Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP200926S
|
00:11 And now our morning call to worship
00:14 comes to us from Psalm 67 and it reads, 00:17 "May God be gracious to us, 00:19 and bless us and make His face shine on us, 00:23 so that your ways may be known on earth, 00:24 Your salvation among all nations. 00:27 May the peoples praise You God, may all the peoples praise You, 00:30 may the nations be glad and sing for joy, 00:32 for You rule the people with equity 00:34 and guide the nations of the earth." 00:37 Let's pray together. 00:39 Father, we confess 00:41 that sometimes the world seems dark. 00:45 The challenges mount, 00:48 the pestilences seem to increase. 00:51 But we are gathered here together online and in person 00:55 because we believe 00:56 that the Lord is a mighty tower. 01:00 He is that fortress that we depend on. 01:03 And so today as we worship, 01:05 we just thank You for receiving our worship, 01:07 because it's done in faith. 01:09 Our eyes are on You, 01:10 we thank You in the name of Jesus. 01:12 Amen. 01:16 A message of God's protection from Psalms 46. 01:21 "Come see the works of the Lord, 01:23 what desolations He has made in the earth. 01:26 He makes wars to cease 01:28 to the farthest places in the earth. 01:31 He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in pieces. 01:35 Be still and know that I am God. 01:38 I will be exalted among the nations. 01:41 I will be exalted in the earth. 01:43 The Lord of hosts is with us, 01:45 the God of Jacob is our refuge." 02:38 A mighty fortress is our God 02:44 A bulwark never failing 02:51 Our helper He, amid the flood 02:57 Of mortal ills prevailing 03:03 For still our ancient foe 03:08 Doth seek to work us woe 03:13 His craft and power are great 03:18 And armed with cruel hate 03:23 On earth is not his equal 03:31 Did we In our own strength confide 03:38 Our striving would be losing 03:44 Were not the right man On our side 03:50 The man of God's own choosing 03:56 Dost ask who that may be? 04:01 Christ Jesus, it is He 04:06 Lord Sabaoth His name 04:11 From age to age the same 04:16 And He must win the battle 04:25 And though this world, With devils filled 04:31 Should threaten to undo us 04:37 We will not fear For God hath willed 04:44 His truth to triumph through us 04:50 The prince of darkness grim 04:54 We tremble not for him 04:59 His rage we can endure 05:04 For lo! His doom is sure 05:09 One little word shall fell him 05:30 That word Above all earthly powers 05:36 No thanks to them, abideth 05:43 The Spirit And the gifts are ours 05:49 Through Him who with us sideth 05:56 Let goods and kindred go 06:01 This mortal life also 06:06 The body they may kill 06:11 God's truth abideth still 06:16 His kingdom is forever. 06:30 Amen. 06:31 A message of hope in Christ from Romans 8, 06:35 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, 06:40 nor angels nor principalities, nor powers nor things present, 06:45 nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 06:49 nor any other created thing 06:52 will be able to separate us from the love of God, 06:56 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 06:59 Amen. 07:33 In Christ alone My hope is found 07:38 He is my light My strength, my song 07:43 This Cornerstone This solid ground 07:49 Firm through the fiercest drought 07:52 And storm 07:54 What heights of love What depths of peace 07:59 When fears are stilled 08:01 When strivings cease 08:04 My Comforter, my all in all 08:10 Here in the love of Christ 08:13 I stand 08:18 In Christ alone 08:20 Who took on flesh 08:23 Fullness of God In helpless Babe 08:28 This gift of love And righteousness 08:33 Scorned by the ones He came to save 08:39 'Til on that cross As Jesus died 08:44 The wrath of God was satisfied 08:50 For every sin on Him was laid 08:55 Here in the death of Christ I live 09:21 There in the ground His body lay 09:27 Light of the world By darkness slain 09:32 Then bursting forth In glorious day 09:38 Up from the grave He rose again 09:43 And as He stands in victory 09:48 Sin's curse has lost its grip On me 09:54 For I am His and He is mine 10:00 Bought with the precious blood Of Christ 10:08 On Christ the Solid Rock I stand 10:13 All other ground Is sinking sand 10:18 All other ground Is sinking sand 10:27 On Christ the Solid Rock I stand 10:32 All other ground Is sinking sand 10:38 All other ground Is sinking sand 10:47 No guilt in life, No fear in death 10:52 This is the power of Christ In me 10:57 From life's first cry To final breath 11:03 Jesus commands my destiny 11:08 No power of hell No scheme of man 11:14 Can ever pluck me from His hand 11:19 'Til He returns Or calls me home 11:25 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand. 12:02 Happy Sabbath. 12:03 Welcome to church today. 12:05 Our scripture reading is found in Daniel 12:1, 12:11 Matthew 24:21, and Luke 21:28. 12:18 Daniel 12:1 says, 12:20 "At that time Michael, 12:22 the great prince who protects your people, 12:24 will arise. 12:26 There will be a time of distress 12:27 such as has not happened 12:29 from the beginning of nations until then. 12:32 But at that time your people, 12:34 everyone whose name is found 12:36 written in the book will be delivered." 