Simple Faith

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry, coming to you from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today we bring you Pastor Bill's weekly prophecy update. He'll be taking a look at current events and he's going to share how they relate to end times prophecy we read in the Bible. Obviously there's a lot going on in the world, so let's get right to it. Here's Pastor Bill.

Bill Henry: Well hello and welcome once again to Simple Faith Radio. What a blessing it is to be here with you today, this Friday, Saturday or Sunday as we run this show all weekend. I want to start the program off by reminding you again that our program is changing just a bit. We've been on Monday through Friday on several stations and so we'll be going off of KPDQ and I think some other affiliates as of this week. This will be our last week. Last week we said this was coming.

We took a step of faith, a venture of faith as my old pastor used to call it, and God has gently closed that door. Financially, just couldn't keep up with it, afford it and so we want to honor that. And God is faithful. We're so good with what God is doing. And so we continue to lift you all up in the radio audience. We thank you so much for listening to the program. We're going to continue on weekends. This will be on Saturday morning and Sunday mornings, but we're going to continue with our Bible studies and we're doing our most current ones.

So we'll be having one on Saturday morning, and then I think it's going to be our verse-by-verse in 1 Thessalonians that we began a few months ago. And then we're also going to be putting Job on Sunday mornings, our chapter-by-chapter. So we'll continue with that ministry as well. So just wanted to again thank you all for allowing us to come into your cars, your vehicles, your homes, and just share the word of God with you during the week and it's been such a blessing. We're so honored and blessed and thankful for the people at KPDQ and especially there, what a blessing they are.

And continue to be, please pray for them. Please support them. What a blessing. So I'm sitting here, "Lord, what would I say?" because again this is just me talking to you in your cars or wherever you're at. And I'm like, we could talk about the news. And I don't know if you heard about a week ago, it kind of didn't get very much media, but Canada's parliament officially passes Bible ban. It's called the C9 bill. LifeSiteNews is reporting on this.

And basically C9 will remove the section what's called 319-3b of Canada's criminal code. And this was a section that protected the good faith expression of a person's religious views based on religious texts such as the holy Bible. So what this means is now it's passed the senate. Now it has to go on and basically be given the royal passing if you will. And so it's right there. And it's such a dark day in history for Canada because it's going to be now illegal for you to basically say anything out loud in public and even in churches against homosexuality, against abortion, against adultery, against hatred and all the other sins that we find in the word of God.

And so it's a terrible thing and so we see this though, this is the trend. In New York, we're just seeing all these socialists that are being elected into positions of power there in their state assembly and I don't think they're really even socialists, they're communists. It's a terrible, terrible thing. And people are embracing it. So I have no doubt, we could go story after story. Another thing that's happening this week, you may have heard about it, you may have not, Jerusalem Post is talking about this, Iran and Egypt decry Seattle's World Cup pride match. Residents have no plans to tone down celebrations.

Here are two countries, Iran and Egypt, you can be literally put to death for being a homosexual and they're playing in Seattle of all places and they've declared it World Cup or homosexual World Cup day, whatever. But my point is you see the world embracing more and more sin, more and more lawlessness. What do we do? We see this flooding into the churches. We see the great falling away. I have no doubt that we are in the last of the last days and I'm not one of those sell your house and send all your money kind of thing.

No. Be ready. Be watchful. Be the good servant Matthew 24:42 that Jesus said is. We're watching and waiting for the return of our master. When Israel became a nation, May 14th, 1948, you hear me say that a lot. Why? Because I'm reading through Deuteronomy again right now. And one of the things that God tells them it's like, "Look, you've seen me be faithful. You've seen me take you out of the land of Egypt. You've seen me take you through the Red Sea. You've seen me provide for you in the wilderness for 40 years."

And today God is going to be able to say to every person who proclaims Christ, and even those who don't, "You have seen my faithfulness to Israel. You have seen me bring them back from all the nations of the world to their land like I said I was going to do over and over. You see me continue to do this. You also have seen the falling away of the church as you see it happening before your eyes." And so all these things that God could say the same thing to us the church today and I believe he does. You have the word of God like never before.

