20210213 | Nearer Than You Believe | Pastor John Lomacang

and a happy sabbath to those of you that are joining us and those of you that are here that are brave enough to be here because we're living in icy southern illinois right now it's about single digits well not single digits it's 12 degrees and holding and so we are holding on to the lord and we thank the lord that he's given us this opportunity all week long we have been talking about the theme faithfulness in christian lifestyle and today even though the theme is living in end times my sermon title is nearer than we believe we are living in end times but how do we know we're in end times we'll find out today in god's word bow your heads with me as we go to the lord this morning in prayer loving father in heaven what a blessing it is to be able to open our hearts to the leading of your holy spirit and as danielle said so wonderfully to live what we believe we ask for you to guide us this morning lord may my lips move to speak words of life to calibrate human hearts to the urgency of the hour in this frozen tundra of winter may you warm our hearts to hear what your holy spirit will say to us and when this message is done may someone have been drawn closer to you because of what you have done in jesus name i pray amen in the book of romans chapter 13 or in the book of romans and then chapter 13 i want to read this morning to you the scripture for years when i traveled in the heritage singers my wife and i traveled together with them for two years full-time and a number of years part-time and people would come to me and would tell me would you sign my cd or sign this or sign that i always said my signature means absolutely nothing so i always put a bible verse because i know that if they forget my name they've lost nothing but if they forget the name of jesus they've lost everything so i would always write romans chapter 13 verse 11 to 14. but as i look at our world today it's becoming more evident and more clear that this verse has application to the time in which we're living more than ever before the apostle paul writes these words and do this or as the king james virgin says and knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed the night is far spent the day is at hand therefore let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light what's sobering counsel let us walk properly or honestly as in the day not in revelry and drunkenness not in lewdness and lust not in strife and envy and finally verse 14. he says this is what you take off but put on the lord jesus christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust the apostle paul is saying to us here's what you take off here's what you put on here's what you change and here's where your only hope is found putting on the lord jesus christ and as i listened to him my mind was drawn to choices to choices if you were given two choices which would you take well let me lay before you the choices and i began to sit down and look at our world not only in its historical entirety which i'm only able to grab a little here and there because there's no way that i could summarize our world in its historical entirety but i've made a feeble effort to give you some idea of what one of those choices will be if you were given the choice which choice would you take choice number one live in a world of disease suffering hatred crime violence sexual immorality drug abuse alcoholism prejudice lying stealing murder adultery kidnapping profanity political corruption war bloodshed somebody say help me stop me earthquakes floods cataclysmic destruction backbiting gossip character assassination and death never to be raised again i'm sure just by reading that list you may ask is there something better is the second choice better the second choice even if you die you will be raised to live eternally where you will never die and none of the former things of this world would ever exist you will have access to billions of galaxies and you will meet the creator face to face what choice would you make it seems obvious the second choice is the obvious choice yet as i go through that list there are millions today who are faced with those choices and for one reason or the other even though that first list is so dark that if there was a one-to-one conversation somebody would clearly say that's not what i'm looking for in the unconscious aspects of life many people are choosing that without saying that's what i want i want disease i want suffering i want hatred crime violence and the list goes on and on and by the way i've only scratched the surface but as vivid as i tried to make the blessings of god to be the apostle paul tells us in first corinthians 2 and verse 9 i love these words he says but as it is written i have not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which god has prepared for those who love him paul is saying nobody's even thought about it nobody's eyes have even seen it but he's saying you have no idea what god is preparing for those that love him i'm going to say it this way if it's better than this i'm getting ready for it what about you if it's better than what we have now i'll trade anything other than holding on to this and god is saying i have prepared something for you that is so wonderful your eyes have not seen it your ears have not heard it it hasn't even entered into your imagination what god is preparing for those that love him that's why i begin by saying to you the the place that jesus is preparing for us is nearer than we believe it is nearer than we believe come with me to a generation much like ours a generation whose collapse is documented to compare with our approaching collapse and as we take the time to look at this generation to which i vaguely refer we'll begin to see that what happened then is happening now and dr luke says in luke chapter 17 about this generation as jesus invites them to set a stage with these words dr luke says as jesus communicates luke chapter 17 verse 26 dr luke records the words of jesus he says as it was in the days of noah so it will be in the days of the son of man so the lord introduces this generation obviously he's talking about the days of noah and he's saying in very short words in that small statement the lord is introducing to us a measuring stick he says when you're all get when your world gets like this world you'll know that i'm soon to come if you look at the days of noah and you compare them to your days he says you'll know how close you are to my soon return but before i press fast forward allow me to press rewind and go with me to the book of genesis chapter 6. genesis chapter 6 as we look as we take a glimpse in that world to see what our world is going to become or shall i say what our world has become genesis chapter 6 verse 1 and verse 2. and the bible says now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them that the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose now what does