The Prepper Church - A Call to be Stedfast

[0:00] Talking about being steadfast. Now you've heard it before, but again it's a new message. Be steadfast. I think it's a timely message.

[0:11] It's important that we're steadfast. We're living in a world that's temporary,! Plastic, disposable. You've got disposable needles, disposable nappies, disposable shavers.

[0:22] Things are temporary. Not lasting. We're living in a world, a throwaway culture. A throwaway kind of thinking. And our world is also an unstable world.

[0:33] Uncertain. Unsure. The world's seen as not stable. The communities we live in. We've got wars, disasters, changes happening every day. I just read lately on the news headlines about Doomsday.

[0:49] Anybody see that? Doomsday. Talking about Taiwan at the moment. Who knows what's going to happen there. It's getting quite serious there. Things could get much bigger than just Taiwan.

[1:01] Australia could be drawn into war. It's real. It's possible. It's conceivable. It could be just hours away.

[1:12] It could be that close. Serious things are happening. There's an instability in the world. Look at what's going on with this virus and all the alarmism.

[1:24] I truly believe we need to be a prepping church. A prepping church. Preparing for what lies ahead. Whatever lies ahead, we need to be prepared.

[1:35] And being prepared for an escalation in persecution. Let me be real with you this morning. We need to be prepared. We really do.

[1:46] We absolutely do. Where is it that people can find stability and a sure foundation? Where can mankind find certainty and truth? Where can people find something sure and true to believe in?

[1:59] A cause that is true and worthwhile. Something to stand up for. Something to stand upon. There are some things that we can hold fast. Things that we can find that are true.

[2:15] We can know a steadfast hope. And so being steadfast is the theme of this message. Steadfast means being solid, grounded, stable, strong, sure, firm.

[2:29] It talks about being stable, being strong, being reliable. Don't we live in a world where the reliability is lacking?

[2:40] Where commitment is fleeting? It's not really commitment then, is it? The Bible urges us to this. Friends today, the Bible urges us very strongly to this theme, this recurring theme of the Word of God.

[2:55] We find it there in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. It says, There are some things that are worth being steadfast in.

[3:19] So I put to you some three things today to be steadfast in. The first one is in Acts 2. If you want to go to Acts 2. Talking about the early church.

[3:30] Well, we're the same church. Amen? We're actually the same church. It's not a different church. In Acts 20, 20. It's the same one that's in Acts chapter 2.

[3:41] Acts 2, 42. It says this of that church of God. It says, And they continued steadfastly. Steadfastly. In the apostles' doctrine and fellowship.

[3:54] And in breaking of bread. And in prayers. Number one, we need to be steadfast in fellowship. Steadfast in fellowship. Many Christians are not stable in their church commitment.

[4:07] They are what some would call spiritual butterflies. They flit here and they flit there. There's no commitment. There's no stability. They are not solid.

[4:18] They are not strong. They're not steadfast. Not steadfast in being together with God's people. They are unstable, uncommitted, unfaithful, unreliable.

[4:29] We're told to be steadfast. Steadfast. We see the early believers mentioned here are just that. Steadfast. Not only steadfast in fellowship, no.

[4:41] But steadfast in their doctrine. In the teaching, it says. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Which means teaching. They were steadfast, it says, in the closeness of their fellowship.

[4:54] They had communion one with another. They had breaking of bread. Speaks about a closeness there, doesn't it? Of a communion one with another. They were steadfast, it says, in prayer.

[5:05] Brother, sister, I urge you in these last days, get steadfast. Get steadfast. In sound doctrine. People have been asking me, Pastor, what Bible school would you recommend?

[5:19] Now, there's people local, there's people living in Wyala have asked me the question. What Bible school would you recommend? Really, a sound Bible church is the best Bible school.

[5:30] A sound Bible preaching church is the best training ground. And being willing to be an active part of such a church. The best training you can have is to be in boots and all.