12:39 Matthew 24:21, 12:42 "For then there will be great distress, 12:44 unequaled from the beginning of the world 12:46 until now 12:47 and never to be equaled again." 12:50 And Luke 21:28, 12:52 "When these things begin to take place, 12:55 stand up and lift up your heads, 12:57 because your redemption is drawing near." 18:04 Oh, God, here we are, we're ready to go. 18:07 Word of God in front of us. 18:10 People gathering on the National Mall 18:12 as we speak right now. 18:17 Concern for America, 18:19 concern for where this nation is headed. 18:23 Dear God, make sense of Jesus' teaching. 18:28 We humbly pray in His name, amen. 18:31 That's right there on the National Mall right now, 18:33 two separate groups 18:34 who coincidentally chose this day 18:38 to be the gathering of their followers 18:42 to pray for a nation. 18:45 Many are concerned is under judgment, 18:47 this pandemic, everything. 18:49 Is America under judgment? 18:52 I'm talking about divine judgment. 18:54 I'm talking about America. 18:55 You know, my country 18:57 'tis of thee sweet land of liberty, 18:58 in thee I sing. 19:00 That's America I'm talking about. 19:01 Is America under judgment? 19:04 Is this pandemic a judgment of God on America? 19:07 My friend Cliff Goldstein wrote a piece this summer 19:09 in Liberty magazine. 19:12 He wrestles with the question, 19:14 title of his piece, avert wrath? 19:18 Subtitle on God's wrath being poured out on America. 19:22 He reminds us 19:24 that the beloved President Abraham Lincoln, 19:27 in his second inaugural address spoke these words. 19:30 I want you to see them on the screen right now. 19:32 Abraham Lincoln, "Fondly do we hope, 19:35 fervently do we pray, 19:37 that this mighty scourge of war, " 19:39 that was the Civil War still in progress, 19:42 "may speedily pass away. 19:45 Yet if God wills that it continue 19:47 until all the wealth of this nation 19:50 piled by the slaves 250 years of unrequited 19:56 never got a penny for toil, 19:58 even if all that wealth has to be lost, " keep going. 20:03 "Even if every drop of blood drawn with a taskmaster's lash 20:08 shall be paid by another drawn with the sword 20:11 and blood was being shed as he spoke 20:14 as was said 3,000 years ago, " 20:17 quoting the Old Testament, 20:18 "so still it must be said 20:20 the judgments of the Lord are true 20:23 and righteous altogether." 20:25 "America is under judgment," he said. 20:30 Is America under judgment right now? 20:32 This pandemic, the social racial, 20:35 economic fracture that has divided this nation. 20:38 Are we under judgment? 20:40 Jerry Falwell, the late clergyman, 20:44 right after September 11, 2001, the Twin Towers tragedy 20:48 announced to the country 20:49 what was the cause of that tragedy. 20:52 Let me read it. 20:54 "God allowed the attacks 20:57 because the United States has become a land of," 20:59 and I'm quoting him now, 21:01 "pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, 21:03 lesbians, 21:04 the American Civil Liberties Union 21:06 and the people for the American way." 21:09 We are under judgment because of them. 21:11 He later apologized to the gays and the lesbians. 21:15 Is this pandemic a judgment on America? 21:20 Albert Mohler, president 21:22 of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary 21:24 down in Louisville, a city in turmoil today. 21:29 Brilliant mind, I listened to his podcast, 21:31 I don't always agree with him, but brilliant. 21:34 He heard those words of Falwell 21:36 and he responded, 21:37 and I now want you to just hear the wisdom 21:39 in Mohler's response. 21:40 "There is no doubt 21:42 that America has accommodated itself 21:44 to so many sins 21:45 that we should always fear God's judgment 21:48 and expect that in due time that judgment will come. 21:51 But we ought to be very careful 21:54 about pointing to any circumstance 21:57 or any specific tragedy and say 21:59 that this thing has happened 22:01 because this is God's direct punishment." 22:06 Very wise counsel, wouldn't you agree? 22:09 Mm-hmm. 22:11 So maybe we ought not to be asking the question 22:12 is America under divine judgment? 22:14 We ought to wonder aloud, 22:16 will America come under divine judgment? 22:19 I'm going to invite you to go to a chapter 22:20 most of you have never read 22:22 in your life and it's in the Bible. 22:24 And as soon as you hear the name of that book, 22:26 everybody is, well, I'm not going to that book. 22:28 The young prophet Ezekiel Chapter 7, come on, 22:31 could he be speaking even of today? 22:36 Open your Bible to Ezekiel Chapter 7, 22:38 it's in the Old Testament, Chapter 7, 22:40 young prophet in exile, he writes about Israel. 22:46 There probably has been a preacher or two 22:48 who has preached about America 22:50 because of this passage, 22:52 first time I've ever preached from it. 22:54 This will get us to the words of Jesus 22:56 in a split second. 