that passage mean those verses are saying that in the days of noah godly men rather than following godly choices they saw the daughters of men in other words they began to measure their decisions by what they saw rather than by god's guidance and instruction because the lord had made it very clear even in noah's day what right choices to make what kind of person to have in your life but the bible says men that were to be led by god began to make decisions based on what they saw the daughters of men the the sons of god saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful that they were fair and they began to choose wives and when you follow the history of the of that world you'll discover that the erosion of the family began because as the family goes so goes the church and so goes society so they began to introduce into the home a divided home a man serving god a woman that does not know god and in some cases it was the opposite because the word there sons of god and daughters of men were not necessarily only gender specific because they were godly women but what the bible is in essence is saying is the homes were divided the homes were divided and that society began with divided homes so one would be worshiping god the other would be worshiping the things of the world and the bible made it very clear that's how it is today divided homes lead to a divided society leads to a divided church and when there is no unity in the home in the family there cannot possibly be unity in society there cannot possibly be unity in the church but the bible says in verse 3 that when noah began to preach probation for that generation began to close the lord says in genesis chapter 6 and verse 3 and the lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed what is the word flesh yet his days shall be 120 years from the first sermon that noah preached the time clock began on that generation that society from his first sermon god began to time man he gave them a probationary hour he gave them a clock by which they can choose to either get ready for the coming destruction or continue living the way that they did but the lord said regardless of what choice they made they've only got 120 years and i can imagine how it was in those days because noah said he was building an ark to prepare for the flood that was coming and it never rained it's hard to believe when you have nothing to compare it against noah said he's getting ready for the flood and his sons ham shem and japheth who were born during the time of the building of this ark were hammer hammering and sawing building a monstrosity that in the eyes of the people they thought that noah somehow had lost his mind because he was getting ready for something that society said could never happen well friends today the unbelief of that day is just like the unbelief of this day when we teach that the world is going to be destroyed by fire some people say it has never happened before but the bible says as it was in noah's day so also will it be in the days of the coming of the son of man and the largest roadblock in this world today is unbelief in what god has said now i believe that the lord's word can be trusted and i believe that what the lord said is something that we can hold on to and that's why whether the numbers are great or the numbers are few i stand where noah stood and i'm preaching for my 120 years if god will give me that much but noah preached and the bible also speaks about the reason for their collapse the bible speaks about the reason for their collapse it is documented look at verse 5. then the lord saw that the wickedness of man what is the next word was what was great in the earth just like our generation and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually now i've not yet met a person that's evil continually or maybe i should said another way i don't want to meet a person that's evil continually because if the bible says as noah's day was so will our day be there are people according to the verification of scripture there are those who are just like the generation in noah's day evil continually and i could spend the rest of the sermon talking about various forms of evil but all you got to do is look at television all you got to do is look at the movies today all you've got to do is look at what happens we are living in the most uneasing society that has existed in modern times 2020 for example a year of riots and wars and setting buildings on fire and bloodshed even not too long ago the the rush upon the capitol building there in washington dc we are living in a society where the hearts of men are thinking evil thoughts perpetrating evil practices and the lord said in the word every intent of the thoughts and of the heart was only evil continually the degenerate practices of noah's day trouble god's heart notice what the lord said in genesis chapter six verse six and seven can you imagine evil so dark that it troubles god's heart and the bible says in verse 6 and the lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart i cannot imagine something becoming so dark that god says i'm sorry that i even made them what a world it was so the lord said in verse 7 i will destroy man whom i have created from the face of the earth both man and beast creeping things and birds of the air for i am sorry that i have made them i can't imagine with a scope that god can see from north to south east to west every nook and cranny of this earth god beholds with his holy eyes and he gets to the place where he says i'm sorry that i even made them but i want to make something very very clear god is not saying i'm sorry that i made evil he is saying i'm sorry that the men that i have made have chosen evil i'm sorry about their choices i'm not sorry that i created humanity but our generation once again is like the days of noah and as i look at the developing picture i say to myself had it not been for the next verse one would think that there is no hope but i praise god for verse 8. the bible says but noah found grace can you say amen but noah found grace in the eyes of the lord and what kind of society did noah find grace in noah's day immorality was applauded with demonic intensity people praised immorality it was sold and i would say if they were a lot more intellectual than us maybe they did have electronic inventions that we didn't know about maybe they did have an intellect far greater than ours whatever the case may be immorality was applauded with demonic intensity that's the kind of world that noah had to deal with god's appeals were ignored with impunity in other words you couldn't wake somebody up at three o'clock in the morning and get them to accept what god was trying to appeal to them with no matter when you woke them up they just would not hear god's voice rejected with impunity continually pleasure consumed the minds of that society and you know but for the pandemic our world would still be a pleasure loving world and we're trying