[5:45] Saying, yes, sir, I'll serve. Yes, sir. I'll minister. I'll be available. I will say, yes, I will fully participate. I will determine to be rock solid, faithful, steadfast in this doctrine, in this teaching, in this training place that is the church.

[6:04] To determine to be a regular part of that fellowship. Friends, it's the best training. You know, I look back, I've been to Bible schools and I've been doing various Bible courses online.

[6:16] It helps. But the best training is to get in boots and all. And get into the ministry in whatever capacity you can minister. To not hold back.

[6:27] And not saying be a square peg in a round hole. Being something that God hasn't called you to be. But be steadfast. Find a way to serve and serve well. That's not to say there are some good Bible schools you can go to.

[6:41] We've got on the wall there, the Victoria Bible College. They do online material. There's another one in Sydney. There's different ones that we could recommend to you.

[6:52] You can study distance education online. I'd be careful to recommend others, to be honest. Local ones, there's not really any that I could really honestly fully recommend to you.

[7:08] But, brothers, sisters today, if you're a believer in Christ, you want to be trained, you want to serve, you want to minister, get involved in your church. That's the best thing you can do.

[7:19] The best way to prepare for ministry is to minister. Hebrews 10, 25, it says, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, that is the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.

[7:31] And so much the more as you see the day approaching. If ever there's a day to be steadfast, it's today. And tomorrow, if we see it. To be a solid part of a faithful church, a local church.

[7:44] To be a committed, faithful member. To be an active, reliable, involved person. To take part, to take your place. To get busy for Christ. To get committed, to get working.

[7:55] So, steadfast in fellowship. It's important. Be steadfast in fellowship. Make it something that's a priority. It's something God expects of us. Steadfast fellowship.

[8:06] Number two, steadfast faith. Steadfast faith. Number two, Colossians 2, verse 5. Paul says this, Colossians 2, verse 5. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joining and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

[8:26] Paul said to the Colossians, he said, I'm beholding something here. I'm beholding your order. I'm beholding the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. This first tells us of a people with a steadfastness in their faith.

[8:40] Friends, that's the faith that we need today, is a steadfast faith. It's a faith and hope that's grounded, firmly planted. It's rock solid in that Christ is my saviour.

[8:54] Christ is the anchor. And faith in Christ, that hope in Christ is like an anchor. There's a wonderful anchor there that you can know that grounds you and holds you steady.

[9:05] It's an anchor of the soul. Hebrews 6, verse 19. It's our hope and trust in our saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ, Hebrews 6, verse 19. It talks about hope that we have.

[9:16] It says which hope that we have is as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. An anchor of the soul.

[9:27] Which hope we have. That faith, that hope is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which entreth into that within the veil. So what is hope?

[9:39] Biblical hope is something that you have. Some of us define biblical hope as a full assurance or strong confidence that God is going to do good to us in the future.

[9:50] There's a hope that we have. Friends, in a world that's pretty much hopeless, let's face it. You look at, I know I've been talking to some folk lately and they said they just turned off the news. They can't bear it anymore.

[10:01] The misery of it. The misery of it. The hopelessness of this world. Honestly, what does the world have to offer anybody right now?

[10:12] But we have a hope. Amen. Don't we have a hope? Don't you have a hope? Isn't Christ your hope? Isn't it a hope that is sure and steadfast? Yes, he is.

[10:23] He is that hope. And this anchor, this one that we know, we have a wonderful hope. Without this anchor, our condition is hopeless. There's a hopelessness out there.

[10:35] The Bible speaks, Ephesians 2, 12, of some, they're having no hope. Having no hope. And without Christ, without God, without God in the world, they've got no hope.

[10:46] Yet you that believe. This is not a hope so, a kind of hopefulness as in a, it might happen. This is a confident hope. It's a sense of a sure hope.

[10:57] It's a certain hope. It's a positive hope. It's a blessed, glad, glorious hope that we know Christ. That we know that we know that we're saved. That there is a hope for us in him.

[11:08] There is a trust that we have. A hope for our families. A hope for the future. A hope for the hurting. The Bible says much about hope. There's lots of hope in this book. It's a book of hope.

