← Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
Victory Church: Paul Daugherty
JESUS AND END TIMES | PAUL DAUGHERTY | JESUS IS COMING BACK SOON PT. 4
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We've been in a series called Jesus is Coming Back soon, and we believe he is coming back soon. And we've been looking at His Word specifically concerning end times. Today. I want to title the message Jesus and End Times. Pretty simple right there. Jesus and End Times. His words about end times. And. And if you're taking notes, note takers are history makers, world changers, culture shapers. Matthew 24, verse 36. Jesus says about that day. And by the way, he's talking about the day that he will return. He's talking about the Rapture. He's talking about the second coming of Christ. The day that everything's going to culminate, and those who are saved and those who have died, who've given their hearts to Christ will be raised together. He says, that day, that hour, no one knows. We've seen multiple people try to predict this day. People telling you on social media the Rapture's coming on this specific day, and then we all live through that day and it doesn't happen. Jesus says, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son. In other words, he says, I don't even know. Only the Father knows. Rather than trying to guess the day on the calendar, our goal is to work on our character. What Jesus wanted to drive home with his church is don't be focused on the day or the hour or the calendar, rather than. Rather be focused on your character, because I'm coming back for a bride that is ready from the inside, outside to be faithful to Him. He says, as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of man. Friends, Noah was working on the ark. He was warning people, rain is coming. And people kept on doing what they were doing. It says during that day before the flood, people were eating, drinking, marrying, given in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark. And when Noah entered the ark, people were kind of looking around like, where's Noah's family? They knew nothing about what would happen, even though they had been warned. They weren't listening to the warning until the first raindrop fell. And when the flood came and took them all away, Jesus says, that is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In other words, Jesus says, not everybody's going to make it. But now this was like a very stark warning, a very intense like, you better heed what he's about to say. These are his words. He says, two men will be in the field. One will be taken. That word taken is like rapture. Like, everybody go, whoo. Right? There's gonna be. There's gonna be. Y' all looked great when you did that. There's gonna be a moment where, whew, people will be taken raptured. And you go, how do we know this? It's in the scripture. It's in First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians. It's in the book of Revelation. And Jesus himself prophesied it. Can I tell you? Every prophecy in scripture came to pass. 2,500 prophecies in scripture. 2,000 of them have come to pass. The other 500 are around the days that we're about to head into the last days. And whatever Jesus says, I'm telling you, Jesus will fulfill his words and listen. This is what's going to happen. I remember when I was a kid, my brother and I, we used to do rapture practice. We'd be in the backyard, and we'd be jumping on the trampoline, trying to work on our highest jump to get ready for the Rapture. And my dad was like, y' all are ridiculous. We were like, dad, we're trying to get rapture ready. He was like, rapture ready is not how high you can jump. It's about, is your heart really right with Christ? Have you surrendered to Jesus? Jesus said, two women will be grinding at a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left. Now, I'm believing that everyone at Victory is. Is going to go on that raft. I'm believing for 100% conversion to Jesus in the room. But if you're here today and you're not right with God, don't leave this room without taking the opportunity. We still have a chance. While Jesus is speaking these words, he's telling you, get right while you still can, because you are not promised tomorrow. One will be taken. He says, listen, therefore, keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. He. He will come at an hour you least expected. Understand this. If the owner of a house had known what time of night a thief was coming, can you imagine if you knew when a thief was gonna show up? If he was like, on Home Alone, we're showing up at midnight. What do we see on Home Alone? He goes out there, right? With his shotgun. He's got traps. He's ready to take out the robbers. He knew they were coming. Jesus says, the thief is coming, and you won't know the hour. Like, Jesus is gonna be like a thief in the night. You won't know the hour at which he comes. If you would have known. You would not have let your house be broken into. You watch what he says in the next verse, in verse 44. So you also must be ready. Everybody say, be ready. These were the constant words Jesus spoke about end times is be ready, be ready, be ready. Because the Son of man will come at an hour that you do not expect him. And then he begins this parable. He says, who then is the faithful and wise servant whom the master has put in charge of his servants in his household? In other words, there's this boss, this leader of an organization, and he's looking for someone to trust. And he says, whoever he gives this entrustment to, to give them food at their proper time, to take care of the house, it will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing what he entrusted him to do when he returns. In other words, are you being faithful with what God has given you in this lifetime? Because what we do in this life not only echoes in eternity, but will be judged in eternity. So Jesus keeps saying. He says, truly, I tell you, whoever is faithful, he will be in charge of all. If you're faithful with a little God makes you ruler over more, not just responsibilities and leadership, not just in spiritual life, but in your finances. Then he says this in verse 48. He says, but suppose the servant who's been given a task, an assignment, who's been given something to be faithful with, suppose he becomes wicked over time. Suppose he says to himself, my master, my boss, my Jesus is staying away a long time. He's not coming back for a long time. And then he begins to beat the people around him. He mistreats the people around him, and he begins to eat and drink with drunkards. In other words, he wastes his time, he wastes his life. Watch what happens. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him. Jesus was always talking about, like a surprise comeback. He's always gonna come at a time you don't expect, at an hour you're not aware of. And if he finds you, watch that in the next verse. If he finds him, he will cut him to pieces, assigning him a place with the hypocrites where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And you might say, that is harsh. That is scripture. Jesus says, listen, there is two destinations after this life. It's either heaven or hell. It's not like the whole universe is saved. Even if you worship Allah or you give your life in Hinduism or you're an atheist, you, Jesus was saying you better confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that there is one Lord, there is one way to the Father, it is the Son. Whoever has the Son has life. If you got Jesus. Listen, Perfect people don't go to heaven. Saved people go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. People who've called on the name of Jesus. And friends, we still have time. So Jesus is telling this, and then he begins to talk about the 10 virgins, five who were ready, five who were foolish. He begins to share parables. And I wanna go to the last parable he shares on end times. It's Matthew 25, verse 31. He begins to prepare his church for what? End times. The end of the end. Like we're talking the final judgment. Watch what he says in verse 31. He says, when the Son of Man. He's talking about himself. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, this is the return of Christ, right? When he comes in his glory and all the angels with him, you can just imagine Jesus riding in on that white horse, riding in the sky, angels all around him. And by the way, John, on the island of Patmos, who wrote the book of Revelation, He. He had the apocalyptic dream, the vision of Jesus returning, the angels riding in with him. And Jesus sits on his glorious throne now. Right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is already on a throne right now. And the throne he sits on is called the mercy seat. In other words, there is still time to receive mercy from God. If you have sinned, if you came into church today with sin in your life, you can come to the throne room of God's grace, and you can come boldly to receive mercy when you need it, because he is still seated at the right hand of the Father. But once he moves from that throne, he will go to another throne. And the other throne he goes to is not the throne. You want to be found living in sin without any repentance in your life because it is a throne of judgment. Friends, he's not on that white throne of judgment right now. Right now he's on the mercy seat. How many of y' all in this room need mercy? Okay? You're in the right place to find it. God is a just God. I think sometimes we want to make God like a patty cake, like he's all good with everything we do, and he's sweet. God is a just God. God wants us to come to him. God sees all. He knows all. You can't fool God. You can wear a costume on Halloween. You can Mask yourself. At church, a lot of people wear costumes past Halloween. They wear it to church on Sunday every week. But God sees everything. And God says, I'm still on the mercy seat. Jesus is still on the mercy seat. You can find mercy. You can be honest. You can take the mask off and say, God, I need you, Mercy. I need your help. I'm struggling. But there will come a day where he moves from the mercy seat to the judgment seat. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. Watch what it says in the next verse. Verse 32, all the nations, this is everybody. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will begin to separate. That's an intense word. He will begin to separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. Now let's talk about what's happening here according to end times in the book of Revelation. Can we do a Bible study this morning? Okay. Come on. You got an extra hour of sleep. You feel good. You are caffeinated. You look great. You got energy. Let's dive into what is happening during this moment. There's a lot of theories around this time of the second return of Christ and what's going to happen in the rapture of the church. There are some people who believe in pre tribulation and I want to give you four theories about the Rapture. Four theories. In the Church, there's a group of people that believe in pre trib. This is believing the Rapture. Jesus will bring his church out of the earth. The dead in Christ will rise first. Those of us who've given our hearts to Jesus that are still alive, we will gather with them in the sky first. Thessalonians 4 talks about this, that there will be a rapture. And this is a pre tribulation belief that it's going to happen before the Antichrist is set up, before the mark of the beast is set up, before there's a one world government, before, you know, the two witnesses are out on the earth, all of that. There's a group of people that believe it's going to happen before tribulation. There's another group of people that believe it's going to happen at mid tribulation, halfway through the seven years of tribulation, there's going to be a rapture. And then there's another group that believes in post tribulation, that at the end of seven years, those who have stayed faithful, those who have endured the testing and endured the Antichrist and endured the mark of the beast and didn't get the mark on their forehead or on their right hand that they will be raptured together. And then there's a