Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

No Second Chance Pt.3

We'll pick up where we left on Sunday. Everybody hoping that winter will soon get over here? I thought it was just about ready to leave us, and here we are again. I don't think being out in California in 90-degree weather two weeks ago helped at all, but anybody ready for spring? We were enjoying that nice day yesterday and Forbe said that it was, I think, 11 below up where they were, so we need to be thankful, Amen? As we've been looking at the topic of the return of the Lord, and, of course, what we've been emphasizing is a watchfulness, a sobriety, every one of us being ready. As I look over at the congregation here, and realize the awesome responsibility we have, each one of us as heads of homes, myself as an overseer of this flock, every person in here, I'm going to answer to God for whether or not we've done everything possible to make you ready. And it's been our life's work to try and see a people ready and hearts prepared, a remnant that could be presented by the Lord to Himself, a holy church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. And that's our desire, it's what we long for and it needs to be something that each one of us takes to our heart. Those of us that are overseeing households and others that we're going to answer for. One of these days that we're going to stand before and give an answer for everything that we've labored in, in our preparation for His coming.

1 John, chapter 3, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, [NOW are we the sons of God] and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." We see the admonition then, of the personal responsibility of each one of us to purify our own lives and being watchful and preparing for that day. Because as we saw over in Matthew, no man knows the day or the hour, watch for you know not what hour the son of man comes. Let's turn back real quickly to Matthew 24 and take just a couple of minutes here and review. And that 24th chapter of Matthew of course, as we're looking at these passages, verse 36, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man..." You'll have a lot of people--in fact I remember back--some of you might remember this being believers. How many of you remember back in 1988, the man that wrote the book, "Eighty-eight reasons why Jesus is coming back this year?" How many of you think he missed it? How many of you hope he missed it? Nobody knows the day or the hour. There's always somebody that comes along and thinks that they've figured this thing out, and nobody knows. "...No, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Only in the heart of Father is it established. There is a time, and it is in the foreknowledge of God. And without getting into the brain-twisting understanding of foreknowledge and predestination and all of the aspects of eternal perspective, we know that there is a principle that we live by and that's the principle of imminence. When we talk, as believers, of the coming of the Lord, we talk about the imminent return of the Lord. Now you've got to understand, this was a doctrine that was established 2,000 years ago. And when you read in Thessalonians, you'll see Paul strongly teaching the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. How many of you remember when he was talking about--talking to them about not being overly distraught concerning the persecution that they were in. And they begin to tell them, "don't worry about it, you're not in the tribulation." And he starts, then, unfolding the sequence of events of the catching away of the church. "And this must be done before the man of sin is restrained and revealed" {2 Thessalonians 2:3}. And then in the process of the catching away of the church, he talks about the day of the Lord, then, being at hand.

We're going to talk about that sequence a little bit, this evening. The catching away, we're going to talk a little bit about what happens after the catching away, and then the day of the Lord. Now the day of the Lord starts simultaneously with the catching away of the church. So, when you start reading about the day of the Lord, remember we're talking at that time, that phrase is talking about a time of judgment. The day of the Lord is the day of judgment and it begins with the taking out of the church. And as the Scripture shares, and we'll look at it very clearly in just a moment, we the church are not appointed unto the hour of wrath, but we're to pray that we might escape that time, the Scripture says, so we need to be prayerful. It's not something that's just going to happen. Paul, when he's speaking in the epistle to the Thessalonians, though, he makes a very interesting case for imminence, when he keeps talking about "you," "we." He's not talking about, "they." Paul doesn't say, "Look, don't worry you all that you're in the tribulation, the temple must be built first. Don't worry that you're in the tribulation. Don't you understand that technology must increase?" Paul spoke to the Thessalonians including himself in the statements of personal, immediate preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's imminence. It could have happened back then, or his statements would not have been accurate. Now, how could it have happened 2,000 years ago? I don't know how God could have done it 2,000 years ago. I have little better understanding today and it could still be another 2,000 years. Things look today like it's right, but it could be another 2,000 years. But that has nothing to do with our personal preparation and the doctrine of imminence, or the immediate return of the Lord Jesus, His return being at hand. Nobody knows the day or the hour, but the Father only.

