Ezekiel 36. Some of you are familiar
with this Scripture. Ezekiel 36. Two or three messages
were on my mind at the end of the week and fell
on this passage. Ezekiel 36. Salvation is of the
Lord. We know that. One hundred percent. Election by the Father. Redemption
by the Son. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
Salvations of the Lord. It's His will. It's His choice,
isn't it? You know that, don't you? It's
His work. It's His power. It's His glory. It's Christ's blood. It's Christ's
righteousness, isn't it? It's His glory. It's all for
His glory. All who are saved were dead,
and the Lord gave them life. Called them from life. Ezekiel
16. You love that chapter, don't
you? We all love that. As much as I like to preach from
that, there's a whole lot more in Ezekiel. Chapter 14. I venture to say you haven't
read that in a long time. Very serious, isn't it? who say they were dead and the
Lord called them from death unto life. They were lost and He found
them. That's why Christ came. Seeking to save the lost. All
who call, He said, whosoever shall call shall be saved. And
that comes from Joel too, doesn't it? Everyone the Lord calls. We won't call unless He calls.
We won't come if He doesn't come to us through the Gospel. All
who seek are sought by the Lord. When thou said, Seek my face,
David said, I said, Thy face will I seek. All who come are
drawn. No man can come, Christ said,
except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him. You know these
things, don't you? Because he gets all the glory.
You know it so with you. You hath he quickened who were
dead. Look at it here in Ezekiel 36. He said in verse 22, and
this completely dispels what the world says about everybody
deserves a chance to be saved. Nobody deserves to be saved,
period. Nobody worth saving. And this
is what he says here in verse 22. Thus saith, therefore say
unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, Well, verse
21, I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned
among the heathen whenever they went. And before the Lord saved
you, you profaned God. You did. Now, Israel was religious, and
some of you were too, and you profaned the name of God. Blasphemy. False religion. Verse 22, Thus
saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sake, O house of
Israel. But for my holy name's sake,
verse 23, I'll sanctify my great name, which was profaned among
the heathen, which you profaned in the midst of them. The heathen
shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall
be sanctified in you before their eyes. I'm going to get glory
out of you. You blasphemed me and you weren't
thankful, just like those in Romans 1, weren't we? Or Romans
2. Ephesians 2, you walked according
to the course of the world, children of wrath even as others, but
God. I'm going to take you, he said.
Verse 24, from among the heathen, I gather you out of all countries.
I'll bring you into your own land. That's the church. I'll
sprinkle clean water on you. That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
That's the blood of Christ, isn't it? I'll cleanse you. From your
filthiness, your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give unto you. And you know false religion says
give your heart unto Jesus and we just sang that, but he says
that to his people after he's given them a new heart. You understand
that? In Proverbs, my son, my son. He's talking to his children.
Give me that heart. Don't give your heart. Set your
affection on things above, not on things below. Give me that
heart. That's who he's talking to. But the Lord must give us
a new heart, mustn't He? A new heart. A new spirit would
I put within you. Who's that? The Holy Spirit.
I'll take away the stony heart. What takes away the stony heart?
The hammer of God's Word. The power of God. Verse 27, I'll
put my Spirit within you, cause you to walk in my statutes, walk
in the Word, walk by faith. Verse 28, you'll dwell in the
land. You'll dwell there. You'll be my people. I'll be
your God. I'll save you. See who's doing
all the saving, all the calling, all the cleansing, all the...
See whose power it is? I will save you. I will save
you. from all your uncleanness. I'll call for the corn and increase
it. Go on down. Verse 31, you'll remember your
own evil ways. This is repentance. Your doings
that were not good. You'll hate yourself. You'll
loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and your
abominations. Not for your sex. He keeps saying that, doesn't
he? And you all know it's Be ashamed and confound it for
your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord. And the
day that I have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will
cause you to dwell in the cities. The wastes shall be builded."
