Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Look Up! Pt.1

Let's turn to Matthew, chapter 26--the closing of the Gospels, Jesus is fulfilling His ministry. He has been betrayed. He has given the admonition to watch and pray that we would not fall into temptation. In the midst of this, as the Lord is ministering, He's taken away and He's before the rulers, and in verse 64 He answers the question: "But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death."

What they call blasphemy we call the blessed hope, amen? This is the pivotal point of how we live our lives, how we behold Jesus and answer the question: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" He's not just one of the great religious leaders, as we all know. Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior, the Redeemer, said, "I've gone to prepare a place for you." Think about it. I don't know about you, but I think on this Scripture virtually every day. That's how I get through every day. He has gone to prepare a place for me. This is a nasty place. I don't like it here; I'm ready to go home, aren't you? This isn't my home and it's getting more and more unlike my home daily as iniquity is abounding, the love of many waxing cold. We see people that are moving as heretics and being heralded as prophets. They're calling good evil and evil good. In this nation that used to be the greatest proponent of Christianity, and the source of the missionaries of the world is drunken with the blood of the martyrs. We're living in a day when they're going to kill God's servants and believe they're doing God's service. We're getting ready to enter into a time that's unparalleled in the history of man. Are we ready? When you begin to look around you it doesn't take long to understand that, from a national perspective, we, the Christians, are the only people without rights in this nation. I don't want to get into the politics of it, but we realize that in our school systems they can talk about alternative lifestyles and that's acceptable. They can talk about the different eastern religions and that's acceptable. They can talk about the "peaceful religion of Islam" and that's acceptable, but don't speak the name of Jesus. Don't bring the Bible into the discussion. This is the hour that we're living in. Who would have thought? We've seen it prophesied, we know it's true, but I believe that we're living in that day when we need to look up for our redemption is drawing nigh, amen? Look up.

I just want to take a little bit of time here and ask you what direction you are looking today. Are you looking for a bright future? Are you looking for a successful business? Are you looking for a successful marriage? Are you looking for a spouse? Are you looking for that first grandchild? What are you looking for? We need to be looking up. These other things may and will, should the Lord tarry, be added to us as we occupy, and go about trading and being busy about the Kingdom. These other things are going to be added to us, but what are you looking for? Are you looking for Him who, as we shared the other night, invisible? Are you seeing what other people can't see? Are we then putting our eyes into the heavenlies and beholding, and looking up into the clouds believing that our redemption is drawing nigh? How indoctrinated are your children in the area of the coming of the Lord, the rapture of the Church? Are your children looking up or is there more concern for their occupation of the earth? Are they earth dwellers? The Scripture says, "This wrath and this judgment are going to come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the earth, the earth dwellers, people that love this life" (Revelation 12:12). Are we raising a generation who has one treasure, the trumpet of God sounding, hearing that voice, "Come up hither," and the expectation of the dead rising, those of us that are alive and remain being changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The Scripture speaks and says in Luke 21:27, "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." I told you the story of when our kids were little and they would get excited when we were going out, we would be driving down the road, and they would spend a lot of their time just looking up in the air saying, "Do you think He's coming in that cloud? Is Jesus in that cloud?" We talked so much about Jesus coming in the clouds. You remember when you were a kid you would lay down in the yard, you would see all of the clouds and they would make figures? Isn't it great that when our kids are looking there they're not seeing a doggie or Ferrari but looking for Jesus, and understanding that the redemption of man, the redemption of His bride, is drawing nigh, praise God. It's a sure thing. When He ascended, you remember He said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you. If I go, don't let your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go and prepare a place."

We get our eyes off on all the little shacks around here. When we were up at Deep Creek Lake we saw a nice little house that a guy is building up there. I can't remember right off hand. Bill, do you remember how many square feet he said that was? Ten thousand square feet. It was really a nice little place; gorgeous; the finest quality of everything. It's just a man and his wife, no children, no grandchildren, no heirs. We asked if he wanted to adopt some kids. Every time I see a home like that I just think, "What a shack. God has gone to prepare for me a mansion, praise God; A dwelling place that eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him" (Isaiah 64:4).