Why do you think that is by the way? Have you thought about that? Why do we have the Bible in so many different translations, so many different languages? It's so awesome. But this really hasn't happened except really for the last hundred years and maybe a little bit more than that. And all of a sudden you have this explosion of translation, explosion. Every home, I think the average Christian home has four or five Bibles at least in it. And why is that? I think it's part of the last of the last days. God wants his word to go forth.

He wants his people to be equipped. And I guess that's kind of what my heart was today as like this is not, like I said we're going to be continuing on the weekends, but what would I tell you? What would I tell you if I only had what do we have left, about 5, 20 minutes in the program? I would say this what Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

You know it's interesting, I was reading in Matthew the other day and in Matthew chapter 13 verse 1, it says basically that Jesus came and he sat by the sea. And that's verse 1. That's all it says and I've never stopped there because then the crowds come to him. But just think about that for a moment. And then you go to Matthew 15 and it's talking about how Jesus went up on the mountain and he sat. And a lot of times we as Christians and I think especially today with even with radio or with social media even more so, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and go on and on, television, it's just a plethora, computers, we're inundated continually with news and usually it's always bad news.

Why? Because that's what we, "Oh what's this? Oh we feel bad, oh." and it can be overwhelming. But remember that even Jesus took those times, Matthew 13:1, where he just went and he sat at the water. He went to the mountains and up on a mountain he just sat and was just having alone time. There's so many times throughout the gospels that we see that Jesus went off to pray early in the morning or in the evening. And so my point is this, turn things off a lot more than you ever have.

Remember to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind. To love others, love your neighbor as yourself. "Well who's my neighbor? I'm only going to love those who agree with me on my politics or who agree with me in my religion." No. We love, Jesus who's your neighbor? And he gave the very worst thing, a Samaritan. And to the Jew that was the worst of the worst because they were a mixture of apostate and then a mixture of Gentile and all this different stuff. And yet God calls us to love him first with all we are and then to love our neighbors around us.

To have a good witness, to be living out the word of God in love. So to be those who are loving the Lord our God, Jesus then also said in Matthew chapter 15 verse 1, "I am the vine, the true vine, excuse me, and my father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit he prunes." So are you bearing fruit in your life? Go read Galatians chapter 5. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, are those some things growing in our lives as Christians and professing Christians?

Because if we're not bearing fruit, if we're just grumpy all the time, we're just mean all the time, we're just outbursts of wrath all the time, we're just gossiping all the time, we're just watching pornography all the time, we're just gaming all the time, we're just doing all these other things except loving God, loving his people, loving the lost, then we're not abiding in Christ and we're not bearing fruit. Be careful beloved again in this world that there are so many distractions. But also notice every branch that does bear fruit he prunes. God will prune us that it may bear more fruit, Jesus said.

So if we are bearing those, love, joy, patience, etcetera, I love that God is going to continue to grow those in us. And again as we are once truly saved, we will start to bear fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit because now his Holy Spirit is abiding within us. And so he goes on in verse 3 says, "Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." I love that. Reminds me of Ephesians chapter 5 when the husband is representing Christ, the husband and the wife represent Christ and his church and as Christ washes the bride, his bride with the water of the word.

So too the husband is to be washing his bride, his family, his own mind first and foremost in the water of the word and I love this. Jesus said you are already clean because of the word that I've spoken to you. We're made clean by the gospel of Jesus Christ as we have a godly sorrow over our sins and we turn away from our sins and believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We believe also that God raised him from the dead on the third day and we believe in him to be the Lord and Savior of our lives we're then born again.

And then as we continue in his word as we read his word and we memorize and study the word of God and we know God more and more through his word because it's alive, it's living, we are made clean because of the word that he speaks to us. He goes on to say in verse 4, "Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me." So guys and gals, beloved in Christ, we are to be abiding in Christ. Abide in him, dwell in him. The word abide here is 'menate' in the Greek and it basically is a beautiful word to abide and to continue in, to tarry in, to endure, to not perish.