in this in this crippled society we're still trying our best to enjoy our pleasures i can't help when i watch i just not too recently i'm not a football fan but my wife and i used to go to the mall every time football super bowl sunday would come on we'd go to the mall but we don't really have malls out here everything is shutting down and even though the doors are open the stores are closing but i remember when we lived in california and super bowl sunday came around because i'm not an avid super bowl i don't follow the football season but we knew if there's any time that you can go to the mall and there's no crowds it's on super bowl sunday so people would say what are you doing on super bowl sunday and we say we're going to the mall they said you're not watching the game no not interested not really concerned but i i couldn't help but to peek at just recently this last super bowl and i thought to myself wow the stadium was full the stadium is full of people until they began to focus the cameras on and it was just cardboard cutouts will they filled the seats with cardboard cutouts just to somehow pacify the idea in their in their twisted minds and i thought how futile spending endless hours putting cardboard cutouts in more than 30 000 seats how did you feel after doing all that you know what those cardboard cutouts couldn't get up and leave after the game after they put them all down they got to go take them all up how do you feel you see we have a plastic pleasure we're trying to find ways of pacifying the things that brought satisfaction to our hearts and futile hours are spent trying to fool those that are watching television that this stadium is filled with people men are consumed by pleasure and their minds will do whatever they can just to somehow pacify themselves while the world around them is crumbling basketball games this is another thing you know you listen to the basketball games nowadays you think the stadiums were packed but it's just recorded sounds they press the button when somebody falls they press another button when somebody makes a shot yay men are doing whatever they can to pacify their crumbling society but the lord is saying these things are one day going to go up in flames that is why i'm getting ready for the coming of jesus what about you consumed pleasure consuming the minds of society and then when it comes to salvation salvation was ignored and sin was preferred and the hearts of men were only evil continually but noah praised god in that crumbling world noah found grace you see if you want to have faithfulness in your christian lifestyle you've got to find in all of this crumbling society and all of this world that's just floating away going downstream we cannot even hold our world together but what can we find in a crumbling world we can find the grace that noah found in the eyes of the lord in his generation the apostle paul says for by grace are you saved through faith the salvation that came to noah and his family is still available today the grace that can cause men to be extricated rescued from a crumbling society from a decaying society from an immoral society the grace of god is still available today the apostle paul in the book of titus says for the grace of god that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men my brother my sister regardless of your society regardless of your condition regardless of the challenges in your life you can still find the grace of god available today to save us from a crumbling world god's hand is still stretched out to save his heart is still open to hear the cries of the lost what kind of generation was it this is a single word that describes that generation it's called anta deluvian say that with me and to deluvians and i've heard that word so long but i asked myself what is an end to the luvian and i decided well do your homework it's made of two words anti and deluvian anti means prior to and deluvian simply means flood coming from the latin word which means to wash away so the antediluvians mean before the world was washed away that's the generation that existed before the world was washed away now how could we know what the world was like before it washed away we could not know that but we can trust god's word because god knows that and the bible describes what kind of world it was before the world was washed away look at genesis chapter 6 verse 11 to 13. what kind of world was it before the world was washed away the bible says the earth also was corrupt before god is the world corrupt today the world is corrupt that's an understatement if you took the time to visit some of these matter of fact let me even change that you don't even have to go to large cities anymore you just have to go to the internet you just have to turn on your television have you noticed that in the media they're trying to make it because there was a time that somebody living in a small town like ours will say well there are no movie theaters we're fine but nowadays they're hunting you down you can watch television 24 hours a day seven days a week you can watch anything you want on your cell phone so the so you can see that there's a push so that you can be thinking only a certain way continually these devices that were once only for the purpose of telling you what time it is or maybe keeping your calendar have now become the portal through which the world is massaging the minds of this last generation and i would guarantee you by beholding you become changed by watching what you watch you begin to take on the characteristic of what you watch by playing the games you play you begin to think like those who are being perpetrated in the games the bible says the earth was filled with violence it was corrupt what did god do verse 12 so god looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt for all flesh how much flesh all flesh what a generation had corrupted their way on the earth and god said to noah the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them and behold i will destroy them with the earth what a generation it was i began to look and began to research to find out if there was any confirmation to that kind of generation a few years ago i was listening as uh one commentator began to unfold the various kinds of inventions that existed in the pre-flood era the end to diluvian generation one minister pointed out that more than 5 000 years ago there was a factory on earth a met a metallurgical factory on earth that had metals and different kinds of combinations and compositions of metals that were discovered in that factory that was only only discovered by modern man in the mid to late 60s and early 70s alloys and certain types of mixtures and composites that did not exist in our day until the maybe the mid to late 60s and early 70s but they found that in the furnaces of these unearthed factories more than 5000 years old showing then that modern men are not really as modern as we think we are a minister also