"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" {Matthew 24:37}. And then it talked about the fact that, "For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark." Nothing changed. There weren't any great signs; life went on. The Bible tells us that the world's system will be crying at this time, "Peace and safety." Now either they'll be saying, "We're in peace and safety," or they'll be saying, "We need peace and safety." But basically what they're going to be saying is, 'Things are all right. Things are under control." And at that moment, as travail upon a woman, the day of the Lord will come upon those, the church being removed, the wrath of God being met forth upon the nations. "But as the days of Noe were..." The preacher preached and talked about preparation and the ark and the escape and the single door that had to be entered through for their safety, as Jesus is the door, the way, the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father but by Him. So there was one narrow door that brought life to them and they mocked and they laughed and they partied. "And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away" {verse 39}. And the same thing's going to happen to this society and they're not going to know it until the day of wrath is upon them. Regardless of what signs or messages we're preaching. "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the Goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched...Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" {verses 40-41}.

Now I hope since Sunday that you've been surveying your heart and the course that you're on. I trust that you realize that you can be a part of a congregation like this and have somebody seated right next to you, "Two...grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." What a horrible thing to have the rapture take place while worship's going on and you're left behind. And we saw in Thessalonians that there is no second chance for those of us who have this knowledge and will then have been judged treading the blood of Jesus beneath our feet. There's no salvation, there's no way to restore those who've known and rejected. This is what the message is all about and we're talking about the personal preparation. We talked about the fact that at this particular time of personal preparation, the sobriety and the watchfulness that we're to pray that we enter not into temptation, the Lord told us. The Scripture's clear as it talks about praying that we would be kept from this hour of wrath that's to come upon the whole earth. Are you praying for God to make you ready? Are you seriously understanding that each one of us is personally responsible now, as we've read, for our own preparation? "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" {1 John 3:3}. Philippians 3:20, the having of our conversation in the heavens. That's our responsibility as we're waiting patiently for the redemption of our bodies.

That's enough of the review. We left off Sunday night; we were talking about the actual rapture of the church. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. One of these days, imminently, that voice is going to cry, "Come up hither!" And everyone who's looking for Him and everyone who's loving His appearing with hear that voice. The dead will rise and those of us that remain will be changed, the Scripture says, in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. It's an exciting time, it's a time of anticipation, it's a time of preparation. But then what happens here. We see the rapture taking place, we see the dead rising. The Scripture makes it very clear that we'll be caught up into the clouds. Look over at I Thessalonians 4, verse 17, "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." Exciting scenario, and we're talking about this particular flight that's going to take place. It'll be better than American Airlines who's taken a few seats out to make things more comfortable. Everyone will be flying first class. Don't you like flying first class? How many of you have ever flown first class? Let me see your hands. How many of you paid for it yourselves? Nobody. That's why things cost so much today in the business world. Nothing wrong with it. It's fun flying first class, isn't it? We get to fly up there and all of the poor folk are in the back and we're riding up front, and they're all back there trying to rip their peanuts open and you're having special hot fudge sundaes made for you and filet mignon and the cloth tablecloth. It's so nice and the seats recline and the footstool comes up. Some of you are saying, "They've got that on airplanes?" It's a nice way to go. But we're going to be flying first class, Praise God! In the presence of the King of Kings.

