Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Look Up Pt.1

Hallelujah! Amen! Well, exciting things are going on in Africa. We had our first church service in Eldoret this morning, praise God! For our first service, we had 100 people in attendance. Can you say, "Praise God!" for that? Calvary Temple is now alive in Eldoret, praise God! Some brothers and sisters there, it's an exciting thing taking place. I think they said we had 90 adults and 17 children. A number from different areas around, a number that were not able to be there working to get out, so some exciting things that are taking place! Continue to hold the ministry up in prayer. The team is leaving tomorrow morning for Kakamega and another part of the ministry, but really exciting things. Tony is also in need of prayer continually; he's been fighting the malaria It comes in three stages of intensity. The first bout that he had when he was so sick a year or so ago was actually a stage 1 type that they rated on a scale at .5, and this time around he was kind of in the upper middle region. They said it was actually on the scale at three, so he was very, very, sick. [He's] feeling better. They said this morning he did... (Jeff was scheduled in case Tony couldn't make it to preach.) Tony did show up. Jeff said the meetings were tremendous; [Tony] preached for about two hours. I said it was good he wasn't feeling well. [These are] some exciting things that are going on, so just continue to hold everybody up in prayer.

They've run into a snag with our books over there and this is a very key part of what we're going to be doing in Tanzania. Ron said it's really something that's going to require a miracle for these things to be done. One part of the miracle has already taken place. It looks like the translation from Swahili that's the Kenyan version versus the Tanzanian would be almost like the distinction between Greek and English. The Swahili in Tanzania is so much more descriptive. When they got the manuscripts, they said they were good for Kenyans, excellent for Kenyans, but that there was so much more that could be said and so much more detail expressed if it was retranslated. They started retranslating everything again. They couldn't do it from the Kenyan; they had to do it from the English, so they went back to the English. I was pleased to hear of the diligence, though, of these men that are involved in this thing. As they took the English version and needed some Swahili to help them also in the translation, they were wise enough that they went to the manuscripts that Charles had done. They said that he knows the spirit of the man more than anybody else and he's of that spirit, so they took all the manuscripts that Charles had done. (He's very good in English; he corrected some of ours. Now, don't you laugh at me, I'm talking about our people here who had already edited it. He couldn't have done anything with mine.) He has done a great job. He's outstanding in English. These are very learned people; they're doing a great job but it just ran into that snag. The only way that it could even stand a chance was for about four or five men to get off their work. They didn't have vacations, etc., and I talked to Ron late last night and he said that miraculously these men had all been given leave. They're working full time on translating these manuscripts and they're doing it just to serve in the kingdom because they believe the Word of God needs to come to their nation, praise God. So be prayerful and lift up the hands of all of these [men]. It's an exciting thing. This could be of benefit to the kingdom of God. As we've shared, there will be well over 9,000 pastors that are going to be there. That's a lot of people represented. My understanding is that this probably represents in the flocks of the people--you have smaller and larger congregations--and these people are overseeing in the area of well over a million people. That's a lot of lives that can be affected and we just want to be prayerful and believe that God will enable us to bring a Word to them in season, praise God. Things are great! Some of you heard from your kids and that's exciting. We're excited about what's going on. There's only one downside and that's that we'll probably be leaving Jeff over there full time, he's doing such a great job. Other than that (that was for Carolyn's sake), they're all doing great, praise God!!

Let's turn, if you would, this morning to Acts, chapter 1, verse 11. We're living in an exciting time and everything that we're doing is preparatory for the coming of the Lord. Whether it is a visible, physical return that is experienced, or we go the way of the grave, we are going to stand before Him one day very soon. Each of us is going to give an account of our lives for every word spoken, every deed done. This is the hour, I believe, like no other time in history, that there needs to be a sobriety in the preparation of our lives and those that we encounter with this message of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. He is coming, praise God, coming soon. The scoffers say, "Where is the appearance of His coming?" But, beloved, it's one day sooner than when we first believed, amen? In Acts 1:11, we see this great promise that was made in this first century to the brothers and sisters. Acts, chapter 1, verse 11, when the angels said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." This same Jesus is going to return in like manner.