And so we need to be those who are enduring, remaining, dwelling, all in the Greek. I love this. And so we need to be remaining in Christ and especially within this world. Keep your mind more on Christ than the junk of the world, beloved in Christ. Turn those other things off so much more. Turn on the word of God. Be in prayer more than you've ever been. Be reading, be memorizing, be walking in loving obedience to what you read in the word of God. Again not to be saved, not to keep our salvation, but because we are saved and these commands aren't burdensome to those who love him because we love him.

And so I love this. Abide in Christ. Bear fruit. And remember you're a branch. We're part of the branch. He is the vine. And you know this also we need to be abiding in the body of Christ because we are part of the body of Christ. If you haven't been going to church maybe since COVID, I know a lot of people sit at home or they watch from their computers or televisions, that's not going and abiding. That's not going and dwelling and being the body, using your gifts to edify the church. Go read 1 Corinthians 13, 14, 15, 16 and you're going to see about abiding and about edifying the church and being a part of the bride of Christ.

And find a church that number one is teaching the word of God verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter, but also a church that is full of love. And so it's that mixture, loving the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, but also loving one another. Because it can just be about all the crazy, "Oh we're just going to walk in the emotion of love and we're just whoo, it's all crazy stuff," or it can be the just the dry, stale, crusty, where it's just the word of God and the spirit is gone. It needs to be that mix. Look if you have to drive an hour or even two hours to find a church like this, do it.

Take the time to invest but then invest when you get there. Don't just come and be a fan as some have said. No. Go and invest, get to know people. I think it's the saddest thing at our church when I see people and they kind of come and they come for a while, months, maybe even a few years but they never really get invested. They don't serve. They don't pray with other people. They don't share the spiritual things. It's always just kind of on the outside and I feel sorry for, and I mean this sincerely, I feel sorry because they're not partaking of the love but it also might show something's wrong with their Christianity. I don't even know if it might.

I think it does. There's something wrong. We're need to be those who are abiding in Christ and bearing Notice Jesus goes on to say, "I'm the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." You know it's interesting in Acts chapter 20, another thing that I would encourage you to is to again as I said a moment ago, be a man, a woman of the word like you've never been before. If you don't know how to do it and I've always said this and it was interesting I was reading Warren Wiersbe the other day. I love Warren Wiersbe's stuff.

I think this was Bumps Is What You Climb On. It was either that one or what's the other one that there's I mean there's several just really good ones that he wrote. The Strategies of Satan, I think it might have been. But when you're reading through the Bible, I always try to do a one chapter a day in three different places, sometimes four. So I for me it's start in the Gospel of John and read chapter 1. And then go back the same morning or afternoon or evening and read Genesis chapter 1 and then go to Psalm and the Psalms and read Psalm 1.

And then I like to go sometimes to the prophetic books as well and read one of the chapters there. And then the next day you read John chapter 2 and then Genesis chapter 2 and Psalm 2 and you're going back and forth and you're highlighting and you're taking notes and you're, "Oh I'm going to look further into this," and so you're turning it into study and you're meditating upon the word of God. You memorize scripture. Like maybe you've never done that, just get some 3x5 cards. There's programs you can buy for your phone. There's things you can do. But you can go the old fashioned way, get a 3x5 card, put a scripture on the front, the reference, Isaiah 53:6 or whatever, and the back you write the scripture.

And then you memorize that, flip it back and forth until you get it and then you start a stack and you go over. And so you memorize and you keep the word of God because that is our lifeline, beloved in Christ. We have his Holy Spirit dwelling within us. But we stand, we find our firm foundation in knowing the word of God and then putting into application in our lives. That's in Matthew chapter 7. Not just hearing the word of God and not doing it, that's the fool at the end of Matthew chapter 7. We need to be those who are being wise.