He's talking about the church, New Jerusalem, the land that
was desolate, verse 35, like a garden of Eden. The waste,
desolate, ruined cities, fenced, we are hedged about, you know
that? We live in a gated community. Hedged about, we really do. In verse 36, the heathen left round
about you, and know I the Lord built this place, and plant that
which was desolate. I the Lord spoken it, I will
do it. Don't you love that? He said,
I've purposed it. I'll bring it to pass. I've spoken
it. I'll do it. He says that over and over again. Ezekiel,
Isaiah. Verse 37. Now that's the sovereignty
of God in it. Salvation. Salvation is of the
Lord. No mistaking. Thus saith the
Lord God, I will yet, or but, for this I will be inquired of. of the House of Israel to do
it for them. They're going to ask me. If they
don't ask me, I'm not going to do it. Right? This is contradictory to the
world. This is controversial to the
world. It's without controversy to us.
We know it's so. If we don't repent, we won't
be saved. Repentance is many things. To
confess our sins to God, to call on the Lord. Confession, repentance
toward God, against thee and thee only have I sinned. And
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance, true repentance always
brings you to faith in Christ. When that publican came into
the temple and said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner, what
he's saying is, let the blood be propitiation on the mercy
seat for my soul. Oh, may Christ's blood pay for
my sin. Dear God, please have mercy upon
me. If we don't repent, you will
not be saved. Old and young, we don't repent.
If we don't call, he said, whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. If we don't call, we won't be
saved. If someone's not saved, they're
not calling. He promised, whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Didn't he? God can't lie. Can't lie. All that call upon me in truth,
he said, from the heart in Christ who is true, all that really
call upon me. So why aren't we saved? Why aren't
some saved? And I caught him. And this message
is all about that. I started where I should start,
with salvation of the Lord. And I'm flat laying the blame
on us. If we miss Christ, it's our fault. These men in Ezekiel 14, he said,
Son of man, they've set their idols in their heart, and a stumbling
block of their iniquity before my face. Their sins, our Lord
said, have hidden my face from them. And I won't answer them. So they come, we come. Repentance
is continual. Repentance is all our life. It's
not a one-time thing. Oh yeah, I repented and accepted.
No, no, no. It's daily. Every day. We come to Christ every day.
We are to pray. This is about prayer. This is about calling. We're
to pray without ceasing. It means every day. No contradiction
here. The most dangerous and awful
thing that a believer can say is, well, if I'm one of God's
elect, if my child's one of God's elect, it's going to be okay.
It doesn't matter. You haven't heard anything God
said, if you say that. You don't fear the Lord, if you
say that. You do not fear the Lord, if
you say that. Well, if she's one of God's elect, you'll be
all right. Oh, no. Is that what Ezekiel said? Is
that what God said? Pleading with people. If there's no burden, if there's
no burden in the heart, There's no fear of the Lord. There's
no real faith. There's no real heartfelt faith
if there's no burden. If we take this, oh well, what
will be, will be, que sera, sera attitude, we don't fear the Lord
and we don't believe His warnings. We do not believe. We've taken
the promises and we've laid aside the warnings. How many times
Have you heard me repeat my passage? The scriptures are full of warnings,
lest we what? Presume. I just read in Psalm
19 where David said, keep back thy servant from presumptuous
sins. To presume upon God's mercy,
to presume upon God's grace, to presume, oh well, they'll
be all right. You don't know that. So until He does, you're going
to call. And until He does, you're going
to warn them. You warn those you love, don't
you? Don't you? You don't warn those you don't
love. You're not concerned about it. We don't believe God if we don't
have a burden, if we don't pray. We don't believe His Word that
says today. How many times does it say that?
Today. Today, not tomorrow. There's no tomorrow. I really
do need to preach every time as a dying man to dying men. Ezekiel 1. Go back to Ezekiel
chapter 1. Ezekiel 1. Ezekiel was a very
young man when the Lord called him. He was around 18 years old. We don't look at the book of
Ezekiel much, do we? Need to. Ezekiel was very young when the
Lord called him to preach. He was around 18 years old. That's
David's age. Oh, would that God would put
the yoke upon some of our youth. Where are the young men with
a burden for the Word of the Lord? Is that not a sign of the
last days? That the Lord doesn't put a burden
on the yoke upon someone in their youth? I mean, male and female. Ezekiel was very young. Daniel
was very young. Daniel was about 18 or 20, like
David. Ezekiel was 10 years younger
than Daniel was 10 years younger than
Ezekiel. Jeremiah lived at the same time. Jeremiah was 20 or 30 years older
than they were. And he read with me in Daniel.
Remember the message in Daniel chapter 9? Oh, Lord our God. He was praying for all the people.