fourth group, and this is the Pan tribulation. These people don't really know. They just know it's gonna pan out in the end. And that's some of y' all in the room. You're like, I don't know. It's gonna pan out. Here's the bottom line. We don't have to get up in arms over what you think about this. We can all agree the main thing is the main thing. Just be ready. Get your heart right. Trust Jesus, follow Jesus. Be ready to endure whatever's going on in this world, God. Because the truth is, we're already in times of persecution. We're already in perilous times. So whether we're raptured before the tribulation, in the middle of it, at the end of it, or it's going to pan out, the bottom line is get right with God. So when we look in the Book of Revelation and what Jesus had to say about the rapture and his second return, there's really a breakdown, a timeline, kind of an outline of what's going to happen. The first few chapters of Revelation, and I'm just gonna break this down for you. We'll call it Section 1. Section 1 is called Letters to the Church. Letters to the Church. This is where Jesus has a letter to seven different churches. You read the beginning of the Book of Revelation, and we will do a series on the Book of Revelation sometime. But right now, let me just give a quick overview during those first few chapters in the Book of Revelation, we'll call it Section One. Right here is where we see the words, Jesus is alpha and Omega. He's the beginning, he's the end, he's the first and the last. And he's taken the keys from Sat and the keys to death, hell and the grave, and he's giving it to the church. And he has a word for his church. He tells his church, you better not be lukewarm. I'm coming back for a church that's on fire. And then through this time in these first few chapters, by the way, you don't hear about the church in the Book of Revelation. After Chapter three, you don't hear about the church all the way until Revelation 22. So there's this long space and you go, well, what happened to the church? Most scholars believe during this first section of Revelation, Christ appears in the air. The Dead in Christ rise. Billy Joe, Terry McAuliffe, Oral Roberts. Many of your family members who've died, who've given their hearts to Jesus. The dead in Christ rise the church. Those of us who are still alive, who've given our hearts to Jesus, are raptured together. Believers are rewarded. This is the believer's judgment. Here's the good news about the believer's judgment. It's not a judgment of whether you get into heaven or whether. Or whether you go to hell. It's a judgment of receiving a crown of righteousness for the works you did on earth for the Lord. What we do in this life echoes in eternity. Many who are last will be first. Many who are first will be last. People who you think are going to get a crown may not get a crown. It'll be that grandma who prayed in the prayer closet at victory for 70 years, who fed people in the food line. It'll be the Mother Teresa's helping the lepers in Calcutta that will have a crown of righteousness for the good deeds they did. This is a believer's judgment. And this is good news for us. Section 2 of the book of Revelation shows us a worship service. This is where Jesus is the Lamb of God. You hear a mass choir of elders and believers and so big, you can't even see the end of it. So many. This is where the church is gathered with the angels in heaven. And we're singing, Jesus is worthy. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Worthy is the Lord. Holy, holy, holy. To open the scroll now. What is the scroll? The scroll is what the rest of the Book of Revelation has to say. And this is where it gets intense. We're headed towards the great White Throne of Judgment. Watch what happens. Section 3. Section 3. Jesus is the righteous judge in the Book of Revelation. What Jesus is about to talk about in this parable in Matthew 25 is leading to this moment. Here we see seven years of tribulation. This is where the Antichrist takes his place of leadership. He assassinates all world leaders. He becomes the main world leader. He demands people. If you want to buy, sell or trade goods, you have to have a mark. Most people believe the mark will be 666. That mark of the beast will be on their right hand or on their forehead. Whatever the mark is, it will be the mark that people use to buy, sell and trade during the same time. There will be two witnesses. Some people believe it's going to be Elijah and Enoch because they were raptured in the Bible. They were taken before they Died. Some people believe they'll come back during this time, beginning to witness and minister, and then they will be killed in front of the temple. The crazy thing is they'll come back to life. It'll be a sign and a wonder. People will literally be perplexed and there will be, like this piercing of the heart to choose a side. During this time, Jesus is still giving people time to get right with with him. He's still giving people time to turn away from the Antichrist, to not take the mark of the beast, to become a follower of Jesus. Also during this time, there's three judgments. There's the seal judgments. I'm not talking about, like, not. Not that kind of seal. You're like, that's not a seal, bro. I'm talking about a seal, like a scroll. This is where the scroll, the seal is rolled out. And during the seal judgments, here's what begins to happen. Y' all are still trying to figure out what the seal was going on there. The four riders of the Apocalypse. The moon turns blood red. There's blood shed from war. A fourth of the world dies during this first judgment. From famine, from plagues, from viruses, from wild beasts released in the earth. The second judgment during this section is the trumpet Judgments. Do, do, do, do, do, do. The trumpet Judgments, Hail and fire mixed with blood falls from the sky. Poisonous locust attacks. And a third of farmers, fields, vegetation is destroyed. Not just in America, not just in Israel, all over the world, Cambodia, Philippines. There will be people crying out because they won't have food. There will be a