We can read a lot into that over the years. We've all seen the movies on the rapture of the church and we don't know for sure what's going to happen, how it's going to happen. We see the spectacular of the catching away and airplane pilots being snatched out of the cockpits and planes crashing and cars having collisions all over as believers are taken out. We don't know exactly how this is going to occur. It's very likely that it could take place that way. What we do know is this: that when Jesus was transported from their presence, it was visible; they saw Him. If our encounter is going to be that way, it's going to be a visible thing. This is going to be a phenomenon that's going to have to be explained away and we don't know exactly how it's going to be done. It could be through the sci-fi craze that grips so many minds of people in our society today--that maybe there was an alien invasion or whatever. "Beam me up, Scotty!" Who knows what the explanation is going to be, but the Scripture says that when Jesus left, they beheld Him; they watched Him as He was taken up. He didn't just disappear. I don't believe that we're going to just disappear. I believe that we're going to, in like manner, experience that instantaneous transformation when corruption takes on incorruption, mortality immortality; changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. At that moment, as we begin to ascend, can you imagine those that are left behind?

The song from the Jesus movement, I Wish We'd All Been Ready. I wonder if anybody in here this morning is going to miss the sound of that trumpet? What do you think would be the feeling in the heart of a person who "knew" and then knew they were left? "We've been left behind," the psalmist said. "Oh, I wish we'd all been ready." "Life was filled with guns and war / and everyone got trampled on the floor / I wish we'd all been ready. / Children died, the days grew cold / A piece of bread would buy a bag of gold / I wish we'd all been ready. / There's no time to change your mind / The Son has come / and you've been left behind." (©1969 by Larry Norman)

He's coming! The Scripture says to us over in Hebrews, in the 9th chapter, verse 28, "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." It's going to be to a people that are looking for Him. What's occupying your thoughts this morning, this past week? What is it that's occupied your thoughts and your energy? Has it been preparation for the coming of the Lord? Is there a looking for Him? The Scripture says that He's going to appear to those that love His appearing. You know that what we love gets our affection, our attention. It's not just a looking, it's a loving. It's a compulsion that nothing else can arrest your heart in that particular area.

Our whole life, our whole ministry, we've emphasized this message of the coming of the Lord Jesus; it's the central theme of all that we've taught. It's the blessed hope that without it, there is no holiness, there is no motivation for evangelism. In talking about it so much through the years--and I've shared before, I remember as our children, Star and Kim, would be in the back and we'd be driving down the road and they'd be talking about looking in the clouds, "I wonder if that's the cloud that Jesus is coming in?" Do you hear that from the mouths of your children? Do they hear you talking about the coming of the Lord, the preparation that's necessary? How normal is this discussion? How real is it that it becomes part of your daily conversation that Jesus is coming back in like manner as He was seen departing? The Scripture says that every man that has that hope (in 1 John 3) purifies himself even as He is pure. Do you really believe in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus? The Scripture makes it very clear to us that it's imminent; no man knows the day or the hour.

Look over at Luke's gospel for just a moment. In Luke, chapter 12, verse 40, "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not." The Son of man comes in an hour when you think not. What this is talking about is the fact that we're children of light; that that day is not to take us unawares. That day is not going to come upon the church that's looking for His appearing, that's loving His appearing. As the prophet speaks of our walk in the light, what it's saying is, if we'll continue in the light, if we're pursuing the heart of God and conforming ourselves to His image on a consistent basis, it doesn't matter when that day is, you're ready, amen!?! It's not a thing of, "Oh, I have to be ready for the return of the Lord today." It's, "I'm in fellowship with Him today, and I'm walking in light today. I'm loving the truth; I'm purifying myself with the washing of the water of the Word. It's my natural tendency to be a servant in the community. It's my desire to share so freely what I've freely received and how God's loved me and given Himself for me." The Son of man is coming in an hour when you think not. In other words, it's going to come unawares if you're occupied by other things, by the cares of the world, by the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things. As the Master speaks, we realize that it's something that does require preparation, an expectation. Not just back in our bag of doctrine, but do we conduct our lives; do we make our decisions in light of the eternal, the imminent return of Jesus?