pointed out that they had found drawings something that they call varminas they called it varminas and these were in these drawings it depicted something that looked like a flying machine and they said in one of the drawings there was a particular kind of airplane wing that had been discovered that had only been discovered by military aeronautics in the mid 80s the 1980s but they already had the drawings for this back then they called it var miners large ships that can carry hundreds of passengers these men were intellectual the bible says there were giants in the earth in those days not just in stature physically but they were intellectual giants you think about it for a moment if i'm not far removed from perfection and i'm living in a generation where i can speak to i can speak to adam and adam can show me the garden that he used to live in and adam is 700 years old and the bible said he lived to be 930 and adam could say to that generation as he see crime being proliferated violence increasing hatred being multiplied and and every day that adam wakes up he can say if it had not been for my choice this would not occur adam can communicate from generation to generation completely unimpaired the decisions he had made and he can take them to the side of the garden and see the garden still barred the angels still blocking entrance to the garden that was once his home what a generation a generation where they did not need the bible because they were not that far removed from perfection and what adam said could be verified by his children and his children's children what a generation it was the bible says the end of all flesh had come before me and there was a man living in that generation by the name of methuselah what did i say his name was methuselah methuselah had a son and there's a riddle that we often talk about who's the oldest man that never that ever lived whose son never died methuselah and enoch the oldest man that ever lived whose son never died people thought about that enoch walked with god methuselah was his father and the bible made it clear what does methuselah mean when you think about the way that methuselah is interpreted his name means in the year that methuselah dies the water will come can you imagine having that kind of name how you doing today methuselah i'm doing just fine what does that name mean it means in the year he dies the water comes methuselah was a constant reminder to that generation that what noah and his sons were building was not a farce but an act of faith in the year he dies the water comes i would haste to say that some days people probably asked the question is methuselah still alive because in the year he dies the water comes and surely enough in the year that methuselah died the probation for humanity closed god gave noah specific instructions and i won't spend time on that today but even the location where the ark had rested on the mountains of ararat had been discovered by many archaeologists most recently even in 2020 a documentary had been done about the location where the ark of noah had rested on the mountains of ararat in the 1980s another gentleman along with the turkish government they had found enough evidence that they concluded when they saw this large mark in the earth that had been seen by satellites that had been seen by by reconnaissance planes not satellites and they they saw the shape of this something that appeared to be a boat and upon further investigation under the dig of an archaeological director they said wait a minute this looks like a boat but it was so embedded in the soil on the side of the mountains of ararat that the archaeologist said unless there is an earthquake there's no way that we can ever get that deep and what do you know it there was an earthquake there was an earthquake and the outside walls that surrounded this oval shape was now visible and they took they took soft wooden rakes and began to slowly scratch away on the outside of what they may think what they thought was the outside of the walls of the ark and there you saw columns of wood as hard as stone began to appear and when they were done they had that full oval shape so they said well how do we know this is the ark previous discoveries had said this could not be the ark because it doesn't match the measurements of scripture but the archaeologist said wait a minute the problem with the prior investigators is they were counting in our numerical system but if we use the numbering system based on the oldest references we can find is the numbering system of the egyptians maybe it will match the size of this impression in the earth and when they applied the measurements it matched exactly the size according to the oldest numbering system available and the government of turkey was so convinced that this was noah's ark that they had a contingency of politicians a large group of individuals made their way to that site and they inaugurated that site as the place where the ark of no arrested following the receding of the flood so archaeologists are not wondering any longer and the dig continued they began with very fine brushes very fine small items began to dig and unearth and they found human remains that were huge in size heads that were much larger in size than ours today and other articles that they knew were not a part of any modern connected society so did noah genera did the generation of noah exist according to archaeological finds they confirmed that the ark of noah did exist but something happened something happened why couldn't they go and remove the remains that were there why couldn't they continue digging because during the time of the 1980s a war broke out between the two countries one on one side of the mountains and one on the other side and that mountain had been declared as a neutralized zone so therefore no one could go that's why it was not until the 2020 that they began to revisit that site to confirm what had been discovered in the 60s and in the 80s so there's evidence that the generation of noah existed because there's no way that an ark or a structure or a boat of that size could be on the side of a mountain at that high of an altitude except there was waters that had covered the earth at some point or the other the generation of noah is not a farce it's a verification however even if they didn't find evidence i can trust the word of god what about you we can trust god's word if the word of god says it i can believe it and as the bible says or as many people have said that settles it for me god said it i believe it and that settles it for me but here's the thing that impressed me the most about this story in genesis chapter six is when god gave noah instructions to escape the earth cleansing flood that was coming look at verse 22 says and this impressed me more than all the details the bible says thus noah did according to all that god commanded him so he did think about that for a moment we're talking about faithfulness and