massive food shortage. Water will be contaminated. A third of the water in the world will become undrinkable. During this time, a third of sea creatures in oceans, rivers, lakes, creeks will die. A third of the light in our world will be lost. And a third of the world, humanity, will die. All during this time, God is warning. He's calling people to repentance. This is the judgment of what's been building up since the beginning of the fall of Adam in the garden. The third judgment is the bowl Judgments. In Revelation 16, we read about sores appearing on people's faces, sores appearing on people who got the mark of the beast. Water turns to blood. Everything in the water across the earth, earth dies. The sun becomes so hot, it begins to scorch people. Devastating earthquakes. And I can already hear this gasp in the room, like, man, this is crazy. This is doomsday. Paul, where's the hope? Where's the hope? And the hope is that we would put our faith in Jesus Christ, that we would be delivered from this tribulation. Because Jesus says, pray. Pray that you are not going through all of this, but if you do go through this, pray that your heart would remain faithful to him to live as Christ and to die as gain. During this time, devastating earthquakes hit. Hundred pound pieces of hail fall from the sky. This is the final part of the judgment, the bowl Judgments. In Revelation 16, verse 5, he says, you are just in your judgments, O Holy One. God is just to judge the earth. Then we go into section four. This is where things start to turn. At the end of the seven years of tribulation, in section four, Jesus is King of kings, Lord of Lords. He confronts the Antichrist, kills the Antichrist. Then he takes Satan and he throws him into the lake of fire, defeating the devil once and for all. He reigns victorious. Come on. The devil loses and the church reigns with Jesus. And christ has a 1000 year reign. Now. This is where all of a sudden the church takes authority. There's a resurrection of the dead. This is where the great White Throne judgment happens. This is where he separates sheep and goats, believers and unbelievers. This is what Jesus is talking about. When he starts to talk about Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats. There will be a group of people who refuse Jesus. Multiple chances, multiple opportunities. But they say, I don't want anything to do with Jesus. I don't want him, I don't want him. And Jesus says, there will be a final great White throne judgment. This is section four. From this judgment, those who have accepted Jesus in your hearts. I'm not saying you're perfect. I'm not saying you did everything right in your life. But you relied on the blood of Jesus Christ. You put your faith in him. You decided to repent of your sins. We will be welcomed into heaven where there will be no more weeping, no more cancer, no more darkness, no more divorce, no more abuse, no more drugs, no more temptation, no more fear, no more lust, no more pride, no more broken homes. There will be a day where we reign with Jesus. And this leads us into section five, the final part of Revelation. In this section, God creates a new heaven and a new. And Jesus says these words to John and he's telling his church, I am coming soon. Get the bride ready, get the church ready. I'm coming back soon. And John says the church responds to Jesus. Come Lord Jesus, come. Come Lord Jesus, come. There's this Maranatha cry, right? Because John's saying the world's getting crazy. We got emperors and we Got narcissists running the world, and we got people destroying and killing and persecuting Christians. And John says, come, Lord Jesus. Come, Jesus. Bring your church out of this as soon as. And this is the call of the church that we would contend to bring his kingdom down to earth. That we wouldn't just hide in our houses, build bunkers 30ft below the ground, stockpile food just for our families, but that we would live to bring his kingdom right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and until he returns. That we say, come, Lord Jesus, come. But if you're not coming yet, help us to make the most of bringing your love, your kingdom, your witness, your light to a world that is lost and broken and hurting. Friends, we've got work to do. And this is where Jesus goes right into what he's saying. Matthew 25, he says, there will be a great throne, judgment. He will separate the sheep and the goats. Now we're in verse 32 of Matthew 25. And then he says, here's the separation. Here's where the separation will happen. In verse 33, he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. And the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed. Everybody say, blessed. Now, that's like the grace of God. We didn't earn our salvation. What Jesus is about to say next is important because some people might read it going, this is my ticket to heaven. If I do these things, I get in. The only way into heaven is. Is by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. But once you receive Jesus in your heart, Jesus expects there to be fruit, evidence it leads to a life that Jesus is about to describe. Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance. Friends, the greatest inheritance at the end of this life is not money you get here on earth. It's not a house you receive from a grandparent, from a mom or a dad. Our greatest inheritance is salvation. Everything we cling to on this earth one day will end up in garage sales. Friends, when I was in middle school, I used to collect pogs. Does anybody remember pogs? It was a big deal, about 10 of us in the room, okay? It was a real fringe, you know, exciting thing for about 10 people in the world. But people told me, if you buy enough pogs, you could become a millionaire. Because those pogs are going to be worth like 20 times what you pay for them. I spent all my life savings on my pogs. I was buying, like, Pokemon Pogs. My mom was like, I rebuke the Pokemon Pogs. Get them out of my house, I was buying all kinds of pogs, Power Rangers, pogs. I had slammers. They were like these circle things made of paper. You're like, this sounds like a terrible investment. It was all my pogs. They didn't even get sold in the garage sale. Nobody wanted to buy them. I spent 300 of my dollars on those pogs and. And slammers. And about five years later, my mom literally put them in a box and gave them to people. I was like, there goes my box. Everything we cling to in this life. Y' all remember Beanie Babies? We spent so much money on Beanie Babies. Someone told me, if I buy Bessie the cow, the Beanie Baby, It'll be worth $1,000 someday. If I buy, like, $10,000 in about five years and a million dollars in 20. 