His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): Pastor Matt, recalling a couple of inspirational stories of those who died for their faith in Christ.

Matt VanderVen: Polycarp, you know the testimony of Polycarp, 80 years old, set on fire. He says, my God has been nothing but good to me. My Jesus has been I cannot deny who he is. Set on fire or not, John on the Isle of Patmos trying to boil me in oil or not, I cannot deny who Jesus is. Nobody does that unless they've had a personal encounter with the living God.

Guest (Male): From Stephen being stoned to death, Andrew and Peter crucified, or Polycarp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Jim Elliot, there have been many Christians over the years who have been martyred. And that will occur at unprecedented levels during the tribulation. Today on His Perfect Love, we'll hear about the fifth seal judgment when there will be those who are martyred. Pastor Matt VanderVen has identified six reasons for this, and he'll point them out momentarily. Join us now in Revelation chapter 6.

Matt VanderVen: So we know that these men that are martyred aren't martyred for their salvation. Jesus already did that. What are they martyred for? For the word of God and the testimony. Do you see why it's important that the Apostle John wrote that in there? Because he knew somebody would come and go, look, that's works. And clearly we know it 's not about works. We're not saved because of what we've done. We're saved because what Jesus did. That's that's the whole point. He's not going to contradict his statement now, and nor would it be different for the tribulation saints.

The tribulation saints that humble themselves that cry out to Jesus Christ, they will be saved in the tribulation. And it's the same work on the cross when he said it's finished, it's finished for anybody that calls out to them while alive on this earth and asks for forgiveness, repentance, and asks for Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. And what's so beautiful is it doesn't matter the timing. Now, look, there's no reason for anybody to go through the great tribulation. It's horrible and terrible, and it's a time of punishment and and and not for the Christian.

So I I hope this sort of you know, this this communicates what John is trying to communicate to us. He he's noticing that they were martyred and he's hearing their cries. And these men and women during the great tribulation, they they're martyred for six different reasons. I mean, I know it says two here, but when you break it apart and you really, you know, you chew the meat on the bone, what did they die for? Well, the first thing they died for is for their faith. Well, I think that 's what we're dying for. Faith is only as good as what you place your faith in.

And may I say it this way? Faith is only as good as whom you place your faith in. They died for the word of God. They were not willing to compromise the Bible you have in your hand. It says it right there. You can look right back at it. He says they had been slain for the word of God. We talked to I spent so much time last week talking about false teachers and apostasy and all the things that are happening in these last days and how many we looked at the data on the screen.

Remember that? How only one in five churches, only 20% of churches anymore actually teach the Bible. And how we shouldn't be surprised because that's sort of a seduction within itself because if you don't know truth, how can you what? Follow the truth or have faith and trust and hope. So by removing the Bible, what did you just do? You undercut someone's legs. You just took the hope and the faith and the trust in what's happening around you. And it's no reason that we're at an all-time high of anxiety and depression because people don't know what to believe anymore because it's all man's wisdom except for the word of God.

It is trustworthy. It's God breathed. So the second thing that we see here that they were willing to die for and they wouldn't compromise and yet I want you to think about Christians and Christian churches today when only 20% of churches actually teach the Bible anymore. That means one out of every five churches you pass is teaching the Bible. I I don't know what else they're doing. I I I'm not I don't have an opinion on that. I just know they're not teaching the Bible according to the studies. But these men and women that are in the great tribulation, they're willing to die for the words written on this page because they have no qualms or questions about whether this is true or to be taken literal.

That's all been settled by that point because of the intensity of the punishment and judgment that's coming and what they're going through. Like I said, there's not a single agnostic. There's not a single atheist. Nobody's doubting of whether there's a higher creator being named Jehovah or God or Jesus. They know it's the lamb. We already read that in verse 16. There's not a question of that. This is a question of submission. We're finally getting to the root of everything that needs be. It's always been since the dawn of time, Adam and Eve in the garden, all the way through human history, it has always always been about submission, which is why when Jesus taught us how to pray, he said, thy will be done.

Not my will be done, but thy will be done. He literally wrote it in the prayer for us to understand how you and I as Christians, how as children of God we ought to pray because he knows our presupposition of going back and going, well, but God, you know me, right? I'm your son. I mean, we're we're tight, right? Yeah, he's our friend. But let's not mistake he's our God first. All right? Let's not mistake the order of operations. He saved us. He died on a cross at Calvary. And then he says now he taught us before they says you will call me friend.