[11:19] You know, the Prime Minister was talking about doses of hope coming. Well, this is the best dose of hope you can ever get. This is more than some vaccine hope. This is a sure hope.

[11:31] This is a certain hope. The Bible says about a hope that we can have. And this hope that we have is one of the reasons we can have a steadfast faith. I've taken the blinkers off.

[11:43] That we have a blessed hope. Amen. There's a blessed hope for you that believe. A blessed hope. It says in Titus 2.13 that we're looking for that blessed hope.

[11:54] And I've been watching and looking. I don't know about you, but just trying to get the focus right. A watching and looking. This is what we need to be doing, brother and sister, because we have a blessed hope.

[12:05] In other words, we have a glad hope. A glorious hope. A happy hope. A certain and joyful hope. It's what believers are supposed to be doing is looking for the blessed hope.

[12:16] Looking for that. Looking for that. We're told to watch for our Lord's returning. We can see the signs, can't we? Surely you can see the signs. Our Lord can come. And we need to be ready for his coming.

[12:27] We need to be prepared. I want to be among the first to see him, don't you? Keep on looking. And when I hear the trumpet, you know, whatever the timing of that is. When I hear the trumpet, I'll just look to the east.

[12:40] And I'll have my binoculars ready. I don't think I'm going to need these. Because every eye shall see him, amen? Especially you that believe. We're going to see him looking for that blessed hope. And the glorious appearing, it says, of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

[12:55] You know, we have a hope. And it's a certain hope. We know it's coming. Because it's promised. It's promised. There's a funny story of a little boy who went to the department store.

[13:08] And he was there at the department store. And he stood at the foot of the escalator. And he was watching the handrail of the escalator. And he never took his eyes off the handrail as the escalator kept going around and around.

[13:22] And one of the staff went to him and said, are you lost? You know, what's happening here? He says, no, I'm just waiting for my chewing gum to come back. You know, he put his chewing gum on the handrail. And he's waiting for it to come back.

[13:34] You know, friends, he was waiting for that. He was waiting for that. Because he was sure that it was coming. And friends, so surely too. We are sure that our Lord is coming, aren't we? He's coming back.

[13:45] And I'm just waiting. It's just a matter of time. Just a matter of his time. Amen. We've got a hope. We've got a steadfast hope. We've got a steadfast faith. We've got a confident conviction. Christ is coming.

[13:56] He's promised. He says, I will return. I have gone to prepare a place for you. I'm coming back, he says. And we've got a confident hope, a blessed hope, that surely he will again interrupt human history as we know it.

[14:11] And it says, every eye shall see him. It says, every knee shall bow. Every tongue will confess Christ as Lord. Have we that hope?

[14:22] It's a steadfast faith that we have, isn't it? It can be. For you that believe. There was a street preacher one day and he was telling the good news about Christ and salvation.

[14:35] And he approached a man on the street and he said, do you want to go to heaven? And the man replied, no, sir. We get that on the door, don't we, when we're witnessing.

[14:48] Do you want to know Jesus? No. No, sir. Well, they don't say sir. So they say, no way. I'm good. That's what they usually say, which is obviously false.

[14:59] Because no, there's none good. None good. No, none good. No, not one. Not even one. But the man said, no, sir. And the preacher tried again, surely you want to go to heaven.

[15:10] Surely you want to go to heaven when you die. And the man responded, of course. I thought you were organising a group to go today. And he didn't. Now that's the point. He wasn't ready. He didn't want to go today.

[15:21] But you know, it's his timing, isn't it? If he says, your appointment's up, your appointment's today, at whatever time he sets on his clock. That trip of a lifetime and all eternity can happen unannounced at any moment.

[15:45] So if you want to go to heaven, know Christ. Know him. Trust him. Believe on him as your own Lord and Saviour. Know him today. I urge you today, because today could be the day.

[15:57] And you're leaving today. And your destination depends on your decision before you go. The trip of a lifetime and of all eternity could be even today.