20. 20 years. Bessie got sold in the garage sale for $3 at Grand Gran's house. I still remember selling Bessie. I was like, that was a bad investment. Because our greatest inheritance is not the money we make on this earth. It's not the classic cars you collect. It's not the things, the materials. It's all gonna one day burn. Our greatest inheritance is our salvation, our relationship with Jesus and what we did for him. The kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. Watch what he says next. He says, for I was hungry. Now this is the evidence. The fruits. Like, I wonder if people at the end of the lifetime, when they get to heaven and they hear him separating the sheep and the shepherds, like, ooh, I'm gonna get in. And people are like, how you gonna get in? How are you gonna get in? And someone's gonna be like, I memorized the whole book of Genesis from verse one to the last chapter in the last verse. I know the whole, whole tour. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy. I could quote all. And another guy's like, I don't know any verses, but I do know that I was feeding the hungry. See, Jesus isn't going to quiz you on your memorization of scripture. He's going to ask you, where were you when I was here? You're telling me you were the guy that relied on SNAP benefits and ran out of food stamps, and I was supposed to feed you when the government was shut down? I was hungry. And your church, instead of turning a blind eye and saying, figure it out, government, you guys gave me grocery bags. What? Jesus is saying I was the woman in the line. No, no, no. You weren't the woman, Jesus. You're a man. We know you are perfect. You are from Israel. No, I was the person waiting in the food line. I was waiting in the food line after the 11am service. I was thirsty. I was in Haiti when the earthquakes hit and all of our water was contaminated and destroyed. And your church showed up and built water wells in my village, Victory. Did you know you've helped build 400 water wells around the world in Haiti, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore. You've helped bring water to people that are thirsty after terrible disasters. Victory shows up with disaster relief trucks, and we bring massive carts and just like huge. What do you call them, where it's like big stacks of water. Pallets. Thank you. I'm still learning English. Pallets of water. I was thirsty and you gave me pallets of water. You gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. I was that refugee that moved here from Afghanistan. No, no, no, Jesus, you're from Israel. You weren't the. Don't try to pull. Don't manipulate me with social justice here. Jesus. Jesus goes, no, that was me. No, Jesus, you need to figure out. Get a job. Get off the streets. Jesus, stop. Stop trying to push your. I was the stranger. Victory, did you know what you did? You've been a part of bringing shelter to so many people in our city. Every time there's a need in our city for people that don't have a place to stay, Victory steps up and shows up. And we have shelters that we make at the Dream Center. And right here in Salha, we minister to people and we help find people places to go. And Jesus says, that was me. In fact, let me show you a quick video of what happened just a few years ago. Check this out. When images of thousands of Afghans scrambling to the airport in Kabul began flashing across TV screens around the world, Pastor Paul Daugherty knew they had to do something. Members of Victory Church say they live by this powerful phrase, see a need and meet it. See a hurt and heal it. Jesus said, what you do to the least of these, you've done to me. And if you feed and you take care and you visit the prisoner and you clothe the naked, all those things that. That matters. I would say two months ago, when we began our journey, it was the most difficult day of our life. Taib says the images of that day still haunt them. Once they arrived in Tulsa, Victory had their housing ready and everything they would need to begin a new life. One trip to Walmart stands out in Taib's mind. As soon as I walk to Walmart, I just look and the store never ends. So I'm just like, what in the world is this place? But through all of this, one thing remains. The fact that we can live with a sense of security and peace, because people don't realize how important that is psychologically to a human being. She talks about there being good people here, and she says, like, yes, our actual homeland is Afghanistan, but we do feel like it's home here because we're at. Come on, Victory. Give yourselves a hand. That was you guys. That was y'. All. You helped make a place for them every time you give here. Let me tell you something. This place is debt free, which means no bank gets any interest from any note, any loan from this church. It goes right back to helping people. And every month, we're giving towards people that need help. We're not doing this so we can get into heaven. We're doing this because we want heaven to get into people. We want heaven to get into Cambodia and Afghanistan and Iraq and Israel and Iran and Gaza, and right here in North Tulsa, South Tulsa, East Tulsa, West Tulsa, Sepulpa, Glenpool. We want to bring help. We want to bring hope. We want to pull partner to bring as much help to people. And Jesus says, that was me. That was me. You gave me something to eat. You gave me. I was a stranger. You invited me in. Watch what he says next. He said I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick. You came to