Pray, dear Lord, if there be any here that don't know you, that you would open their hearts, open their eyes, that they may believe the gospel of our Saviour, and that they may be eternally saved. And they, like us, may find themselves having a moderation that is evident to all men, that we, dear Lord, may demonstrate the hope of Christ, and that we, dear Lord, may live our lives as people who are untouched and unspotted by the world, knowing, dear Lord, that we are here for a purpose, and that when our time is up, it is up. I ask and pray to you, Father, bless this church and help it to grow and to glorify your name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. you