Did Daniel pray? The whole book is his prayer.
Did Jeremiah pray? He wept constantly, didn't he? It's called a weeping prayer.
Paul said, I cease not to warn you day and night with tears. That's a man who cares for your
soul, who cares for your children's soul. He said in Ezekiel 3, Jeremiah
3, I'll give you pastors after my own heart. And they'll be
more concerned about your children's soul and your soul than you will
your own. We're all concerned about our
children's welfare. We're concerned about their health.
We're concerned about their future. Are we more concerned about their... Listen to me now. Are we more
concerned that they know math and know Jesus Christ? Are we
more concerned that they'd be married well and have a family
and all that, than they'd be married to Jesus Christ? Are we? My great concern is one. My mission, my purpose is one. It's the same with parents. The
Lord has given you a soul in your custody. What is your responsibility? To bring that child up in a way
that should go. To train that child up in the
fear and the admonition of the Lord. Is it not? That's right.
Are we more concerned that they make a way in this world and
do well in this world or that they'd be saved from it. Huh? If we're not, if we don't have
a burden for that, we haven't heard what God said. We haven't
heard His Word. Peter said, seeing that all these
things be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be? Right? Ezekiel chapter 1. Look at this. Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 1. Ezekiel said it came to pass
in the 30th year and the 4th month and the 5th day of the
month, I was among the captives by the river of Chebar. The heavens
were opened. I saw visions of God. I was among
the captives. I can talk to you from experience
because I live here and I was among the captives. Weren't you? Some of you? Captives? Have captived by the God of this
world? I know exactly where your children are. That's why I'm
so afraid for them. I was among the captives. And
by the grace of God, I heard His Word. I heard the warning. Put fear in my heart. Faith in
Christ. Repentance. I was among the captives.
Jeremiah was among the captives. Jeremiah was there too. A young
man. And the Lord called Jeremiah
to go preach. Ezekiel called him to go preach.
They both said, I can't speak. He said, I'll be with you. But
don't be afraid of their faces. And the Lord said to both Jeremiah
and Ezekiel, He said, they're going to fight you. They're not
going to like what you say. That's the mark of a true prophet.
And Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel all preached against,
against, against, against, against, against, against all the false
prophets in the land. They were lone voices among many
false prophets. That's a fact. God hadn't changed. Man hadn't changed. The truth
hadn't changed. Scripture said, he said, I have
not left myself without a witness in any given time. A true prophet
is very rare. Very rare. Go over to Ezekiel 30 with me. Ezekiel chapter 30. And as I said, Jeremiah wept.
He's called the weeping prophet. Daniel wept and prayed. Ezekiel
is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the Son of Man, is
He not? That's what Christ called Him, said. The Son of Man. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, who knows all things, Our Lord Jesus Christ, known
unto Him all His work from the beginning of the world. He knew
what He was going to do and who He was going to save. Wept over
Jerusalem. Didn't He? He said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
How much more should we? He knew what He was going to
do. We don't. We don't know. It's presumption
to say, Lord, And Jeremiah in chapter 9, he
said, call your daughters and sons and take up weeping and
call on the Lord. But look at, where did I tell
you to turn? Ezekiel chapter 30. Ezekiel 30. Look at this. Let's see. Ezekiel. No, that's not
it. Ezekiel 3. That's it. I'm sorry.
Ezekiel chapter 3. And this is the scripture in
the bulletin. So the Lord called Ezekiel as
a young man, and he faithfully fulfilled the mission
that the Lord sent him to do. He put the word in his heart
and his mouth. He said he ate that roll, and
he did. He consumed it. And he said in
verse 17, here it is, Ezekiel 3, 17, Son of man, I have made
thee a watchman under the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the
word at my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say unto
the wicked, thou shalt surely die. Brother Barnard used to say,
God doesn't say what he means, he says what he says. You understand that? We're not
to take it and say, well, this means to take it, face value,
what he says. And thou givest him not warning,
nor speak warning to the wicked from his way, to save his life.
That wicked man will die in his iniquity, but his blood will
I require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, verse
19, he turned not away from his wickedness, nor from his wicked
way. He shall die in His iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.
And you notice the Lord said, if he turn, if he turn, if he
turn. Now you and I know, if the Lord doesn't turn us, we
won't be turned, right? But what is the prayer throughout
the psalm? Turn us, O Lord God. Isn't it? Turn my daughter. Will the Lord answer that? Yes,
He will. He promised. But if we're not
calling, He won't. Oh, it'll be all right. You don't know that. God alone
knows. And what He says, call. And don't
quit calling. And don't quit warning. Ezekiel,
Paul, don't quit warning them now. If you do, their blood's
on your hands. I got a serious mission, don't
I? And so do you. So do you. Well, now chapter 33. Now go over to chapter 33. He
speaks to the people here. Ezekiel chapter 33. And this
is, you know, I wanted to, I thought about singing a special today,
but it got hit too close to home right here. Look at it. Son of man, verse
30. Son of man, the people are talking
about you. The doors of the houses, speaking
one to another. Every one of you is brother.
Come, I pray you, let's hear the preacher. What is the word
that cometh forth from the Lord? They come unto thee as people
come and sit. That's my people. They hear thy
words and they will not do them. With their mouth they show much
love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. Lo, thou
art unto them as a very lovely song, of one that, at the pleasant
voice, can play well on an instrument. They hear your word, but they
won't do them. And when this comes to pass,
and it will come, they'll know that a prophet is made among
them." Thank God that's not true of every person in this room.
Well, you read with me there in Ezekiel 14. There's a remnant. You know there's a remnant of
a remnant? You know that? There's a remnant of a remnant.
Judah was a remnant. Twelve tribes. There's one tribe
that belonged to the Lord, the tribe of David. But there was
a remnant among the remnant. And there's always a remnant
among the remnant in where the gospel is prayed. It's just so. Hmm. And it's a frightening thing. It's a very frightening thing.
And Paul said over, Paul said, let him think that they standeth,
take heed, lest he fall. That's 1 Corinthians 10. Turn
over there. 1 Corinthians 10 real quickly.
1 Corinthians 10. I need this message as much as
you do, people. We're living in the most dangerous
times. Perilous times, they're called. the last days, the most dangerous
and perilous time in the history of the world. It's just so. We've
talked among ourselves about how bad the 60s and 70s were
back in the previous century. It's worse now. And 2 Timothy
3 is such a description of the day we live in, it begins with
lovers of self. If we don't loathe ourselves,
we haven't heard the word of God. If we promote ourselves, if we don't come out from among
this world, we're going to perish with it. That's a fact. That's
a fact. Come yet from among. Loathe yourselves. Be done with the pride. Self. It ain't about self. What we
should be about is to bring glory to that one whom we profaned
for so long in the sight of the heathen. You got a Facebook page? You know what you ought to use
it for? Not yourself. To put the face of Jesus Christ on there.
The light of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord in the
face of Jesus Christ. To put up messages there. That's
what you need to do with that. I'm not saying that. Put up messages
there to tell people whom you're concerned for their soul and
your children. Show your children. Say, we've got a man here in
this place who's preaching the gospel, and we desperately need
us, our neighbors, and everybody in this community. There's a
prophet in this community, and everybody needs to hear him preach
this gospel, or they're going to perish in their sins. That's
what that should be for. Nothing else. Am I telling you
the truth? Yes, I'm telling you the truth. It's that serious, brethren. I see preachers with their own
pictures. Why? He said, you're going to
loathe yourselves. My people are going to have a
new heart and they're going to loathe themselves. And they're going
to sanctify me in the sight of the heathen. They're going to
set me apart. They've profaned me for a long
time. And now they hate themselves. They hate everything about themselves,
but they want people to know the Lord that saved them. 1 Corinthians 10. I'm telling you,
it's urgent today. 1 Corinthians 10. We've looked
at this so many times. And we all have gone through
in the cloud and ate the same spiritual meat, verse 3, and
drank the spiritual drink. That rock that followed us, Christ,
the rock was Christ, but with many of them God was not well
pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness.
The world got a hold of them. That's where they all, the ones
that didn't go into the promised land, they were consumed by the
world. Now these things, verse six,
were our example to the intent we should not lust after evil
things as they lusted. And our Lord said, all that's
in the world is the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and
the pride of life is not of God. Don't be idolaters, he said.