St. Francis. You visited me. I was in the nursing home, and your church showed up, and you gave me Bibles and you gave me love, and you sang Christmas carols to me. I was at the Thanksgiving harvest feast, and you fed me, and I was emotionally sick, and you sat with me at the altar. I was battling depression and suicidal thoughts. I was sick in the head. I was sick in the heart. I was sick from my divorce. I was sick from my abuse. I was sick from what happened to me. And you sat there and you listened to me and you discipled me, and you put me through Restore class and you helped me get through the trauma. What my mom did, what my dad did. I was sick and you loved me. I was a leper, and you came to me. And you didn't just look at me. You. You sat with me. He says I was in prison. Wait. No, no, no. Jesus. You didn't do anything bad. You weren't a criminal. You were perfect in all your ways. You never missed it, never messed up. What are you talking about? You were in prison. I've been to prison. I've seen the guys, they damaged kids lives. Talking about prisoners that were in there for 40, 50, 60 years because of what they did to a little kid. What are you talking about? You were in prison? Jesus says, yeah, yeah, that was me. I was in prison and Victory showed up to visit me. Now I met this guy this last week while we were at prison. He comes up to me, he says, hey, Paul. He says, you don't know me, but I know you. He said, I got convicted in 1991. I've been in prison for 34 years. He said, but I found Jesus in prison. I said, what? He said, yeah. He said, your parents came and they gave me a Bible and your parents introduced me to a pastor named Charles Story. Charles Story was the original, like the OG of prison ministry in Tulsa at Victory. He said, they came and they started a Bible school. And look at this Bible. There's a picture of the Bible there. He says, look. He goes, paul, that's your parents names. He said, I graduated from Victory while I was, I found Jesus in prison. He said, I never got to tell your mom and dad thank you, but please tell them. I'm saying thank you because you're here today. I go back to that guy, look at him and he gives me this hug and he goes, man, he goes, I found purpose in prison. I said, when do you get out? I was thinking it was in a couple years. He said, Brother, I got 40 more years. He said, I'm going to die here. He said, but I'm going to die with joy and purpose because I found Jesus. I found Jesus. I found Jesus. I found Jesus. I found Jesus in prison. I found Jesus in prison. He's telling me I found Jesus in prison. I'm looking at him and I'm like, I just found Jesus in prison. He's like, no, no, no, I found Jesus in prison. I'm like, yeah, that's the exact verse I read this week that Jesus was in prison. He goes, you're not calling me Jesus. I'm saying, what if you are. Jesus said, I was in prison and you visited me. And I don't know, Paul, I was in prison and you visited me. And then look at the next verse. Verse 37, the righteous will answer. Lord, when did we see you? When did we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a prisoner among so many criminals? When did we see you sitting in the 11am Service? When did we see you? And Jesus says, what you did to the Least of these look at the person next to you and say, you don't know who you're sitting next to. Jesus might be on our row. Jesus. I found Jesus in church today. He's got a big beard right here. I found Jesus, brother, in church today. I found Jesus in prison. I found Jesus in the hospital. I found Jesus in the nursing home. I found Jesus in the food stamp line. I found Jesus in the trauma class. I found Jesus next to the girls that have walked through some terrible things that happened when they were teenagers from an uncle in their house. I found Jesus in the foster home. I found Jesus under the bridge last night. I found Jesus in downtown Tulsa. Found Jesus in an encampment on the side of the road, a little tent that he had put up last night and. Oh, no, Paul, what are you talking about? Jesus is like, he's only in church. No, Jesus says, I'm in the places you least expect me. I remember dressing up as a homeless guy one time. And I. And I sat in our church. How many? All were here when I did this. And I sat in the back of the room. I sat on the top of section B. I didn't tell anybody. So ushers and security guard were looking at me because I looked like I was packing guns. And I had a big trench coat on. I had a beard and glasses and a hat. I was sitting there and I had a secret microphone. And I started preaching about how Jesus is in disguise. Jesus is not who you think he is. Jesus said, that was me. Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to me. When did we see you? When did we see you? And watch what he says next in verse 41. Can y' all hang for five more minutes? He looks at the people on his left and he says, depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That is a harsh statement. He says, I was hungry and you told me, go get a job. I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. Now you go, Paul, this is really intense. Now, here's what I'm going to say. I think we have a commandment as believers to speak truth and love to people in our lives. I do think we need to break the cycle of poverty. I do think we need to teach people all the different principles and ways to help grow and get off their feet. But I think we have a commandment to share our bread with the poor, to help the hungry, to visit the prisoners, to be there for the lonely, the least, the last, and the lost. And regardless of how you vote and regardless of your political stance, don't let your Christianity get blurred here. There's a call for Christians, there's a call for believers. Every, every week I'm preaching truth in love. Every week I'm preaching truth. Every week I'm calling all of us to repentance because we all need to grow, all of us need to get better in our walk with Christ. Me, you, all of us. But let us never look down on another person who's down. Let us get right down there with him, like Jesus did, drawing in the