The classic passage that we're all familiar with is over in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. Turn over there for just a moment. I like the strength of Paul's statement here. Of course, it's inspired by the Holy Spirit, but it carries such weight in that fifth chapter, verse 2. He says, "For yourselves know perfectly...." That's a powerful statement. Now remember who he's speaking to here. The church in Thessalonica was a very young church, they were experiencing persecution. In the midst of all of this persecution, the central theme that the Holy Spirit was bringing them was, "Endure this." As Paul said in his pastoral epistles, "Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3). Stand up under the affliction and under the trials, the adversities that are upon you, because the day of the Lord is at hand. What you're experiencing right now is temporal; what it's working in you is eternal, the things you can't see. All of these circumstances are going to pass away, but the gold that's being refined in you in character, in anticipation, is the real reward, it's the real treasure of life. "For [you] yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."

How many of you remember that old movie years ago, that movie on evangelism, A Thief in the Night. How many of you have ever seen it, any of you? It's a pretty good one. For the day that it was made, the hour, and what was available to them, they did a real good job with it. "...for in such an hour when ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44). He so comes as a thief in the night, when it's least expected. In that time when there's slumber and we find ourselves dulled, the Son of man comes. The Scripture says, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into [that] temptation." The temptation of the world to be seduced into that slumber. Jesus said in Revelation 16:15, "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments."

We're living in a world where we're being defiled. There's the vexation of all of the, not only doctrinal, apostasy of our day.... If you'll listen to all of the popular teachers, whether it's your T. D. Jakes, or whoever it might be today, the emphasis is on the temporal, the natural; taking care of your physical body. I think the last I saw on that T. D. Jakes, I saw a book of his when I'd walked into the Christian bookstore, it looked like he had lost maybe 120 pounds or 150 pounds or whatever and he had this new book out--it was a recipe book! He and George Forman. That should tell you something. I'm trying to remember what the name of that title was; it was weird. Lay Aside The Weight. Now, that's not the proper use of Scripture, but that was the title of his book on this recipe. The dude was as big as a barn before he had lost the weight, and so it's good that he lost the weight, but that's not what it's all about. God can transform a fat guy as well as a skinny guy, so it's not, we're going to lay these bodies down! I don't want to get off into all of the other character issues of temperance and everything. Those are other issues, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about taking heed to this life that we're in and how much of the message today is on the temporal: eat properly and get the nutrition. Yes, we should do that--that's good stuff--but are you putting as much time into the spirit man? Do you spend as much time, are you as concerned in making the choice of what is the right devotional book to read, what you're going to study, what book you're going to study now out of the Scriptures, as you are in picking out a piece of clothing, a garment? "Oh, I don't know if this looks right. Do you think this goes with that? How does this look? Do I look fat in this?"

(Don't you like that commercial with the Hogs? Have you seen that one? It's a credit card commercial and one of the Redskin Hogette guys--you know, those guys that put the noses on--and he runs into a store, this big guy, and he buys this dress. They're kind of looking weird at him, and he comes running out of the store with that nose and that dress on, jumps in the car and they go to the game. He looks at one of his buddies and he's got this new dress on and he says, "Do I look fat in this?" The guy goes, "Yes!!" "Do I look fat in this? Does this make my ... look big?" No, it is big. It doesn't make it look big, it is big! Now, we've got that taken care of. You're going to try to find all these ways to camouflage and you're worried about that.) What about your spirit man? Are you as concerned as to how you appear in the eyes of the Savior before the Throne of Grace? Listen to what He said. He said, "[I'm coming.] ...I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked...." All of our earthly garments, and we want to check them out and make sure that it's the right material, that it feels right. "Ooooh, that feels nice, silk. Tommy Bahama. How's it look? Stylish?" (You ought to have seen me, I was styling yesterday, man. We were out there. I had me some sunglasses on. I borrowed Kevin O'Conner's sunglasses, man! Now, if you've got Kevin O'Connor's sunglasses, you're cool, man! I had those shades on; I had my hat turned around, cocked back on the side. I couldn't find any pants big enough to look that baggy on me. I was looking for some of those so I could say, "Duuuude!" You know, it takes a long time to try to get sloppy!)

