Well, good morning, Saints.
Well, that’s a little better. Are we awake? It’s a good thing, because that’s what the message is about: being awake, being ready.
You know, I couldn’t help but think of my grandchildren this morning when we were around the Lord’s table. A couple of days ago, my wife was keeping them, and of course, she gets three of them in that little Mazda. I don’t know how she does it, but they all have to get strapped in.
But she’s always looked upon that as a good time, since they’re all strapped in, to share with them about the Lord. So it is kind of natural for them, when they get in the car, to talk about Jesus.
She relayed this story to me yesterday. She had them in the car, and they’re nine, four, and three years old. The nine-year-old said, “Nini, why did the Lord have to die? Why did Jesus have to die?” I think those were his words.
So she began to share with them. She said, “You know, we all do things wrong in our lives. Sometimes we’re mean; sometimes we don’t treat each other right. We need some way to be forgiven for that.” She said that the Lord died and shed His blood that we might be forgiven by the Father.
And the little four-year-old said, “Nini, what you’re trying to say is He sacrificed Himself.”
Now, if that didn’t grab your heart, I don’t know what else will. Those little four-year-olds seem to know everything. In fact, one time he told me he knew everything, so I’m beginning to believe him.
Anyway, what has been on my heart since before the conference is the need to awaken. My brother shared on Wednesday night, and it really touched my heart about being awakened to His soon return. It has been on my heart ever since and was only enhanced as we went to the conference.
So I would like to share from the book of Revelation this morning, from the very beginning of the book. I have a number of Scriptures to read, so bear with me a little while.
First of all, Revelation 1:3.
Blessed is he that reads,
and they that hear the words of the prophecy,
and keep the things that are written therein:
for the time is at hand.
Another version says, “Pay attention to the things written in it.” For the time is near. The time is at hand. The time is just a second away. The time is just around the corner.
Let me read the passage in Revelation, beginning with Revelation 1:1.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants what must shortly take place; and He signified it by sending His angel to His bondservant John;
who testified the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, even all things that he saw.
Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
John to the seven assemblies which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne;
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Unto Him that loves us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood;
and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold, He comes with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him.
Let us turn to Luke 1:26-27.
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.
Now go to Luke 1:35. Mary was responding to the angel, and she said, “But I do not know a man.”
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.
And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.
For no word from God shall be void of power.
And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Now, Luke 2:8-12.
And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:
for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
Now, Luke 2:15-16. This is their response:
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Now let us go to Luke 2:25. This is Simeon.
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning Him after the custom of the law,
then he received Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart, Lord, according to Thy word, in peace;
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples;
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of Thy people Israel.
Now let us read Luke 2:36-38. This is Anna.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher—she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,
and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years—who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.
And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks unto God, and spake of Him to all them that were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Now let us go to Matthew 2:1-2.
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and are come to worship Him.
And go to Matthew 2:9-11.
And they, having heard the king, went their way; and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they offered unto Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Now let us go to Matthew 24. This will be the last one. Matthew 24:3.
And as He sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?
What is the sign of Thy coming and the completion of the age?
Now go to Matthew 24:32.
Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;
even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that He is nigh, even at the doors.
Matthew 24:37-43.
And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched.
He would have watched.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we come to You this morning. It is just our desire this morning that we hear from You, that we hear from Your Word, that, Lord, You would awaken our hearts to the times in which we live and the closeness of Your soon return.
Lord, do touch our hearts and our spirits deeply, Lord, that we might be ready on that day, at the start of Your return. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now back to Revelation 1:3.
Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Blessed. This is a book—this is a letter, really—from the Lord, written to us, to those who know Him and love Him and want to follow Him. This is a special message that He has written.
It says that it is a revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, it reveals Christ to us in a new way. We need to listen and hear and pay attention.
Not only that, but it tells us that the Lord is coming back to restore everything, to redeem everything, to recover everything back to God’s full purpose, and that Christ will come and reign on this earth for a thousand years as King.
The millennium, the marriage supper of the Lamb—a thousand years. It is a new age, brothers and sisters. It is about to come upon us. It is about to happen.
Following that thousand years, praise the Lord, we will see the New Jerusalem. Everything will be perfected. Everything will be ready. The old earth and heavens will be burned up, and we will enter a new age, a new relationship, so to speak, with the Lord Jesus forever. Well, that is what the book is about.