[16:13] It could be at any moment. So I urge you, trust Christ. Believe on him with all your heart. Know his saving. Know his gift, as talked about before, his grace.

[16:24] You can have a faith. And it can be a steadfast faith, because it's a certain faith. It's founded in him. There was a famous atheist called Jean Paul Sartre, and he declared that he so strongly resisted feelings of despair that he would say to himself, I know I shall die in hope.

[16:46] He tried to say that to himself. I'm going to die in hope, this atheist said. But then he added, but hope needs a foundation.

[16:58] The people that have vain hope, let's face it. They've got vain hope. Vain philosophies, vain ideas of a vain man-made, conjured-up kind of salvation of their own making.

[17:12] That's a foundation that is faulty, that will fail. But this hope that we have, it's a hope that anchor over the soul, sure and steadfast, is founded on the trustworthiness of God's word and his promises.

[17:25] It says in Romans 15, 4, that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. That's the hope that you have, that trust him. So faith, it means a trust, a commitment to the Lord Christ.

[17:37] It's a sure hope. It's a steadfast faith. And we can know that steadfast faith. Without it, we are lost. We see that the church of God is steadfast.

[17:51] We're that same church. We are the same church. Steadfast. They continued steadfastly. Steadfast in fellowship. We see that people of God have a steadfast faith.

[18:04] It's sure and steadfast. It's a hope that is beyond the veil. In other words, through this curtain of mortal time into eternity beyond. It goes beyond the veil.

[18:16] It goes into the great beyond. It is a forever faith. A steadfast faith. And thirdly, we see that there is need for a steadfast fight. There's a steadfast fight that we're called to.

[18:28] See, 1 Peter 5 verse 8. Turn with me to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5 verse 8. A steadfast fight. There's a fight going on, believe it or not.

[18:39] It's a fight going on. And this is no play fight. This is no war games. This is the real war. And the devil's hopping mad. And we need to be steadfast in our fight.

[18:52] 1 Peter 5 verse 8. I'm sure many would know this as a familiar verse. It says, Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

[19:10] Whom? Resist. Steadfast. Steadfast in the faith. Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

[19:22] There's a fight going on. I think some people don't even realise there's a fight going on. We're sleeping in our spiritual hammocks. When we should be entering into a spiritual struggle.

[19:34] A war zone. We're on the devil's turf. It's temporarily in his control. We've been parachuted behind enemy lines. And we're reclaiming this ground as holy ground.

[19:47] We're reclaiming this territory. We need this kind of prayer for steadfastness of the fight. It says, Whom resist? Steadfast in the faith. We've got a determined enemy.

[19:59] And we need to be warriors in such a time as this. Engaged in a supernatural struggle. A spiritual struggle. Even when David Brainerd was dying. He was a man who went over to the great frontier of America.

[20:14] To the great danger zone of America of the day. Of the frontier of America. Because he was burdened. And he cried out to God for the American Indians.

[20:28] These were people killing each other. They were bloodthirsty. This was danger territory. And he went there and he died as a young man.

[20:39] From tuberculosis or some condition such as that. Because he poured out his soul unto death. As a missionary.

[20:50] And David Brainerd would cry out to God for the souls of American Indians that he was witnessing to. Friends. As God's people humble themselves.

[21:05] As we realise the steadfastness we need. And there's such a fight as this. As we're reaching souls that are in the devil's clutches. Orden we to be moved with such a zeal?

[21:21] Are we serious about pleasing God? Is it just some kind of. Maybe he got a big long list and he's right down the bottom. Really.

[21:32] Isn't he? When he should be right up the top. Of the considerations of life. Are we concerned about the lost.

[21:43] That so desperately need Christ. Are we concerned about this world that is going to hell in a hand basket. The trouble is many have lost their fight. Their resolve. Their determination. If ever they had it.

[21:55] If ever they had it. Friends. Honestly believe. That we're about to enter an escalating period of persecution. Let's not kid ourselves.