You know, there's no talk in the Church today--we talk about it a lot, but there's no talk in the Church today anymore about the coming of the Lord. When is the last time you talked to a Christian that was excited about Heaven, excited about the coming of the Lord? They're excited about the next great building that they're building here, and their next program. We were looking at a website the other day of an Assembly of God church; we were checking out their doctrine. There are no more references to Acts 2:4, the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. The fundamental beliefs were down at the bottom. Prior to that they had: we're a multicultural, multiracial, multi...in other words believe whatever you want, just come. Then they had their little beliefs down below. It was just a sad thing. I was looking at some of the activities. One of them was a hip hop dance class; an Assembly of God church. We used to believe if you danced you were going to Hell. Now that was stupid, but this is worse. All of the twelve-step programs, the business courses, how to dwell with your wife, how not to let your wife beat you up. That's a course for Richard. I told you what they asked when he went to the hospital. "Does your wife beat you?" He must have really looked bad when he went in there. What kind of question is that? What kind of a world are we living in? We talked about that and the parents being asked to leave the room so the doctor can talk to the child. Get out of my life! Who are you? Are you looking up? Do you understand the world we're living in, the age, the spirit of antichrist that is destroying the family unit? We look around and we see all of this that we're having to contend with--the environment of Sodom and Gomorrah, the daily vexation of our spirit. Do you feel burdened? Do you feel dirty? Do you look for that refreshing that we have as we come into the Lord's presence in prayer, as we wash our minds and our souls with the water of the Word of God, when we're refreshed with the visitation of His presence? After you've refreshed yourself settle into looking up. Embrace the blessed hope, it will bring a refreshing, it will bring a reprioritizing of your life. It will change your value system. Jesus said in Acts chapter 1, verse 11: The angels speaking at this time said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."

Now, we've heard a lot of teaching here, but I just want to take some time for you to go back through the Scriptures and understand what we're talking about. Do you realize that the coming of the Lord is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament? The coming of the Lord is mentioned in 1,825 verses in the Scriptures, 50 times in the epistles. That's a huge percentage. How much time do we spend talking about His coming? If the Word of God speaks about it this much, how much are we speaking about it? When is the last time you just told somebody you know Jesus is coming back? A lot of times we want to talk about Jesus having died and we do need to do that, but, you know what folks need to know, He's coming back. He's coming back in the clouds. He's coming back in power. This is what set that high priest off. "I will come again in power. I am the authority. I am the ruler. You're going to have to deal with Me." For us He's coming back as Savior, for them He's coming back as Judge, but He is coming back. "Every eye will see Him, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He's Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Romans 14:11). We need to be exited about telling people and letting them know that this is the doctrine of Christ. You see, the gospel message, as we're sharing Jesus, they're not getting the full message if they don't understand that He's coming back to judge men's hearts. He's coming back and every man's deeds are going to be judged whether they're good or evil. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 28 says that He's coming back and will appear. Look at verse 28. "...and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." He's going to appear the second time to those that are looking for Him. Are you looking up? You see, salvation, to be effectual on our behalf--the rapture is not just something that is going to happen and everybody is going to get raptured, anymore than everybody is going to get saved. I want to tell you something--listen to me very clearly--you're going to be raptured by faith. You're going to be raptured by hope, by expectation, by believing, by looking, by preparation, by the profession of your mouth. The Bible says that we can hasten the return of the Lord. That doesn't mean we're going to speed up the time, the time is already set. What we're talking about is giving ushering into, as it's effectual in our life, the coming of the Lord. We are going to be a part of that because we're confessing that, we're speaking toward that.