A lot of people read this book and just see tragedies and suffering. Brothers and sisters, that is because God is moving in this age to bring about His heart’s desire: to have His bride, to have the whole world restored in the way that God would have it. And the enemy is angry.
The enemy also knows that, at the end of this age—at the end of the millennium—his end is over. He will have no more influence at all. So he is angry, and we see all these upheavals.
Well, it says, “Blessed,” though, are those who hear and read. Blessed. Don’t you want to know the blessing of the Lord? We receive blessings every day, but there is a special blessing to be received in this book of Revelation.
What is that blessing? What is it that He is asking us to be so diligent about in reading and listening and hearing and responding to? It says, “Pay attention. Take heed.”
Why? What is this blessing?
The blessing is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our blessing, no doubt about it. But what it is talking about here is that blessed hope in Titus 2:13:
Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is the blessing spoken of here: the blessing of the soon coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for which He wants us all to be ready.
It is a blessing, brothers and sisters. We can now know our Lord Jesus Christ by faith in the Spirit. We commune with Him. We receive His forgiveness. We receive His everyday direction and help and encouragement and strength. We receive Him daily, and we know something of Him.
But in that day, we will know Him face to face, just like I am standing in front of you this morning. His presence will be seen with your eyes as well as with your spirit. What a blessed hope we have.
Now, we know from the Scriptures that all Christians will see the Lord face to face at the judgment seat of Christ.
Now, the judgment seat of Christ will be a wonderful thing, but it can also be a little bit scary. Because we know from the parable in Matthew 25, when the Lord speaks of this judgment, He says to the good servants—the ones who have followed Him, the ones who were ready when the Master came back—“Enter into the joy of the Lord.” That is our hope.
But to the one who was not ready, the one who was not awakened to the Master’s coming back and was actually mistreating other servants—in other words, he just was not into the Master coming back—He said, “Depart from Me, you evil servant.”
Now notice: He did not call him an unbeliever. He still called him a servant, but He referred to him as evil. He was evil because he was not obeying the Lord.
The Lord looked upon him and said, “You are not worthy of serving with Me during the kingdom age.” And they will receive further discipline during that time—another thousand years of discipline—to really be prepared for the Lord.
So we know that, at the judgment seat of Christ, we will all meet the Lord face to face. We all are desiring that we will hear those words, “Enter into the joy of the Lord.”
But for others, for some—and it is still a possibility for us sitting in these seats—at the beginning of the Lord’s return, you will be raptured alive, alive to meet Him face to face at the throne. Not at the cloud, but at the throne.
What a blessing and privilege, to prepare the way for the Lord’s return to this earth.
For those who are ready, they will be raptured to the throne at the beginning of His return, called parousia. What a blessing and privilege it is to be a part of that.
That is why, I think, the Lord so wants us to pay attention to this letter, to this book—to really hear what the Spirit is saying and to respond, to pay attention to it. Make it a part of your everyday life: being ready for His soon return and prepared to meet Him.
Now, I had to think about this. I said, “Lord, I am already almost sixty-nine, and I do not know how many more years I have. I expect You to come back anytime—I really do. But I may pass away before You come back. What about that, Lord?”
We need to be ready every day. I could be on my deathbed, and the Lord could be returning, and I need to be ready to meet Him at the throne.
But if I am not—if by chance I pass away before He comes back—I do want, at the judgment seat of Christ, to hear those words: “Enter into the joy of the Lord, good and faithful servant,” and to be able to be with Him and serve Him a thousand years during that millennial reign on this current earth, and to see the glory of it.
We think this is a glorious earth. It is going to be even more glorious, because it says the wildness in the animals will be gone. The lion and the lamb will lie down together. There will be righteousness filling the whole earth. The Lord Himself will be King and Ruler, and all injustice will be dealt with immediately. It will be righteousness prevailing, not as we see today, of course.
A glorious time to serve the Lord, to be with Him, and to serve all these nations.
Revelation 19:9 says:
Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
I do hope that we are all invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
This is our blessed hope. Whether the Lord comes before we pass away or afterward, He is our blessed hope: seeing Him face to face, being able to hear Him say, “Enter into the joy of the Lord, and serve with Me. Serve with Me in the millennial period.”
And if we happen to be alive, how glorious to be raptured right to the throne, never die, never pass through physical death.
As we clear the air for the Lord, Satan is thrown out in warfare with the angels, and everything is cleared out. Of course, Satan will come to this earth, and things will really get intense at that point. But what a blessing to be a part of that welcoming party for the Lord.