[22:12] We are the ultimate minority group. Christians. Let alone born again Christians. Let alone born again. Let alone born again. Sound gospel preaching Christians. Let alone born again.

[22:24] Sound gospel preaching Christians. That truly believe their heart. And soul. And that God. It wants them to be. Active and. Blessed and. Resourceful Christians in such a day as this.

[22:37] We are totally outnumbered. Outnumbered. And we are about to enter an escalating period. Of persecutions. We need to steel ourselves for this. We need to be prepping.

[22:49] Prepared. Prepared. Actively. We need to actively prepare now. For what is about to happen. We need to prepare now.

[23:00] Mentally. Practically. And spiritually. We have to be able to steadfastly face whatever is coming. You know what. I just saw some news article even today.

[23:13] QR code. Or vaccine passports. In South Australia. That was the headlines this morning. I haven't seen the article. But. I mean. Vaccines are not the issue.

[23:25] But. The issue is. What is going on here? This is Australia. Or it used to be. We need to be. Prepared. To actively prepare.

[23:36] We've got some mandates. That we have to comply with. Right here in this book. God's mandates. That's what we need to comply with.

[23:48] That's what we need to take seriously. We're living in a world of dashed hopes. A place of shattered dreams. Many despair and lose hope. When they face troubles. What are we going to do with our troubles?

[24:00] With situations of testing. Are we going to be steadfast? Let me. Let me tell you a little story here. Just to graphically illustrate this. Sometimes it helps to. To see the preacher do something really stupid.

[24:13] So that you might wonder. Why has the preacher got a shovel here? What is this shovel all about? And I think I have. Given this illustration before. But it's a good one.

[24:24] To illustrate the kind of thinking. That we need to have. Right? The kind of steadfast hope. And resolve that we need to adopt. So one day there was a farmer.

[24:36] Who had a mule. A mule. You know a donkey. It fell into a deep well. And the farmer decided that neither the mule. Or the well was worth saving.

[24:47] Now this is just too much trouble. This stupid donkey. Falling in this well. This hole in the ground. And so he thought. Look I'm just going to bury the thing. Just going to bury this old mule. In the well.

[24:58] And put it out of its misery. I'll bury it alive. So he called some neighbours. And they came together. They brought their shovels. And they had some dirt there. And they all began to shovel. And shovel the dirt into the hole.

[25:10] And as the dirt hit the back of the mule. The mule thought. I'll just shake it off and step up. And so that's what the mule did. And they kept putting the dirt in. And the mule just shook it off. And stepped up.

[25:23] Shake it off and step up. Shake it off and step up. And after a while. The mule was able to get out of the well. I mean what.

[25:34] What am I trying to say. I'm saying sometimes. You're like a donkey in a hole. In the ground. And there's dirt coming on top of you. Just shake it off and step up. Alright. There's going to be some troubles.

[25:45] We're going to have some troubled times. We're going to have some persecution. We're going to have some opposition. We've got an adversary. We need to steadfastly resist. And friends. We're going to have some troubles come.

[25:56] We need to be like that mule in the well. And just shake it off and step up. You know. We can think spiritually maybe. You know. Of our faults. Of failures. Of things that are going wrong in our lives. Of miserable situations.

[26:08] Of our sin. Of what we've. How we've messed up. And how lacking we are. And the devil just wants to bury you. In this.

[26:19] You know. Misery. That he wants you to stay in that hole in the ground. Or we need to shake off those things. Whatever the devil's trying to put on top of us. And to forget what is behind.

[26:30] And to press towards the mark. Alright. We can be like a mule in a hole. That just gets buried. And it's gone. Or we can be like the one shaking off. The trouble.

[26:41] Shaking off the. The weights. And the. The troubles. And the setbacks. And just overcome. Because we are called to be overcomers. And we can trust God.

[26:52] To bless us. Even. The difficulties can be stepping stones. We can jump up. And get out of the. The hole. Amen. We can get out of that miserable state. And whatever the. Past.