dust, lifting the woman out of adultery, lifting her back up, saying, go and sin no more. Where are your accusers? Let us be like Jesus, sitting with the lepers, loving the people, loving the least, the last. The lost Jesus said, I was there and you gave me nothing to drink. And verse 43, I was a stranger, you didn't invite me in, I needed clothes, you didn't clothe me. I was sick, I was in prison, you didn't look after me. And they will also answer, Lord, when did we see you as the hungry guy, the thirsty girl? When did we see you as the stranger, the homeless? When did we see you needing clothes? When did we see at the dreams? When did we see you sick or in prison? And when did we not help you? He says, truly, I tell you, whatever you did not do for all, one of the least. And if you're taking notes, I would just write these words down. The least, the last, and the lost. The least, the last, and the lost. I believe we're called to reach rich and poor, young and old, black and white. We're all precious in his sight. All tribes, all nations, all tongues, all people. All of us have a calling to love everybody the way Jesus loves us. But Jesus heart specifically in scripture, breaks for the least, the last, the lost. We read about it in the Gospels. He went after the lost sheep. He went after the lost son, the prodigal son, as heartbreaks for those that are, that are hurting in our city, that need help. And this is why Victory is not just a church for people to stay inside the four walls here, but we are a church that is engaged in our community. If it's your first time to victory, this is a like, we are a massive outreach church. We are a church that reaches locally and globally with God's love. We don't do it because we have to. We do it because we get to. It's not like, oh, we gotta prove we're Christians. It's like, man, Jesus has done so much for us. I am one step away from being in prison. I'm one step away from being poor. I'm one step away from sleeping under the bridge. I could be him, he could be me. And the more I see that we are brothers and sisters and we're on the same playing field, and we all stand at the. At the foot of the cross, on level ground, and we all need mercy. And I need mercy, and you need mercy. Then I want to show mercy to as many people as I can because I want to build up my mercy account. I need God's grace. How many all need God's mercy and grace in your own life, how many all know we're all one step away from being in a hard place in our life. Don't ever forget. You might be high right now, but in one moment, you can go down. All it takes is one slanderous word and any of us can go down. But here's the point. Don't ever forget to keep your heart connected to God's heart. God's heart beats for the least, the last, the lost, the broken. Whatever you did, it was for me. And the end of this, it's so sobering. He says, listen, there's an ending for this. It's a punishment. You chose this. He says, but the righteous chose eternal life. There's something about the righteous path. It's not easy. It's a sacrifice sometimes setting aside money in your budget, time in your calendar to help people with no strings attached, everybody say, no strings attached. That means what I do for others. I am not hoping they do something back in return for me, but I am doing it out of a heart and act of mercy, compassion, kindness, love. Whether you never pay me back, Here's a couple action steps as we end today. In fact, you can stand your feet. I'm done with the sermon, but I want to just give some action steps, just practical steps, because people hear this message and they go, okay, what am I supposed to do? Some of you heard Corey talking about Victory College. That's a great place to get equipped to go do the work of the ministry. You can check out Victory College preview day. That's free. That's a gift from us to you. If you want to come November 11, take a day off from work, come check it out. But some of you, you were encouraged to serve today. You were thinking, man, when's the next outreach? I want to serve at the next outreach. So here's the next outreach that's coming up. We got friendsgiving this month we're doing three of these. We're doing one here at the church, but we're doing one at the Dream center north, one at the Dream center west, and then one here at Victory. You could be a part of serving turkey ham, a meal to someone in need. Bring a family that, you know, start a carpool. Bring as many young adults, teenagers, families that are in need, bring them here. We're doing a Thanksgiving day outreach. We have a team that helps single parent ministry here. Josh and Maria Clingskill. They help the single parent families in our city. We're doing an actual Thanksgiving day for any person in our city who doesn't have a family, who doesn't have a home, who doesn't have the money to buy a meal. We're going to have a Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day at our church for those people, and you can come be a part of it. Yeah, I'm so thankful for Joshua, Maria and all those that serve Tim Newton, those that serve all the different areas of the ministry. Some of you, you were watching that prison thing. You're like, man, I want to find Jesus in prison. Maybe you don't want to go to prison, but you want to go to prison to reach, you know, you know what I'm talking about. Every person who does the prison ministry outreaches, we all go through training. We all had to sit through training. That's part of the process. You could come to the next training. It's in a month between now and then. You can come to the church and find out more information of other outreaches you can serve in. You could be a part of bringing groceries this week. Go get some canned goods later today or this week at Walmart. Get some canned goods, bring a bag of groceries to the church. We got drop off boxes financially. Maybe you were like, I didn't want to give earlier, but now I feel like I need to give. Don't give out of obligation. Give out out of the motivation of the Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit prompts your heart