I don't think that the transporting is going to happen instantly, though, because I believe that it'll happen very much like Jesus' catching away. As you read in the first chapter of Acts, as the Lord was caught up, it says, "...shall so [He] come in like manner...." And it says, they beheld him as He ascended. What a miracle! What would that do just to encourage your heart? You're standing there and the Lord that you saw, and I'm thinking of Peter, James and John at this particular time, you saw Him transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration and then you doubted and you fell and you stumbled and all of the sudden, you see Him raised from the dead. Thomas, who was told to put his fingers in the prints of His hands and they saw Him and they beheld Him and they handled Him and touched Him and now He ascends right before their very eyes, having said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will [doubtless] come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" {John 14:2-3}. "I'm coming back for you." And they see Him go.

What an exciting time! The anticipation, then, that He's going to come momentarily. How many of you think they finished their days looking up? I think they finished their walk looking up, Praise God! But they weren't the ones that got to ride it out, we are, I believe. Changed and caught up and as we ascend up into the heavens, I don't think it's going to be just a vanishing. I think it's going to be perceivable. The glory of God is going to manifest and the strong delusion of Satan is going to come and rob the hearts of men and blind their eyes. But the Scripture says that at that particular time we will be gathered together unto Him, (2 Thessalonians 2:1). You see, it's not just a departing from the earth; it's a gathering to Him. We're not just leaving all the sorrows and woes, we're being caught up into His presence and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This isn't about just getting us out of this old vile body and out of this sinful planet. It's about coming into His presence, Amen? It's a desire and an anticipation to be with Him. Aren't you home sick? Don't you want to be in His presence? 1 Thessalonians 4:17, "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." John 17, the Lord's speaking. He says, "[I want them to] be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory..." You see it's about Jesus being glorified, us coming to be able to see Him in His full majesty. He, who paid the price, He, who became sin, He, who condescended and was made a man, and now He's restored to His full majesty and the glory of God without any restraint manifesting itself. And those of us that He purchased with His blood, those that He's presenting to Himself a bride, a spotless church, able to now fellowship with Him and to know as we're known, Praise God! And to be able to commune and see His glory and praise Him in a way that is beyond our understanding at this moment. And then He's going to be all in all. What a great time that's going to be!

As we look at this and we understand the working of these aspects of being caught up. It's not just to get us out; it's to get us into His presence. Now, we're there for a reason. Not only to be able to bring glory to Him and to praise Him, but there's some other things that are taking place. There's going to be that union that's going to take place, and the Scripture tells us over in Revelation 19, that this is the marriage supper of the Lamb. Ephesians tells us that He's going to present us to Himself, a spotless church, the very bride of Christ. Revelation 19, verses 7 and 8 says, "...for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready." Have you? How many of you have been beautifying yourself? Or how many of us have been married so long now that we're just kind of taking this thing for granted and when the Lord comes, we're going to be in our old tattered robe and worn out slippers and curlers in our hair? Is Jesus going to come and see us looking like The Wreck Of The Hesperus? Ask somebody old what that means. And when we're preparing our hearts and desiring to come into His presence, there's a constant preparation. "And to her [the Scripture says] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and while: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." How many of you want to lay this old nasty body down and all of this sin nature down and all the power of sin that's in your members down and finally be free to worship and to know Him. Does it consume you? Does it burn in your heart when you hear me speaking these words, does something happen down inside of you and say, "That's my treasure, that's my goal, that's what I live for, that's the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"? And we fail, and we have different degrees of intensity in our pursuit and we're up and we're down in this particular journey, every one of us, but there won't be any more of that. Now, when you begin to have that become reality, then all of these other things of the world that are trying to woo you and they call to you and the sins and the weights that do so easily beset us, begin to drop off as the things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. That's what the doctrine of the blessed hope does for us. That's how it creates us; it holds the eternal up against the temporal. It's saying, "It could only be one more moment that you endure, only one more moment that you press on, only one more moment that you deny this flesh, only one more moment that you endure the ridicule and the persecution." And then you partake of that, that eye hasn't seen nor ear heard. That that's exceeding abundant above anything that you could have asked or even thought.