And I love how Paul, I think I talked about this last week but I'm going to talk about it again this week, is in when Paul went and he was sharing with the Philippian elders, he basically told them, "Look, I have not ceased to declare unto you the whole counsel of God." He said, "Therefore I testify to you," this is in Acts chapter 20 verse 26, "Therefore I testify to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all men for I've not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God." Now look, your pastor should be able to say that same thing.

Is he declaring to you the whole counsel of God or is he giving to you the opinions of man and women and of himself on every Sunday or every Wednesday or whatever other days you might meet as well? Is it just those topical studies that they reference the scripture at the beginning but then where's the Bible after that? You never have to open your Bible and you never looking at the scriptures. Can he say that? And he should be able to, but even further you should be able to say that. Remember what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, "Test all things, hold fast to what is good, abstain from every form of evil."

So how do we test all things? How do we hold fast to what is good? It is through the word of God. And so we need to be those who are men and women of the word of God unashamedly. It's interesting in 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul's warning about the coming falling away of the church and how the church is going to be, how the world's going to be, but the church is going to be just like that. They're going to have this form of godliness but deny the power thereof. And that's what we see today. They have a form of godliness but they deny the power.

But I love what he went on to say the cure of it is. He said to Timothy, "You've been taught the holy scriptures from childhood. The holy scriptures and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God, breathed out and is useful to teach us what is true, to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us and when we are wrong it teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work."

Look, as we're closing the last couple minutes here, it's interesting Paul goes on to say to preach the word, be prepared whether the time is favorable or not, patiently correct, rebuke and encourage your people with good teaching. For the time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord.

Work at telling others the good news and carry out the ministry God has given you. Now I want to close with this. In verse 6 of chapter 4, 2 Timothy, Paul said this, "As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me, the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing."

Are you looking forward to his appearing? There's only two certain things that are certain, death and taxes. Well I'll say there's three certain things that are certain. Maybe taxes for sure, death for sure, but so is the return of Jesus. That's a certainty above even death and taxes that Jesus is returning. And I want to ask you beloved in Christ as we're closing, are you fighting the good fight? Are you finishing the race? Are you remaining faithful? Look, maybe you haven't you're hearing this and you go, "Oh dude, I haven't been fighting the good fight. I've fallen kind of away. I haven't finished the race, I've wandered off or I'm not remaining faithful."

Be the prodigal son or daughter, come back to Jesus today. And remember he stands there, I love there's an old song, When God Ran by Benny Hester, and it's the only time that we see in the Bible God running, a representing of God running to his people, someone returning to him. Return today. If you are fighting the good fight, if you are finishing the race, continue on brother, continue on sister, keep fighting the fight. Deepen yourself in Christ, walk in him, do it all for the glory of our God, Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us and has risen from the dead. Glory Hallelujah. Lord bless you and as I like to say, we'll see you here, there, or in the air.

Guest (Male): This has been Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today we brought you Pastor Bill's weekend prophecy update. It's our sincere hope and prayer that you've been blessed by the words you heard from Pastor Bill today. If you'd like to hear today's message again, go to 1place.com and search for Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry. We also have a large number of Pastor Bill's Sunday and Wednesday messages archived at simplefaith.org. That's our website. Just go there and click the media tab and you'll find a huge archive of Pastor Bill's past messages. And if you'd like to contact us, just click the contact tab at our website again at simplefaith.org. And there's a tab at the top of the homepage where you can also send in a prayer request. And if you'd like to call us, our phone number is area code 833-BY-GRACE. That's 833-294-7223. And if you'd like to write us, we love hearing from you that way as well. Our mailing address is Post Office Box 55, Battle Ground, Washington, 98604. Here at Simple Faith Calvary Chapel, we have three services on Sunday morning at 8:00, 9:45, and 11:30. We also have a great time of studying God's word on Wednesday night at 7:00. For more information and directions, go to simplefaith.org. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for joining us today, be sure to join us next time here on Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry brought to you by Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington.