Key Life Network

Steve Brown: When you know the future, the journey is more fun. Let's talk on Key Life.

Guest (Male): Key Life is all about God's radical grace. Grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on its face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now. But if you're hungry for the truth that'll make you free, welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown: Thank you, Matthew. I hope you had a good weekend, and I hope your pastor's sermon was as good as my pastor's sermon. Let me tell you what we're going to do. I'm a man with a plan, and I've hardly ever had a plan that worked out the way I thought it would.

And I have taught for years that whatever you think God is doing in your life, he's probably not because his ways are so good to us. And he cares more about you than he does what you do. Nevertheless, I keep making plans, and the plan for Key Life is this: we're going to finish up this week this very long series on the basics of the Christian faith.

And we're going to do that by continuing to talk about the future. And then next week, we're going to turn to some themes that are interesting. We're going to talk about the liberating power of truth. We're going to talk about how some things are lies, how you can break chains, how you can move mountains.

And I'm not exactly sure the direction of that. I've just written a book on that subject and I'm going to share some thoughts from that book. Okay, unless Jesus intervenes, that's the plan.

Let's pray, and then we'll study. Father, we come into your presence, and we come into your presence, remembering that you know the future, and that makes the present a whole lot better because you're good and you're sovereign and you know what you're doing.

Father, you know everybody who's listening to this broadcast. You know the good and the bad. You know the tears and the joy. You know the parties and the depression. You know it all. And we come to you trusting that you're not just one who knows it all, you're sovereign over it all, and you're good.

Father, we, as always, pray for the one who teaches on this broadcast. They call him Reverend, and he's not. Forgive him his sins. We would see Jesus and him only, and we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

If you were here last week, we started the last subject in this long series about what happens when you know the future. Revelation 1:8, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

So, we're talking about the future. Now, I'm not going to do what some of you would like me to do, although I could. I'm not going to deal with the premillennial, postmillennial, amillennial issues. I'm not going to get a chart and follow it and let you know what's going to happen in world history over the next few years.

I am not going to make a prediction because Jesus wouldn't of the time when he comes back and cleans up the mess. One time, when I was a pastor, and we had a Wednesday evening service that was fairly large. It was a teaching service. And I wanted to teach on the spiritual gifts described in Scripture and how they operate and how you can use them within the church and in our witness to the world.

But I thought, nobody's going to come out for this. So, I decided that I would half the teaching every evening. The first half would be God's plan for the future. And the second half, and that would bring people out. And the second half of each of the sermons or the lectures would be on spiritual gifts.

I spent about three minutes a week on the first half. I'd grab three or four commentaries, read what was in them and try to remember it so I could not look stupid when I talked about it. And then, I spent a lot of time on spiritual gifts, and it worked. I mean, we had big crowds, not because of the gifts, but because of God's plan for the future.

What I did in that particular time was go through the book of Revelation and created a smorgasbord, recognizing that Christians who love Jesus disagree on almost everything in the book of Revelation. And so, I'm not going to do that with you because, frankly, I'm not sure.

Most of the time, I'm sort of amillennial in my theological and eschatological views. Most of the time, I'm not big on the rapture. I think there's going to be one event when Jesus returns. Most of the time, I'm not sure of the great tribulation. But think most of the time that we're in the midst of the tribulation right now.

Corrie ten Boom told me right now, she knew, told me a long time ago, but she said, right now, I see more tribulation in the world than is described in the book of Revelation. That's most of the time. But sometimes, I think I'm wrong. But I'll tell you what's absolutely true. Jesus is coming back. In the end, he wins, and he's going to clean up the mess.

That's the importance of the truth. I think I mentioned that when Lincoln Steffens returned from Russia in 1919, he said to Bernard Baruch, and it was really a dumb thing to say, he said, "I have been over to the future, and it works." No, it doesn't.

But I'll tell you, Jesus has been over to the future, and it does work. So, let me tell you some things about the future. Last week we saw, the Christian knows about the future of the world. The prophet Isaiah saw the future and spoke the Word of God. And this is Isaiah 65:17.

"For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind." The Bible continues in 2 Peter 3:8-10 and 13 about the future, "But don't ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon the earth will be burned up. But according to his promise, we wait for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell."

And so, that's a fact. You can hang your hat on it. It's going to happen just that way. And then secondly, and I'm going to mention it and we'll talk more about it tomorrow, the Christian knows the future of the family to which he or she belongs.

"Now to him," the Scripture says, "who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever." Ephesians 3:20.

Jesus promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. Matthew 16:13. In other words, if you're a part of the church, you're a part of an organization that's going to be around forever. It'll limp. There will be divisions. There will be times when you think, good heavens, how did this survive? This kind of division and hatred. Let me tell you how it survived. Because the church is his woman. The church was created to live forever and ever.

And if I were you, if you're just listening to the broadcast and not a member of the church, you ought to join. Why? Because you want to be on the winning side. You think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Steve. That was Steve Brown resuming our series called "Welcome to the Family." As Steve has mentioned, we are in the last leg of this thing, so hope you'll continue with us. And remember that you can stream this entire teaching series for free at keylife.org/family.

As we've noted, before it was a teaching series, "Welcome to the Family" was a popular book that Steve wrote many, many years ago. If you haven't read it yet, we have a great opportunity for you because for a gift of $15 or more to Key Life, that book is our gift to you. Just call us at 1-800-KEY LIFE. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to order that book, or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, the name of the book is "Welcome to the Family."

And finally, would you join in the work of Key Life by giving? It's pretty easy. You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or of course, you can now give safely and securely by text. Just text Key Life to 28950. That's Key Life, one word or two, doesn't matter. Just text that to 28950, then follow the instructions. And hey, if you can't give right now, or maybe you're not called to, all good. Seriously. But if you think about it, please do pray for us, would you? Thanks. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and for CN Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.