The Close of Probation | Pastor Stephen Bohr

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] so good morning and happy sabbath for those who are here in the orchestra and on the instruments and on the sound system in the video and for those who are out watching uh through the internet live stream we wish a happy sabbath and a beautiful sabbath for you as well this morning we would like to bring to your attention that or just to remind you that even though we are shuttered uh and are not allowed into the sanctuary as a congregation the expenses for the church continue to go on and so we encourage you uh to be faithful in your tithes and your offerings for the continued work of the local church um this morning we would like to spend some time praying and we have some special requests that we need to entertain i was told that pastor gouveia is at home quarantined self-quarantined for some days also that pete nicholas is in the hospital doing better and also we need to remember sam barone who's home now silvia cervantes our traditional sick and shut-in members those who are in assisted living facilities as well we want to remember deborah holland and al montes wade messer and then we need to also pray for the leaders of our church for our school especially our academy as the time for opening comes and they have some plans that they're trying to enact for our conference and our pastors and their families the servant of the lord says when every other voice is hushed and in quietness we wait before him the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of god let's pray there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains father we come this morning into your house of worship as your children and we come not because we are worthy but because through jesus you have invited us to come before the throne of grace for help in time of need and so we come praising you for your goodness and your mercy towards us because we know if it were not for your mercies we would be consumed so father we thank you for all of the blessings that you have so richly bestowed upon us we thank you for life and health and strength for shelter and food we thank you for our beautiful church family and most we thank you for jesus because it is through him that we will have a right again to the tree of life but father we have amongst us those who have special needs and you have heard the names of those who are in need of special prayer it is not an exhaustive list father and you know all those who are in need of prayer and so we ask that you would send your ministering angels through the power of the holy spirit to stop by and touch hearts to change minds and to change lives we pray father this morning for our children who are in a precarious situation because school is about ready to start and all of the plans have not been finalized but we know that you know all things and so we rest assured knowing that your will will be done in each situation give us wisdom and courage to know what and when to do it we also pray for the leaders of this great nation because we face perilous times we pray for the leaders of the worldwide church and of our local church here in fresno we asked father that this morning you would draw near especially to your manservant who will break the bread of life to us put your words in his mouth then father we ask that you would help to keep us faithful that you would empower us to live for christ and to develop a christ-like character so that christ can be lifted up so that all can be drawn to him and in doing so the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory can increase in its boundary then we look forward to the time when jesus will come and we look forward to hearing the words well done good and faithful servants we beg and plead for these things in the name of jesus we pray amen it was very dark and i was living in my house with my little brother and my little sister i was about seven my brother was about five and my sister was about two we loved this house i don't think my mom liked this house so well but we loved it because we could start from the living room and we could run in a complete circle through mom and dad's bedroom through the bathroom through our bedroom through the dining room and back into the living room and we did that a lot we also liked the fact that this was an old house and we could take flashlights and at every place where there was a doorway there were holes that we could look into the basement and we would look into the basement and we would see all the creatures my mother didn't think that was too fun either because sometimes those creatures came into our house they were cockroaches and mice and those kind of creatures but we thought they were very entertaining well this particular night we were all sleeping and we were sleeping very suddenly it was a very dark night and all of a sudden the house shook violently and there was a big crash and we all woke up and we went running where do kids go running we went running to mom and dad's bedroom because that surely was the safest place and my daddy was very brave and he hurried up out of bed and went running outside to see what the problem was and there oh we we were looking from the window with my mommy and we were looking out to see what in the world had happened and we found out that the most amazing thing happened we lived in a yard there was a big yard between us and that street and us and that street and something amazing had happened a car had come through the wall all across across the yard and banged into our house and my father was outside trying to help the driver out of the car and when he got him out of the car turns out that we were living in a in a in the city of lima which is the biggest city in peru which is about 5 000 miles from fresno california if you just flew straight but you never fly straight so it's probably more like six or seven thousand miles if you were to go and you can't go by car because there are no roads from here to there continuously so you have to get on a plane and that's how we got there anyway um this man was actually from england and he got out of the car and we could hear him because we opened the windows and he said i i am so sorry i'm so sorry we thought what in the world is wrong with him and he couldn't walk straight and so my father called the police and we all went outside because we just had to see the state of the car the state of our house and the state of the wall that had been knocked down and we noticed that the house was probably going to be okay it was banged but there was actually it was still standing so that was good the wall it was completely down and the man he acted so strange and he talked so strange and he walked so strange and he smelled horrible and children aren't very polite and so we plugged our noses and said he stinks and we ran away and later on we went to talk to our dad about what he thought about this whole situation and i said daddy what was wrong with that man he looked weird and he acted really weird and he couldn't walk straight and he smelled terrible what was wrong with him and my daddy said he was drinking alcohol and when you drink alcohol your brain doesn't work right well that was clear he didn't even know there was a wall there and he drove right through it he didn't even know there was a house there and he drove right into it he couldn't even talk straight even though he did speak english but we kind of couldn't understand him very well and my daddy said he was drinking alcohol and we said what's alcohol we didn't know what that was and he said well it's kind of like juice that got really spoiled and so when you drink it it goes into your brain and you don't act right and i thought excuse me but i am never going to drink alcohol in the rest of my life because if that's how people act when they drink alcohol and if that's how they talk when they drink alcohol and if that's how they smell when they drink alcohol oh i do not want to be like that and i hope that you don't want to be like that either [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] hey [Music] me [Music] [Applause] um hey me [Music] okay um good morning and happy sabbath as i counted we have about 15 precious souls here today it's much better than preaching in the studio with just the camera operators the orchestra sounded very nice this morning also i love the facelift that has been given to the church looks very very nice for those who have not been able to attend church during the pandemic at least a little more than half of the pews the color has been changed praise the lord the platform has taken up on a different look and the windows as well so when we're able to come back to church you're all going to love the facelift that has been given to the church here at fresno central well pastor govaija was supposed to preach today however some circumstances did not allow him to do that and so pastor puenaro asked me to pinch it but before we study god's word we want to ask the lord in prayer to bless us so let's bow our heads father in heaven we come before your throne your majestic throne boldly not because we have any merit but because we come in the precious name of jesus we ask father that our study today will be fruitful that it will help us to realize the trying times that we're living in that our redemption draws nigh help us lord to prepare for the great events that will soon explode upon the world scene thank you for the promise of your presence we claim that promise in the precious and holy name of our lord and savior jesus amen the subject that i've been asked to preach on is the close of probation now some of the things that i'm going to share with you undoubtedly some of you have already heard after all i pastored fresno center for about 20 years and all of the sermons that i preach are on youtube and many different outlets facebook etc so it's practically impossible to present anything that is totally and completely new i want to start by reading matthew chapter 24 verses 36 to 39 and then verses 43 and 44. matthew 24 verses 36 to 39. this is after jesus has describes the sign of his coming the signs of his coming it says in verse 36 but of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only now here's the question before i read the rest of the verses what day and hour is being referred to here the hour that no one knows is it the day and hour of the second coming of christ or is there perhaps a deeper truth here that probably many have not seen well let's read the rest of the passage in verse 38 for as in the days before the flood so jesus has just said of the day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only and now he's going to illustrate this verse as the days of noah were so also will the coming of the son of man be for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage that is carrying on business as usual until the day that noah entered the ark and did not know that is those outside the ark did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be now you'll notice here that two points of time are mentioned in the illustration that jesus uses the moment when noah and his family entered the ark and the moment when it started to rain the word until is used twice and those outside the ark did not know something in the seven days between the time when noah and his family entered the ark and the time when it started to rain so also will the coming of the son of man be is it just possible that the coming of the son of man involves more than just the second coming of christ that perhaps it involves a closing of the door before jesus comes in this flood story that jesus uses we have what is called typology the flood is the type and the destruction at the end of the world is the anti-type or the fulfillment of the story now in order to understand this fully we need to go back to the flood story because if jesus says that his coming is going to be similar to the flood we can't understand his coming unless we understand the flood we have to understand the type before we can understand the anti-type you know the death of jesus as the lamb of god is the anti-type the sacrifice of the lamb is the type how can you understand the fulfillment of christ being the lamb in the anti-type unless we understand the sacrifice of the lamb in the type so the illustration that jesus uses sends us back to the flood story in the old testament that is the foundation that's what we need to study first now there are four points of time in the flood story that we need to keep in mind the first one is the preaching and building of the ark this is the probationary period of 120 years during this time noah did two things he preached and he built he preached empowered by the holy spirit because the story tells us my spirit shall not strive with man forever but it will strive for 120 years while noah preaches so noah preached a message empowered by the holy spirit the message of noah was not a politically correct message it was not a smooth message it called the people to repent and to change their behavior during the 120 years the spirit was striving with the hearts of the antediluvians let's read genesis chapter 6 and verse 3 and the lord said my spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is indeed flesh yet his day shall be 120 years now the message that noah preached was a judgment our message because his message divided the world into two groups the choices that people made determined the side that they would be on in fact it's interesting that the word strive that is used here in genesis 6 3 my spirit shall not always strive with man is most of the times in the old testament translated judgment so it could be translated my spirit shall not judge man forever the message that noah preached was a judgment our message because his message led people to decide to be on one side or to be on the other side and that's what happens in a judgment noah preached now it's interesting in the story in genesis we're not told that noah preached we have to go to the new testament to see that noah preached to the world in ii peter chapter 2 and verse 5 second peter chapter 2 and verse 5 we're told god did not spare the ancient world but saved noah one of eight people a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly so noah was a preacher of righteousness during the 120 years noah was preaching empowered by the holy spirit and people were deciding to be on one side or the other they were being judged by the message that noah preached but bare words are cheap noah backed up his words with his actions he had a faith that worked he invested all of his time his efforts his talents his strengths and his resources to build the ark whereas most of the people were saving for a rainy day building the ark was not one job among many for noah building the ark was priority number one he showed his face by his works in fact that's what's brought out in hebrews chapter 11 and verse 7 where we are told by faith noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved see faith is an action word moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith so noah did not condemn the world by his preaching but by his building his actions proved that he believed the message that he was preaching noah preached that which was absurd he simply preached because god told him to what does faith mean faith simply means doing what god says without question however to have faith in god to trust god we have to know god in order to know god we must love god and in order to love god we must spend time with him now judged by numerical standards noah's evangelistic crusade was a terrible failure imagine out of the millions of people that lived in the world before the flood noah preached for 120 years that was quite a long evangelistic crusade and when he finished preaching eight souls were saved and they were all members of the same family you see many people think that the majority at the end are going to be saved but god is going to have a remnant a small minority that make the right choice noah's message was contrary to historical empirical sensorial rational and scientific evidence the idea of a universal flood was absolutely preposterous for the pre-flood race because it had never rained you see before creation week we're told in genesis 1 verse 2 that the planet was covered with water the second day of creation according to genesis 1 verse 7 god placed part of the water above which is called the windows of heaven and place part of the part of the water below which is called the fountains of the great deep why did god place water above and water below above because this earth was like a gigantic greenhouse with a uniform climate underneath because the earth was watered by an automatic sprinkler system at certain times in the day a mist would come up from the earth the water that god had placed below god did not have to create water for the flood all god had to do was bring the water that he placed above down and take the water that he placed below and bring it up i like to imagine what the experts must have said in the days of noah let's visit a university of the time the department of natural sciences would have probably said this it has never rained before everything has continued as it has from the beginning what noah is preaching is contrary to science it is preposterous to believe that water could fall from heaven and totally fill the earth it's unscientific was what the department of natural sciences would have said what would the theology department of the university have said noah focuses too much on our sins god is a god of love he loves the world far too much to destroy it besides rain from heaven will recover require a miracle and nature works on the basis of natural law what would the history department of the university have said there is no historical record of any flood in the past so why should we believe that there's going to be one now perhaps the behavioral sciences department would have said noah is suffering from a mental delusion he is confusing reality with fantasy he is mentally deranged he needs a psychiatrist what would the sociology department have said we must not allow a lunatic like noah to disrupt the stable order of society and the philosophy department probably would have said noah is suffering because of an existential void in his life truth is relative what is truth for noah is not necessarily the truth for everyone and so we can imagine what the world was saying at that time so the first point that i want us to notice is probation open noah preaching noah building and the world mocking now we come to the second point of the flood story when noah concluded his preaching and building he and his family entered the ark the spirit then ceased to strive with human hearts every person's choice was final there were only two groups in the world but before god closed the door noah stood at the door of the ark and made one last call the call was rejected just imagine how merciful god is he gave the world beside noah's preaching one last sign all of the animals came by twos and marched into the ark it's not like the hollywood version where noah's sons are out with ropes and they're pulling the animals to come into the ark no the story tells us that they march two by twos into the ark obeying god's voice there's a lesson here the animals had more sense than the humans genesis 7 verse 16 describes the second point that i want us to notice in this story so those that entered the ark male and female of all flesh speaking of the animals went in as god commanded him and the lord shut him in that was the close of probation in patriots and prophets page 98 ellen white explains that those who were inside were sealed the door was sealed she wrote noah was shut in and the rejecters of god's mercy were shut out the seal of heaven was on that door god had shut it and god alone could open it what does ellen white mean by the expression shut him in why would noah and his family need to be shut in for two reasons number one because in the seven days that followed the wicked outside manifested more and more violence towards noah and those who were in the ark god needed to protect them and secondly they needed to be protected from the destruction that would come in the flood so the second point is when the door of probation closes once the door closes there are only two groups those inside and those outside no chance of changing sides and then we come to the third point that i want us to notice in this type that jesus spoke of let's go to genesis chapter 7 and verse 4. let me ask you could god have made it rain the moment that the door closed of course he could have that's a piece of cake for god god has performed much greater miracles than that god could have made it rain as soon as noah and his family entered the ark the question is why didn't he let's read verse 4 for after seven more days i will cause it to rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights and i will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that i have made ellen white explained the experience of noah and his family and the experience of those outside the ark during those seven days patriots and prophets pages 98 and 99 illinois wrote for seven days after noah and his family entered the ark there appeared no sign of the coming storm do you think that the faith of noah and his family was tested during those seven days you better believe it ellen white wrote during this period their faith was tested it was a time of triumph to the world without so those outside the ark said see we told you it wasn't going to rain day one day two day three day four day five day six day seven nothing has happened no and those inside the ark they're crazy their faith was tested she continues the apparent delay confirmed them in the belief that noah's message was a delusion and that the flood would never come notwithstanding the solemn scenes which they had witnessed the beasts and birds entering the ark and the angel of god closing the door they still continued this sport and revelry even making a jest of these signal manifestations of god's power and now notice this they gathered in crowds about the ark deriding its inmates with a daring violence which they had never ventured upon before is that going to happen in connection with events that have to do with the second coming with the wicked versus the righteous yes so during these seven days after the door of probation closed before the destruction came the faith of noah and his family was severely tested it was a day of triumph for those outside and it was a day of trial for those who were inside ellen white then applied the typology in patriarchs and prophets page 98 likewise as we just read likewise when christ shall cease his intercession for guilty men before his coming in the clouds of heaven the door of mercy will be shut then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked and satan will have full control of those who have rejected mercy they will endeavor to destroy god's people but as noah was shut into the ark so the righteous will be shielded by divine power there's the typology god's people will remain on earth during the tribulation as this time of trouble unfolds their faith will be tested the parable that jesus told in luke chapter 18 verses one through eight the widow that kept coming to the judge do justice over my adversary will be the experience of god's people during that time they will continue coming and coming and coming to the lord praying for deliverance and god will delay delay and delay and then we have the fourth point that i want us to notice on the eighth day rain began to fall genesis chapter 7 verse 11 tells us in the 600th year of noah's life in the second month the 17th day of the month on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up now god is going to take the water he placed below and he's going to bring it up and it continues saying and the windows of heaven were open that's the water that god had placed above you know i had the privilege a few years ago of visiting igua sioux falls it's in the border between paraguay argentina paraguay argentina and brazil quite a scene you can't even talk when you're at the foot of those falls because they just roar as they crash into the rocks at the bottom of the falls yet that's a little trickle compared to what's coming and what happened at the flood notice patriots and prophets page 99 where ellen white described what the flood was like water appeared to come from the clouds in mighty cataracts rivers broke away from their boundaries and overflowed the valleys jets of water burst from the earth with indescribable force throwing massive rocks hundreds of feet into the air and these in folly falling buried themselves deep in the ground as the violence of the storm increased trees buildings rocks and earth were hurled in every direction the terror of man and beast was beyond description above the roar of the tempest was heard the wailing of a people that had despised the authority of god as i was reading this statement from ellen white i was reminded of the tsunami that hit northeastern the northeastern area of honshu japan on march 11 2011 i'm sure you remember seeing that on television the waves reached a height of 30 feet and barreled over the restraining wall that was only 18 feet tall and took everything with it buildings houses boats cars animals people the water went inland as much as six miles 22 000 people perished in a matter of minutes but that was a local tsunami now imagine a global tsunami like that one in the days of noah you know the normal word in the new testament for flood is the word potamos where we get the word hippopotamus jupo is under and potamos river so you know the the hippopotamus swims under the river that's the normal word but whenever the flood is spoken of in the new testament that's not the word that is used the word that is used in the new testament is cataclysmos what word do we get in english from cataclysmos cataclysm in others the flood was a cataclysm what happened with satan during the flood ellen white wrote in patriarchs and prophets page 99 that he had to stay here getting wet that's not the way she expresses it let me just read what she said satan himself who was compelled to remain in the midst of the warring elements feared for his own existence can you imagine what the flood must have been like that satan feared for his own existence and then the earth returned to the condition it was in before creation week darkness in the heavens the earth totally covered with water as before creation week and not one human alive on the planet so is the type clear in your mind four points of time preaching and building probation open the closing of the door probation closes everyone is on one side or the other the time of trial between when the door closes and destruction comes that's the time of trouble that god's people will have to go through and then finally after that period comes the destruction let's go back now to matthew matthew chapter 24 matthew chapter 24 and verses 36 39. but of that day and hour no one knows day and hour for what just for the second coming no for the second coming and for what for the close of probation because that's the next illustration that comes after this verse but at that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only but as the days of noah were so also will the coming of the son of man be for as in the days before the flood notice not at the flood before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that noah what entered the ark that's the first point of time and did not know that as those outside did not know something when the door closed what didn't they know they did not know that they were lost did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be and then jesus goes on in matthew 24 verses 42 through 44 to use a metaphor to illustrate what he has just described in the flood type matthew 24 and verse 42 jesus says to his followers watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming you say well that's the second coming pastor the second coming we don't know the hour of his second coming but there's more to the story as we look at the type so watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming but know this that if the master of the house had known at whatever the thief would come so now jesus is going to illustrate the type with the coming of the thief once again verse 43 but know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have done what he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect now let's talk about the coming of the thief i want you to imagine fresno in december late december cold foggy you've been at work all day so you come home after working real hard all day and you have a nice warm bowl of soup with some delicious bread have supper then sit down in front of the television say i want to see what's been going on in the world today so you start watching television and as you're watching you're so tired that you go to sleep so then you wake up and you say you know i'm gonna go to bed because i'm very very sleepy so you go to bed you know lower the thermostat cover yourself with the blanket real nice and warm and when you're under the covers you say oh no i forgot to lock the door oh it's so warm under those covers it's so comfortable i've been living in this house for 20 years and the thief has never come lo and behold you don't lock the door and it just so happens that that night when you did not expect when you were not watching the thief comes and he finds the door unlocked he steals everything of value in the house and everyone in the house is totally unaware that the thief has come when do those in the house discover that the thief has come in the morning when they wake up but then it's too late so the coming of jesus as a thief not only refers to the second coming when the wicked are surprised when they see jesus coming in the clouds of heaven but it applies also to the moment when jesus closes the door of probation in the heavenly sanctuary and the world is unaware that probation has closed ellen white wrote in patriots and prophets page 98 and page 99 so when christ shall cease his intercession for guilty men before his coming in the clouds of heaven the door of mercy will be shut then divine grace will no longer restrain the wicked and satan will have full control of those who have rejected mercy they will endeavor to destroy god's people but as noah was shut into the ark so the righteous will be shielded by divine power and then she goes back to the type for seven days after noah and his family entered the ark there appeared no sign of the coming storm during this period their faith was tested it was a time of triumph to the world without the apparent delay confirmed them in the belief that noah's message was a delusion and that the flood would never come you see the seventh avenue is unique in believing that the door operation is going to come before jesus second coming in other words the opportunity to be saved is going to take place before jesus comes in the clouds of heaven many christians believe that they're going to be able to change sides until you know when jesus begins his second coming they'll say i'm yours but it's not that way probation is going to close before the second coming and god's people are going to have to go through a severe time of trial where our faith will be severely tested you see the number seven seems to be very significant here in the flood story in the type how many times hotter was the furnace that the three young hebrews were thrown into seven times hotter than ever before precious metals according to psalm 12 and verse 6 were actually tested in the fire or purified in the fire seven times are god's people gonna have to go through the furnace of affliction during the time of trouble the worst time of trouble that has ever been yes like the furnace was heated hotter than ever before people their earthliness ellen white says will be consumed in the fires of the time of trouble job is an illustration of the experience of god's people during that time job understood what he was going through he said in chapter 23 and verse 10 that after his trial he would come forth as gold he knew that he was being tried in the furnace of affliction so ellen white firmly based on scripture explained that the door of probation would close before the great tribulation and before the second coming of christ i'm going to read you a rather long statement great controversy 491 where ellen white describes the time when the door closes the time of trouble and the second coming when the work of the investigative judgment closes the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death probation ends a short time before the appearing of the lord in the clouds of heaven christ in the revelation looking forward to that time declares he that is unjust let him be unjust still he which is filthy let him be filthy still he that is righteous let him be righteous still he that is holy let him be holy still does that sound like two sides in the times of noah she continues and she's quoting revelation 22 11 and 12. after the decision is made we're told and behold i come quickly jesus is speaking and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be then she continues the quotation the righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their mortal state men will be planting and building eating and drinking all unconscious that the final irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above before the flood now she's going to use the type before the flood after noah entered the ark god shut him in and shut the ungodly out but for seven days the people knowing not that their doom was fixed continued their careless pleasure loving life and mocked the warnings of impending judgment so says the savior shall also the coming of the son of man be silently now notice this silently unnoticed as the midnight thief will come the decisive hour that marks the fixing of every man's destiny the final withdrawal of mercy's offer to guilty man and then she continues what there for let's come in suddenly he find you sleeping she's quoting here mark 13 35 and 36 don't forget that because we're going to come back to it watchy therefore less coming suddenly he finds you sleeping she's quoting mark 13 35-36 then she comments perilous is the condition of those who growing weary of their watch turn to the attractions of the world while the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain this would include some adventist by the way while the pleasure lover is seeking indulgence while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments it may be in that hour the judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting remember i told you to remember mark 13 35-36 now i'm going to quote verses 33 to 37 of mark 13 and then i'm going to read you a quotation from ellen white which brings this to our level what we should be doing and the dangers that we face it says there in mark 13 verse 33 jesus is speaking take heed watch and pray for you do not know when the time is you say what time is that second coming right no you do not know when the time is it is like a man going into a far country that's jesus going to heaven it is ascension who left his house and gave authority to his servants that's us and to each his work that's us and commanded the doorkeeper to watch watch therefore for you do not know when the master of the house is coming in the evening at midnight at the crowing of the rooster or in the morning lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping and when i say to you i say to all watch now i'm going to read the statement from ellen white because you say well lest come in suddenly he find you sleeping is the second coming of jesus no it isn't here's the statement from ellen white volume 2 of the testimonies page 190. jesus has left us word watch ye therefore for ye know not when the master of the house cometh she's quoting mark 13 at evening even or at midnight or at the crowing or in the morning let's come in suddenly he find you sleeping and when i say unto you i say unto all watch so she's quoting what we just read from mark 13. and then she comments we are waiting and watching for the return of the master who is to bring the morning lest coming suddenly he find us sleeping now here comes the key portion what time is he referred to she asks less coming suddenly he finds us sleeping what time is referred to here not to the revelation of christ in the clouds of heaven to find a people asleep that's not the coming of mark 13. she then she repeats not to the revelation of christ in the clouds of heaven to find the people asleep no but to his return from his ministration in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary when he lays off his priestly attire and clothes himself with garments of vengeance and when the mandate goes forth he that is unjust let him be unjust still he which is filthy let him be filthy still he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he did it as holy let him be holy still and now she's going to amplify what that verse in revelation 22 verse 11 means when jesus ceases to plead for man the cases of all are forever decided this is the time of reckoning with his servants to those who have neglected i want you to notice some key words now to those who have neglected the preparation of purity and holiness which fits them to be waiting once to welcome their lord the sun sets in gloom and darkness and rises not again to those who have what not rejected neglected the preparation of purity and holiness she continues probation closes christ's intercessions cease in heaven this time finally comes suddenly upon all and those who have neglected knows once again the key word those who have neglected to purify their souls by obeying the truth are found sleeping they became weary of waiting and watching they became indifferent in regard to the coming of their master you know i believe most evidence believe jesus is going to come up here in our brain but do we live like we really believe that so she says they became weary of waiting and watching they became indifferent in regard to the coming of their master they longed not for his appearing and thought there was no need of such continued persevering watching they had been disappointed in their expectations it might be again my great-grandparents said jesus is coming soon my grandparents said jesus coming soon my parents said jesus is coming soon i preached jesus is coming soon so she says they thought there was no they thought there was no need of such continual perseverance watching they have been disappointed in their expectations and might be again they concluded that there was time enough yet to arouse they would be sure not to lose the opportunity of securing an earthly treasure it would be safe to get all of this world they could and in securing this object they lost all anxiety and interest in the appearing of the master they became indifferent and careless as though his coming were yet in the distance but while their interest was buried up in their worldly games the work closed in the heavenly sanctuary and they were unprepared and then after this comes the second coming of jesus the destruction you remember what happened to satan during the flood he was forced to remain on an earth covered with water in darkness with all of his followers dead is that what's going to happen after the second coming of christ is the earth going to return to the condition it was in before creation week jeremiah in chapter 4 and verse 23 of his book says i beheld the earth after the second coming and it was what without form and void and i looked at the heavens and they had no light and all the wicked will be dead and what is god a good god going to do with satan he will be forced to remain on the planet just like at the time of the flood with none of his followers alive the typology is precise we don't have to say well i hope someday it's going to happen the way the bible says folks it happened already once so we know if it happened it can happen again and it will happen again let me end with an illustration on wednesday november 13 1985 the volcano nevado del rios in the city of armero in colombia exploded twenty-two thousand presidents so precious souls were buried by an avalanche of mud in a matter of minutes 22 000 120 out of 124 seventh day adventists perished in the avalanche and of course the question that we ask is were there