[27:03] Problems we had. We don't have to stay there. We can get out of that. And the choice is yours this morning. To be steadfast. We can make a. A steadfast faith. A steadfast fight. To be a.

[27:14] A committed. To be committed. Fellow soldiers. In this battle. That we're going to be facing. And despite all the hardships. And opposition. That might await us. We must absolutely now.

[27:25] Prepare. Prepare now. For spiritual. Battle. Trust in the word of the Lord. Actually the battle isn't ahead of us. It's now. It's actually happening now. Now at the moment.

[27:36] We're studying the seven churches of revelation. On Wednesday night. Come and. Come and join us. Studying through the seven churches of revelation. At the moment. We're going to get right through the book. God willing.

[27:47] If the Lord tarries. We're going to get right through the book. A revelation. The churches of revelation. Revelation. We see that seven churches of revelation. The church of Pergamos. In Revelation 2 verse 3.

[27:59] Was commended for holding fast. His name. Holding fast. His name. The church of Sardis. In Revelation 3. 3. Was told. Hold fast.

[28:10] Hold fast. In Revelation 3 verse 8. The church of Philadelphia. Was commended. Of keeping my word. They've kept my word. In 3 verse 11.

[28:21] Again. They were told. Hold fast. Hold fast. The word of God has got a repeated theme for us. Hold fast. Hold fast. Stand fast. Be steadfast. Face the battle.

[28:34] Be steadfast. In our work to reach out. You know. It's hard. On the front line. In the trenches. Hard reaching out. Because by and large. 99% of people.

[28:45] Don't want to know. Well that's what they might first say. But God can still plant the seed. And friends. We're in a fight. We're in a fight. It's a fight for men's souls. Men's souls.

[28:57] Because this is an eternal battle. It's not going to stop. Until Christ comes. And puts the devil in the hole. And ultimately. In hell.

[29:08] The lake of fire. And some too easily give up. When they face a challenge. We can give up. The opposite of being steadfast. And it's just.

[29:19] Pshh. Give it up. That's what the devil would say to you. Give it up. Don't be a fair dinkum Christian. Just be a half-hearted one. Just be a pretend Christian.

[29:31] Just be a superficial Christian. Just be a Sunday Christian. But the devil. The devil is wrong. He's a liar. Why? Because you can be a steadfast Christian. You can be steadfast.

[29:42] And you can know that. That there is no hopeless cases. Now we. When we're going witnessing. Sometimes you. It's easy to adopt the mentality. Oh that's a hopeless case. I'm not even going to try.

[29:53] You know. Just the look on his face. Whoever it is you're talking to. You know. Get that feeling. When you're witnessing to someone. Why do I bother? Because there's no hopeless cases.

[30:05] No hopeless cases. No. I was a hopeless case. But God. Can help. The hopeless. Amen. He can help you. He can help me.

[30:16] And there's a lady. Ann Sullivan. She was caught a hopeless case. You know. She was the sort of person people would give up on. She was a patient of the Boston Mental Institution. And Ann was known as Little Annie.

[30:28] And Annie was an extreme case. You know. I used to work in the disability sector. And I know. I can relate to this. She was locked in a cage. And placed in the basement of the institution.

[30:39] And one elderly nurse believed there was hope for Annie. And the nurse began to eat her lunches beside Annie's cage. It was a simple gesture of love. And this nurse was then. Began leaving biscuits for Annie.

[30:51] And this started a remarkable process of change. And the doctors brought Annie upstairs. And after a time the hopeless case. Was allowed to leave the institution.

[31:02] But the story doesn't end there. Annie went herself. And found another hopeless case. And Annie dedicated her life to helping others. She found another hopeless case.

[31:13] A girl blind, deaf and mute. And Annie worked miracles with this girl. Helen Keller. The hopeless case helped another hopeless case. And there was no hopeless cases.

[31:26] Friends, you know. We can discount people. We can say they're hopeless. We can say, oh, no point in talking to that one. You know, they're antsy. Well, I used to be antsy.