But it's the work on the cross. Otherwise, if he didn't resurrect from the dead, would anybody be talking about for him? No. But he's God. He's exactly who he said he was. They died for the testimony which they held. In other words, their lives, the testimony that was before them, they were willing to die for that. They died because they refused to recant when somebody came to them, namely the Antichrist or the government that the Antichrist is going to establish. Please don't miss this. There will be a one world government. We are going to read through that in Revelation.

Please don't miss this. And you can look at Revelation 13. We'll do it in a minute, and it'll be very clear that people are going to have to take an image or a mark, specifically, of this beast, of to buy and sell and trade, okay? You want to know how to get a a hold of people, tell them you're not going to sell them toilet paper, right? You saw what crisis that created on this earth. I mean, I say that sort of jovially and sort of simply, but honestly, people didn't know what to do. They were beside themselves.

And what did they begin doing? They were so worried about all their friends and neighbors and everybody else wanting to make sure they had TP, right? That they left enough on the shelf so that everybody could have some because after all, we believe in a socialist manifesto and that we want to do the betterment for everybody and we're going to live that way and and oh oh boy, this is going to be a socialist republic, right? I mean, we you know, after all, until it happens. And then when it happens, what did everybody do? Stock up and had shelves at home dedicated to toilet paper or milk and food and whatever else, okay?

What happened to the greater good? What happened to the Kumbaya? Right right what I mean, let's be honest. Data is data. Data doesn't lie. People can tell all kinds of things from man's wisdoms and experience. Data doesn't lie. And you start looking at what people did. People began to it became about self and consuming. And I just just my family was mom and my family saying here and and there was bare shelves and and so many people went without medicines and different things. We started seeing shortages of medicines at that time. And so I don't know how I got on that when I refused to recant.

But the point is that they were willing they were unwilling to turn around and come back and say, you know what? I'll live. You'll let me live because I'll say Jesus isn't Lord and Savior. I can't do that. Polycarp, you know the testimony of Polycarp, 80 years old, set on fire. He says, my God has been nothing but good to me. My Jesus has been I cannot deny who he is. Set on fire or not, John on the Isle of Patmos trying to boil me in oil or not, I cannot deny who Jesus is. Nobody does that unless they've had a personal encounter with the living God.

The second to last is they those who die in the great It's because they held the word of God even though it cost them their lives. And he who held to the testimony and sealed it. You know how they these these martyrs seal it? With their blood. With their blood. The blood was shed. Matthew chapter 24. Just turn in your Bibles there, please, this this morning. Matthew chapter 24. Look at verse 9 with me. Jesus tells us and this is speaking of this time, the end of the age. Certainly this is also speaking of how you know, there's labor pains.

We're going to see in our lifetime we are already starting to see this, but it's only going to intensify. We understand this. As we get closer and closer to the rapture and then we're raptured out, then these things will happen. We're only going to see the labor pains as Jesus described, right? He described labor pains. But he says in verse 9, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. You will be hated by all nation for my name's sake. And then many in verse 10 of chapter 24 in Matthew, then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because of lawlessness we just saw that a few years ago. We're still seeing it, defunding police and all kinds of stuff like that will abound, and the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved, will overcome. So Jesus wrote about this. These are his own writings and he he said there's coming a time where these things are going to happen and it's going to be marked by these other events as well. We're already starting to see that.

We're starting to see Christians falling away. We're starting to see uh a cold-hearted becoming indifferent towards others as I I gave the example during COVID. It's not that we didn't want to protect others and things like that, but but we it became more of just what about us and what about our immediate family or somebody around us? I'm just really concerned by by that. I'm concerned because behaviors speak loudly. Jesus says you'll know them by their fruit. People can say all kinds of things with words. And And they will. I mean, he said they're going to say to me, Lord, Lord.

I mean, they're going to use words. But that's not what defines them because he says I don't know you. You worker of iniquity. You are so self-deceived that you actually thought you were with me, but you didn't at all exemplify any of my spiritual fruit. Galatians 5 and on the fruit of the Spirit. You didn't look anything like me. You're supposed to be conformed to my my image and likeness. And yet when somebody was hungry, you didn't even think about bringing them something or somebody wanted to drink a water, you didn't even think about getting them a cold drink of water.

You were so busy carousing or so busy I'm not I'm not saying you. I'm just worldwide. I'm talking about the the the the the times we're living. So busy worrying about all these other things that that we are we're we've as a Christian church we've come so far away from the simplicity of Christianity and the authenticity of the word of God and how we're to think and live. We've created this amalgamation of like American and and republic and democracy and kind of like this Christianity and sort of this relativism and I believe what I believe, you believe what you believe, and we ought to you know, let's be tolerant until it's about Jesus and then we're not tolerant about that at all.

