26-0308a Transcript

(1:22) It’s my turn in the rotation to begin speaking to you today and tonight on God’s word. (1:42) And I thank everyone that is here. Those that may be on the phone, you missed me.

(1:55) And I want to thank Kevin and Roger for their reading the scriptures. (2:07) Before I really get started, I want to read in Luke, the 17th chapter, beginning with verse 27 or 26. (2:41) And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.

(2:51) They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, (3:00) until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (3:10) Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. (3:26) And on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

(3:39) Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (3:49) In that day, he who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. (4:03) And likewise, the one who is in the house, let him not turn back.

(4:12) Remember Lot’s wife. (4:16) Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (4:28) I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed.

(4:37) The one will be taken and the other will be left. (4:44) Two women will be grinding together. (4:48) The one will be taken and the other left.

(4:53) Two men will be in the field. (4:57) The one will be taken and the other left. (5:05) And they answered and said to him, Well, Lord.

(5:12) So he said to them, Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. (5:25) Now, what this is concerning is the two men and the two women. (5:40) I want to focus on that.

(5:44) Recently I was reading in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus discusses the days that will be ahead. (5:55) In Luke 17, 34 through 36, it says, (6:03) Two men shall be in one bed. (6:08) The one shall be taken and the other will be left.

(6:13) Two women will be grinding together. (6:16) The one shall be taken and the other left. (6:21) Two men will be in the field.

(6:25) The one shall be taken and the other left. (6:30) Let’s go back to Matthew 24 in the reading that was read to you. (6:44) In Matthew 24, referring to two men and two women.

(6:51) One taken, the other left. (6:56) And Madonna, when I was working at this feed store, the feed warehouse, (7:10) a co-worker there and I were talking. (7:15) And I asked him if he could tell me where the ones that were taken, where they were taken.

(7:36) Yeah, I can tell you. (7:39) But he never gave me a response. (7:46) In Luke 17, 37, after Jesus talked about the one being taken and the other left, (8:02) the disciples asked, (8:06) Where, Lord? (8:10) Jesus left that question unanswered.

(8:18) But we’ve got those that seem to think they know, (8:27) because they have a doctrine that is premillennialism, (8:37) that it has different forms. (8:42) We want to look at part of this doctrine. (8:51) This doctrine has within it the rapture.

(8:58) This rapture is saying that those righteous, dead and living will be raptured into heaven. (9:17) And that’s when Christ comes. (9:23) And Christ will then set up his kingdom going for a thousand years.

(9:39) Now that is the belief. (9:42) This co-worker in the diner, (9:47) I asked if he would tell me where the one taken would be taken. (10:01) Yeah, I can tell you, but he didn’t tell me.

(10:06) So the title of my lesson is Where, Lord? (10:14) Now the next scripture that I want to deal with is John 5, verses 28 and 29. (10:32) Do not marvel at this, (10:36) for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forward. (10:48) Those who have done good to the resurrection of life (10:52) and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

(11:00) Now I pointed this out to the co-worker I mentioned. (11:10) But first of all, let’s look at three things in this verse (11:19) that I want to point out. (11:21) The first thing that I want to point out is he said the hour, singular, the hour.

(11:34) Now I noticed in the New American Standard Version that was read in your hearing, (11:42) it said an hour. (11:46) That’s the still singular. (11:49) An hour, he said, is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice.

(12:04) Now they told me all doesn’t always mean all. (12:11) All right, I accept that. (12:16) Sometimes when all is used, every physical person is not really mentioned.

(12:32) But in that verse, there’s a representative number that represents all of the people. (12:51) But here I want us to really pay attention to this. (12:56) He says the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forward.

(13:16) As all who hear his voice will come forward. (13:26) Now in this doctrine that has the thousand-year reign involved in it, (13:42) they take that from Revelations 20. (13:49) In that verse, they tried to get Jesus setting up his kingdom.

(13:55) But then you need to read that. (14:01) You need to read Revelations 20 and see that it is not talking about establishing anything, (14:14) setting up anything. (14:18) But let’s read something from Revelation 3. (14:29) And verse 21.

(14:35) Because there’s one thing that the Revelations, even though it is a book that is in symbols, (14:50) and it is one that some people try to avoid because they can’t understand it. (15:00) It takes those who read and understand. (15:08) The book of Revelations is the last book in the Holy Bible, the 66th one.

(15:19) But it does not contradict what the rest of the Word says. (15:29) Nor does the book of Revelation contradict itself. (15:37) Now in Revelations 3 and verse 21, this is the Lord Jesus speaking.

(15:51) To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, (16:01) as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (16:15) What do you think Jesus is doing on his Father’s throne? (16:22) He’s ruling. (16:24) What is he ruling? (16:27) He’s ruling his kingdom.

(16:33) That matches what the Word says, that he is sitting on the right hand of God and ruling in heaven. (16:43) So when we get to Revelations 20, and it is speaking of the thousand-year, (16:58) the saint’s meeting with Christ a thousand years, (17:05) why would it say that Christ is going to sit on his throne in Jerusalem? (17:15) He’s already sitting on his throne. (17:19) According to Revelations 3 and 21, he’s already there.

(17:30) He sat down. (17:32) He’s ruling. (17:35) He doesn’t need to come in the future and establish his kingdom.

(17:41) It is already established. (17:45) They got in this that Christ will set up his kingdom. (17:58) And now in this particular verse in John 5, it says, (18:08) Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, (18:13) and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

(18:24) Something here that I want to point out. (18:30) This hour, the hour that he’s talking about, is not separated. (18:40) If we go according to that doctrine, (18:44) we’ve got the rapture where the resurrection and those that are righteous living (18:57) will be taken up into heaven.