As you're looking at your garments, "How do I appear, what do I look like, am I in style? Am I styling?" Are you "styling" in the kingdom? What are you doing, or are you naked? The real thing is this: you're naked. Regardless of what you have on, the image that you're portraying, how much wealth you have, the position of power, the people that you've surrounded yourself with, if you are not adorned in the robe of righteousness, you're naked. That's all there is to it. There's nothing that a man can add to redemption that gives any credibility in the kingdom of God. Therefore, the least among us, the one who is least taken up with all of those temporal things, the temporal image, whatever it is, is the greatest among us. The one who emphasizes eternal service rather than temporal goals is the greatest among us, the genuine humility, the genuine servant's heart.

The Master said here in this 16th chapter of Revelation, "[I'm coming quickly;] ...I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth...." "Could you not tarry one hour?" This life is a vapor. It's going to be gone like that! (finger snap) Could you not watch one moment, one short lifetime, for eternal benefits? Oh, how bound we are to this temporal world, to the momentary experience! We have no concept of the eternal. It would be insanity, if we really understood eternity versus time and space. In the realm of time and space, beloved, it's only a moment, it's just a momentary departure from this desire and it would bring eternal benefit. It's insanity!! Fallen man is insane; sin makes you insane. You're blind, you're deaf, you're helpless without that indwelling Holy Spirit that's saying, "This is the way, walk in it. Here's the decision, make this in light of the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. You have no guarantee of that next breath, and everything for eternity is riding upon your next decision." If we could live with that kind of expectancy, what kind of lives might we live and how much fruit might be produced? Philippians, chapter 4 says it this way. It's interesting, in the 5th verse of Philippians as we're allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us, "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." We find right here that if we have an expectation of the imminent return of the Lord; if we believe He's coming as a thief in the night; if we're watching so that our garments would be white, washed in His blood. One thing is spoken of here, isn't it? Get it in your notes, "Let your [say it with me] moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand."

Moderation. Another good way to look at this is "balance." Is your life balanced? "Well, yeah. I've got 20 minutes for Jesus, 20 minutes for my friends, and 20 minutes for work, so every hour is balanced out." That's not balanced. The Scripture requires of you and me that we live lives of holiness, that we live lives that are sanctified. What does that mean? The sanctified life, the holy life, means to be totally set apart for God's service; that's balance. What does natural man call that kind of a commitment? Fanaticism. "Those people are fanatics!" No, I wish I was. I'm trying to become one. I'm battling to be able to yield everything up, but I keep taking things back and getting caught up in cares, but my heart is to do the things of the kingdom. My heart is to be 100 percent yielded as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable; holy, set apart, acceptable unto God which is my spiritual service! That's my desire. My desire is to be balanced, 100 percent committed to the kingdom of God. "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand." What it's telling us here is this: we need to let the world know why we're doing what we're doing. "The Lord is at hand." "Why don't you come and run and play with us?" "The Lord is at hand." It's so important for us to see that aspect of it. This passage, as we look at the overall context of what's being said here by Paul, is really an exciting principle that he's putting forth to us. I like what he says to them here, as he's referring to the fruit of his obedience, when he refers to these folks as "...my joy and crown." He saw what true labor was producing as he was pouring his life out for the kingdom; "...my ...longed for, my joy and [my] crown."

This was the man that was taken up with power. Prior to the Damascus road, he was very image conscious and now he addresses himself in these epistles as slave, servant, no longer seeking to be head of his own life, his own kingdom, but to serve the Head. He speaks in the context of this that all of the strife and the bickering and the pettiness would be done away with between Euodias and Syntyche, and the admonition in verse four is, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice." "Let your moderation be known unto all men." You see this rejoicing, the joy of the Lord, the joy of service, the joy of the cross. The cross that we carry is grievous; the joy is in the peaceable fruit that it's working in our lives. We're judging on the eternal, not the temporal. We're looking at what's been laid up for us. There's an expectation; there's an excitement of what God is doing in each of our lives. It's only going to come, beloved, when we have lives of moderation, of balance, of seeking the light. "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and [His blood] cleanseth us from all sin."