I think this is the reason the Lord wants us to pay attention to this letter. I think Stephen referred to this as His love letter to His saints—His words that He wanted us to be ready, because He talks about Him who was, who is, and is to come. That covers everything.
He wants us to be ready. This is our blessed hope. This is the reason why we need to have what the Lord speaks to us concerning the revelation of Jesus Christ and His soon return really hit our hearts.
You know, have that real sense in our heart that He is coming, and a desire and a passion for Him—not only as our Savior, but as our King—that we might be ready. This is our blessed hope.
Then, in Revelation 1:3, the Lord adds an emphasis. He says, “Let me read it again: Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and pay attention to the things written therein, for the time is near.” Some versions say, “The time is at hand.”
I always feel like it is walking in downtown Richmond, and you turn a corner and there He is. It is going to be that sudden. It is like walking through those double doors, and all of a sudden, He is there. You know, that is how soon it might be.
Well, the time is near. He is at the doors, it says. And my heart is: Do we really sense that deep in our spirits? Do we sense it to the point that it makes a difference in our daily lives?
You know, in the first appearing of the Lord Jesus, of which we read quite a few Scriptures, the people were looking for the Messiah. How they wanted to be blessed. They were under the oppression of the Roman Empire, and they were a secondary people.
They knew they were God’s people, but they also knew that they were oppressed. They were not in the place they should be. They were looking for this Messiah to come and shower His blessings upon them, to feed them, make them number one, and overthrow the Roman government.
These outward blessings were really what was in their hearts—not the Messiah Himself.
You know, the Pharisees—we put the Pharisees down, and I guess we should—but they diligently searched the Scriptures. When King Herod asked where He was going to be born, they were able to say, “In Bethlehem.” They knew from the Scriptures; the prophets had spoken it.
They were diligently going through the Scriptures, trying to learn about the Messiah and when He might come. Of course, they were looking forward to being the ruling party when the Messiah came. It was always on their hearts to get out from under the Roman thumb.
Most likely, the people in Jerusalem were talking about the Messiah daily because they were really under oppression, and it was on their hearts. They really wanted the Messiah to come.
But unfortunately, these same ones, when the Lord came, at first welcomed Him so much because He was feeding the multitudes, raising the dead, and performing many miracles. They just flocked to our Lord.
But the longer He stayed, the more He spoke, the more they realized that He was not what they were expecting.
Why had He not set Himself up as King and overthrown the Roman government? Why was He not dealing with all the social issues of the time? Why did they crucify our Lord? These same ones turned on Him. Why?
Because the Lord was concerned about their spiritual condition. The Lord was concerned about their spiritual life—their eternal life, not the temporal. He did not fit into their concept, and they crucified Him.
Weren’t they okay? After all, they were God’s chosen ones. Where were all these physical blessings?
You know, I have recently read something by Sparks. He said that if our relationship with the Lord is totally for being blessed, receiving the blessings of the Lord—which is okay, by the way—but if our relationship with Him is based on that, then when the Lord maybe backs off some of His blessings and we become offended, there is a problem.
I do not know if you have ever done that, but you can become offended at the Lord because you were expecting to be blessed or something, and it did not happen. Rather, what happened is the cross came. The Lord was trying to deal with us in a much deeper way. He was trying to get at the spiritual condition in our life.
We wanted outward satisfaction, and He wanted inward reality, and we become offended at the Lord.
“Lord, why am I going through this? I thought I was Your child. I thought You were going to take care of me. Look at all the trouble I am in. Look at the impossible situation.”
And the Lord is trying to do a deeper work. He is getting at the spiritual things, brothers and sisters. That is His concern. It takes the cross. But we can become offended at the cross, at the work of crossing our lives personally.
You know, when the Lord Jesus said many were following Him, and He spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood—He was, of course, talking about the cross—they did not understand. But it says many left Him.
The Lord did not try to explain Himself at all. He left it, because the ones who had that spiritual contact with the Lord, when He asked them, “Are you going to leave also?” they said, “Lord, where can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Have you realized that in your personal life and walk with the Lord, when times are tough, when things are happening and you are wondering where the Lord is, all the time He is trying to get at something in our hearts—something spiritual, something deep? It is the work of the cross going on, and we can become offended.
It is not strange, brothers and sisters. Remember John the Baptist?