[31:37] I mean, we all used to be antsy. Really. Effectively. Because we weren't for him. We were against him. Friends, the point is. The point I'm trying to make here is to be steadfast. Keep reaching out with the gospel.

[31:48] Do not be ashamed of the gospel. Keep reaching out. Even when someone might seem a hopeless case. Have you ever felt like you were a hopeless case? Friends, this world is filled with broken homes.

[32:00] Broken lives. Broken relationships. Drug abuse. Alcohol abuse. Many homes torn apart. With crime.

[32:11] With difficulties. Broken dreams. Shattered hopes. Life is filled with often overwhelming problems. We know that. That's life.

[32:22] That happens. But there is hope. There's hope. There's hope. There's hope beyond the circumstance. There's hope in Christ. There's blessed hope. There's sure hope.

[32:34] Just be steadfast. Be steadfast, brother. Steadfast, sister. In this unstable, uncertain world. In this world that doesn't care about the truth. And would just laugh at the name of Jesus.

[32:47] And think nothing of what he has done. The cross. They care nothing about the truth. About salvation. Friends, there's many in that situation.

[33:00] You're either going to be in one of two cases. You're going to be those who will face a hopeless end. A hopeless end.

[33:11] Or you can have an endless hope. It's one or the other. You've either got a hopeless end. Where your destination is settled. And it's hell. The lake of fire.

[33:22] For eternity. A hopeless end. Or you can have an endless hope. Christ is my hope. Christ is my savior. Christ is the one who's promised and given me eternal life. Christ is my blessed hope.

[33:34] I have that hope that endures beyond the grave. The blessed gospel hope. So friends, I urge you today. Don't be amongst those that have a hopeless end. But those that have an endless hope.

[33:46] Are we a steadfast people? As God's people, fellowship matters. It really does. It really matters. Fellowship matters. They were steadfast in fellowship. Steadfast in the word.

[33:58] Steadfast in breaking of bread. Steadfast in prayers. Steadfast. Have we found that steadfast faith? That faith that Christ would grant such mercy, that gift, that love, that salvation, that's founded in a biblical hope.

[34:16] A steadfast faith. And will we be steadfast in the fight? Friends, I don't know what's beyond today, what we will face tomorrow. I don't think anybody can honestly, firmly say this, that and the other.

[34:33] One thing we know is that Christ is coming. And he's coming for a prepared people. And friends, I think he's going to come for a persecuted people. We're going to be, we're going to have some tough things ahead.

[34:46] And so it's important now to resolve to have steadfastness. Steadfastness, brother, sister. I urge you to that today. Let's pray.

[34:57] Lord, we thank you that you are our steadfast hope. Lord, that we have a wonderful assurance of that blessed hope of your coming again.

[35:09] Lord, we know that your church will face persecution and that there will be much tribulation yet to face. Lord, we know, yet I trust you'll spare us the worst of it.

[35:21] Lord, we thank you that we can have a time now to be a prepared people, to know the most important preparation is to be saved, is to be saved.

[35:33] And we pray right now, if there's anyone present, anyone watching that knows you not, that they'll settle it today. Settle it now, right now, for time and eternity to know Jesus, my Lord.

[35:47] I call you that and I know you that. You are my Lord, my God. And you died for my sin. You took my place. You paid for my punishment.

[35:59] And you've given me your salvation, which is a blessed gift. Lord, each one might trust that. You alone, as the saviour of our soul.

[36:11] Lord, that we'll have that steadfast faith. That we won't shy away. We won't run and hide. But we'll stand firm no matter what.

[36:22] Like the martyrs of old in the Roman days, as they stood firm and confessed to you, Lord, as the lions came in.

[36:33] And as they were torn apart by beasts or persecution, as they were nailed to crosses and set alight for the Roman emperor.

[36:45] Lord, we'll have a steadfast faith that will see us go right to the bitter end, if that be your will. Lord, help us to have such a resolve, such a steadfastness, we pray.

[36:56] In Jesus' name we ask. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.