22:57 Watch this verse 1, Ezekiel 7, 22:59 "The word of the Lord came to me: 23:01 'Son of man, 23:02 this is what the Sovereign Lord says 23:04 to the land of Israel: 23:05 'The end! 23:07 The end has come 23:08 upon the four corners of the land! 23:09 The end is now upon you, 23:11 and I will unleash my anger against you. 23:13 I will judge you according to your conduct 23:15 and repay you 23:16 for all your detestable practices.'" 23:20 Drop down to verse 5. 23:22 "This is what the Sovereign Lord says: 23:23 'Disaster! Unheard of disaster! 23:26 See, it comes! 23:27 The end has come! The end has come! 23:29 It has roused itself against you. 23:31 See, it comes!' " 23:33 Drop down to verse 17. 23:35 "Every hand will go limp, 23:37 every leg will be wet with urine." 23:39 That's a rather graphic description 23:41 of the human reaction to fear. 23:45 Verse 18, "They will put on sackcloth 23:47 and be clothed with terror. 23:49 Every face will be covered with shame, 23:50 and every head will be shaved." 23:52 Verse 19, "They will throw their silver in the streets, " 23:55 it's not worth anything anymore, 23:56 "and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean." 24:00 Drop down now to verse 25, 24:02 "When terror comes," key word, "they will seek peace in vain. 24:08 Calamity upon calamity will come, 24:10 and rumor upon rumor. 24:12 They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, 24:14 priestly instruction in the law will cease, 24:17 the counsel of the elders will come to an end. 24:20 The king will mourn," 24:21 the political leader of the land, 24:23 "the prince will be clothed with despair, 24:25 and the hands of the people of the land will tremble..." 24:30 My Lord, what is going on here? 24:35 Mercy. 24:38 Reminds me the words of the American prophet. 24:42 Put them on the screen for you. 24:43 "Transgression has almost reached its limit. 24:46 Confusion fills the world, and a great terror, " 24:50 that's the key word you'll hear it again, 24:52 "is soon to come upon human beings. 24:54 The end is very near. 24:57 We who know the truth 25:00 should be preparing for what is soon 25:01 to break upon the world as an overwhelming," what? 25:05 "Surprise." 25:07 Surprise, nobody knew it was coming. 25:09 Nobody knew that would happen. 25:10 Nobody knew it will be an overwhelming surprise. 25:16 What's going on here? 25:19 A great terror is soon to come upon human beings. 25:22 How did Ezekiel put a calamity upon calamity, 25:24 rumor after rumor, 25:26 the hands of the people are trembling. 25:28 Could this be what Jesus meant? 25:31 Was He drawing from Ezekiel 7, 25:33 to make the same sort of prediction 25:36 for the planet? 25:38 Now check it out. 25:40 You have read these words so many times, but you never, 25:42 will never have read them the way we'll read them today. 25:46 Ezekiel 7 goes to Luke 21. 25:49 Come on, find Luke 21. 25:50 Jesus will be dead in hours on the cross. 25:54 Luke 21, red letter words in my Bible. 25:57 Luke 21:25 and 26. 26:01 That's it. 26:03 Jesus speaking, we're listening. 26:05 Verse 25, Jesus says, 26:08 said, speaking of His Second Coming, 26:10 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. 26:14 On the earth, nations will be in anguish 26:17 and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea." 26:21 Now, verse 26, 26:22 "People will faint from terror," 26:25 there's that word again, 26:26 "apprehensive of what is coming on the world, 26:29 for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." 26:33 Wow. Is that amazing? 26:35 Now watch what Jesus does. 26:36 First He talks about this, the sun, moon and stars. 26:40 And then He starts talking about the sea 26:42 that's in turmoil. 26:44 And then He quickly goes back to the heavenly bodies. 26:47 Boom, boom, boom, what's going on here? 26:50 What is He describing? 26:57 As a consequence of whatever has just happened 26:59 on this planet, 27:01 did you catch that? 27:02 The inhabitants of earth not just this nation now, 27:05 the whole planet, 27:06 the inhabitants of earth are thrown into deep, 27:11 what are the two words? 27:12 Anguish and perplexity. 27:15 Verse 25, two words, anguish and perplexity. 27:19 What's that mean? 27:21 My friend Marvin Moore, in his book, 27:23 "The Coming Great Calamity." 27:26 Marvin has helped me see what I hadn't seen before. 27:31 Marvin Moore says 27:33 you want to take these two words, 27:34 let's parse these two words. 27:36 Anguish, what's that mean? 27:37 Anguish means this hurts a lot. This is terrible. 27:39 Oh, oh, anguish, anguish, anguish. 27:41 What's perplexity? 27:42 Perplexity is, what do we do now? 27:44 So you have this hurts a lot, what do we do now? 27:47 And here's how Marvin Moore puts it, 27:48 on the screen. 27:50 "Anguish and perplexity is what you would feel 27:52 if you were to come home one night 27:54 and find your house in flames." 27:58 Anguish, perplexity, what do I do? 28:04 What's going to happen to us now? 28:08 I share all of this with you. 28:11 Because when Seventh-day Adventist 28:12 read the words that we just read, 28:14 from the Lord Jesus, 28:16 His prediction of signs in the sun, 28:17 the moon and the stars before He returns, what we do, 28:21 and rightfully so, 28:22 is we view historical events 28:26 that preceded a final time period 28:30 that Daniel and Revelation and the Lord Jesus 28:32 refer to as the time of the end, 28:35 the time of the end, 28:36 the Bible refers to it, the time of the end. 28:38 And we say, well, that's understandable. 