All of that teaching on confession; we've talked about the "blab it and grab it" mentality and everybody wanting to confess prosperity, and Cadillacs, and all the different things. We need to be talking about the coming of the Lord. These guys have taken confession and turned it into an earth dweller mentality. It's to be a speaking forth of our righteousness in God that prepares us for the coming of the Lord so that we can get out of here, praise God. They're no different than the Catholics, they want to rule the world. I don't want to rule this lousy world, I want to leave and inherit a new Heaven and new earth, amen? They can have this one, it's broken; I like new stuff, this thing is antique. Here we are looking for the coming of the Lord, and in preparation for ruling and reigning with Him in His Kingdom, but it's going to be by faith, by hope, the blessed hope, the favorable expectation, the looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the Lord. What are you doing to stir yourself up? This thing is right at our door. There is not a lot being said about it right now because of all of the distraction in the Muslim faction, but have you looked at Europe lately? Have you looked and seen what's taking place with the EC? Have you looked and seen what's taking place as they are wanting to make a unified Europe? What would happen if we turned the French loose on the world? Right now, virtually, Britain is the only one holding this thing at bay. I'm not going to get into the specifics of that right now, but we've taught in the past, we understand the prophecies of Daniel. We understand from the book of Revelation, that the ten-nation confederation, that united Europe is going to launch the Antichrist. Where is all of the secular humanism being embraced? The religion, blatant worship in Europe; we still kind of hold to some type of hypocritical Christian morality, but it is hypocritical. Europe is blatant. This is the hour that we're living in. Are you looking at the signs that are around us on every hand? We've talked about genetic engineering. We've talked about all of these different things that are flying in the face of God. If God brought the judgment and confounded man at the tower of Babel what's waiting for man today? This is the hour that we're living in; how aware are we?

Philippians chapter 4, verse 5, he says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." If we believe the Lord is at hand, then what's going to be the consequence of that? Let your what? Moderation be known unto all men, your disciplined life, your balanced perspective. Yes, we are still laboring by the sweat of our brow. Yes, we have to go out and work. Yes, we do have daily lives and responsibilities, but it's to be in moderation. The Lord is at hand. How aware are we of that? How much does it motivate our thoughts, the preparation of our lives? Hebrews chapter 10, verse 37 speaks of a great prophetic truth. We've shared with you before the little humorous story about this passage when the little promise boxes, you remember, and some people try to govern their lives by that. It's almost like an Ouija board or a horoscope, and they want to go to their little promise boxes in the morning and pull out God's promise for the day. During the bombings in London there's a story of this taking place and a woman saying, "Lord, Lord what's happening," and the bombs were falling, and, "Lord what is going to take place?" They reached into their little promise box, and pulled out Hebrews 10:37, "Yet for a little while, and that shall come, and will not tarry." Speaking of the Lord but in reference to their situation, those bombs are coming and they will not tarry. That's not what she wanted to hear. We need to look and understand the reality of this hour that we're living in. "For a little while and He that shall come will come, and He will not tarry."

Think about that for just a moment and listen to the power of this statement from the apostle Peter. Scoffers have said, "Where is the sign of His coming? We've heard about this. Where is this coming that everybody has been talking about?" (2 Peter 3:4). I want to tell you something beloved. If it's appropriated by faith, then--listen--it's sooner than when we first believed, amen? I believe Jesus is coming and in it's reality more than the next breath that I take. It is a sure thing. You want to bet on a sure thing, Jesus is coming back. Don't place your hope in the stock market, in your real estate investment, in your portfolio. You can't trust in any of that; it is absolute, total uncertainty but this thing is sure: Jesus is coming back. What are you investing in? Are you investing in the coming of the Lord? Do you understand that in those hours He's going to arrest us and save us from this judgment, the final judgment on the earth? We've talked about it before, but where is America in prophecy? You can't find us. How can you not find the strongest nation in the world? We're not going to be strong anymore. We're not going to be a world influence, if I understand correctly what the Scriptures are saying. "What do you mean we're not going to be a world influence?" Well, look at the way the nation is going. Do you know who Kerry said he wanted to appoint as the Supreme Court Justice if he's elected? Hillary! Dear God, come quickly, Lord Jesus! It wouldn't take long to ruin this place. What good is your weapon if you won't pull the trigger? What's happening to our infrastructure? I just paid $26.00 to drive down the Pennsylvania Turnpike to destroy my vehicle. How about taking some of these people that we're giving free money and have them go out and fix our roads. Did you ever hear of the New Deal? We're in the Raw Deal today. We've gone insane and that's what's going to happen to this nation. Well, we need to elect... No. I told you--as Clarence Thomas asked me on the telephone, he said, "What can we do to save our nation?" That's a pretty weighty question to ask somebody. It's not every day a Supreme Court justice asks somebody that question, just some average Joe. As I responded to him, I said, "God doesn't save nations he saves people, and this nation can't be retrieved." Are you looking up? This isn't our home, we're pilgrims, we're passing through here. "Let your moderation be known by your behavior unto all men, the Lord is at hand."