There's only one hope on this walk of moderation, of preparation for the Lord's coming, and that's just to seek the light at every moment. Are you putting yourself in the place where you can really come to understand who you are? What are you doing to be around the people that will put light on you? Not tell you what you want to hear, but hold this mirror up to you, shine this light on you so that you can see what manner of man you really are. How much time [is] spent in this Word which is a lamp unto our feet? It's important where your next step is placed, your foot's placed. This ground that we're walking on with a precipice on each side; the danger of this journey that you and I are on. Every step needs to be sure, put upon the foundation of His will, of His righteousness, of His truth, because with every step we take, there's an occasion of stumbling. There can be the decisions made from the fallacy of thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, the vanity of our minds being puffed up thinking we know how to do something. How important it is to have the illumination of where you're going to place your feet. "Is this the will of God; is this the Word of God; is this the Spirit of Jesus in humility?"

Look over at Ephesians as we're talking about this aspect of the light. In Ephesians, the fifth chapter, the admonition is for us to live holy lives, be followers of God, walk in love as Christ has loved us. Don't allow the carnality of the world to be once named among you as saints. Moderation, the Lord is at hand. Don't let it be named once among you! "But fornication, and all uncleanness, [covetousness; don't let it be once named among you]. Neither filthiness, foolish talking, nor jesting [but be a people of thanksgiving. Because you need to understand something:] ...no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater [will inherit] the kingdom of... God. Let no man deceive you...." So many of those teachers in our generation; don't let any man deceive you. Don't let any of the modern day Gnostics tell you that it's not necessary to separate yourself from the world because God loves you and grace is sufficient. "You can love God in your heart even though you serve your flesh externally."

I had a lady tell me yesterday--we were sharing some things and just sharing the Lord about a certain situation and she was saying, "Oh yeah, and God this" and "our church" and these things. Just shared a situation to where it went against your flesh and it was something that, as she compared it with her family, she said, "I'll tell you what. If that was the voice..." This person was excited about how God moves and speaks and all this and then all of a sudden there was something went contrary to what they believe and she said, "I'd just have to talk to God and He'd just have to speak something else, that's all there is to it." I thought, "Well, at least the person was honest." But, you know, that's where the majority of people live. Paul is speaking toward that spirit here. He said, "Don't let any man that's going to live for himself, any man who's not going to live moderately, think that he's going to inherit the kingdom of God. For "...cometh the wrath of God [verse six] upon the children of disobedience." He's talking to professed believers and he's saying if you're going to live lives of disobedience, God's judgment, His wrath, is going to come upon you when you choose nakedness through self-will. Then here's the tragedy, look, verse eight. "You used to be children of darkness, but now are you children of light. Walk, in preparation, walk as children of light." Walk looking up, for your redemption is drawing nigh! Don't walk in the darkness of all of the seduction of this world. The apostate teachers are telling you, "Here's the will of God for you: ease and comfort, prosperity." We're already prosperous! How much more do we need as we judge ourselves by ourselves?

As Kimberly was talking to Jeff this morning, he said it's just phenomenal, their lives are changed. These people that got to go will never be the same. He said one of the things that stood out to him--just yesterday I think it was--he said he saw this man walking down the street. Of course, they're so poor and there's just trash heaps and debris everywhere. It's a spirit. What you see in the country--the debris and everything partially done, nobody working, no energy and no ambition--is all just an outward expression of their spiritual condition. [Jeff] said he saw this man and the fellow was just kind of walking down the sidewalk and he looked over. Jeff was watching him and he said he just made a dash for this big pile of rubbish as something caught his eye. He said he saw him reach into the rubbish and pull out this object and continue down the road as he was eating his lunch. That was lunch, whatever it was. The clothes they do have are tattered, filthy. Some sit here this morning feeling so sorry for themselves because they're not "prosperous" because "I don't have as much as the other person. Life is so hard. I'm really struggling with my Mercedes payment this month."