28:42 Time at the end, it's the late 1700s, 28:43 early 1800s, all right. 28:46 So Jesus said, there'll be signs in the sun, 28:48 the moon and the stars. 28:50 And we say, okay, so what that means is 28:53 that launching this new prophetic, 28:55 the last prophetic time period, 28:57 the time of the end, that the stars will fall. 29:01 And guess what they did? 29:03 In, the stars fell in November 1833. 29:07 There'll be a dark day, the sun will go out, 29:09 the moon will come up that night blood red. 29:11 It did, Old Testament predicted, 29:13 it did. 29:16 November, no, no, May 19, 1780. 29:21 And we say, see, that's it. 29:24 That's what those two verses are all about. 29:26 Oh, really? 29:28 Aren't you serious? 29:29 Come on, stay with me. Stay with me. 29:32 None of the celestial signs that we just talked about 29:35 elicited a global response. 29:37 The key word is global here. Yes. 29:39 Go on the eastern seaboard there was that 29:41 and yes, over there in the West, there was that. 29:44 But none of this was global. 29:46 None of this was worldwide. 29:48 It was just localized. 29:51 And yet God used those celestial events 29:54 to prepare for a revival that would sweep 29:57 like fire up and down the East Coast. 30:01 But we say well, that's it. 30:02 Jesus' two verses, He's talking about those, 30:04 those events are now past. 30:05 Oh, really? 30:06 How could they be past when Jesus 30:08 whatever happens with the heavens 30:10 in its relationship to the planet, 30:12 there's going to be anguish and perplexity, a global panic, 30:17 if you will, 30:19 because of what just transpired. 30:22 Come on, I need you to hang on now. 30:24 I repeat, the reaction Jesus 30:26 explicitly predicts of people 30:28 fainting from terror around the world, 30:30 on what is just transpired on this planet 30:32 concern something that comes out of the heavens. 30:34 There's something that powers of the heavens will be shaken, 30:36 something comes out of the heavens, 30:37 some event, some natural occurrence, 30:39 which feels terribly unnatural and unexpected, 30:43 but it's so devastatingly cataclysmic 30:45 that the entire planet is paralyzed 30:47 and the public panic response 30:50 that Jesus clearly describes, they are apprehensive of, 30:54 there's going to be more behind this, 30:55 something is coming, 30:57 people feigning from terror. 30:59 Ladies and gentlemen, 31:01 what happened at the beginning of this time period 31:05 will pay you apparently from Christ's own words, 31:10 before what happens at the end of that time period 31:15 where we're living right now. 31:18 Now stay with me. 31:20 Don't you get distracted now. 31:23 Some other sign will come, sometime in the future, 31:29 wherein the heavenly bodies will be shaken 31:31 and the earth will be thrown into global panic. 31:34 What celestial sign could that possibly be? 31:38 A sign, not at the beginning, 31:39 but this major sign global at the end. 31:43 What could that sign be? 31:45 I'm going to take you to a website, planetary.org. 31:49 Put it on the screen for you, a little bit of history here. 31:52 In 1998, all right, 31:54 so that's 22 years ago right now, 31:55 "In 1998, 31:57 the United States Congress directed NASA, " 31:59 that's the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 32:03 "to initiate what they called SpaceGuard, 32:07 an effort to find and track 32:08 90% of all near-earth Objects, " 32:13 NEO the acronym, near-earth objects, 32:15 what are you talking about? 32:17 We're talking about comets, we're talking about asteroids, 32:19 we're talking about meteors, right? 32:20 They just go, swish, swish, swish, they're out there. 32:22 We all know that. 32:24 And by the way, we want you to track 90% 32:26 of all of those objects that are one kilometer. 32:30 Do you know what how long a kilometer is? 32:32 A 1,000 meters, okay, a 1,000 meters. 32:34 Got to be thousand meters or larger, please, track them. 32:40 And by the way, a kilometer asteroid 32:42 is mass extinction, 32:43 mass extinction because... 32:48 And we want you please to do that by 2008. 32:49 We're going to give you 10 years, 32:50 would you please do it? 32:52 Now keep, the history keeps going. 32:53 Next slide, please. 32:55 In 2005, 32:56 so they haven't gotten to 2008 yet. 32:57 Congress now has been doing some thinking 32:59 and further scientific study 33:00 and they're saying no, no, no, no, no, not a 1,000 meters, 33:02 we want you to shorten it. 33:04 We want you to find everything, 140 meters and longer, 33:07 and mark them down. 33:08 Tell us where they are, when they're coming, please. 33:12 And we'll now give you till 2020. 33:16 Hey, could you go back please? 33:21 Ninety percent of them, just find 90% larger by 2020. 33:25 Now, please, next slide. 33:27 Guess what? 33:29 I got bad news. 33:30 "Only 40% of these objects had been found to date. 33:33 At current detection rates, 33:35 it will be another 30 years before NASA meets the goal." 33:40 Well, don't feel so bad? How old are you? 33:42 Add 30 to your life. 33:43 Hey, nothing to worry about. 