Revelation, chapter 3, verse 11, the Lord speaks and says, "Behold I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast and let no man take your crown." How hard are you holding onto that crown of righteousness, that which we're going to cast before His feet? The treasures of our obedience. The treasures of our living in moderation, the Word of God, or are you being seduced and are you being unfaithful in preparation? We can talk practically--I'm not going to take time right now. We can talk practically. I'm not in any way advocating what's been advocated over the years by extremists where you need to run to the mountains, sell everything you have, go hide and wait. No, we occupy. The point that I'm making here, beloved, is we need be offensive. We need to be light. We need to be salt. We need to be declaring the truth and ready to pay the consequences, because they're going to hate you, and they're going to persecute you for your righteousness, and they're going to say all manner of evil against you for His name's sake, and you're going to get to do what? Rejoice, praise God! How do you rejoice in times like that? By believing that the coming of the Lord is at hand. What preserved all of those that were before us? They believed in the eminent return of the Lord. Yes, things are bad, but Jesus is coming. See, we've lost that doctrine in America because things aren't bad. We had one little hiccup and a whole generation wanted to go see a psychologist because a plane flew into a building. Well, big whoopee. Tragic, the personal tragedies of the thousands. Yes that's tragic, but that's nothing. How is it that we become so fearful in that situation and yet 25 thousand people or more die a year by drunk drivers? If you want to be afraid, get in your car. For all of you that are fearful, I probably shouldn't have said that. The world is living in a time of the reeling; you know we're not just talking about the physical earth. We know that through all of the different aspects of the environment, and the different things that are taking place, that the physical earth is also reeling as a drunken man, but the world's system--we're drunk, we've lost our equilibrium as humanity, and we don't know right and wrong. The decisions that are being made are decisions being made by people professing themselves to be wise, and in opposing God they're fools. We're sitting back here and we can't believe what we're seeing and it would cause despair if you didn't believe the Lord was coming back. I believe Jesus is coming back and I'm going to hold fast and not let any man take my crown. I'm not going to get sucked up into the political arena and try to save my little turf; I'm going to hold fast to my crown. I'm not going to be fearful in despair and think that somehow the devil is going to win in this battle, but I'm going to believe according to Thessalonians that He that now letteth will let. There's a restraining force. It is the Church. We are the power of God on this planet, holding at bay iniquity by our light and by our own righteousness if we'll speak it, if we'll stand. Yes, we'll be opposed, but Jesus is coming back and that's the thing that we need to constantly encourage ourselves in. "Yeah, but when is He coming back?" Nobody knows; we don't know. Be careful when people say they know.