He was the forerunner of Christ. He was the one who said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Then he was put into prison. We know he was beheaded, but before his execution, he sent out the message, “Are You the promised One?”
You know, his faith was wounded because the Lord was not responding as he was expecting. He too probably was looking for the Lord to overthrow the Roman rule and government and free him from prison.
God did not explain anything to him either. But He was dealing with John deeply in his life. It was the work of the cross. John was to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. John did not understand that at the time.
But the Lord’s response was, “Blessed are the unoffended in Me.” Thank God, John received that word, and he did die a martyr’s death, and he will be rewarded. Praise the Lord.
But you see, the Lord was after the spiritual thing. That is what so many did not understand, and so many turned on our Lord, even to the point of crucifixion.
Brothers and sisters, they thought they were okay. They thought they were God’s chosen. But they did not understand their real spiritual condition before God. The Lord knew, and the Lord was trying to get at that spiritual condition. He was trying to get them ready, but they refused and rejected Him.
But praise the Lord, thank God, there were a few. There were a few that were ready.
We think of Elizabeth and her husband, through whom John the Baptist was born, and how they responded. Actually, the father was a little hesitant and a little unbelieving, but you know what? The Lord dealt with him. He took his voice; he could not say anything.
Finally, on the day when the babe was born and they asked the father what his name would be, he did not name him after a family name. He said, “His name is John.” The Lord opened his voice and his heart to testify. It was the Lord.
Well, it was Mary. I read the story about Mary, how the angel came to Mary and said, “Look, One is going to be born of you—the Savior of the world, the Son of God.” She said, “How can this be? I am a virgin, and betrothed, but I am not yet married. What?”
And he said, “You will have this child. The Holy Spirit will do this work in your body.”
You know, she could have said, “No. No, I am not ready for that. I am not ready for the possible ridicule that I am going to receive by being pregnant out of wedlock.”
But that was not her response to the Lord’s messenger, was it? Her response was, “Behold, Your bondmaiden. I am given to You, Lord. I am given to the Lord. Be it unto me according to Thy word.”
Can we say that? “Lord, particularly when it is tough, when You are asking something like this, be it unto me according to Thy word, Lord.”
Then there was Simeon, an old man in the temple. God had sent a message to him. Look, He has sent this message to us, but He sent this message to Simeon and said, “You are not going to die physically until you see the consolation of Israel, until you see the Messiah, the Coming One.”
Oh, how his heart leaped. His heart took it in faith, grabbed hold of that, and he knew that he would not die. He lived for that—for the Messiah’s coming. That is what he lived for. Every day he was in the temple.
Finally, one day he saw this babe. There were many babes brought to the temple—every one of them who was Jewish. I think on the eighth day they were brought. He had seen many babes over the years, but when he saw this One, he knew it. He knew that was the Messiah, and he testified to that before the people.
He had heard the message, and he listened. He paid attention. He was aware. It touched his heart effectively and daily, and he was in the temple before the Lord daily concerning the consolation of Israel. It was his heart, brothers and sisters.
Anna, the prophetess—what an amazing woman. Apparently, her husband had died in the seventh year of their marriage. For eighty-four years after that—I do not know how old she really was—every day, it says day and night, she was in the temple, never left.
Never left, praying about the coming Messiah, praying for His coming, looking forward to His coming. Boy, that was quite a heart, wasn’t it?
You know, we have to go to work, don’t we? We have to wash the dishes. We have to take care of the children. We have to clean the house. But if our heart is right, it is always there, deep down inside: “Lord, I am looking forward to Your coming. Lord, when are You going to come? Lord, I pray for Your coming. I pray for Your soon return.”
“What joy, Lord, it will be to my heart when I see You face to face.” That was always in her heart.
We see the shepherds in the field. They were working, taking care of sheep—just regular guys, you know, like you and I. I hope we are regular guys. I think most of us would consider that.
An angel spoke to them. Remember, it was a message from God. God sent His messengers to them and told them that a child had been born, a Savior, and He was in a manger. They would find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes.
When you read that story again, they said, “Wow, we need to go immediately.” There was no hesitation. They went immediately to see this One, this Babe, the Messiah.
Amazingly enough, even among the Gentiles, the three wise men—like some people say, the kings of the Orient. Now, we do not know that for a fact. Some think they came from Persia, some from China, and other places, but we do not know.
If they came from Persia, they would have had to travel for about eighty days on a camel. I do not know about that. But anyway, these were Gentiles.