33:46 Maybe, maybe. 33:48 Oh, by the way, 33:50 this is not taking another 30 years, 33:51 it will finally happen. 33:52 No, just get it done in another 30 years. 33:55 My, my, my, my, my, what's going on here? 33:57 What in the world, you say, 33:59 Dwight, this is all a bunch of gobbledygook, man. 34:00 Move on, cut to the chase. 34:02 All right, I will. 34:04 I'm talking about asteroids. 34:06 The preoccupation of the news today by the way, 34:09 asteroids, let me have an asteroid. 34:10 Oh, that's not an actual photograph 34:12 by the way. 34:14 That's just an artist's rendition. 34:16 Everybody knows asteroids. 34:18 By the way. I got to show this to you. 34:21 Did you see this headline? I'm gonna hold it up. 34:23 Maybe the center camera can zero in on. 34:25 You see the headline? 34:28 So they're quoting NASA. 34:29 We're quoting NASA here. 34:31 Asteroid headed toward earth before November election. 34:35 You know what, that's about all we need. 34:37 I mean, just send us an asteroid, come on. 34:40 Is it been a dull, uneventful year, 34:42 just give us an asteroid, 34:43 give us something to get us juiced up again. 34:47 You can't believe it. 34:49 And the fact of the matter is, the good news, 34:50 the asteroid's only two meters long 34:52 and so, if it comes into the earth's atmosphere go, 34:56 just burn apart. 34:58 But I tell you the truth, 35:00 on Thursday I sit down to write this homily. 35:01 On Thursday, I find out that that very day, 35:05 in the morning, before I began to write, 35:09 Asteroid 2020SW 35:10 estimated to be about between four, 35:13 four and a half to 10 meters in diameter, 35:15 whizzed by the earth and get this, 35:17 got within 17,500 miles of us. 35:20 You say, "Dwight, that's really far out." 35:22 Guess what? 35:23 We have satellites out there 35:24 circling the earth farther than that. 35:26 So it came inside the satellite belt. 35:28 It got that close? 35:30 Oh, wow. 35:33 But for me, the paradigm shifted, 35:36 the game changer 35:37 because I've been reflecting on this 35:39 for ever since 1997. 35:41 Marvin Moore shared a paper that he'd written unpublished. 35:44 I read that paper, it's in my file, 35:46 and I've just been brooding over that. 35:49 Could it happen here? 35:52 The game changer for me was on February 15, 2013. 35:56 It was a Friday morning, 35:57 I'm down in my study when I get the word 36:00 that there has been an explosion 36:02 near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. 36:05 And some of you remember this, 36:07 the eyewitness news accounts 36:08 reported a streaking asteroid captured on multiple dash cams. 36:14 They were having carjackings in that region. 36:16 And so the owners would mount these dash cams 36:20 and it was before sunrise 36:22 and so all these dash cams recorded it. 36:25 You can go on YouTube and see them, 36:27 the same asteroid. 36:30 The asteroid was only 20 meters long, 36:32 but it entered earth's atmosphere 36:34 at a speed of 42,900 miles an hour. 36:39 Shew. 36:41 Boom! 36:44 It exploded with a blast yield of 400-500 kilo tons of TNT, 36:49 which is 30 times the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, 36:53 my homeland where I was born, 36:55 30 times that atomic bomb that A-bomb, 36:58 that little 20 meter. 37:01 A hundred years earlier in the same land of Russia 37:03 now in Eastern Siberia, June 13, 1908, 37:07 an asteroid now known as the Tunguska asteroid 37:11 estimated now to be 37:12 to have been perhaps 65 meters in length 37:15 still under the 140, 37:18 exploded over Eastern Siberia 37:21 with a 15-megaton blast 37:25 which is 1,000 Hiroshima A-bombs 37:29 simultaneously. 37:32 Eighty million trees, 37:34 they got pitched up, just flat over what, 37:39 830 square miles. 37:42 Now let me just share this with you 37:43 because there are scientists in this room. 37:46 There are two interesting realities 37:48 about these two over Russia asteroids. 37:52 Reality number one, get this, they were too small. 37:55 Twenty meters and 65 meters 37:57 to ever have been spotted by NASA 38:01 which is looking for 140 meters over. 38:06 They never would have been, nobody's looking for them, 38:08 nobody's looking for these small ones. 38:10 And yet look at the damage they did. 38:14 That's the other factoid. 38:16 Tiny little asteroid. 38:22 Astronomers estimate, may I continue, 38:25 there are 2 million 30 meter 38:28 and larger asteroids in the solar system 38:30 with only 18,000 of them identified at the present time. 38:37 The rest are just circling. 38:39 And here's another little caveat. 38:41 The only way you can identify an asteroid is with a lens. 38:46 You cannot radar it, you cannot radar it. 38:48 It has to be seen. 38:51 NASA has now mounted the telescope 38:53 and it's circulating out there the NEO, 38:56 the NEO Surveillance Mission telescope 38:59 and it's just looking, 39:00 snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, 39:05 seen anything different from yesterday's pictures? 39:07 Snap, snap. 39:11 Desperately looking for what might come upon us. 39:16 And one more caveat. 39:19 If they come from out of the sun, 39:22 you will never see them. 39:24 Too bright. 39:27 You look at the sun, you will never see them. 39:30 And guess what? 39:31 The closest one 39:34 just came in August. 39:39 August, they named the asteroid 39:44 2020 2G 39:46 flying at 7.7 miles per second coming out of the sun, 39:51 approached the earth and blew past us 39:53 at 4:08 Universal Time, 39:56 that's early in the morning 39:57 and you know how far it was away? 40:00 Only 1,831 miles from us. 40:05 In fact, it got so close earth's gravity 40:07 and you'll look at the charts pulled it 40:10 and the trajectory of the asteroid 40:12 just went different trajectory. 40:15 It got that close. 40:18 And you know when they found out about it? 40:20 Six hours after it came. 40:23 Too late. 40:25 Too late. 40:28 What are you trying to do, Dwight, scare me? 40:29 No, I'm not trying to scare you. 40:33 The point is, this really is rocket science. 40:39 In fact, a group of scientists, 40:41 they're calling themselves the B612 Foundation. 40:43 On their website, 40:45 you will find it today this one sentence, 40:47 "It's 100% certain 40:50 we'll be hit by a devastating asteroid, 40:53 but we're not 100% certain when." 40:57 Well, I find that very helpful. 40:58 I don't know about you, but I just, you know, 41:00 I was getting worried about these crazy asteroids. 41:03 There's nothing. 41:06 That's where science is right now. 41:09 I'm not belittling science. 41:11 It's science that's trying to wake us up. 41:19 All it would take to fulfill Jesus' 41:21 startling prophecy of a global panic 41:23 because the powers of the heavens 41:25 had been shaken is a single celestial event. 41:28 One asteroid undetected until too late 41:31 or perhaps never detected at all 41:33 slams into this terrestrial ball 41:35 that is home. 41:38 You don't need to know science 41:42 to understand that if the Tunguska, 41:44 the asteroid, 41:47 or even the other the little mini one, 41:50 66 feet long, 20 meters. 41:52 If it had landed in an urban area, 41:59 that they estimate 42:00 that if the Tunguska asteroid struck just rural America now, 42:04 70,000 people just like that gone. 42:07 And billions of dollars of damage. 42:10 If it lands in New York, Chicago, LA, 42:13 I mean, this is the stuff of Hollywood. 42:16 If it lands there, 42:18 we're talking millions of deaths. 42:23 Let's say there were two that hit rather close together, 42:26 what would happen on this planet? 42:29 Ladies and gentlemen, this is not rocket science. 42:31 Now this is just thinking. 42:34 Can you understand 42:35 that the human race would itself panic, 42:39 Jesus describes it, they... 42:41 How did He put it here? 42:43 Well, let's read the two verses again. 42:45 This is Luke 21:25, Jesus speaking, 42:48 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. 42:51 And on the earth, 42:53 nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring 42:55 and tossing of the sea. 42:57 People will faint from terror, 43:00 apprehensive of what is coming on the world, 43:02 for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." 43:04 That's not the Second Coming of Christ by the way, 43:07 because they're anticipating even more. 43:08 This isn't like, oh, here's Jesus. 43:10 Let's say that that must be it. 43:11 No, whatever's happened could keep on happening 43:14 and people are panicked. 43:16 And if you determine it is an act of God, 43:19 you know, these people that are praying 43:20 on the National Mall right now, 43:21 they'll have a lot to be praying for them. 43:23 Because if this is an act of God, guess what? 43:25 We are under judgment. 43:26 And this whole baby is coming to an end 43:28 unless we get God to reverse His mind. 43:32 Guys, you can get there from here. 43:35 Do you understand that? 43:36 And what you thought would take months now 43:38 happens overnight. 43:39 Why? 43:40 Because we just got hit by an asteroid. 43:42 Do you understand, sir? 43:43 You got a problem with that? 43:45 No. 43:47 I'm not trying to scare anybody. 43:49 But, oh, man, I'm trying to awaken somebody. 43:53 You can't keep dealing with this slide. 43:55 I know you're 18. 43:57 I can see that. 43:59 I know you're in your early 20s. 44:01 Good for you. I'm proud of you. 44:03 But I'm telling you, 44:05 you can't just go on living 44:07 as if life is going to go on forever and ever, amen. 44:10 It won't. 44:12 This country is already on a trajectory. 44:15 It will not be stopped. 44:19 Please, 44:21 Jesus is coming soon. 44:26 Man, oh, man. 44:29 Put that quote up again please from Ellen White, 44:32 "Transgression has almost reached its limit. 44:34 Confusion fills the world, 44:35 and a great terror is soon to come 44:37 upon human beings. 44:38 The end is very near. 44:40 We who know the truth should be preparing 44:42 for what is soon to break upon the world 44:44 as an overwhelming surprise." 44:46 How better to describe an asteroid? 44:48 I'm not saying 44:49 that she's describing an asteroid. 