If you turn with me to Jude this morning, I just want to read the verse, and then I'm going to Revelation. And I'll be in Revelation for a few weeks now. Next Sunday, of course, Brother Andrew will be here. But there are two words in Jude which I want to talk about, and they are terrible words. would rather I didn't have to preach about them too much, but they have so much to say that I feel I must hesitate at this point. And I'll read the portion and mention the two words, and then we will go to Revelation. Beginning at the 12th verse of Jude, these are spots in your feast, and I have talked to you about this. so that there will never be any confusion in your hearts. I think this is a very, very important thing. And to me, it's such an amazing fact that the Lord warns us so explicitly about certain type people in the church and their character and their existence, yet so many forsake the church because of them. Isn't that satanic, huh? With all the warnings of God about certain type people within the church and their hypocritical nature. How often do you have people say, I'd go to church, they're all hypocrites? You know, that kind of remark? Well, God acknowledges, you see, the fact that they eat with you at your feasts, but they're hypocritical. in that their lives are not in accord with their supposed faith in Jesus Christ. They're character assassinators. I think the worst is gossip. I honestly do. I think one of the most terrible things and the crusher of human hearts is gossip. And God warns you about this type person. You know, may I say this quickly? And I say this to both men and women, but I suppose I'd bend over toward the women because I love you so much. If any woman comes to you with a choice morsel of gossip, if you are a real fervent Christian for Christ, you'll stop her in her tracks. May I say that clearly again? Any woman in this church who comes to you with some choice morsel of gossip, stop her in her tracks and say, don't tell me, just tell me if there's a problem, fine. I don't want to know what it's about, but I'll pray for them and you pray for them too. I tell you, that's the way to do it. Pin them down. Don't let them get away. Trouble is, you know, you get those ears, you know, the Lord says they got itching ears, they love to hear things, you know. You got to be careful, and you can stop this. Now, I say that to men too, but I would have to say that since men don't get together as much as women, they're in business, they come home at night, women can get together. Telephones are a curse. Telephone service is bad, they tell me, but they're a curse in other ways. So I just tell you that. If anybody calls you on the phone, let me put it that way, and say, oh, did you hear? Say, no, and I don't want to. It's a good way to do it. No, and I don't want to. Let me tell you, that puts them right where they belong, right where they belong. And you can greatly help that the church won't be called by the world outside, you know. Well, I'd go to church, but there are a bunch of hypocrites. Well, beloved, here's a good way to stop it. So we're warned in these portions by that. See, these are spots in your feasts of love, these people with this character. When they feast with you, they feed themselves without fear, clouds without water, carried about by winds, trees whose fruit withereth." Boy, if I was in this situation, if I were a woman here or a man involved in any kind of sin, not just the gossip, but boy, sin's character assassination is the biggest thing. It's a terrible thing. It's been well said that a two-inch tongue can slay a six-foot man. And I want to tell you that this is a very important thing. This is where the church has such great need for power that it will take hold and have nothing to say about anybody else. They're brothers and sisters in Christ. If you hear something, you either keep it to yourself or you go to that person and say, now, I heard this. If it's true, I just want to say this, I want to pray for you. Now, isn't that wonderful? If it's true, I want to pray for you. I assure you, I've said nothing to anybody else. Boy, that's Christian. That's Christian. So they can be spots in your feast, this type person who comes to the Lord's table, they do everything, have all the appearances, they have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. And carried about by winds, trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead. Those are the two words I want to speak about. Twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. Imagine, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now I think that here you'd have to really make sure that you don't fit into any of these character things. I would remind you the Word of God says that no whoremonger, no adulterer, no liar, shall enter the kingdom of God. You probably thought the whoremonger and the adultery, yeah, that's okay, fine. But when it comes to lying, this is a hard one. Now, Paul says, concerning those who were adulterers, who were fornicators, previous to the time they came to Christ, He says, now are ye washed, ye were this, he goes down the whole list. He says, now are ye washed, now are ye clean in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it could even be that after salvation, there might be some fall, it could happen to you again, but it won't be your habit of life. There is no whoremonger or adulterer practicing it week by week by week who'll get into the kingdom because it indicates they're not