They had received a message. It was a star in the sky, some special illumination in the sky. It says a star that they were able to recognize as a sign from God that the Messiah had been born, that the King of kings had been born.
They may have been kings themselves, and they came to do homage to the King. It was in their hearts. They had received that message, and they took it to heart.
It was a bright star in the sky. Well, you know, the Lord Jesus refers to Himself as the bright morning star, doesn’t He?
Now, who sees the bright morning star? Yeah, that is because you get up early, don’t you, Bobby? What time do you get up, Bobby? Four-thirty. That is why he sees that Venus in the eastern sky. That is the Venus star.
It is amazing, actually. In the wintertime, it is so amazingly brilliant. It is unbelievable. It is like it is hanging over your house.
The Lord said He was the bright morning star. It is that star, that Venus, that arises in the eastern sky just as twilight begins to come, those first rays. You will see that big star hanging in the sky.
Now, I do not always get up that early, but I have often. It is always a blessing to look for that morning star, particularly in the winter when it is cold anyway, and just be reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ, the bright morning star, the brilliant star.
But it is those who rise early, those who are ready, those who are awake, those who are preparing themselves—they are the ones that really see the bright morning star. They are ready. They are awakened.
You know, in 2 Peter 1:19 it says:
And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawn,
and the day-star arise in your hearts.
Let me read that once again.
And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawn,
and the day-star arise in your hearts.
What does all that mean? Well, there are a lot of different interpretations. But one thing I do know: it says we have a sure word of prophecy.
Peter wrote this. He knew the Old Testament prophecies of the Lord Jesus, and those were confirmed at the Lord’s baptism, when God broke through the heavens and said, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased,” and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him. All of those prophecies were confirmed.
At the Mount of Transfiguration, when our Lord Jesus was transformed and we begin to see His glorious body coming forth, He could have exited and gone back to the Father, but He chose to stay here and go down Calvary’s cross for you and I. They saw that. Peter saw that.
He said all these prophecies have been confirmed, and they are sure. Now we have an even more sure word of prophecy: that the Lord is coming back. He is coming back again to receive His own.
You need to lay hold of that word as a lamp in the night. As that morning star hangs in the darkness of the sky right before the sun arises, you need to pay attention to that lamp, the word of prophecy. That is what Revelation is: a word of prophecy.
He says, “Pay attention to it. Look to it. Read it. Study it. Pay attention to it until it becomes brighter.” The lamp becomes closer and closer in your heart.
In other words, until you obtain by faith what the Lord is going to do in reality, and that is to come again. In other words, we have spoken of this spirit of rapture coming into our heart. It is like we are already there, because faith is able to lay hold of what prophecy has spoken.
The messenger has been sent to us, brothers and sisters. It is here. The whole Word of God is our messenger, but in particular, in these days, we have the Revelation story.
Well, you know, we can talk about the Lord’s return. We can have knowledge of it, have all the facts down, and understand the order of things, maybe, and what is going to happen. A lot of people really get caught up in that.
They study the signs, and we see the signs, don’t we? I hope you do.
In the weather: the second hottest summer in history, which we endured. We have seen all the turmoil in the weather over the past four or five years: tsunamis, unusual hurricanes, outbreaks of tornadoes, earthquakes—even in Virginia, unheard of in the past.
Our economy—oh, what an earthquake. Boy, the crack opened, brothers and sisters. A lot fell through that crack.
The value of your assets is now forty percent less than what they were before all this happened. That may not mean much to you now because everything seems to be going on fine, but that is a forty percent loss.
Well, I am not trying to scare anybody. I am just saying the signs are all around us. Lawlessness has increased.
We see now that abortions are not shunned, but they are welcomed, and they are considered good. If you are against abortions, then you are evil; you are prejudiced. The same with gay marriages.
I thought it was interesting, the Chick-fil-A situation, where they were trying to keep Chick-fil-A out of New York. If I was Chick-fil-A, I would stay out of New York. But anyway.
It was interesting, the outpouring of people over that simple thing. What I thought about was, “Lord, all of the silent ones, all of the silent ones came out.”
Now, I am not saying everybody that supported Chick-fil-A supported them because of the way we think about it—the Lord and following the Lord’s will. For many of them, it was a free-speech issue. But they did come out.
But it just shows you: it is a sign of the times. To say you believe in the Bible, you are being looked upon as ignorant, prejudiced, and evil.
It is a sign of the times. Lawlessness has increased, and the love of many grows cold.
Brothers and sisters, are we really ready? We can have knowledge of all these things, but our heart, just like at the Lord’s first coming, may not be right. It needs to be right with the Lord.
You know, I think of this matter of first love. Kenny is going to be sharing, I think, on these churches. But this matter of first love—when I thought about it, I said, “You know what first love really is? First love denounces self and desires only the Lord.”
I think that is first love. First love says, “I am not thinking about myself. I can only think about the Lord.” I think that is first love. Self-interest goes in first love.
But that was the failure at His first coming: all that self and self-interest. They misunderstood our Lord, and they were not interested in the spiritual. Our Lord was.
First love means we are interested in what the Lord is interested in and what His heart is upon, not our own.
We have been studying Matthew 5, 6, and 7 recently. We have had quite a lively discussion over those chapters. Some of those words in there almost seem foreign to our way.
But those chapters were written to show us what kingdom life is like. They show us what kingdom life really is. They show us the life that is agreeable with the Lord, the life in which He can say, “Enter into My joy, good and faithful servant.”
So, are we ready? We need to pay attention to the hour in which we live.
It is on my heart, and it has been, as I said in the beginning, to wake up to this hour in which we are in—to wake up and be ready for what the Lord would have: His second coming.
You know, in Matthew 24 and 25, and in Luke 21, you read about the Olivet Discourse. He mentions three things in specific.
One, the fig tree. He said, “You need to know that My return is right at the door when you see these things happen,” and He mentions the fig tree.
Now, He had cursed the fig tree a few days before He said this. But in Matthew 24, He says, “When you see the fig tree beginning to blossom and have leaves, you have got to know summer is nigh. I am coming.”
Now, brothers and sisters, Israel went off the map. It was not a country until 1948, after World War II. The Jews were given their homeland in Israel. The fig tree had leaves. Nineteen forty-eight—I am sorry, I said forty-seven, I think.
In Luke 21, it says Jerusalem would be trodden underfoot until the fullness of the Gentiles had come into being. In other words, ever since Nebuchadnezzar, Jerusalem had been mainly under the rule of Gentiles.
In the 1967 war, when they were invaded by the Egyptian forces, Syria, and the surrounding nations, Israel actually took back land and overcame. They took Jerusalem for the first time, and the whole city became under their control.
The age of the fullness of the Gentiles is waning. That is obvious. That was 1967. That was forty-five years ago. Surely, the Lord has been patient. He is waiting at that door.
He mentions the days of Noah: giving in marriage, just living life. You know, this becomes important to us—just our everyday life is the important thing, not the spiritual. Marriage, giving in marriage, just doing these things.
But there is something else about the days of Noah, brothers and sisters. In the days of Noah, before the flood, God said, “It has grieved Me that I made man. His thoughts are evil. His deeds are evil. I cannot bear it anymore, and I am going to wipe them from the face of the earth.”
And He did—all but Noah and his family. It grieved the Lord that He had made man. Is it not, brothers and sisters, coming to that again, where man’s thoughts are only evil, and evil only? The days of Noah surely are upon us.
Then the Lord spoke, speaking to His disciples. He had pulled them aside to speak this Olivet Discourse. He said, “When I come back, there will be two in the field. One will be taken and one left. There will be two grinding at the mill, one taken, one left.”
These words: “Watch, therefore. Be aware. Be attentive. Watch, for you do not know what hour your Lord is going to come.”
This is the beginning of parousia. Watch. You do not know what hour. Watch, for the time is at hand. Watch, for the time is at hand.
These messages, this message, the signs that we see, brothers and sisters—the Lord is trying to awaken us, to be watchful, to be ready, to meet Him face to face.
Blessed are those who hear, who read, who keep, who pay attention to this message, for the time is near.
Lord, we just come to You today. Lord, we know You are coming soon. Lord, we get taken away by all the busyness of this life. We ask for forgiveness for that.
Lord, we do not often see the day-star. Lord Jesus, we just come to You. May our hearts, Lord, be drawn to You.
May we, Lord, allow You to be King of our lives. Lord, may we not be offended by the difficult times that You often bring our way. That, Lord, we would learn, that we would take the way of the cross, that we would be made ready and prepared for Your soon return.
Because, Lord, that is Your heart’s desire. You want every one of us who are alive and remain to be raptured to the throne.
Lord, You want to be able to say to us, “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.”
Amen.