I want to tell you something; heaven is a lot better than you think it is! Heaven is better than anything you can imagine. As far as you have been able to stretch your mind out, it goes way beyond that. Oh, people talk about so many ridiculous things, "Oh boy, heaven is going to be making a hole in one." Golf would be boring up there, go out and play 18 holes, get 18 hole in ones and go home? I mean, what's that all about? We all like to excel in different things, but you see we're putting it to our temporal limitations here and thinking, "Somehow if I could just somehow reach some form of perfection." We don't understand that perfection in the spiritual goes so far beyond what we perceive it to be. Somehow you could probably play 18 holes and get zero. I'm one of those people. I like to keep striving and trying to be the best you can be. I grew up in my family everything was competition. If two people got up at the same time to go into the kitchen, it was like a race. Not just because you may not get anything to eat, but just we couldn't do anything else. I can still remember my uncle Jack and my brother and I and my cousin, Tim, everything from holding your breath contests to how long could you hold the weight out. My uncle came home one time with this, one of those boxes from China. I don't remember what you call it, but you can't see any seams in them and then you got to figure, it's like a puzzle, and you got to figure out how to open the thing and there's like 42 moves to get it open. How many have you ever seen one of those things? They're really kind of slick and you have to kind of start moving things and everything's interlocked and you've got to move this and that and that and this and that and that and that and this and then finally it gets open. He brought it back and said, "look at this thing." So, we're sitting there and he said, "try and open it." So, I got an ax and he said, "No!" That was always my approach, that's why I was left out of a lot of things. But anyway, we'd finally figure it out and you finally figure out how to open this thing. Well, it wasn't enough to figure out how to open it. Now we start racing. You wouldn't believe how fast you can open one of those boxes. And closing it! I'm telling you, this is no exaggeration. We got to where, this thing had like six little things that came out the sides that you had to keep moving and things you had to keep shifting. We could close that box, by the time we got done, we could close that box in one move. When we first started it'd take like a minute to figure to move this... Everything was that way. Now you can see why I'm so weird. I wonder why we're not training for the coming for the Lord that way. Now, it's not a competition. If we're not careful and I know the way I am, it'd kind of be like, "I would really like to leave an inch before anybody else on the planet." When we get ready to go, I'd just kind of like to jump. What are you doing to get ready? How important is it to you to win this crown, to finish this race that you and I are involved in? If you don't hear that trumpet, you lose.

We're talking about the marriage of the Lamb and the bride making herself ready and the preparation for that fine, clean raiment of His righteousness that we're going to partake of. The righteousness you know right now is only a taste. It's the imputed righteousness. It gives us legal benefits. It trickles into a practical sanctification that causes us to walk in different degrees of victory. Oh, but beloved, that righteousness is going to be fully partaken of at that time! I wish we'd all been ready! As the Scriptures go on, we see the Ephesians passage, in Ephesians 5 that corresponds with Revelation 19. Verses 25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it...That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." You see, a lot of people think the rapture of the church is going to be just an instantaneous cleaning of a bunch of scuzzballs. Now, our righteousness is as filthy rags and that's talking about self-righteousness, there's the imputed righteousness that isn't the finished glorification process, and our righteousness that we're experiencing right now is going to appear as filthy rags compared to the glory that's waiting for us. The only problem is, a lot of people seem to think that the rapture is going to be the instant solution of that, "So I'm going to live and be cruddy and defiled and whatever and God will take care of it all with that process." And we understand that to be candidates for the glorification, the glory of God, the bride of Christ, there has to be a pursuit and an individual preparation. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" {1 John 3:3}. Part of what qualifies us for this rapture is faith and love in the finished work of Jesus Christ and that finished work is also the sanctification process that's going on. Not what we're doing. Not works, but allowing of His lordship to work in us.