no signs that a disaster was coming yes there was in fact the next day after the disaster in one of the main newspapers of colombia called el espectador or the spectator in english there was an article written by rodolfo rodriguez calderon and the title in spanish is undesastrea nunciado that is an announced disaster the article makes it clear that every single person could have saved their lives if they had just paid attention to the signs of the impending doom but they chose to ignore the signs let me give you what this article had eleven months before the disaster the mountain had begun spewing smoke and ash out of its top the fluffy snow on the mountain top had become a solid sheet of ice due to the intense heat within the mountain the water level of the rivers rivers increased significantly because of the melting snow at the top of the mountain the cloud of ash and gases that reached only 15 feet the first day had increased to 750 feet the second day and the day of the eruption it had increased to 16 000 feet on september 11 the earth tremors began at an intensity of three on occasion the people could hear the mountain roar within the authorities had to close the access roads to the mountain ski resort because of the mudslides covering the roads people who survived said that it was impossible to keep their houses clean because the volcanic ash that blew into town day in and day out people could smell the sulfur in the air the few that survived said that the torrential rain began to fall on the night of the disaster with wind of hurricane proportions and they said it was unusually dark almost a supernatural darkness were there signs abundant but the t people decided to ignore the signs why simply because they decided to follow the counsel of the experts who told them to ignore the signs let me give you some of the information that came out in this article a priest the town priest edgar efren torres came over the radio at 7 00 pm the night of the disaster and told the people there is no reason to panic please stay calm the civil defense in an official radio release said there is no reason to be concerned the bishop of the town augusto osorio warned against fanatics who were announcing gloom and doom for the city the mayor said don't worry and then skip town the governor of the state of tolima later said the disaster could not have been predicted in advance colombian scientist jaime villegas velazquez confidently predicted before the disaster this volcano is not going to erupt nothing is going to happen beware of speculations and exaggerations the secretary of mines ivan duques cobar said nothing is going to happen even united states geologist daryl hurd had said that it was very unlikely that the cities would be buried by rocks lava or mud the regional emergency committee sent out a message don't expect your windows to shatter don't expect darkness don't expect lava to run down the mountain don't expect large layers of ash among other things the people did not know that the door of mercy had closed for them they had very little time to live very few were left we are seeing signs in the world today the things are winding down to the end folks not only the pandemic riots the cold war between china the united states and russia nations vying for rural power the growth of the papacy the love affair between the papacy and protestantism incredible disasters in the world natural disaster so called everything is winding down are we going to ignore the signs or are we going to have that blessed hope burn in our hearts as the song that we sing at secrets unsealed at the end of the service that we live stream every week now before i end i want to mention that there's a closing of another door of probation we've spoken today about the close of the corporate door of probation the door of probation for the world the time is coming when the door will close and everybody's case will be decided even of the wicked who are alive after the door closed but there's another door of probation that closes it's the individual door of probation when a person dies their case is closed so if you don't reach the time of the close of the corporate door of probation for the world and you and i should die before that our door probation is closed so the question is where is our alliance today is it with the world or is it with jesus is it with the with the stuff that we have the things that we have the material possessions that we have the toys both child and adult that we have is that our everyday endeavors a recreation sports whatever it is is that our focus or is our focus preaching the gospel and building an ark by the way the ark represents the church where those who are saved come into the ark are we preaching the word are we building an ark and are we personally preparing our relationship with jesus christ i pray that as we've studied this today that we will get serious about the lord and that we will long was a great longing for the coming of jesus are you tired of living in this world that we're living in now it's time to go home how about it amen let's pray father in heaven we come before you we thank you for leaving these stories in your word because we know that this once happened and therefore it will happen again you use stories to warn us about the future i ask lord that you will help us to take this message to heart that our hearts much might long for the coming of jesus as the song that we sang all the time that i was pastor here at fresno central church we long for the coming of the lord may that hope burn strong and bright in our hearts we pray in the precious name of jesus amen um [Music] so [Music] so you

Channel: Fresno Central Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 86min 34sec (5194 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 26 2020