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[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hey [Music] >> [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] >> How are you all today? This church is your church, a church where we all come together to worship the Lord, to be blessed by the gifts of His blessings, and to listen to the true word from the mouth of the shepherd. I want to tell you something today. We expected today not to have a large attendance, why? Because the weather outside is minus 25, correct? But remember that we have a blessed brother working in an area of minus 50. So we are very fortunate compared to minus 50. So we will pay now, and don't worry about it. Okay, our announcements for Friday, like every Friday, we have a series of services in the church. But I will remind you that besides the weekday services that we started two weeks ago, which we are being blessed by, it starts at 7:00 and the prayer period is until 8:30, and then fellowship time. Sunday, next Friday, we will have a joint meeting. So don't forget, the first Sunday of the month, we will have a joint English-Arabic meeting, and it starts at 12:00, not 10:00. Okay, next slide. Also next Sunday, after the joint service meeting, after 1:00, around 1:30 or 1:45, there will be a meeting in the hall downstairs for members to discuss some very important matters. Next Friday, Saturday, we will have a day of repentance, fasting, and prayer. This day will have prayer in Arabic in the church, and a prayer period from 9:30 to 9:30, and a prayer period in English downstairs. There will be a period of meditation, a period of hymns and worship, and also a word from Pastor Wissam. And the children have their own special program, which we will announce later. Please register so we know about lunch at 1:00. So it is very important for the brothers to know the number so they can register. Registration can be done on the Church App, or on the phones. The Church App, you go and search for this slide and register. And it is very important to register the children so we know how to distribute them. And secondly, whoever doesn't have the Church App and wants to register, Brother Walid Malik will be at the back of the hall, and you can see Brother Walid and register with him personally. So we hope everyone attends because this is a blessed day where we gather, and we will all be together, pouring out our hearts, pouring out everything we have before the Lord so that He may bless us and give us this grace and this repentance that we need in these days, especially this year. Lastly, like every Friday, brothers and sisters in the Bible Plan service, we are reading from the Book of Jeremiah. So whoever has not joined, please join and participate in the reading and the comments as well. So this is all for today. Welcome. This is Pastor Wissam Khalaf, who will give us the word of God. It is the Book of Revelation, generally. The Lord revealed it to the Apostle John and gave him special messages at the beginning of this book to the seven churches. And after that, the Lord took him in the Spirit and showed him things that would happen in the future, including the second coming of the Lord, and what would happen at that time. So today, the word of God for us is taken from Revelation 22, verses 12 to 17. The Lord Jesus is speaking here, saying, "And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to each one according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and enter by the gates into the city. For outside are the dogs, not the dogs, the dogs, meaning the Gentiles. For outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." And the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life without price. Amen. May the Lord bless His word to our hearts this morning. My topic is: Prepare to meet your God. And this preparation, my beloved, is for each one of us, whether we have experienced the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal Savior for our lives or not yet. God is calling us. He says through the prophet Amos, "Prepare to meet your God." A quick look at the events happening in this world around us, from wars, disturbances, epidemics, disputes, and instability on all levels of our lives as humans, to the point that when we look at this earth, when we read the news, when we see the events, we feel as if we are living on the edge of a volcano. The situation is not comfortable at all. The situations are frightening. The situations are worrying. They make us all think, even unbelievers are starting to think, what is happening in this world? Is something big going to happen later on? We know what could happen because the Bible has announced what could happen in the last days. But even non-believers, even atheists among them, have started to fear and worry and think, where are we as a human race going? Where is this earth going? What will happen to this whole universe? Many questions arise, and books are written about us, articles are written so that people can see what is happening and know where they should stand. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verses 25 and 26, the Bible tells us these words: that in the last days, it says, "And there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, in perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men fainting with fear and with apprehension of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." When you read these words, you truly see the expression that people are going through these days. In his second letter, chapter 3, verse 11, the Apostle Peter poses this question and says, "Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be?" He was talking about the last days, how the heavens and the earth will be dissolved and burned, along with the things made in them. So he says, "Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be?" This is the most important question. What manner of persons ought you to be? If we truly believe that the coming of Christ is near, if we truly believe that His coming will be like a thief in the night, coming without any prior warning to us, if we truly believe that His first coming was a reality and His promise of His second coming will also be fulfilled, just as it was in His first coming, then our lives must be on the level that God has called us to, in our preparation to meet our God. We thank God that the Lord did not leave us bewildered and in darkness, but He announced to us what we must do while we are anticipating what will happen in this world in which we live. So God has announced to us three main things, beloved, that I would like to share with you this morning. The first announcement is that what is happening in this world is a preparation for the second coming of Christ. There is no other reason for what is happening in this universe, from changing politics, problems, difficulties, losses, epidemics, earthquakes, volcanoes, wars, and conflicts, whether on a personal, family, national, or global level. All these things are nothing but preparation for the second coming of Christ. And just as the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled literally for His first coming, the prophecies of the New Testament will also be fulfilled literally in His second coming. In the first coming, Christ came to save humanity from the dominion of Satan, sin, and eternal destruction. This was in the first coming. Christ said, "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." His primary goal was the salvation of humanity. God said, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him." This is in the first coming, the coming of grace, the coming of forgiveness, the coming of mercy, the coming of God extending His hands to all humanity, regardless of their color, type, language, religion, or their philosophies of life. God is extending His hands for reconciliation through the Lord Jesus Christ. But in the second coming, beloved, this coming will be for judgment, the judgment of the living and the dead. In this second coming, there will be no more room for mercy, no room for salvation, no room for forgiveness of sins, no room for repentance, because the time of repentance will be over. The scripture says about the Lord Jesus Christ that He came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. This is a figurative expression for a long period in the life of humanity, during which God came to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, but on the day of vengeance of our God. So mercy is long, but vengeance is short. And just as mercy came and extended to people's lives, this vengeance will come and encompass those who did not accept this salvation that God is offering to people. Another thing, beloved, in the first coming, Christ came to give us the stewardship of life and service in this world. Christ did not come to save us and then leave us to do as we please, composing and singing as we wish. No, Christ came and gave us a commission, supported by the gifts He placed within us, supported by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us, supported by His plan that is in His word, and sent us into this world to preach the gospel, to build each other up as a church, to hold each other's hands and grow up into Him who is the head, Christ Jesus. In Titus chapter 2, verse 14, the scripture says these words: Titus 2:14, "who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works." This is our clear and evident commission. This is in the first coming. The second coming is when Christ will come to give to each one according to his work on the day of reckoning. I used to love teaching at the university, I enjoyed it a lot in the past, but you know what I hate the most? Grading exams. I don't like to say, "I wish universities only had teaching without exams and without grading." Life is not like that, beloved. We all know that the Lord gave us a commission, but one day we will stand before Him to give an account for everything we have done in the body, whether good or evil. In Revelation 22:12, the Lord Jesus Himself says these words, which we read a little while ago: "And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to each one according to what he has done." Our work, beloved, will not be measured by how much we have toiled and how much we have done. It will be measured by how obedient we have been to God's call in our lives, because we differ in our calling from each other, we differ in our capabilities. Some people God has called to great, clear, and visible ministries, and some people God has called to small, hidden ministries that no one notices. In the end, the rewards will be for faithfulness, for the faithfulness that God sees in our lives. "To give to each one according to what he has done." The fourth thing I want to tell you is about the coming. In this first coming, Christ came to call us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow Him. This is in the first coming, and I hope we understand this truth, because sometimes it escapes our sight, our thinking, our lifestyle. When the