christian lifestyle and i look at noah's life in a generation that may have declared him as a madman a man who had lost his bearing the bible said regardless of the generation that surrounded him noah did according to all that god commanded him so he did so here's the question are we living according to all that god has commanded us if we're looking forward and getting ready for the coming of jesus if we're looking to be faithful in christian lifestyle living in the end times are we doing according to all that god has commanded us are we living according to all that god has revealed to us are you doing so my brother are you doing so my sister my wife and i we like to inventory our lives i praise the lord when i'm preaching my wife is just a right right to my left arm she's right there my wife and i are looking at our lives inventorying our lives and saying i want to be able to live and do all according to what god has commanded me only then can we find the assurance only then can we know that we're getting ready because it's not going to be a flood the next time it's going to be fire the cleansing fires of the earth are going to eternally purify this earth from the sin-laden crime and violence that this earth has been incarcerated under but now we go to the book of matthew because matthew tells us a little bit more about that generation but i want to encourage you as god reveals his word to you the question is are you willing to do all that god has commanded you to do are you willing to follow the example of noah and do all that god commands you in his word to live by as we read matthew chapter 24 he contributes to the knowledge of that generation let's see if that generation is like ours the bible says in verse 36 but of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven speaking about the coming of jesus but my father only but here he goes but as the days of noah were so also will the coming of the son of man be once again he parlays with dr luke in recording the words of jesus but what did he say about that generation for as in the days and and to deluvian before the flood they were eating and drinking is this generation eating and drinking yes we are marrying and giving in marriage until the day that noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be let me go a little deeper because somebody might say what is wrong with eating and drinking what is wrong with marrying and giving in marriage the reason why the bible records that is because that's all that men did they were concerned about what are we going to eat next what are we going to drink next what are we going to do next they got washed away in the tide of the world of their day they were floating aimlessly down without any anchor in godly things and were consumed by the delight of their generation i was raised in new york city it's funny somebody told me this morning said don't say that i was raised in new york city and here i am living in southern illinois i have been converted but i can tell you before covert i could understand that passage because when you walk down fifth avenue when you walk down times square when you go to the city when you go to the village in new york city and this is true about los angeles and detroit and miami in a perfectly well can you imagine i'm actually saying this in a perfectly open society in a perfectly functioning society of which there is no such thing but without covert you can choose what to eat and what to drink you can choose what to wear and what to buy where to go and where not to go what to do pleasure and choices were all around them and the bible says in their day as we recently went to fort lauderdale had a chance to go down and visit florida and we went to fort lauderdale and i thought to myself this is during christmas i thought to myself it doesn't seem to be any cover down here the restaurants were jam-packed they were so full that it sounded like boiling water of conversations it's like when you drop something into a pot of hot oil the conversations were crackling in the distance people the sidewalks were jammed as people sat on the outside and i'm thinking are we not in a pandemic is this world not in a place of fragility more than ever before are we not in a society that's falling apart but you'll never be able to tell by all the activities surrounding us but i couldn't help to to notice that with all this secular activity the church doors were shut people could not attend church which said to me the devil is saying go ahead and eat and drink but don't think about god go ahead and marry and give in marriage go ahead and swim have fun not that any of those things in and of themselves is the problem but when you live in a society where god is shut down and church doors are closed and people are forbidden to gather for religious purposes but not forbidden for secular purposes you can conclude that the devil is working on breaking down the conscience of the godly trying to make that the conscience of the ungodly that's what noah is talking about that's what jesus was saying they were just marrying giving in marriage another writer in the in the gospel says they were buying and selling planting and building they were involved in all the agriculture all the sciences all the arts they were involved in the daily rounds of life and they did not know that a day came that the ark's doors were closed and the day came that the first drop of rain touched the tip of the nose of the end of the luvians and on that particular day they realized that what noah was preaching actually came to pass that's why today friends i'm preaching as whether the church is filled or not i'm preaching with conviction why because i believe god's word and one day in our post-diluvian generation the words of god are going to come to pass that's why when we keep our eyes focused on christ forget about the white house keep our eyes on the right house keep our eyes on the one who can never be voted out his name is jesus keep our eyes fixed there because when we proclaim the good news when we direct people to the only one that can cause them to be faithful in christian lifestyle they'll find hope in a crumbling society they'll find light in a dark generation they'll find answers where the world can give them none and they'll find grace where there's only sin abounding grace much more abounds praise the lord for that so now come from noah's generation to our generation come with me to the most intense period in human history the last days it is the moment of unquestionable loyalty god is looking for those to be loyal in this closing hour of earth's history god is looking for the families to be loyal today god is looking for loyal homes in this generation god is saying there needs to be in the life of the christian unquestionable loyalty to the kingdom of god in this generation we find that polarization is being completed polarity is becoming absolute in this generation there is no middle ground everyone