Now, as we see in the sequence of events, those of us that are the true bride of Christ that are pursuing and preparing, will find the finished glorification process taking place in our lives, and we'll be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump and the bride, having made herself ready, will be caught up into the presence of the Lord and so shall we ever be with the Lord, this precious bride without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But then what happens? Is it all over? "Praise God! Made it! Hallelujah!" Yeah, we made it, and that's an exciting time and there should be great rejoicing, but there's some other events that are taking place here. Now, remember He brought saints with him, the dead in Christ, and He's going to bring them with Him. The dead bodies rise and there's a uniting there, and we're changed and we're caught up to be with the Lord, and the day of the Lord is at hand and judgment begins to be met forth upon the earth, but there's also judgment going on in the heavens. And this is an exciting time for us. Turn to 2 Corinthians for just a second and let's see what we have to look forward to at the rapture of the church. The rapture's going to take place, we escape the wrath of the Lamb, the hour of God's wrath, the great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, Daniel's 70th week. All of that expressed judgment upon the nations of the earth, the reaffirmation of the covenant with Abraham. And in the heavens, the Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 verse 10, it says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." There's this great time that we come and now the judgment begins to take place and at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the bride is there and our deeds are going begin to be examined. Now, thank God we were ready and we've been caught up into His presence, but it's interesting as you study out the Scriptures, we realize then, that there's going to be the meeting out of responsibility to the faithful. Do you remember we read that at the last portion of Matthew 24? And to those that were faithful over little, he's going to be made what? A ruler over much, the Scripture says. You see, we're going to come back and rule and reign with Him. Now, all of us have different approach to things. There are some people in here saying, "Hey man, getting heaven's enough. Ooh Glory! I think the odds are two to one, but that's enough for me." Well, as you're resting in the Lord in His finished work, you're going to make it, Praise God! But why just make it? When He's given us the capacity now to walk in the spirit and to build up ourselves in the most holy faith and to be faithful over these little things. The faithfulness to the eternal doesn't always bring temporal rewards. See, this is a misunderstanding. We seem to think that gain is godliness. There's a lot of folks that don't have two nickels to rub together that are having to trust God like the children of Israel, to cause their shoes to last for 40 years and I want you to know that some of those faithful people are the ones that are going to rule in this kingdom that's coming. It doesn't have anything to do with the fame, notoriety, position or possessions that you have in this life. It has to do with your faithfulness to His call and gifts. And for those that don't have a lot in this life, beloved, these Scriptures that we're reading mean a lot! There's rewards waiting, there's position waiting, there's possessions waiting for me. Now you're not working for that, but it's part of the hope, it's part of what God has promised us, and the Scripture says we're all going to appear before the judgment seat and receive the things done in our bodies, good or bad.

Romans 14 says it this way, turn over there and take a look at Romans 14, verses 10-12. "...We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ...So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Here's that Bema that we come and we experience the righteousness of God and the justice of God as it's being met forth. It says we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You see, there are two judgments that are going to take place, there's the judgment of the affirmation of His righteousness in His church and there's going to be the judgment of justice and wrath upon the nations. As He's looking at our hearts, Revelation 22, verse 12, tells us in our preparation for His imminent return and our looking and loving our appearing, He says, "And behold, I come quickly." And then I like the next phrase. "And my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." He's got a reward for us. We're going to meet with Him and there's a reward that's there. We know that there's going to be that secret name, that affection that's given to us. That white stone that has a name that no one else knows. You get that white, ivory stone, it kind of reminds me of one of those mahjong pieces, and you look at your name, "Hallelujah! Bubba." Robby said he was driving through town in Richmond and he saw a bumper sticker. "Bubba, Liz and Sons" But it was some business. Who remembers that from yesterday? Any of you guys that were in the meeting yesterday? "Bubba, Liz and Sons. "If your name is Bubba, don't put it on your license plate or on your--of course I guess everybody would know it anyway, the bright, red glow coming out of the windows, there. He's coming with a reward and He's coming to meet to every one of us based upon our works whether they be good or whether they be evil. Now we know the wood, hay and stubble process, but thank God our lives are saved.