And And And then when you know, COVID or people are dying and and and we just become full of fear. And we just oh shut everything down. First time the church ever had to shut down. Shut the very people that can help you, the people that are called to serve, the people that are know they're going to be with Jesus. Shut that whole thing down and let's not give the word that can encourage and build up and strengthen. Let's isolate people, make them feel more alone than they ever have and let them be like pawns, just or maybe wandering animals just picked off by a lion.

Do we not see? It's already started. This is already happening in the days we're living. There's so much division going by gender, by race, by ethnicity. All these things we're fighting about. We all got off the boat together. Noah, the flood, his eight children. We all got off the boat. We have different pigments. We We're male, female, right? God created us uniquely, but we can focus on all the uniqueness and real forget that we're all human beings who need Jesus and need a Savior. Do you not see the the the deception in all of it?

I mean, I I know many of you do, but but there's there's this world there it it's like it goes back to the cyclical. It it's already happening. We see a new presidential term coming in. I don't care where you are politically on that, but a new And already the same old bag of tricks. Oh, now this is happening. We're going to have these things. Soon you're going to see, hey, let's start talking about sanctuary cities and defunding police. Oh, should we ex import, you know, ex All All this stuff. Do you realize that right now FEMA is declaring And And And most people know with the intensity and frequency of natural disasters, it is becoming not humanly possible to meet all of the needs.

Do you remember when we had the Canadian fires a number of years ago and it came through this Do you know that I know people that have literally gone never had emphysema, never had any type of breathing COPD? After those Canadian fires came through, they literally went and got medically tested and now they're diagnosed with emphysema and COPD. Never smoked a day in their life. But because of those fires and some of the different things they had a sensitivity and all that, what about the people in California right now that are surrounding in that area, that are breathing these things in?

It's We have begun to see the ripple effect of that. The whole world's running this way out of fear just like they did in COVID. And you know what? We are running this way because we're not afraid of a single thing because we know where we're going. We're sealed and secured. And that's the whole point. These martyrs, they weren't afraid. They just said, Lord, how long is it going to be till vengeance is poured out? So some have come back and said, well, so does that mean all of these saints that are are that the John's looking at?

I mean, is Abel in there? Well, think about it. Cain and Abel. Remember Abel was murdered because his brother because of jealousy, because of sacrifice that was offered wasn't pleasing. Is Abel there, friends? No. Why? Because good hermeneutics teaches us that context is king when we study Scripture. And what that means is when we study the Bible hermeneutically, biblically, accurately, we stay in context. I'm reading about a time called the great tribulation. Therefore, there's great tribulation saints. People that get saved during the great tribulation. I 'm reading about seals that are being progressively opened by Jesus and judgment.

Why is judgment being poured out again? It's the wrath of the lamb. Why? Because of evil, wickedness. And we read We talked a couple weeks back how Jesus is a just God and all judgments been given to him, right? We looked at it right in the scriptures. All of this was intentional. This This The accounts and everything I've been bringing you guys through in our study this time going through Revelation. It's so that we would have all these answered by the time we get to passages like this. Those things have already been answered for you because we studied them together.

So you know why it's happening, you know what the reason, you know what's going to come, and you know why these things needs be. So this is specifically talking about great tribulation saints. Will they have great tribulation saints? What's that mean? That people in the great tribulation are going to get what? Saved. Now you know why in the earlier studies I was saying God is a God of mercy and grace even in judgment. And we haven't even got to chapter 7 where we're going to see 144,000 sent out with the gospel to get more saved.

So even in God's judgment, being a just God, having to judge evil and wickedness, he is still very loving and compassionate, of course. And he's still giving the opportunity even though it's a It's the most hellish time on earth. He's still giving the opportunity for people to humble their hearts and come and get saved. Yes, is there a cost at that time? Yeah, terrible, right? Martyrdom, not good. But eternity with Jesus forever worth it. Now several groups again, the teachers are going to try to say that this is speaking to those that have been martyred in human history.

And this is where they start muddying this and this is all speaking to a future time. And I just wanted us to see that together. And this is related to again the wrath judgment of punishment of the lamb during the great tribulation, specifically during the fifth seal. And that's what I just want us to be students of the scriptures. We don't want to which means in Greek read in, and we want to let the scriptures exo in Greek means pour out, give to us so that we don't come to this. We read it and we take it.

Hold your finger here. Turn in your Bibles to first Thessalonians, please. So my question is, do we need to be nervous specifically ourselves? Are we going through this? We've talked about this multiple times. But being with the heaviness of this, knowing 2 billion people are going to perish, knowing that there's going to be tribulation saints, we just read about Christians being martyred and killed. I think it's really good to review this again because I'm sure there's somebody here that might be a little bit fearful after hearing that there's people that are going to be martyred because they love Jesus and they love the word of God.