The American mentality. "Yeah, Mercedes payment, right! I'm stuck with this Escort." Is that what went through your mind? Now you can lean that way if it's a Ford, but you still have to be thankful in everything. What went through your mind? Did anything like that come up? "Yeah, right, Mercedes payment. Got this lousy old...." Oh, beloved, look up, your redemption is drawing nigh. Your treasures are in the wrong place. Where is your thankfulness? Dear Lord, we live in Disneyland compared to the billions of people that draw breath on this planet! You live like kings compared to billions of human beings on this earth, and yet we begrudge that maybe there's a percent that has more than us? Do you think that's a heart that understands the eternal, that's living for the eternal and not the temporal? Is that the mindset of a man who is walking in the spirit, that's spiritually minded, or is it a man that was at one time in darkness, but now you're children of light? "...walk as children of light: (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness...) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." All of those solicitations, are you able to reprove them? What are we doing as a community to keep this leaven out of our midst? When you hear that kind of talk, when you see brothers and sisters getting ready to make wrong decisions that are going to hurt them, do you bring reproof?

I was blessed yesterday as I heard one of our family here, a brother that was getting ready to go out on a business venture and was just ready to sign the contract, and was up here in prayer and happened to look and see people walking around the parking lot and felt the Lord impress him and say, "You know, if you start this business venture you're going to be so sucked up in that, you're not going to have any time to do that, you're not going to have any time to fellowship with them." A venture that they were very excited about starting, a dream to be acquired, but it was for personal gratification and it was going to rob the time of community service. He said, "I can't do that." Those are the unfruitful works of darkness, those things that seduce us and take us away from the eternal things that will bear fruit. They need to be reproved; they need to be spoken toward in each others' lives. "That's not the right decision, that's not going to bring you happiness. It's not going to edify the Body; it's not going to prepare your children for the coming of the Lord."

If Jesus is coming, how much more light do we need to be pursuing so we can make the right decisions, not knowing where we are in this journey? I lost a race yesterday because I didn't know where I was in the journey. We were racing and it was late at night and I lost the finish line; I couldn't see. I need some more faith like Moses where my eyes dim not. I'm not seeing real good at night. We were racing at night and it was dark and I didn't know--I lost sight of where the finish line was. You have to be an idiot or a spastic to lose like I lost. This guy, in the daylight, didn't stand a chance. We put a 4.01 light on him, 4.00 is perfect, we were one thousandth off a perfect light; the guy ran a 10, a whole tenth off of his number and won! Because he's racing an idiot! A guy who doesn't know where he is, can't see. Everything else was perfect; I just didn't know where I was. Where are we in this journey? Do we understand? Is the Word illuminating our steps? Do we understand where we are at this moment, so close to the finish line, but we don't know where we are! It can cost you everything! Verse 13, "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light." Are you putting yourself in an environment where the real you can be exposed? The real condition that you're in is made visible, and not only visible, but available for something to be done in preparation for the coming of the Lord. "...walk circumspectly, [verse 15 says] not as fools, but as wise [men], redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Redeeming the time because the days are evil.

If you really believe Jesus is coming, look at verse 21, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." If you believe Jesus is coming, you're going to be doing something about getting your life hooked up with people who can clean you up and help you. Redeeming the time, there's not much time left for the work that needs to be done. The days are evil, the Lord is at hand. Matthew 24:44 says, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." Be ready. Be ready. The Lord goes on in the very next chapter, Matthew 25, in the parable of the five wise and the five foolish [virgins] and there's a very powerful phrase there. We'll end with this for this morning. We all know the story very well so we don't have to set it up for us. In the 25th chapter, verse 10, "And while they went to buy..." those that weren't prepared, those whose lamps went out, those who didn't have sufficient. They thought of themselves more highly than they ought to think. They were depending on something that was not Holy Ghost oil. They were living off mom and dad. They were living off tradition. They were living off of religion. They were living off of their own strength; they were living off the works of men; they were living off the traditions of men. They'd encountered the reality of Jesus at one time in their lives, but there wasn't sufficient. They knew how to get it right; they knew what was right, but they weren't prepared. Does it sound like the day in which we live? "And [so] they went [the Scripture says in verse 10] to buy, [and at that moment] the bridegroom came [and look at this phrase, I love this]; and they that were ready went in with him...: and the door was shut." How much do you have to miss it by to miss it? It doesn't take that much, in the positive or negative.