1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 13 speaks toward this. And it says, "Every man's work shall be made manifest...and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." You know when you look at that third chapter of 1 Corinthians, let's take just a second and look at it in light of this chronology of events. We're going to look right now at what's going on in the heavens in the marriage supper. You'll find out Sunday that there's some other stuff that's going on that's not very pleasant here on the earth at this time. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, as you begin to see the admonition of the Lord and He's talking about the necessity of the foundation of verse 11, "other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Now as you read through this, we realize that he's speaking of building the house of God and the fellowship and we also can look at the edifying of our own house, our own lives. Whatever's built that's gold, silver and precious stones will remain. But he said, there's going to be "wood, hay, stubble," verse 12. How are you going to know? Well, every man's work is going to be made manifest. It's going to be made manifest by the glory of God, the holiness of God. Nothing that didn't originate in Him will remain in His presence.

You see a lot of the "good" things that people did is going to burn up. Now you may not have burned that pie when you took it over to someone to minister to them, but it'll burn. If it didn't originate in Him, it'll burn. "Without me you can do nothing," He said. We're not just talking about evil things, lascivious behavior. We're talking about everything that was done in our own strength, in our own wisdom, in our own understanding, for our own glory, for the glory of men, whatever it is, whatever was not the motive of the heart of God is going to burn. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. The first word of verse 14 isn't real encouraging. "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." We see the process of judging. Judging the ministry gifts, judging how the church is being built, judging our own personal fruit and what we're bringing about in our daily lives, but there's going to be a judgment this time of the Bema of God and every man's work will be tried. And that's why 1 Corinthians 4:5 says we can't judge anything before it's time, "until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts." Be careful whom you're judging and motives and, "I think they're up to this," and, "I don't know why they did that." Just let God bring about the judgment in these areas. We know there's the balance of what we're having to do to bring reproof and rebuke and instruction in righteousness, but beloved there's a lot of things that are going on that we shouldn't even judge of our own hearts and leave it to God. God knows. And let's just do what we know to do. Some people say, "Well if I can't do it with the right motive, then I might as well not do it." DO IT if it's good and if it's right. At least your brother's blessed even though your works will burn.

We realize then, that this is going to be an interesting time of celebration and rejoicing. Now, you've got to put yourself in the right environment here. Some of us are thinking, "Oh Lord! This stuff's going to burn up and I'm going to feel like a real jerk!" None of that's going to be going on. This is the justice of God. This is the righteousness of God. This is the glory of God that's burning this stuff up. You're going to be celebrating that everything that's impure is removed! And that God and the anointed Lamb, the Christ is all in all! And whatever remains and whatever crowns we have, the Scripture says, we'll cast them at his feet and we'll cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy!" It's not a competition. There's no boasting. There will be absolutely the greatest celebration. I don't even know if there'll be an awareness, but even if there is the awareness, there will surely be no jealousy, no judgment, no inferiority. It'll be the time of celebrating the justice and the perfect will of God as each member's placed as it pleases Him. We celebrate the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 8 tells us that "whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord." Some of us have some stuff waiting up there. Whatever you've done good, whatever you've been able to obey God for. You're going to receive it from the Lord. He's going to measure it back to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, men have given unto our bosoms. And then it's going to come back again in the spirit realm. Whatever we've done that's good in the Name of the Lord, it's going to come back. We're going to receive it of the Lord. What a great time! What a time of communion this is going to be with His Spirit. This Colossians 3 calls, "The reward of the inheritance" {Verse 24}. You see, as we're His inheritance and as we are joint heirs with Him, we begin to have imparted to us now the omnipotence of God as it flows and affects His eternal purposes. And we'll be in perfect harmony with Him. There'll be no sin and no jealousy and no doubts and no questioning and no pride. And that's why we'll be able to sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!" I wish we'd all been ready!