(19:01) Now that, my friends, can’t be, because the hour is not separated. (19:11) Neither is the resurrection, just because it says, (19:20) Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, (19:24) and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. (19:30) I want you to know that the only thing in this verse that is separated (19:38) is the good and the evil.

(19:44) You know, if we had some fruit or whatever, (19:49) that we had to separate the good and the bad, (19:54) we could do it all at the same time. (19:59) We’re not to divide the time. (20:04) The separation then would be separating the good and the evil.

(20:12) So that is the separation. (20:18) But we’ve got the hour. (20:22) All of those who are in the grave, hearing and coming forth, (20:29) and some that are going to life, (20:37) and some that will be to condemnation.

(20:45) Now, if you have on your phone, (20:54) those of you that were able to have on your phone (21:00) a copy of my sermon outline, (21:05) you may notice that I’ve skipped defining the word take. (21:14) I defined, I looked up in Webster’s, the definition of take. (21:25) I’ve got an unabridged dictionary at home that’s in three volumes.

(21:32) It’s called Webster’s Third International Dictionary, unabridged. (21:44) The volume is wide enough that each page (21:51) contains three columns of definitions of the words. (21:58) I was surprised.

(22:01) When it came to the word take, (22:06) it started at the bottom of one page, (22:11) turned the page over, (22:14) the three columns of the next page, (22:20) we had the definition of take. (22:27) But what I did was, (22:30) I took the definition of Webster’s that I have online, (22:42) and I will say that in the unabridged dictionary, (22:48) and there online, (22:54) out of all the definitions that were located, (22:59) now there online is over 144 definitions located. (23:07) But I want to take three of these definitions and deal with them.

(23:16) They are number one, choose. (23:23) Number two, elect. (23:26) Number three, adopt.

(23:35) Now, as I was reading, (23:40) as I referred that I was reading in Luke, (23:46) coming to the 17th chapter of Luke, (23:52) I was pondering on this word take. (24:02) Remembering that I asked my co-worker there in Medina (24:09) if he could tell me where they were taken, (24:21) and he assured me that he could, (24:24) but he gave me no response. (24:29) But as I was thinking of this, (24:33) and thinking of the context in Luke 17, (24:43) I was brought to mind a song that I learned (24:49) when I was in grade school.

(24:53) I don’t know if anybody can remember the songs that they learned. (24:58) Some of them I do learn, (25:04) but this one in particular is entitled, (25:09) The Farmer in the Dell. (25:14) Now, one line especially of that song says, (25:26) the farmer takes a watch.

(25:31) The farmer takes a watch. (25:34) That’s all that line says. (25:41) Now, should we ask the question, (25:46) where did the farmer take his watch? (25:51) Or should we concentrate all that it says, (25:58) the farmer takes a watch.

(26:04) Now, there are a lot of places that a farmer could take his watch, (26:14) even the farm that he has. (26:22) But as I thought of that, (26:28) doesn’t it sound like that the farmer chooses a watch, (26:39) the farmer chooses a watch? (26:49) But what we have, (26:51) we have automatically thinking that when Jesus says, (27:02) the one will be taken, (27:05) that’s all he says, (27:06) the one will be taken, (27:09) the other left. (27:13) The one will be taken and the other left.

(27:17) Now, in Luke 17, (27:22) it’s the apostles, (27:30) as it is with people, (27:33) thinking, where’s he taking this? (27:46) Rather than thinking, (27:50) he chooses one and leaves the other. (27:54) Now, tonight, I’m going to be dealing with chosen, (28:06) elected, and adopted. (28:10) I’m going to delve into these words (28:18) and investigate them.

(28:25) But we need to take the Bible (28:30) and read for what it says (28:34) because the Bible doesn’t contradict itself. (28:41) The Bible is true (28:47) and it stays true (28:51) because Jesus says, (28:55) I am the way, the truth, and the life. (28:59) When Jesus was living, (29:02) he said that he would send them a comforter (29:06) and this comforter (29:09) will be called the spirit of truth.

(29:15) So when Jesus speaks, (29:18) he’s speaking the truth. (29:20) When the Holy Spirit comes after Jesus goes, (29:25) he’s speaking the truth. (29:30) So when we’re reading, (29:34) we need to really read what’s there (29:38) instead of thinking.

(29:43) That’s what people automatically start doing (29:50) is thinking, (29:52) is think something other than what it says. (29:59) We need to hear what’s said (30:04) and we need to really study these things. (30:17) And I’m going to offer the invitation (30:20) to anyone that, (30:23) if you haven’t become a Christian, (30:28) haven’t become in the Lord, (30:32) we urge you to do so.

(30:35) We ask that you believe the word, (30:39) believe Christ. (30:41) Believe that Christ is the Son of God (30:46) and come repenting of your sins, (30:51) be willing to confess your faith in Christ, (30:56) that you believe that he is the Son of God (31:02) and be buried in baptism for the remission of sins. (31:10) Have your past sins washed away (31:14) and that is be faithful until the end.

(31:21) Those of us who are in Christ, (31:26) we need to stay faithful to him. (31:29) For some reason we haven’t, (31:33) we urge those who aren’t faithful, (31:37) haven’t proven faithful, (31:39) or for those who wish to make known something (31:45) to the church that’s on your mind, (31:48) why not come forth while we stand and while we sing.