When my uncle was teaching me how to drive (he was a race driver, and as he was teaching me to drive) and to be fast is to be smooth. You don't want to do things abruptly, change the weight on the car, you want to keep the thing smooth. People have a tendency to do things that are abrupt, and he said your natural tendency is to overreact. It doesn't matter by how much you miss it, just miss it--talking about other cars--so in a race, if you're moving around, the key is to miss them. You don't have to miss them a long way, because that puts you out of shape. Just miss them.

You missed it. The door is shut. You know, in very few things today do people just actually shut the door and you can't come in. We're in a society where there's, "Well, we'll make exceptions, we'll make room or whatever." The ark door was closed, there was no more admittance. Jesus said, "The bridegroom came, the door was shut." Those of you that are habitually late, this isn't one to miss. "Why weren't you here?" "I overslept, I didn't give enough time. I stopped for a coffee. I gagged on a MacBurger on the way." Whatever. What distracted you; why weren't you there on time? What was it that was more important than being on time, being ready, being prepared? There's a time set when the trumpet is going to sound and after that there's nothing else you can do. I won't get into it this morning, but Thessalonians makes it very clear that there's no second chance to you who have known. From that moment on He's going to become the enemy. He's going to harden your heart; He's going to be the source of your delusion, of your deception, and there will be no opportunity for you to be saved. What must be done to get into the light, to watch, to be prepared for an hour when we think not, the Son of Man cometh?

Father, we thank You for Your Word this morning. We just ask You to stir our hearts and to cause the reality of this message to grip us in a way that possibly it never has before. This life is a vapor. The decisions we're making around the temporal are so meaningless. It's all going to burn; only the eternal, only the spiritual remains. It goes contrary to everything that's in our flesh. Natural man sits in this air conditioned room, clothed, fed, and unthankful because we don't have as much as the other person and a world starves and is naked, sits in the filth with open sores and we begrudge our lack, unthankful, unholy. We've been given much and so we're responsible for much. Make us thankful; make us ready. Protect us from the delusion of abundance, the weight of prosperity and keep us focused on the eternal and Your soon coming. Make us thankful; make us ready; and make us servants to a lost and dying world. Help us to stand before You someday with fruit that remains and we'll give You the praise, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord this morning as Gary plays for us. We live in such a dangerous time, beloved, such a perilous time. Let your moderation be known, the Lord is at hand. Freely you've received, freely give. What a great opportunity this afternoon, tomorrow, to let people know that Jesus is coming back. I saw a stupid movie the other night, I can't remember the name of it, but the Archbishop of Canterbury had tattooed on his rear end "Jesus is coming, look busy." No, you're not going to con Him. You can't look busy. What's going to remain? When those eyes that are flames of fire pierce your soul, what's going to remain? When the reality of who you are is revealed in that absolute pure light, what will be seen? You better believe that there's no evidence of you. When the light's turned up, all that's me, I trust, is gone and only Jesus [remains]. All of me gone, for "...in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing..." only Jesus. "For to me to live is Christ...." "The life which I now live..., I live by the faith of the Son of God." Let's worship Him as we sing this together.

"Open my eyes, Lord...." We want to hear Your voice, Lord. This is the way, walk in it. Come quickly, Lord. This is the way, walk in it. Hallelujah! Just take a moment and worship, just thank Him for all His goodness to you this morning. Hallelujah! Just focus on His heart this morning and let the things of earth grow dim. As we prepare our garments, the preparation of obedience, the doing of the Word, the cleansing of sanctification, wholly offering ourselves up a spiritual service to God. Work it in us, Father, that You might be all in all, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Look up!" Praise God. Amen, go in peace, God's love go with you.

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