People sat down to eat and drink, rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication. Some of them committed and fell
in one day. Twenty-three thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ as
some of them tempted. They didn't tempt Christ, they
tempted Moses. Moses was one. Well, they tempted
Christ, because God said, it was not you, Moses, that they
hated. It's me. But neither let us murmur, as
some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. All these things, verse 11, happened
unto them for examples, and written for our admonition upon whom
the ends of the world are come. Who is Paul writing to? He's
writing to the church. I'm reading to this church, and
you've heard this many times, haven't you? Do I need to keep
reading it? So much more as we see the day
approaching. Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he
fall. This world's a dangerous place.
Do we need to be warned? Does a 70-year-old man need to
be warned about the dangers of this world? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Go back to Ezekiel 34. Now, you
want some really good news? Ezekiel 34. Brethren, you need to thank God
for these warnings, lest you presume. I want to preach this in love.
I want to preach it with tears. We told Ezekiel, plead with them.
We're not beggars. I'm not a beggar. You know that.
But I want to plead with you. And I want you to plead with
your children. Do you hear me? Are you listening to me? I want
you to plead with your children. I want you to show them an example
that Christ is your life. that this world is a perishing
place. And if they don't flee to Christ, they're going to perish
with it. It's that urgent. Is it not? Today. Today. I'm going to go out and make
my way in the world and get mad. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness. And all these things will be
added to you if you need them. Your blessed daughter, Nancy,
lived in this world, torn up by it. Bless God, He revealed
Himself to her. She was just like any other young
girl wanting to be married and have a family. The Lord didn't
give her. She married the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe she had been married and
that marriage ended in divorce. 60% of them do. What's important? One thing. If I never preach another message,
you hear what I'm saying. Chapter 34, here's the good news. Verse 30, verse 11, Behold, I,
even I, will search my sheep and seek them out. If they don't
belong to the Lord, yes, He's going to find them, all right?
But they're going to call. And you're going to call on Him
for them to call. You're going to beg Him. You did, didn't you,
sister? You beg, don't you, Jeanette? You beg and plead with the Lord.
We plead with the Lord. We call on the Lord to call on
them. And we call on them to call on
the Lord. There's no controversy there. Right? He said, I will. Bless God. Our hope is in Him. I'll seek
them. I'll find them. I'll deliver
them. Verse 12, as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the
day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, I will seek
out my sheep and will deliver them out. What does he deliver
them? Out! Not in it. Out from among the world. Are
you with me? He doesn't deliver them from
sin, a fire escape from hell, and leave them in it. No, no,
no, no, no, no, no. That's what Ezekiel 36 said.
I'm going to give them a new heart, a new spirit, a new walk,
a new way, a new person, a new creature. They're going to be
a new creature. Christ is going to be their life. If not, He's not. I will. I'll feed them. I'll
bring them, verse 13, gather them from the country. Forsake
not the assembly of yourselves together. Gather yourselves.
The Lord does that. God's people don't leave the
gospel. They just don't. He said, I'll feed them. They're
hungry. They're thirsty. They never quit being hungry
and thirsty. If they do, something's wrong. Our granddaughter is really
sick right now. We're concerned about her. She's
lost her appetite, isn't she? And if you lose your appetite
for this gospel, something bad's wrong. Bad wrong. Right? I'll feed them, he said. They'll feed. They're going to
come hungry. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst, he said. They'll be filled. Does this Gospel fill
you? You come here to be filled? Oh,
he goes on down in verse 23, I'll set up one shepherd over
them, and he'll feed them. That's Christ, isn't it? Christ
our shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, shall
not walk. But Christ gives under shepherds.
Obey them that have the rule over you, which watch for your
souls. Son of man, I've made you a watchman.
That's talking to Ezekiel. Talking to Christ. Talking to
me. Made you a watchman. They watch
for your souls as one that must give an account. That they may
do it with joy and not with grief. Oh, he said, look at verse 26.
I love this. We sing this song. I'll make
them and the places round about my hill a blessing. Brothers and sisters, you don't
like the warnings and I don't like to preach them. I get no
pleasure in preaching the warnings. I don't. It doesn't give me pleasure
looking into your faces and you feel guilt and all that. But
we've got to. It's that urgent. It really is. You don't know what's going to
happen to your daughter tomorrow. I don't either. This is urgent. Young people, you come to Christ
right now. Are you hearing me? Right now. In your heart. Before it's everlastingly too
late. Our Lord said this right before the flood came. He said, I will not always strive
with man. I'm not going to do it. Would you look at verse 26? I'll make them and the places
round about my hill a blessing, and cause a shower to come down
in his season. That's Christ, the gospel of
Christ. And there shall be showers of blessing. I believe this is
God's church. I know it's God's church because
God's gospel is here, and it's been here, and it's still here.