44:50 I'm not. 44:52 I'm not saying that what I've shared with you, 44:53 in fact, is rock solid 44:54 that we're just locked into this. 44:56 But I am saying that you, what if we were? 44:59 What if it is true? 45:02 Jesus is not describing the falling of the stars, 45:05 I'm sorry, something else will explode 45:09 across the earth 45:11 and the entire population will panic with terror. 45:16 Now, you figure it out. 45:18 You figure it out. 45:20 You think, 45:22 watch, hear, 45:25 think. 45:29 Do you think God gets joy out of this? 45:30 He gets no joy. 45:32 Do you think God gets joy out of watching the fracturing 45:35 the racial socio-economic fracturing in America? 45:38 He gets some kind of pleasure out, 45:40 out of it, are you kidding? 45:44 You think this pandemic has brought heaven joy? 45:46 The devil's invented the pandemic 45:47 and then and the heaven gets joy out of it. 45:49 Well, trying to get in these children's attention, 45:52 are you kidding? 45:54 Do you think that devastating hurricane, 45:55 the ravaging floods that followed it 45:57 was some sort of pleasure moment 45:59 for the kingdom of God in the universe 46:01 watching this planet get pummeled 46:04 calamity after calamity after calamity? 46:07 Do you think God says, well, who cares? 46:11 Love can become so desperate that it cares. 46:14 C.S. Lewis was absolutely right when God, 46:16 when we experience prosperity, God whispers. 46:22 When we experience pain, God with his megaphone shouts. 46:27 Love can be so desperate 46:30 that in order to awaken human beings 46:33 from the stupor 46:38 of their lethargy. 46:41 A page is drawn out of a playbook 46:42 that the human race has never seen before. 46:46 You gonna blame God for that? 46:48 Are you kidding? 46:50 He's not trying to scare you. 46:51 He's trying to waken you up. 46:55 One more quote. 46:57 "Calamities will come," same author, 46:59 "Calamities will come, 47:01 calamities most awful, most unexpected, " 47:04 the title of this homily, 47:05 "and these destructions will follow, " 47:09 like planes at O'Hare runway. 47:14 Keep going. 47:15 "But if men and women who have been deceived 47:17 continue in the same way 47:18 in which they had been walking, " 47:20 and living as if they had forever, 47:21 "disregarding the law of God and presenting falsehoods, " 47:25 teachers, "presenting falsehoods 47:26 before the people, " keep reading, 47:28 "God allows them to suffer calamity, 47:32 " He allows it, "that their senses may be," 47:34 what's the word? 47:36 "Awakened." 47:37 Hey, do you remember when we used to stay in hotels? 47:42 Huh? 47:44 Those are the days where they, they actually made your bed. 47:48 Now you got to make your own bed. 47:51 So last time I stayed in a hotel 47:52 was in the month of February, 47:54 I'm in Pennsylvania, it's wonderful. 47:58 But you know what, 47:59 when you got an early morning flight out 48:00 from wherever you are 48:02 and it's usually the flight going home 48:04 that you don't want to miss, 48:05 I don't mind missing the one going. 48:06 I hate folks that just couldn't make it, 48:08 miss the plane. 48:09 But going home and I'm so jazzed 48:10 and ready to get back to Karen and life here. 48:13 So that I don't trust this little iPhone 48:16 in my hip pocket. 48:17 So you know what I do? I do something else. 48:19 Just as insurance, 48:21 I call down to the front desk and do you know what I request? 48:23 Tell me what I request. 48:26 I request a wake-up call. 48:28 That way I will not sleep, 48:29 I will not sleep through this alarm, 48:31 do you understand me? 48:33 That ringing phone will make sure I wake up. 48:34 Oh mercy, I got to get going. 48:38 We are experiencing today a wake-up call 48:40 from the Almighty Himself. 48:42 This pandemic is not a little something or other, 48:45 this pandemic is to awaken the human race. 48:49 If I can get the whole world in a series of days, 48:53 how do you suppose I could get the world 48:55 in one minute? 49:00 Jesus just told us how. 49:05 Wake-up call, 49:06 I'm not trying to scare anybody. 49:08 But I'm trying to wake us up while Ellen White wrote 49:10 a one sentence prayer, 49:12 I have it written in my Bible, "God of heaven, wake us up!" 49:15 Six words long. 49:16 "God of heaven, wake us up!" 49:18 Hey, let's repeat that prayer together 49:19 out loud in your mask. 49:21 God of heaven, wake us up. Come on. 49:24 God of heaven, wake us up. 49:26 She wrote that prayer desperate as she was. 49:30 I'm desperate. 49:32 God is desperate. 49:34 We're running out of time. 49:36 And we're acting as if we have forever. 49:39 Manana, manana. 49:41 Not now. Not now. 49:42 One day I'll choose Jesus. 49:45 One day I'll give my life fully to Him. 49:47 Not now, I got a lot to live. 49:50 You are crazy. 49:54 You don't have manana. 49:55 I want to ask you something. 49:57 How many not now's do you think you have left? 50:01 No, I'm serious. 50:02 How many not now's do you have left? 50:05 Hey listen, give me your death date. 50:06 Just give me your death date. 50:07 I was in the home of a family 50:09 grieving over one dead right there this morning. 50:11 How many? When's your death day coming? 