is choosing a side there are few and fewer neutral places because conviction is arresting both camps this is the generation where the line of distinction is being prominently etched in the sands of times and in this generation the parting words of john the revelator is trying to tug on the hearts of this generation listen to what he says in revelation chapter 6 and verse 17 he's speaking about a coming day that will cause men like noah's day to stand up and wonder why they did not prepare their hearts revelation 16 verse 17 john says for the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand can i answer the question who is able to stand only those that have made christ only those that have made jesus and his message and his salvation the focus of their lives only those that have christian godly lifestyles will be able to stand only those that have confessed their sins only those that have laid their lives bear before the lord and say father do whatever you must i want to be in the kingdom my wife and i have said that several times whatever we want to do father do what you must whatever you need to do do what you must that we can be in your kingdom we have conversations like that last night i can always tell as i'm working on my sermon we have such a connection that i can always tell and in my spirit i say the lord said stop your sermon for a moment go talk to your wife i know when i spoke to my wife and what a beautiful moment it was we have those moments where our eyes meet and our hearts meet and we can break through the the solitude of the quietness of our home and make that connection again and i could say honey don't forget together forever eternity and view she said that's right together forever eternity and view and then we talked together as she sat on the bed and i sat there looking in her eyes and she prayed she said father bless my husband bless the priest of this home work through him that we may be ready for the kingdom father i want to be ready when you come you see friends only those who begin to examine their lives only those that draw away from the tentacles of the world that are seeking to pull them in only those will be ready for the coming of jesus who shall be able to stand this is the hour when the coming of jesus is nearer than we believe this is the hour to make your calling and election sure i like the words of our 28th president woodrow t wilson when he was negotiating the end of world war one he said these words which i believe i look at these things and i think why can't we have that as a christian slogan he said speaking to the united states speaking to the military he said we cannot be separated in our interest or divided in our purpose we stand together until the end and i say that to brothers and sisters in jesus we cannot be separated in our interest somebody ought to say amen we cannot be divided in our purpose we must stand together until the end because the devil is seeking to divide us he knows that division is failure but unity is success that's why in the final showdown when jesus saw the two factions he said in matthew 12 and verse 30 he that is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad i must ask the question what camp are you in if you are scattering god is saying there's still time to gather with jesus if you are not where your life needs to be jesus is saying it's not too late if you can hear his voice today he's saying there's nothing that you have done that is so dark that jesus can't rescue you there's nothing you've done today that is so dim that jesus cannot forgive you of there's nothing you've done for so long that jesus cannot restore you from he wants you to be with him not against him to gather with him and not to scatter abroad and i know that there's somebody watching today that might say but but i haven't known the lord for many many years i haven't given my life to christ for so long i've i was raised this way but i've lost my way but i'm saying to you today there's no distance that god will not travel to save you from yourself to change your life to give you value to let you know that whether you live or whether you die you have the hope of eternity right before you god is saying to you today no matter what you have been there's still room for me to make you into what i want you to be there's nothing too dark that god cannot solve there's nothing too deep out of which god cannot drag you and he can change and transform your life he can give you hope again in this world that's falling apart there are no answers around us the answer is above us from the christ who wants to live within us he that is not with me is against me and in this contest jesus is making it very clear in the contest the final contest between light and darkness and good and evil and christ and satan jesus is saying to this generation the middle of the road does not exist my brother my sister in noah's day there was no middle ground in our day there is no middle ground in the end time there is no middle ground there is no yellow line in this christian life the last days demand unity unity and purpose unity and interest standing together on the truth of god's word until the end it demands unity because an independent spirit will guarantee our failure growing up i remember about that this independent spirit i was raised in a home where papa the man that raised me for some reason i didn't identify with his level of morality what do i mean by that he was trying to mold me as a young man to be this but in my in my distorted spirit in my recalcitrant young rebellious heart i wanted to be that but i never forgot as i got older as he got older as i got wiser as i recognized he was always wiser as i looked at his patients and his endurance i recognized that the man that god gave me to raise me was trying to show me the light as a young man and his wife was leading us to know the lord as i was a young man my sister was a young lady but as we grew older somehow the world pulled us away dragged us out into its streets the streets of new york city down its avenues into its theaters into its clubs into its nightlife into the things that did not please god but i say here today as a young man in comparison to jesus as a young man delivered from the dreads of this world as a man whose life has been forgiven and forgiven again and forgiven again praise god he forgives us over and over what do you say but i can say today i've been some places i've had those moments that god needed to recalibrate me even as a minister but i stand here today stronger in grace stronger in purpose stronger in direction undivided from christ knowing that because his coming is nearer than we believe my determination is to get ready for that second coming there's nothing that god cannot save you from in this showdown the latter rain will produce the same oneness as the day of pentecost david the psalmist said in psalm 133 and verse 1 look at what he says about this beautiful unity behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity it's no strange things that churches are closed it's no unusual thing that the devil is trying to break down that which christ was building up it's not unusual that people now when the sabbath comes it doesn't seem to be a holy day any longer some of our family members said i haven't been to church since march last year and i asked myself the question living here in thompsonville what would my life be like if i couldn't walk through the doors of this church since march last year now i could understand the words of jesus he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved what a generation what a challenge the closing moments of humanity demand a sober mentality as christians we must embrace the truths that catapulted us to this moment that's why the apostle paul reminds us how we can be faithful in christian living how we can be faithful in christian lifestyle second timothy chapter 3 and verse 14. notice what he encourages us to do how can we be faithful here's what he says here's what he says but you must continue but you must do what friends continue continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of if you're reading god's word continue in that way continue in those words knowing from whom you have learned them continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and our and the servant of the lord says in testimonies 9 page 10 paragraph 3 we have we have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the lord has led us and his teachings in our past history we have nothing to fear if we just trust god at his word we have nothing to fear if we take god at the value of his word we have nothing to be concerned about if we stand on the promises that are sure we have nothing to be concerned about am i saying that life is going to be easy absolutely not am i going to say that life is going to be always in our favor absolutely not but what i am saying is that it's better to go through difficulty for a short period and enjoy eternity than to go through difficulty for a short period and miss out on eternity go through the battle now and know that when the battle is done the best is yet to come i studied these sports teams i i thought about some things that i could learn from them and something that really impressed my mind is that by the t by the time a team gets to the championship they have spent hundreds of hours practicing and preparing for that moment they have studied the defensive and offensive moves and strategies of the opposite opposite team they have merged years of experience into that one contest the coaches have studied the strategies of the opposing team they have picked apart their strengths and weaknesses they have chosen the best tactics to neutralize their challengers in other words the chant is take nothing for granted leave nothing to chance why am i saying that because in these closing moments of life we can't take anything for granted we can't leave anything to chance that's why the intensity is ramping up one side the devil is grabbing for our attention but christ is saying take time set aside come aside rest a while turn off the world open my word get your minds ready for that eternal kingdom get your minds ready for the planet for the planets and the constellations outside of earth get your minds ready for the billions of galaxies that i want to put in your lap get your minds ready for the unfallen worlds and the citizens of unfallen societies that i want to introduce you to get ready to be able to stand before those who have never known sin and tell them about the beauty of redemption get ready what a generation take nothing for granted leave nothing to chance and why do i say that because very soon my brothers and sisters very soon my wife very soon my church friend family the thrill of victory is going to overshadow the agony of defeat the thrill of victory eternal victory is one day going to overshadow the agony of defeat and when we think about this final contest between christ and satan no sports team could rival the moment that stands before us the apostle paul says in first thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1 to six notice what he says about these times here's what he says to the church he says but concerning the times and seasons brethren you have no need that i should write to you have you been watching the news have you been listening to what's taking place you have no need that i should write to you have you been reading your bibles he continues for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so comes as a thief in the night for when they say peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape they did not escape a noah's day and they will not escape in the day of the lord but he goes on but you brethren but you church family but you fellow christian are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief why i love this passage you are all sons of the light and sons of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness and then he unites his words with romans 13 therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober let us do what together watch and be what sober let us watch and be sober watch like the young man that stood at the window of his home looking waiting for the sun to set watch and be sober like the young man waiting at the bus stop for his dad to arrive home watch he refused to fall asleep as he was waiting for his father's bus to arrive watch don't sleep remain awake but the thing that troubles my heart is if sports teams can dedicate countless hours of study to win a temporal crown why are the people of god not dedicating countless hours as we are about to prepare for an eternal crown if they can spend countless hours for that which will fade away we should spend countless hours for that which will never fade away and that's why jesus says pay attention matthew chapter 24 verse 32 and 33 listen to his words these urgent words he said now learn this parable from the fig tree when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves you know i like those words you know that the summer is near so you also when you see all these things know that it is near even at the doors near than when we believe now i tell you after all this ice i'll be glad to see the trees butt again somebody ought to say amen i'll be glad to see the ice melt again i'll be glad to feel the warmth creeping up on us slowly but surely i'm keeping my eyes fixed we know when the summer's on his way why because the evidence is abundant and friends on the same note we know that jesus is coming again why because the evidence is abundant in noah's day his message was the coming destruction and so in hours in our day the message is also about the coming destruction but there are those like in noah's day that just don't believe it so listen to these closing passages second peter chapter three verse three and four what happened to noah's