And He's here. Yes, He is. Yeah, I'm so thankful. It's a
blessing to me. But I'm telling you, the warnings
are as much a blessing as the promises. Yeah. You don't want to preach yourself
to everything, so peace, peace, when there is no peace. Smile,
God loves you. You don't want to preach like
that. No, you don't. And let me close with Luke 21. Luke chapter 21. Go over there
and I'll close with this. These are the words of our Lord
to His disciples. Do you remember when the Lord
said to His disciples? He was talking about repentance.
And He turned to His disciples. Now these were His men that He
came to save. They were apostles. He said,
I say unto you, except you repent, you're going to perish. Didn't
He? You say that, John? But you're talking to Peter,
a rock. You're talking to John, a beloved disciple. He doesn't
need it. I'd say to you, except you repent,
you're going to likewise perish. You're going to perish like everybody
else. Isn't it? Well, this is to his disciple,
Luke 21. This is to us. You're one of
his disciples. And I thought about this. Our Lord gave the three-word
warning, severe warning. Remember Lot's wife. Remember
Lot's wife. What happened to her. Sodom was
in her heart. She seemed like she was going
out with her husband. Her heart was in Sodom. And she perished. Everybody thought
she was going out. But her heart was inside of her.
Do we need that? Our Lord said that. Remember
Lot's wife. I'll tell you someone else's wife to remember. Boaz's
wife. Remember Boaz's wife. Who's that? Ruth. What did she do? She left her father and her mother. She left her home. She left her
old friends. She left her house. She left
the prospects of a husband and a home and having children and
all that. That didn't matter. She said, your God's my God.
Your people are my people. Where you die, that's where I
want to die. What happened to Boaz's wife?
Remember Boaz's wife. Right now she's with the kinsmen
redeemer. Nothing else matters. And her
purpose in life was to bring forth a child to be in the line
of Jesus Christ. That's her, and that's yours
too. The Kingdom of God. Not about my family. It's about
His family. Are you with me? In Luke 21, our Lord said this. Now, verse 31. Likewise, when you see these
things come to pass, know that the Kingdom of God
is nigh at hand. Go back and read it all. And
we love when you see these things. Lift up your heads. Look up.
Things are looking up. It's never been worse. They're
looking up for God's people. This generation, verse 32, shall
not pass away until all be fulfilled. Two thousand year generation.
It's almost over. Heaven and earth shall pass away.
In my words, shall not pass away. Take heed to yourselves. He's
talking to His disciples. He's talking to you. He's talking
to me. Lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged with serpentine, that's having a good old time,
and drunkenness. And you can be drunk and inebriated
and taken up with a lot more things than just alcohol. The
cares of this life. So that day cometh upon you unawares,
for as a snare, Shall it come on all them that dwell on the
face of the whole earth." This right now has never been, this
world has never been so ensnared and so held captive and so completely drowning in riches and pleasure. It's never been like this, the
whole world over. Watch therefore, verse 36, watch,
don't fall for this stuff. Open your eyes. Let us not sleep
as do others, but watch and pray always. Are you reading it with
me? That you may be counted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand
before the Son of Man. How shall we stand? If you stand
in Him, you're going to stand there, aren't you? But Paul talked about putting
on the whole armor of God, didn't he? That you may be able to stand
and resist the wiles of the devil and stand before Him. Was this
a needful message? I thought about so many illustrations,
you know, that people were in the houses and under the blood
in Egypt, and the Lord said, stay in that house. Didn't He? He warned them. He said, stay
in the house. If you or your children leave the house, there's
no promise. Didn't He? As He said. Rahab,
He said, Rahab, you and your family, you stay in that house.
Didn't it? Where the scarlet line was. Don't
leave that house. Josh was coming. Didn't tell
you when. But if you leave that house where the red line is, your blood's on your head. Didn't it? And I faithfully warn
you. And I think I've given God the
glory for salvation too. I hope so. I really hope so.
Come to Christ. Everybody. Right now. Okay. Let's sing in closing.