50:13 Just give me the date. 50:14 You can't do it, can you? 50:16 You cannot do it. 50:17 If you're 18, you can't do it. 50:19 If you're 88, you can't do it. 50:20 Why? Because we don't know. 50:23 I'm not trying to scare you, but I am trying to awaken you. 50:25 You cannot keep living life at this tepid, lethargic pace. 50:29 Something has to change and it has to be you 50:32 asking for that change. 50:35 Jesus is coming soon. 50:37 There will be a generation like the flood 50:39 that will have heard it but said nah, too late. 50:46 If Jesus were to come tonight, would you be ready? 50:49 You say, well, listen, 50:51 I want to live till Jesus comes. 50:52 Okay, be my guest. 50:54 But if He were to come tonight, would you be ready? 50:57 That's what I'm talking about. 51:00 You can't keep putting this off. 51:03 Ralph Carmichael, a great composer, 51:06 few years ago wrote a wonderful song, 51:09 "The Savior is waiting to enter your heart." 51:13 Do you remember that one? Yeah. 51:15 Why don't you let Him come in? 51:17 There's nothing in this world to keep You apart. 51:19 What is your answer to Him? 51:22 Hours after Jesus spoke these words, 51:24 He's hanging on Calvary. 51:25 Greater love has no man than this 51:27 than to lay down His life for His friends. 51:29 You are a friend of God in that balcony. 51:31 You are a friend of God 51:32 watching alumni on online today. 51:34 You are a friend of God 51:35 sitting up here in front of the church, 51:37 you are a friend of God. 51:38 Jesus laid down His life for you. 51:43 God has demonstrated His own love for us 51:45 and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. 51:48 You are loved, my man, you are loved today to the max. 51:53 As that line go, see what great love 51:55 the Father is lavished on us 51:57 that we should be called the children of God. 52:01 Everything's ready for you. 52:03 All Jesus needs is for you to say yes, Lord, 52:06 I didn't know I was going to be in church today 52:08 but that guy's got me thinking. 52:10 Yes, Lord, I give You my heart. 52:13 I give You my life. You may have me. 52:17 And I'll do whatever You ask of me. 52:21 And the only thing He would ever ask of you 52:23 is what you would want. 52:24 And you can see the whole story from His vantage point. 52:28 He loves you. 52:30 The Savior is waiting to enter your heart. 52:35 I've asked Chuck Reed, my friend to sing this song. 52:37 It's just, is a powerful song. You know what? 52:40 He may be singing the words to you, 52:42 I don't know 52:44 but He may be singing the words to you. 52:47 Listen, please. 53:07 The Savior is waiting 53:12 To enter your heart 53:17 Why don't you Let Him 53:20 Come in? 53:24 There's nothing in this world 53:28 To keep you apart 53:33 What is your answer 53:36 to Him? 53:42 Time after time 53:46 He has waited before 53:51 And now 53:53 He is waiting again 54:00 To see 54:03 If you're willing 54:05 To open the door 54:11 Oh, how He wants to come in 54:20 If you'll take one step 54:24 Toward the Savior, my friend 54:30 You'll find His arms 54:34 Open wide 54:38 Receive Him 54:41 And all of your darkness Will end 54:48 Within your heart 54:51 He'll abide 54:57 Time after time 55:02 He has waited before 55:07 And now He is waiting again 55:16 To see 55:19 If you're willing 55:22 To open the door 55:29 Oh, How He wants 55:34 To come in. 55:43 Oh, God, we lift up our hearts to You. 55:47 These moments in the word, 55:50 the spirit was here, 55:53 that we want to be obedient to whatever you wish. 55:56 Jesus is coming soon. 55:59 It isn't even rocket science. 56:03 We want to be that friend 56:08 that Jesus called us 56:09 before He laid down His life for us. 56:12 We want Him as our friend, 56:14 we want the Father, our friend, the spirit, 56:16 our friend forever and ever. 56:18 Take our decisions that are being made right now. 56:21 As far as this electronic signal 56:23 is reaching right now, 56:24 be with the man, the woman, the teenager, at this moment, 56:28 struggling over a decision 56:30 that you're calling them to make. 56:35 We hear you. 56:37 One day, we'll see You. 56:39 But till then, dear Jesus, hold us close. 56:45 In Your mighty name that all the worshipers say, 56:49 amen and amen. 57:06 We've been really blessed 57:08 by the financial support that comes from our viewers, 57:10 and we've made a conscious decision 57:11 not to continually appeal to you 57:14 for that support. 57:15 Fact is, as everyone in the industry 57:17 will tell you, 57:18 we're needing to make constant upgrades 57:19 to our technology. 57:21 So if God has blessed you, 57:22 and you'd like to further the work 57:24 of this ministry, 57:25 we invite you to partner with us. 57:27 Not a single penny of your donation will go to me. 57:29 Every bit of your gift goes to the mission 57:31 of blessing your community and our world. 57:34 You can donate on our website, 57:35 newperceptions.tv 57:37 or call the number, 57:38 you know the number 877-HIS-WILL. 57:41 Again that number is 877, the two words, HIS-WILL. 57:45 And may the God who is blessed you 57:47 continue to pour into your life 57:49 the gifts of His joy and His hope. 57:51 Thank you, and I'm looking forward 57:53 to seeing you right here again next time. |
Revised 2020-10-26