today, you go, man, I got an extra 10 bucks. Or, man, I was just blessed with an extra hundred bucks. Or, man, God just gave me an extra like 20 bucks. I want to help out. I'm going to give some of this to give some food to people this week or help out with the next outreach Victory's doing. We can all be a part of this and we can all change our city, our state, our nation, the world. Also some of you, you've never made Victory your home church. And that's the next step to get, get involved here. Maybe you want to serve in the youth group, serve in children's church. We got a lot of areas, let me get rid of these yellow lines here. We got a lot of areas that need helping hands. This is a big ministry with a lot of gaps where we need people to step in the gap, fill in the gap, serve as a mentor to teenage guys. How many all used to be a teenage guy in the room. Y' all remember that? It was wild, right? Like, I never want to go back to those days. Any women in the room that used to be a teenage girl, how many remember the teenage girl emotions, the feelings, the stuff that you want to talk about? They need mentors. Children. Oh my goodness, children. Children are so close to the heart of Jesus. When I talk about the least, the last, the lost. Can I tell you, children are on that list. Little 7, 6 year olds, 5 year olds, 4 year olds, 10 year olds coming into our church that are walking through, through all kinds of stuff at home. And this is the one safe haven they get for one hour, two hours a week. And maybe you could serve. And here's the next step. Go to our growth track. Today lunch is on us. We'll provide it for you and then you can become a member of the church and get involved serving in all these areas. All right, I'm done. Let's close our eyes. Lord, I just pray right now that you would help us to activate this message in our lives. Help us this week to look for ways to show compassion, to see Jesus in the everyday encounters with we have at the grocery store, at the gas station, at the mall, at our, at our. Where we live, in the apartment complex in, in the neighborhood right here behind the church, people walking down the street. I pray God that we would be led by the Spirit on ways to show your love, compassion and generosity. And God, I pray Lord, that as a result, as we do this, that our own lives, our own hearts, our minds, our bodies, God, that we would experience just a greater level of your provision, your abundance, your life giving energy flowing through us, that we would find ourselves even just smiling more, laughing more, enjoying life more as a result of being compassionate and generous with heads bowed and eyes closed. I just feel to pray as like a commissioning for anyone in the room today that you feel called to step into a greater level of living this message out in your life. I want you to raise your hand. Yeah, maybe today the Holy Spirit was just convicting you like, this is you. This is you, sister, this is you, brother. This is your time. Hands going up from the front to the back. You're saying, I want to live this message out on a greater level than I have been. Come on, be honest. Today's a great day to take off the costume and say, God, honestly, I've not been living with the compassion and generosity that I know I should. And I want to. I want to flip the script on depression. I want to flip the script on selfishness. I want to flip the script on making life about me. I want to look. Look for ways to show your love to others. Secondly, you're here today. This most important question. If you're not right with Jesus, if you were to die when you leave this building, do you know where you would spend eternity? None of us are promised another breath, another hour, another day right here. If you need to get right with God and know that you know that your name is written in the book of life, that you've given your heart to Jesus and repented of your sins, this is your moment to do it. If that's you, just lift your hand up. Today is the day of salvation. Hands going up around the room. If you're here today and you say, I want to get saved today. I want to repent of my sins, give my heart to Jesus. If you raised your hand for either of those, or you want to come down to the altar, I want you to leave your seat, come and join me at this altar. We're going to cheer on brave men, brave women, young guys, young girls, grandparents, grand. Listen, whatever generation you are, whatever age you are, whatever season you're in, however long you've been saved, today is a day to say, I surrender. I surrender, Jesus, use my life for your glory. God, I lay down my pride, I lay down my rights I lay down my ego I lay down what I want. And I say, God, your kingdom come, your will be done. Let's just begin to worship. Go ahead. Let's just sing this song to the Lord today. Break my heart make me more like you Jesus, open my eyes show me Lord show me how to love the way you love me God, open my heart Open my eyes God, break my heart Full of praise you everything I am for everything I am for your kingdom from the top of my head to the soles of my As I walk from birth into you eternity Connect me to your heart Connect me to your heart God, connect me to your heart Hear my heart Lord, I surrender Open up my eyes to the victims show me how to love like you I love me yeah Break my heart for Praise you everything I dare to your kingdom. Open up my eyes to the things I see. Show me how to love like you I love me and break my heart for what? Praise your everything I am for your kingdom comes as I walk from bir into eternal. Just say this with me Jesus, thank you that you loved me even while I was still a sinner and you died for me for my sins and I repent. I receive your mercy, I receive your salvation. I confess you my Lord and Savior Jesus make my heart more like your heart. Help me to see people the way you see people. Help me to love people the way you love people. Jesus, I pray that you would work on my heart, work on my mind. Help me Lord to live this message out. I'm all yours God in Jesus name Amen and amen. I love you, God loves you. Be blessed.