Father, we thank You for the Word of God tonight. As we rest in Your presence as a people, understanding the days that are upon us and the hour that's at hand, we understand that at any moment the trumpet of God can sound and the dead rise and we'll be changed. Father, every one of us in here needs to be changed tonight. The most successful among us is so far short. There is no place for rest, for the bride is making herself ready. We're watching because we don't know what hour You're coming. Matthew 25 tells us that the slumber cannot occur until the oil has been provided in abundance. The lamp burns but it will burn out? Is the cruse filled? Do we have more than enough? When the bridegroom cries can we rise and will there be sufficient oil? We know where to go to get it. We know how to pray, we know how to repent, we know how to study, we know, but are we ready? Is there sufficient today? Because there's not going to be time to run back and prepare. The door will be closed and He'll say, "I never knew you." "We did miracles in the streets!" "I pastored Calvary Temple for 30 years!" Came up short. You don't know what hour He's coming. If we knew, would we do something about it? If we knew that in the next six hours... Whatever you do in His Name that's for His glory, you'll receive it again. Were you too busy to do that one thing today? Were you too busy to share the gospel? Were you too frustrated today to represent Him? Were you too busy to think about Him? Were you too caught up in the pursuit of that that's going to burn? I wish we'd all been ready! Too busy to get your kids ready? Working hard to buy them a new pair of tennis shoes and to make sure they get a good college education and that you can leave them a great inheritance? The righteous man, the wise man, leaves it for his children and his children's children. I think we're better off to leave a heritage than an inheritance. Running to and fro in the last days, knowledge increasing, the sign of the fig tree, the technology in place. The Tower of Babel having been overcome and the confounding of God, of humanity now placed as ineffectual in restraining man in his worship of himself. And you think we're not in that hour? Look up, your redemption's drawing nigh.

Let's stand and worship Him tonight. Hallelujah! Just worship Him. Just take some time and rejoice in the hour that we're in and the fact that the Lord is at hand, Praise God! Just think about it. We're the generation that will likely see the coming of the King. The trumpet will sound; we'll be changed, even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Hallelujah! Lord, come and receive us unto yourself that where you are, there we may be also! Lord, show us the way. "Have I been so long with you and you don't know the way? I am the way, the truth and the life." Ah Father, prepare our hearts to hear that trumpet. Help us to be deaf to everything around us, but keen to the voice of God. That still, small voice that says, "This is the way, walk in it," is the same voice that will shout one day and say, "Come up hither!" If you can hear that still, small one, you'll hear the trumpet blast. There's no way you'll miss the trumpet blast, if you're walking daily by the Spirit's guidance. You see, we're children of light. This day's not come upon us unawares. But those that are drunken are drunken in the night. They're drunken in the darkness. Are you running to darkness? Are you trying to hide your sin? Are you trying to hide your apathy? That day will come on you like a thief in the night. But are you coming to the light? Are you humbling yourself? Are you falling on the rock? Are you acknowledging and pursuing and crying out to God rather than trying to justify? You'll hear that trumpet and then you'll be changed, see Him and be like Him. I want to be like You, Jesus. I want to be like you, Lord. I'm not satisfied with what I am and I don't like anything I see around me, but I want to be like You. Hallelujah!

Father, we come tonight, we just ask you to purify us. Lord, give us grace and strength to make our self ready as the bride of Christ. We confess You as the lover of our souls and we say that we love You and too often we live for others, for ourselves. We know the washing is by the water of the word alone. We can have great intentions, but we've got to spend time in Your word to be clean, to be refreshed. Strengthen us with Your word and cause us to hope in it and to boast in the great promises. And for that, Father, the work that's working effectually in each one of us, we just say, Thank You. Now, cause us to lift our eyes up as though we'd just seen you ascend and said, "I'll return for you," and they thought it would be any day. Help us to look up, for surely our redemption is drawing nigh. Ever ready, ever watching, hoping and loving that appearing. Make it real, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen! Amen. Hallelujah! Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Look up." Praise God! Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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