redeemed. They may have fallen once, possibly more than once, but the habit of their lives is not that. This is a very important distinction. You can know whether you're saved Whether you can engage in your fornications and your adulteries and your whoremongering without thought, forget mentioning Jesus Christ. You don't know Him. God says so. You know, people who tell me they can live in sin, and there are those, and still are saved, they don't know what they're talking about. John makes it very clear in his epistle that anybody who habitually sins, has no part with God. In other words, you're never grieved, you're never upset, it never bothers you in the least. You can go right on in your sin. God says you don't understand the gospel. Now, will you turn with me to Revelation, the 20th chapter? Boy, I could keep you a long time today, because this portion is really tremendous. Now, this has to do with the second death and other things here, first resurrection. Jesus has spoken about two resurrections. He says, some shall be raised unto the resurrection of life in the gospels and some unto the resurrection of damnation. Death as we know it is not cessation of being. Death, if you will read the definitions of death, would be but a separation from this sphere of life that we presently exist in to another sphere of life. There's no cessation of being. The soul of man is immortal. whether he's redeemed and bound for heaven or whether he's lost and bound for separation from God for all eternity. May I remind you that the word hell is interpreted in the Greek as Hades, and Hades is merely the place of departed spirits. The lost are not thrown into hell. That's poor teaching. In Revelation, it tells us that death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is not hell. The lake of fire If I might put it this way, I don't think of the lake of fire as some place where I have been given, let me say, some asbestos covering that I might be able to stand the fire. The Scripture is clear that the lake of fire is that place in which those who are unredeemed shall feel the torment of the damned. fraternity. Now, when it says torment, may I remind you that the word torment does not mean flesh torment. It's the torment of the consciousness, the torment of the mind. Is there anything more tormenting than the torment of the mind? How many of you have had problems with your flesh and you'd say, boy, You know, it's not so bad, but when you get a torment in the mind, you'd say, gee, I wish it was an operation that would take care of it. Right? You know, when that mind up here begins to really get tormented, and you don't know where to turn, you can't sleep, you're not right with God, You feel that you're not in his presence. The torment is tremendous in the human mind. The torment from sin is terrible. Don't forget, this is where the psychiatrists come in. They're always dealing with the guilt complexes, trying to bring them to the surface so they can get at them. Why? The person is tormented. Some are tormented so heavily that they have to be put into institutions because the torment has been so tremendous. Some are pathological, where the mind has been a weak mind that they've had since birth. These are other conditions. But the torment of separation from God for all eternity is the torment. We can stand many fleshly things. We can stand pain. So often I've had people say to me, Pastor, I could stand any pain in my body, but this torment of my soul over my daughter or my son or lost is bringing me down. Or someone will say to me, but the torment of my sin is so tremendous, Pastor, how can I get the weight off me? and then to know that the blood of Christ can take away that torment. And that's why Jesus says, whosoever the Son shall make free, he's free indeed, you see. He's freed from the burden of the sin. And he has, like we read this morning, the joy of God is in his heart, because he's free, free. And so death is a cessation of being, our relationship to earth. Let me put it that way. The last breath here is the first breath there. And I would like to say that absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, with those who love Christ, but absent from the body is to be in Hades, or the word hell is used. That is not the final abode. The word is translated hell, but it's the abode of the departed, lost spirits, and the abode of the saved spirits is absent from the body, present. Listen, if there wasn't another verse in Scripture, I'd want to be there. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. So know that it's possible for a human being to make a decision in this life, and that's the only place you'll have for decisions. Don't let anybody ever tell you there's a second chance after death. That's Jehovah's Witness doctrine. It has nothing to do with Christianity. There's no second chance. It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment. And so now, as I read to you from Revelation 20, I just wanted to give you a backdrop about death. Fourth verse. John is speaking. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, this is talking of the tribulation period, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, because in that day, if I can just quickly say that, in the day of great tribulation, there will be those who want to live, And so they have to receive the mark of the beast in their hands or they can neither buy nor sell in the marketplace. That's what the scripture says. This is the seven year period after the age of grace is terminated. The age of grace that we live in comes to an end and the church is raptured up. That's what it's speaking of here. And they sat upon thrones. We shall reign, Peter tells us. We are a generation of kings and priests unto our God. And it says here that they saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I also saw the souls of them that were beheaded, notice that, for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast. This is those which come out of the great tribulation. After the church has been caught up to be with Christ, and is reigning with him in the beginning, now the great tribulation comes upon the earth. Israel is the center of it. The powers of the northern confederacy, Russia, the kings of the east, it tells us, and Ezekiel, shall decide that they're going to take a spoil of Israel where all the great wealth is and the gold of oil, black gold. It's been well said that the wealth in Israel is over one trillion of dollars. Amazing, isn't it? This is scientific. This is not biblical. But the scientist says the greatest wealth on earth is in the Israeli Arab country area. Black gold. they'll decide to take a spoil, and the powers of the Northern Confederacy, Ezekiel 36 to 40, shall come down to take a spoil of Israel, and then God says, and then shall my wrath come up before my eyes. The Antichrist and the false prophets shall be ruling at that time. Satan shall have been revealed in the very person of the Antichrist, practically. indwelling Him, guiding Him, directing Him, the false prophet. And here upon this earth, great tribulation shall take place. The church shall have gone to be with their Lord, sitting on thrones with Him, reigning with Him up there. Those who were beheaded during this tribulation period, they're going to be with him finally. This is going to be part of that great resurrection, the rapture of the church, sort of the second part of the rapture, as at the end of tribulation and before the great millennial kingdom comes of a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, they're caught up to be with Christ, beheaded for Jesus' sake, refused to receive the mark of the beast in their hands, and they were beheaded. This is that of which God is speaking here, the final days. They hadn't worshiped the beast, neither his image. You know, I was struck by this the other day, I might say this. President Nixon, everybody's sort of waiting to hear what he has to say. Is it November 3rd? I think it's November 3rd. But what struck me was this. that you will be able to get nothing else on your television on November 3rd for the first time. Every single station, according to the newspapers, will only have President Nixon. You know, there was a time politically, if you disagreed, you could shut him off and say, let's look at so-and-so. But I want to remind you here that it says, and they did not worship the image, that all the earth in that day, the image of this one, the Antichrist, should be flashed through the whole earth on every television screen. And everybody who does not worship him and receive the mark of the beast, the Antichrist, he will come much as Christ. Look, I look like a benefactor. He's going to do great things for mankind. And those who do not receive his mark will be beheaded. We've had little evidences of that, haven't we, in men like Hitler, Stalin. Stalin, three million Christians were slaughtered. because they wouldn't follow the communist line. Just little evidences of these things before us. But it says here they hadn't received that or in their hands and they lived and reigned for a thousand years with Jesus Christ. Now this is those who are caught up, the church, his body, his bride, caught up, sitting on thrones with him. Then, at the end of the tribulation, those who died as martyrs, those who refused the mark of the beast, he says, I'm going to take them up too. And then the thousand-year reign of the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the only high potentate over all the earth, and his throne room will be in Jerusalem. And David's throne shall be occupied. and the King of kings shall reign over all the earth. This is that which is spoken of here. They shall be caught up. Now look, but the rest of the dead, now this is the redeemed, you see, the redeemed are caught up to be with Christ. The Old Testament saints, if I might say, those who believed in the coming of Jesus the Messiah, who trusted in the blood to cleanse them from sin, caught up to be with the Lord. Abraham and, remember, Abraham, Moses, Elijah. How blessed! Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. There they are! But just think of how blessed it is, and think of what this means to you and to me. There are actually, I think, about four resurrections spoken of here. Notice what it says in this verse. The rest of the dead lived not again until a thousand years were finished. The rest of the dead, those that died outside of Christ, they're still apart. Their spirits in Hades, their bodies in the grave. The church has been raised up. Imagine we have a thousand years before they're raised up. Isn't that wonderful? Praise the Lord. How blessed this truth. So they did not live until a thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in this first resurrection. On such, the second death, twice dead, the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, notice, and shall reign with him. for a thousand years. Now may I say this concerning the resurrection. the first resurrection. Notice at the end of this, it says, this is the first resurrection. What have we seen? We have seen that the church has been caught up because they're seated with him. They're on thrones. We remember 1 Thessalonians tells us this. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the clouds, in the air, and then shall we ever be with the Lord. This is the rapture of the church, the catching up to escape the wrath to come. the catching up of the church. But may I say this, the resurrection, that first resurrection probably has about four facets we should remember. Number one, there were those who were raised, now remember this, here's what the scripture says. Paul says this, Christ the first fruits. Then they that are Christ's at his coming You see? In other words, there's an order here. Now Christ was the firstfruits. He arose from the grave. It tells us that it was an impossible thing for anyone to rise before he arose. It says he is the firstborn among all creatures. This was the proof of the resurrection. Christ the firstfruits. And here we might remember that when Christ arose, Matthew's gospel says this, and when he arose, the graves were opened, and the bodies of the saints were raised up, and they walked the streets, and they went into Jerusalem, and the people saw them. And so the Old Testament saints raised up. How do you think that as far as the different Old Testament saints are concerned, it would be possible for them not to have been raised? They who've been looking for the Messiah to come, and he says the graves were opened, and the saints came forth. They're with Christ, Oh, they're not in bodily form, those who were, let me say, in great spiritual power. I believe that if we were to see them by spiritual eyes, we would be able to see them, and we would be able to know them because of the Spirit of God. dwelling in their breasts, we would identify them by the Spirit. I believe that when we die and we're absent from the body to be present with the Lord, that the one who dies whose spirit goes to be with Christ will identify their mother and their father, although they be not clothed, upon with their immortal body, which God is going to give them, that they will know their loved ones who are there. How do I know that? Because Moses and Elijah were knowable. on the Mount of Transfiguration. And the apostles were given eyes that they could see. And that we who die will not have to wait ages upon ages upon ages to see our loved ones again. But then when we honestly say, My loved one has gone to be with Christ, and when I go to be with Christ, I will be with them waiting for that day when God's going to clothe me upon with an incorruptible body fashioned like unto his glorious body. But I know that Moses and Elijah were identified by the apostles of old, and that spiritual form will have such form that I can identify my loved ones. If I were to take my body and to stand it here, here I am, and I separate my body. I leave my body stand here, and it's flesh. I step over here, the flesh is there, now I have a skeleton frame. I'm bones, still me. There I am, here I am. I take one step over here, now I have spiritual form. before God, identifiable. Not clothed in a body, but a spiritual form before God. Otherwise, they never could have identified Moses and Elijah. It would be impossible. And so there is this glorious privilege we have of knowing that we're going to see our loved ones again. It would be a terrible thought in my heart if I had to thank my son Martin, who died, through whom I came to Jesus Christ. If God absent takes me from the body, puts my body in the grave, and takes my spirit unto him, that I might have to wait five thousand, ten thousand years ever to see Martin again. God, how terrible that would be to my heart, but he says, For you to live is Christ-martin, and to die is going to be gain. How will it be gain, Lord? Through things, my son. You're going to see me face to face, and I'm going to join you together with your loved one again." Isn't that precious? Isn't that precious? How glorious it makes our Christian life, you see. So if I might say, here is that first part of the first resurrection. The Old Testament saints are raised up and God manifests them to the people. He shows them the graves it says were opened up and they came forth. And they were identifiable. People saw their loved ones. Maybe they couldn't take them and hug them and all of the rest, but they knew them. because it says they came up out of the graves. And yet Hebrews tells us that they're not gonna get their immortal bodies fashioned like Jesus' body because they're not going to precede us. Together we're gonna get that. That's wonderful and I praise the Lord for that. That's gonna be a glorious day for you and for me, but identifiable. Then if I might say the second part of that resurrection is, I'm talking now of the first resurrection, the second part of it is the rapture of the church, but the second part are the dead in Christ. The dead in Christ shall be raised first. All will be simultaneous with those who are alive and remain when the Lord comes. But number one was when Christ was raised, the graves opened. part of the first resurrection. Number two, the dead in Christ. I'm so thankful that those who've died in Christ and are now their spirits with the Lord, they're going to be caught up first. And we which are alive and remain, 1 Thessalonians 4, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. Again, a togetherness. Isn't that wonderful? It wouldn't say together unless it meant together. Do you know who I'm going to meet first if I'm alive and Christ comes? My son, not Jesus. I think this is thrilling. Do you have a godly mother or father? Do you have a son or daughter who went to be with the Lord? That's what the scripture says. The dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to do what? To meet the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? God's gonna do such a wonderful thing. He's gonna join together, see the family, so they can meet Jesus together. Isn't he gracious, huh? Isn't he gracious to us? He knows our humanness, you know? He knows how we would feel in our breasts. We don't want to go up alone, do we, to meet Jesus? I want to be with Allison. I want to be with Martin, my junior. I want to be with him. This is now when we're receiving that glorified body fashioned like unto the body of Christ. Martin is with Jesus now, but it says God's going to bring his spirit with him and join that incorruptible body, that immortal body for Martin, for Alice, for me, and at the Lord, this at his return for Bob, for Cheryl, for Don, for Martha. Oh boy, what a day. What a day. You know, I only wish I could say for my mother and father. You know, I wish I knew they died when I was a boy. I wasn't saved. I didn't know anything about Christ. I just remember my father was 46 when he died. My mother was 46 when they died. And I just remember them faintly. I was a boy, 17 years of age, had nothing. knew nothing, Roman Catholic, been an altar boy, played around with all kinds of religions after that, thought I was so smart, I delved into Christian science, went to their testimony meetings, I did, I was searching, searching, searching. Jesus says, they that seek me shall truly find me. And I searched and searched, and let me tell you, it wasn't until God took my own son home that I found Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Searching, searching, searching. But oh, how blessed that His grace reached down and saved us. Aren't you glad the Lord identifies? You know, there's a part that strikes me. I'd like to, what time? Oh boy. There's a part that really thrills my heart. Abraham, listen, Abraham and the rich man. The rich man is in hell, Hades. He says, Father Abraham, would you send someone to me? He says, I want someone to come and then go to my brothers and tell them that they do not come to this place where I am. This place of torment, Father Abraham, would you do that? Now, I want you to remember, Abraham is born hundreds of years before Moses. He says, if I sent you Moses, how did he know Moses? You ever think about that? He died 400 years before. He says, if I sent you Moses, you wouldn't listen. What is it telling you? Moses and Abraham have been talking with each other in glory. You see, isn't that thrilling? Isn't that thrilling? If I sent you Moses, here's Abraham, he died 400, never heard the name Moses in his life. And he says, if I send you Moses, why, he was with Moses. Isn't that glorious? Aren't you thrilled that when Christ comes, you're gonna be caught up together with your loved ones? And you're going to meet them first. You're going to be with them first. You know, I couldn't help but think, for Alice and I, it's thrilling. You know, because we have done up in Rhode Island with Martha and Todd. I won't talk about that. Grandpa. We have Bob and Cheryl over in Holland. And then we have Jack and Lynn in Kentucky. But imagine what's going to happen. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of archangel, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain, Kentucky, Holland, and Rhode Island, and Malvern, Long Island, all caught together, shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the clouds and the air, and shall be happy. And Martin, my son, with us. Let me tell you, we have, the world will never know what we have. Can't know it. Why? Because you have to have the Holy Spirit. You have to have the Holy Spirit. If today, like when I'm speaking about these things, oh boy, oh boy, way out, way out, oh man. Not relevant today. Well, I want to tell you something. If my message isn't relevant today, you better not be born. Better you never had come into the world if the message of Jesus Christ is not relevant, because you haven't got one thing to look forward to but a dark grave and a coffin without Jesus Christ and separation from God for all eternity, twice dead. I'm going to speak more about that two weeks from today, but I'm going to look for you all next Sunday anyway. Let us pray. Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word. Lord, bless it to our hearts. We're so thankful that there are things sometimes we don't even think about when it says Abraham talked about Moses. How would we ever think about the fact that Abraham died a long time before Moses? But he was with Moses, and that was what counted. And so, Father, we're thankful that our loved ones are going to be identified with us. And You're so tender to us. You could have said, you're going to be caught up to meet me, but you do something rather wonderful beyond all our comprehension. You say, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord, and then shall we ever be with the Lord. How precious, how wonderful you are to us. Help us, Lord, to appreciate what Thou hast done for us in the salvation in Jesus Christ. In His blessed name we pray. Amen.