day it's happening in our day second peter chapter 3 verse 3 and 4. he says knowing this first that scoffers will come in the last days there are people today that don't believe in christ don't believe he's coming again why walking according to to their own desires or their own lust and they're saying where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation now you know that's not true the world is not even the same way it was 10 years ago nothing has continued as it was from the beginning but why do they have that attitude because the bible says they willingly forget but i praise god that there's something i will not forget hebrews 10 37 for yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry the good news today is jesus has not postponed his return jesus did not put off his soon return so how do i know he's coming again here's the last text second timothy chapter three verse one to five listen to the evidences put them all together and more than ever before these passages could be on the front page of a newspaper and we would think that paul is alive and well today listen to what he says second timothy chapter three verses one to five and i'm reading from the new from the king james version he says this know also that in the last days perilous times will come if we are living in perilous times can you say amen perilous times look at what's happening around us for men shall be lovers of their own selves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents this is today's society unthankful unholy without natural affection last night jason bradley talked about the 64 genders they're saying there are more than 126 genders in the world today praise god i know that i'm one of the two god only made two but the bible says without natural affection truth breakers false accusers incontinent that means their minds are unstable fierce despisers of those that are good can you imagine people hate you just because you're good traitors heady high-minded lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof and then he says from such do what turn away this is the hour where the coming of jesus is nearer than we believe how do i know that every form of evil is fueled with a demonic intensity how do i know that evil angels and evil men are united in a coalition of destruction against the righteous how do i know that we are living in the end times because i can see the best modes of deception are being employed to try to obstruct the proclamation of the gospel how do i know that jesus is coming again this generation is conditioned to reject truth this is the culture that prefers fiction over reality this society is pruned to ignore the evidence of the last days how do i know that jesus is coming again the rejection of the evidence of a soon return the increasing immorality the destruction of our society the rejection of the gospel and the demolition of christianity how do i know that jesus is coming again the evidence is clear but here's my appeal to you my friends here's my appeal to you fellow church members in this hour of descending darkness jesus is saying it is time to get back to the light you want to get back to the light in this hour of descending darkness it is time to get back to the light in this hour of moral corruption it is time to get back to faithfulness in christian lifestyle time to get back to holiness in this hour of rejection of truth it is time to hold on and not let go the word of god in this hour where rome is inviting us to come back to the dark teachings of the dark ages it is time to get back to following christ in christ alone in this hour of complacency it is time to be sober and be vigilant and remain ready for the coming of jesus in this hour of descending corruption jesus is saying get ready for an uncorruptable kingdom and the fact remains this is the hour that the coming of jesus is nearer than you believe do you want to be ready do you want to remain ready earlier this week somebody once said do you do you want to be a son or a daughter of god and i was about to put my hand up and i put it down and i thought about that and i didn't put my hand up for this reason i said wait a minute i made that decision a long time ago i am a son of god you see somewhere along the way christians have to say wait a minute i already made that decision i am a son of god i am getting ready for the coming of jesus i am making my calling and election sure i am committing my life to christ on a daily basis i don't need to get ready i'm reading my bible every day so i can remain ready somebody ought to say amen i want to stay ready i want to be at the bus stop i want to be in the airplane terminal so that when that final plane departs the lord will say he that has this hope in himself purified himself even as he is pure remain ready my brother remain ready my sister and christ can give you faithfulness in christian lifestyle because undeniably we are living in the end time if you want to be ready if you want to remain ready why don't you bow your heads as i pray this morning loving father in heaven i sometimes feel like noah i'm sure that people got used to his sermons and there they were saying there's that crazy man again preaching building an ark out of wood talking about a flood that's coming and it hasn't even rained before matter of fact that generation was unaware of what rain was all about and today as we repeat the old old story that has somehow gathered dust for those whose ears are not tuned to it lord i pray today that as we call people to preparation for your soon return that this does not become an old story to them but a reminder get your bags packed get your life together make sure that you're calling an election ashore make sure that you have put down those things that will not go to heaven with you make sure that you're walking on a road where the light is getting brighter and make sure that jesus is your lord may this story never lose its flame maybe the flame that never dims so that when jesus does come he will find a people ready whose hearts are pure whose minds are clean and who have made a determined decision every day to be children of the most high god so father get us ready if we're not forgive those who have not yet made their decision to accept you and for those that have walked away for many years this is the hour to come back this is the moment in this fragile world with no guarantee of tomorrow to secure your place in god's eternal kingdom would you do that now my brother my sister would today be the day that you come to christ and say i'm not living my life by chance any longer i want to have assurance that this world is not taking me down with it and i want to be in that eternal kingdom i pray that you have made your decision today to be ready for the coming of christ and i pray this in jesus holy name amen

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 71min 24sec (4284 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 13 2021