Look over at Matthew chapter 24 for just a second. Matthew 24:27, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Verse 36, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." There have been prophets that have had the day figured out many times in the past. It seems to me they've all been wrong. "Eighty-eight reasons why Jesus is coming in '88." Now, you could still sell that book if you change it to 2088, but 1988 is gone and another false prophet. Another one bites the dust. Nobody knows the day or the hour, but the signs are all around. We don't know, but what we do know by the three hundred times the coming of Jesus is mentioned in the New Testament is: it's momentary, it's eminent, and we're to live our lives as though the next moment we're going to enter into His presence, and stand before His judgment, and know His righteousness, and present to Him a life that's holy, acceptable through our reasonable service. All of you elementary parents are living that verse, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God..." It's at hand. Luke 12:40 says, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when you think not." You see, many people want to spend their time about the hour, the hour when you think not. What's the hour when the Lord is coming? "I think this, look at the fig trees blossoming." I mean, for years it's gone on. I've heard the teaching back when Israel became a nation and, of course, Jesus spoke and said, there are going to be these signs, and the sign of the blossoming of the fig tree, and this generation shall not pass until the coming of the Son of man. A generation is forty years. Israel became a nation in 1948; therefore 1988. It didn't work out did it? The math was good. Another guy said, "No, that wasn't it, you have to realize that it was actually the six-day war in 1967 when this thing took place," and a 20-year generation of this, and so it's 1987. No, that wasn't it either. It's not about the day; look at this verse. It's not about the day, Luke 12:40, it's about being ready. See, the day doesn't matter if you're ready, does it? What does it matter what day if you're ready every day? You see, what we're going to see is that day is not to overtake us as it overtakes some, because we're not in darkness, we're children of light. This day cannot overtake us unawares, the Scripture says, if we're going to walk in the light. What are you doing about your momentary righteousness, your momentary pursuit of light, of the real heart condition of yourself, of your family? Are you compelled to have your family ready when that trumpet sounds? What does it profit to gain the world and lose our souls? In this arbitrary profession of faith, "Oh, I believe in the Lord." "If you love me keep my commandments" (John 14:15). "Not everybody who says "Lord, Lord" is going to enter into heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Do you love His appearing? Are you looking for His appearing? Are you ready for His appearing, as we see in the parable of the five wise and the five foolish virgins? We'll talk a little bit about that preparation and how to fill our vessels with oil in the next session. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, "You know perfectly that the coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night." Do you know it perfectly? It's not doctrinal. He's not talking about the doctrine of the coming of the Lord; he's talking about the practice, the preparation for the coming of the Lord. You know He's coming as a thief; are you preparing? The parable in the teaching, if you knew when a guy was going to come and break into your house you're not going to take a nap. "Well, yeah, I would because I have ADT." "Yeah, I do too." They call when you don't want them to and when you need them to they don't. I don't blame them, I'm not upset with them because I set off so many false alarms, I don't blame them, I wouldn't call either. I was thinking about doing away with that thing anyway. It bugs me, them calling I don't need them to call. I don't need them to send anybody, I just want to know myself if somebody's in there. I'll take care of them. I don't want any witnesses. Don't come in my house.

Let's end with this for this evening, Revelation chapter 16, verse 15, "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." The watcher. Watch that you enter not into temptation. Look up. Have you been so distracted by the pace that you're on, by the glitz and the glamour of this era that we live in that you've stopped looking up, that you forgot what we're living for? We're not living for this life, we're living through this life. We're enduring this life unto eternal life. Are you ready? It's not the surprise, it's not the unaware of the thief; it's the watchfulness, it's the being ready. It's about making those ready that are around us. Shaking loved ones in their slumber. Don't let those closest to you be found without oil.

Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we just ask that in this generation, as the seduction continues of the Church, the wooing of the bride as to slumber, the drugging of the bride with prosperity, ease, fame, and power, all that that great whore represents in the book of Revelation. Don't let us defile our garments. Don't let us be found naked, but robed in righteousness. Not in the regal garb of this generation, but as the prophets of old in sackcloth and ashes and animal skins, a people separate, a people waiting, a people prepared. Yes, foolish in the eyes of the world. Weak in the eyes of the world. Not many that the world would recognize as of meaningful worth, but those that you call sons, ambassadors, light, the body of Christ, the Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against us. For that, Father, we rejoice and say thank You in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. Hallelujah! As Gary plays for us we'll take just a moment in His presence. Are you looking up? Do you realize who you are? We're not of this world, we're just in it. We're a holy bride, not a whore. We're ambassadors and warriors. Weak in the eyes of the world, strong in the kingdom of God. But only as we look up, only as our weapons are mighty through God. At every turn a distraction. The Husband is gone, let's take our fill of love, and at a time when you think not the Son of man returns, the Husband returns. When He comes, will He find faith? Let's sing it together. O hallelujah, we look for You, Lord.

How do you become content in your single condition? By looking up. How do you endure the hardships of your marriage at this moment? By looking up. How do you deal with the fears of this time? By looking up. How do you deal with the discontentment and the seduction? By looking up. Even so come, Lord Jesus, come. Let's sing it again and just look up tonight and refresh yourself, and embolden yourself in this hour as His servants and His ambassadors. Hallelujah! Come for us, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah! Take just a moment and just tell him that you love Him and that you're looking for Him. Oh, how you long to see Him. Oh, we know His presence, but we're going to see Him as He is, praise God. We're going to see Him and we're going to be like Him. I am so tired of being what I am. I want to be like Him, praise God. Come, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah! As you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Jesus is coming." Praise God. Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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