Lord Jesus Christ came in the first coming, He came to save us, and He came to give us gifts and a commission. Yes, but He came to call us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow Him. But in the second coming, He will come so that we may appear with Him and share in His glory. At the same time, our glory is not now, nor in this world. Our glory and our reward are later, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again. So may the Lord give us all grace to lift our eyes from glorifying ourselves, or waiting for the praise of people, or thinking that we will receive the result of our work, toil, service, and so on in this world. Because if we think that way, you know what Christ says? He says, "You have received your reward in this life." Then there is nothing. But if our eyes are upward, our hearts are upward, what matters to us is that He is pleased, that He is comfortable with us, and that He is smiling at us. The other things that happen in our lives do not matter. We share in His glory. That is why the scripture in Romans chapter 8, I believe verse 14 or 15, says these words: "For if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him." There are no sufferings without glory, no cross without His days. This is the clear teaching of scripture for us in our lives, beloved. In Colossians 3:4, Colossians chapter 3, verse 4, the scripture says these words clearly and explicitly: "When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." In glory, meaning we will not just be spectators of His glory when He appears in His full glory, but we will be sharing with Him in His glory. So let us look with hope and joy to this second coming, the second coming that the Lord Jesus Christ promised us He would come for one day. Now, the second announcement we see in the word of God is what the scripture asks of us regarding the second coming of Christ. What are we required to do? We have seen what the second coming is and its purpose, but now we need to see what the scripture asks of us regarding this second coming. Beloved, the scripture asks us for preparation and watchfulness. Preparation and watchfulness. The scripture always warns us about the danger of spiritual laxity, the danger of spiritual sleep, the danger of indifference in our lives, meaning we have no interest, no concern, no hunger, no thirst, no zeal. Nothing attracts us in spiritual life that makes us sacrifice for it. We take life as it comes, whatever comes our way, it's fine. But for us to sacrifice, for us to strive and stand before God and fight the spiritual battle, this remains difficult for us, and we feel as if it's not for us, maybe it's for some people, but not for us. But the scripture always teaches us that our waiting and our watchfulness are for all believers. We are all called to this way of life, to watchfulness and preparation. First, the scripture tells us, beloved, that we must wait for and seek the coming of the day of the Lord. Notice what it says in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 12: 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 12 says, "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God." This is the verse I want to mention, or this passage I want to mention: "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God." So why should we wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God? Because our hearts long for it. Because we anticipate that God will glorify us with Christ at that time. Because we anticipate that our bodies will be glorified bodies, and we will put them on again and live with the Lord forever and ever in the greatest happiness and peace possible in this universe. The Lord told us we must seek, meaning we must say to Him, "Amen, come, Lord Jesus." We must say to Him from time to time, "Lord, we are waiting for you. We long to see you. Your absence has been too long." This is if our hearts truly long for Him. When someone longs for another, they keep calling them and saying, "My brother, I miss you. I haven't seen you. Where are you? Where are you?" But if there is no longing in the heart from within, this expression comes naturally and spontaneously in our lives. The student, waiting, seeking, "hastening." We are waiting for someone. A person once said, every morning, every morning he would open his window, look out, and say, "Lord, I am still waiting for you. I am still waiting for you." Brother Walid, Pastor Walid Bittar, likes to joke a little, not a little, maybe a lot. [Laughter] Every time I call him or he calls me, he says, "He hasn't come yet." So one time I said, I want to play a game with him. I said, "He hasn't come yet. I've moved up. What are you still doing?" [Laughter] >> "He hasn't come yet." It's good to wait for the Lord. He said, "seeking" and "waiting." "hastening the coming of the day of God." Second, what the Lord calls us to, beloved, is a life of prayer and supplication. Notice what it says in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7: 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 7 says, "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." For the sake of your prayers. God is calling us to a life of prayer. I say, "I am prayer," the writer of the Old Testament says. "I am prayer." I love the presence of the Lord. I want to encourage you, by the way, to come on Tuesday to pray together. The attendance is good, around 30 people. We pour out our hearts before the Lord. I encourage you to come. God is present, He is blessing, He is working. So he tells us here, since these things will happen, prepare yourself in prayer, in supplication, in pleading before the Lord. Pray for the work of God, pray for the salvation of souls, pray for your church, pray for the churches, pray for the needs of people, pray that the Lord opens the eyes of people to know about Christ and accept Him as their Savior. Pray for your children, your family, your grandchildren, for yourself. You tell me, "I pray at home for these things." Look, the scripture is clear in its teaching. There is a private prayer that we pray in our homes alone, in our cars, on the street, and there is a corporate prayer that we pray with the people of God. There is a difference between the two, and a big difference. So I encourage you very much. It's nice to pray at home, but it's nicer to come and pray with the people of God. And there, the Lord pours out His Spirit upon us, and blesses us. We learn from each other, we benefit, we draw closer to each other because of what He has done in our lives. Third, beloved, God calls us to live in holiness and godliness. In holiness and godliness. In 2 Peter 3:11, it says these words: "Since all these things will be dissolved, the heavens and the earth, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?" In lives of holiness and godliness. The Lord has called us to a life of holiness. Our position is in Christ; we are holy. But God is not satisfied with our position. God calls us to live on the level of this position, which is to be holy and blameless before Him. He calls us to a life of godliness, He calls us to a life that glorifies His name. So here He tells us, to live a life of holiness, "what manner of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?" And holy living and godliness are completely related to the word of God. Meaning, I am not the one who invents my holy living and godliness. I align my life and adjust it according to the word of God, which is the source of holiness and godliness in my life. Number four, the scripture encourages us to be in a state of vigilance and steadfastness. A state of vigilance and steadfastness. In 2 Peter 3:17, the scripture says these words: "You therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, beware, lest you be carried away by the error of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness." Fall from your own steadfastness. What is steadfastness? Steadfastness is living before God blamelessly, living faithfully with God, following Him closely, living according to His will. But the scripture warns us, saying, "Beware lest you be carried away by the error of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness." Let us remain vigilant, watchful, alert, discerning, always on guard. Not everything that comes our way is accepted, not everything we hear or read is taken at face value, as they say. No, let us be careful, because many false teachers have come into this world, entered churches, appeared on TV, in newspapers, magazines, books, radio, in campaigns they conduct. Let us remain vigilant and watchful so that we do not fall from our steadfastness. Number five, God calls us to be in a state of watchfulness and service. Watchfulness and service. Notice what it says in Matthew 24:42: Matthew 24:42 says, "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." And the scripture here is not telling us to stay awake physically, but spiritually. Let your heart from within be overflowing with the Holy Spirit. Let your heart be overflowing with love for the word of God, for the life of prayer, for serving people, for being diligent in meetings, for seeing who is in need around you and extending a helping hand to those people. So stay awake, let yourself be awake from the attacks of the devil, from the things that are deceiving you. Do not be, as they call it in English, gullible. Exactly, gullible. Meaning, water passes under you and you don't feel it. The devil plays his games, and you are happy and comfortable, as if nothing is happening. And the situations are crazy, and you are not aware that the devil is playing his games, and water is passing under you, and you don't understand what is happening. Let us stay awake, alert. Our watch is on, day and night, around us. Let us discover what the devil is doing, what he is working. Let us stand against him. Let us see these problems happening in our lives. What is their cause? Not to consider them as part of the way of life, the problems. No, sometimes the problems come from us. We need to stand and look and say, "Why are these things happening wrongly?" And discover what is wrong behind them and try to fix it. Not to keep making mistake after mistake, or mistake after mistake, and hit the wall once, twice, three times, ten times. And everything is fine, everything is fine. The scripture says, "Stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Beware lest He find you drowsy, asleep. In 1 Peter chapter 4, it says, "Let each of you, after Peter speaks about the second coming of Christ and says that since all these things will happen, you must be people who pray." He mentions these words and says, "Let each of you, according to the gift he has received, serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace." Meaning, do not waste your time in service. Servants of the Lord, the calling to which He has called you, do not hand it over to anyone else lest they take your crown. But you, fulfill the service to which the Lord has called you. Be faithful in it, strive in it. Set a goal before you to be one of the most successful people in this service, and God will reward you one day. Lastly, beloved, the third announcement that the Lord gives us is to prepare for His coming in terms of salvation. This is our opportunity now, the opportunity of grace. If there is any person who has not yet truly experienced the salvation of Christ, is not sure that they have eternal life, is not sure that their sins are forgiven, is not sure that when Christ comes, they will be standing with Him in this great glory that God will reveal in His Son Jesus Christ. God calls us today, before it is too late, to come to Christ. We cannot rely, beloved, on religiosity for salvation. We cannot rely on denying spiritual truths to be saved. We cannot rely on the faith of others to be saved. This is a personal process between you and the Lord. You must come to Him and say, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." And God will have mercy on you if you pray with all your heart. "You will find me when you seek me with all your heart." God will perform the process of change in you, forgive your sins, change you from within, and give you the assurance of eternal life, and you will stop living in sin because you have repented of it, because you have repented. Let us examine ourselves, beloved. There is nothing wrong. Are we truly in faith? If a year, two years, ten years, twenty years pass, and I don't know how long, and we are still living the same life, living in sin in the same way, and the same thing, and we keep repeating the same thing, repeating it. Paul asks, is there a big question mark? He says, ask yourself if you are truly in faith. Not because I am a member of the church, I am a believer, or because I prayed once, I became a believer. Many people pray, and nothing happens to them. What is the proof that I have experienced salvation? It is the change of life. The change of life. If your life after faith is still the same, in the same way, in the same style, you are not a believer. You have not experienced salvation. So let us examine ourselves. Before the opportunity comes and the Lord says to you, "The door was shut," and no power can open it. You say, "I have been a member of the church for years, and I served, and I did so much." He says, "I do not know you. I do not know you. Who are you?" Let us pay very close attention to this matter, beloved, because there has been laxity in the lives of believers these days in general, a laxity that makes you sometimes truly wonder who is a believer and who is not. One of my fellow ministers, whom I met in Savannah, Georgia, I was pastoring a church there, and he was pastoring a church in that area, an American church. He told me about a person. I was sitting with him, and he told me, "A few days ago, I baptized a 92-year-old man." I said, "Wow, 92. It's rare for people in their nineties and eighties to be renewed. Usually, people who are renewed start from a young age and then they say, you know, as a person gets older, they did a study on it. When a person gets very old, it becomes very rare for them to come to the Lord." He came to the Lord at the age of 92. He said, "But I want to tell you something else. He said, this man had been a member of our church for 50 years." He said, "He had been a member of our church for 50 years. He took communion, prayed, believed, sang hymns, attended meetings, and they treated him like everyone else." So what happened? He said, "This man was not a believer. His wife believed and joined the church through baptism." He said, "Instead of my wife going alone, I will go with her." So he applied to be baptized with her, and they baptized him. Of course, they asked him if he had experienced salvation and so on. He said, "Yes, yes." So he went in. But God had mercy on him that after 50 years, things became clear to him, if he hadn't understood them before, and he came to the Lord at that time. There is nothing delaying us, beloved. Do not gamble with your eternal life for the sake of your reputation, your reputation, and what the brothers say about you, and so on. No one will help you. What will help you is to be truly a sincere person in the blood of Christ, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. And if we are still living in sin, something is wrong with our faith. Something is wrong. So may the Lord give us grace to wait for His coming, to wait for the coming of Christ. The Lord Jesus is coming again. Let us say, "Amen, come, Lord Jesus." I am waiting for you, Lord. I want to live faithfully, sincerely, truthfully before You, for the glory of Your name. You are my goal, to please You, to glorify Your name, to do Your will. Let us pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, we thank You with all our hearts for Your word, O Lord, to us this morning. We thank You for this blessed hope that You have given us, that Jesus Christ our Lord will come on the clouds of glory with great power and majesty, with the holy angels. And we thank You because we will see Him face to face and enjoy this vision, and live with Him forever and ever. We pray, O Lord, that You give us grace to be faithful before You, not because, O Lord, we will obtain eternal life, because You paid the full price for us, but so that we may gladden Your heart and not be ashamed before You, and so that we may lift our heads with joy, praise, and glorification to You, O Lord. Speak by Your Spirit to every heart this morning. Give us the grace to be transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as from the Lord the Spirit. In Christ's name, Amen.