I hope everybody here would go, that's me. Right? I I'm hoping everybody here says that's me. I love Jesus and I love the word of God. Amen. I'm not alone, right? Like okay. So because of that in first Thessalonians chapter 4, please look at verse 13. I want you to understand that's not you. You're going to be looking down from the mesanines, but that doesn't mean you should be indifferent to people going to hell. You shouldn't be indifferent to people going through a great tribulation. You should care, love, and want to bring the great the gospel and fulfill the great commission.

And first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13 says, but I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren. Paul speaking to who? The church at Thessalonica. You all with me? Concerning those who have fallen asleep, that's uh really poetic way of saying those who died, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Oh, you mean exactly what Pastor Matt's been saying, that the work of the enemy is to steal hope. If he can convince the Christians just like it was happening here in Thessalonica that they'd either miss something, it's too late, or there's no hope, you mean you can steal the joy that Christ wants us to have and the peace that he wants us to have right now?

And that's all deliberate as a job or work of the Antichrist or the Satan himself? Yes. And we see it right here. And they were trying to do it. Satan was trying to do it 2,000 years ago to the church of Thessalonica, too. Same old tricks, same old liar and deceiver. So look at verse 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, there's the truth that sets us free. Even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus, those who've died. For if we say that by to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming Circle that in your Bible.

We've looked at Do you know that Greek word? That's the Greek word What does that mean? Is that the same thing as a rapture or a parousia? No. That's why I want us to see this. The Greek is until the parousia of the Lord, which is his physical coming where he touches down on earth and the mountains split. We'll by no means precede those who are asleep, those who died. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Okay. Thank you. That's really helpful and informative. Okay. Now we're understanding what the plan is. But then he says something in verse 17 and if we're not careful to study the Greek, we could get very easily confused thinking he's still talking about the parousia because he was talking about a moment ago just the second coming. And I said, hey, be Bereans, be students of the scriptures, keep in context, good hermeneutics, right? So what was the context right there? The second coming of Christ, literally touching down on the earth, right? So I would be a hypocrite if now I told you all of a sudden to say, oh well, no no no.

Everything I'm going to read at this point is about the parousia. Pastor Matt, how do you get to determine that? You're just a man, man's wisdom. You don't get to like change that. In context, we were talking about the second coming. You'd be 100% right except for the fact that the Greek changed it because as we read on and I'll give you the Greek here, he goes on to say he says in verse 17, then we who are alive Interesting. We who are alive, not dead, but alive and remain shall be parousia-ed. He doesn't say parousia, does he?

Parousia. He said we shall be parousia-ed. That that word caught. You can circle it in your Bibles. That's the word I I wrote a little book in the back that talks all about this, the up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Wait a minute. That's different than what Jesus just said. Jesus said when he parousia-es, he's coming down to earth. And did he just say that? He says he will come and we'll by no means precede those who are asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of And with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise for He is coming.

When he says he is coming, he is coming, he is coming, he says I'm coming again, right? Now in verse 17 though, he says, wait a minute. You're coming. Did you catch that? He says you're coming now. He says I'm coming, but you're coming. Where Where am I going? He says you're caught up. Well, that's me coming to you. You're not coming to me. I'm coming to you now. That's that word parousia. He says we're also going to be together. How awesome is that if we're that generation? With them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Well, that's very different than meeting them on the earth, isn't it? Cuz it's two separate events, the parousia compared to the parousia. You've seen it with your own eyes yourself. And I encourage you, get a Greek lexicon, look the word up yourself. Don't trust me. Don't trust a man. Men will fail you. The word of God never will. The Greek is the Greek and it doesn't change.

Guest (Male): That is Pastor Matt VanderVen on His Perfect Love. We're going through Revelation at the present time. And I'll remind you that you can hear the program again when you visit hisperfectlove.org. That's hisperfectlove.org. We're also at oneplace.com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer a mobile app. This is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you on the go. You can learn more about the mobile app and start your download when you visit our website hisperfectlove.org. We can't thank you enough for your prayers for this ministry. Please pray that as God's word goes forth, that lives will be greatly impacted for the glory of God and people would grow by his grace and love or even enter into a relationship with him.

And if you have a prayer request, please send that our way. You can email that to us through our website at hisperfectlove.org. If you live in the Mechanicsburg, PA area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit just like you hear on the radio. Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information. And then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love.

His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.