Thank you. Thank you. That was written from Psalm 50. Some of you may recognize the
word. Mighty God, even the Lord, has spoken to all the earth from
the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. Psalm 50. All right, go back to 2 Peter
3. This is a good message to begin
the new year with. With each passing year and beginning
of a new one, you need to be more mindful of the shortness
of time. Where did this last year go?
It's incredible. The older you get, the faster
time flies, doesn't it? We need to be more mindful every
year, with every passing year, of the shortness of time and
the imminent return, that means certain and soon return, of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who's Savior. Surely I come quickly. We are in the last of the last
days. That is obvious if you study
God's Word and if you observe things around you according to
God's Word. We are in the last of the last
days, spoken of very, very clearly in 2 Timothy 3 and other places. And this is what Peter's talking
about here in 2 Peter 3. If you read it with me, verse
1, let's look at it. 2 Peter 3, verse 1, he says,
This second epistle or letter, beloved, Now, four times in this
chapter, he says, Beloved. That's important. That tells you who he's talking
to. Right? Many people misunderstand this
chapter, especially verse 9. They totally misappropriate it. They make it say what it says
to everyone. It is not written to everyone,
but Beloved. Peter said that then. This second
letter, Beloved, I now write unto you. Unto you. In both, that is the first epistle,
1 Peter, in both, and this one, he says, What I am endeavoring
to do, verse 1, is stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance. I want to stir up your minds.
I want to get you to thinking about some things. Pure mind. Pure, I looked that word up.
Pure means an unclouded mind. A mind that has been And it's
only one thing that enlightens, the scripture says, our dark
minds. One thing. It's not reason. It's God's Word. All right? He said, I want to stir up, I
want to get you to thinking your pure minds by God's Word. And that's what
he talks about. What the prophets spoke and what
we the apostles have been saying. I'm reminding you, and this is
the title of this message, Be Mindful. We love it. Be mindful. I want you to be thinking about
these things always. Verse 2, that you may be mindful
of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. That's the Old Testament, right?
So many say it's irrelevant. And you know this, you know this. You've heard it so many times.
But let me remind you that the only Bible the apostles preached
from was the Old Testament. The only Bible the Lord himself
preached from was the Old Testament. It's not irrelevant at all. It's
the Bible the Lord used to start his New Testament church. There's
one Bible. There's not an old one or a new
one. It's God's Word. The Old Testament, he said, I
want to remind you of what the holy prophets spoke. And read
on, verse 2, of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord
and Savior. God's Word is, as I said a moment
ago, the light that enlightens us. Without it, we're in darkness,
even as others. Those who reject God's Word,
those who do not heed it, those who do not read it, hear it,
who reject it, who subject it to their own reasoning and scrutiny
and judgment and all that, their minds, their understanding is
dark. That's what this Word says. But
God, in his sovereign grace and mercy, enlightens some by his
word. David said, Thy word is a lamp
to my feet and a light to my path. And God's Word is what
first enlightens our understanding. Without, unless God Almighty,
through His Word, causes us to understand who He is, what we
are, who Christ is, the truth, the gospel, we're in darkness,
all right? And God's Word is what keeps
us enlightened. God's Word is the light we continually
walk in. Without it, we'll stumble, even
now, as others do. The believer is enlightened by
God's Word in the beginning, but he continues to walk in the
light of the other, so as not to stumble. If we're out from
under the Word of God, our vision becomes clouded. If we're out
from under the Word of God, our thoughts become temporal. Our
thoughts become worldly. We're not mindful of these things. So what Peter is saying here,
I want you to keep in mind what God is saying. And there's only
one way to do that. Well, there's two ways. Read it for yourself. Study it for yourself. Look at
it for yourself. Gather the manna daily for yourself.
But then come, like, tonight, as you have, and you'll get a
five-course meal. Come Sunday, you'll get a double
portion of God's Word. So that's how we are enlightened,
God's Word. And this is what the prophets
and the apostles were constantly affirming. This was the message
of the prophets of old and the apostles in the New Testament.
This is the message of scripture. This is what the whole world
revolves around. The coming of Jesus Christ. The
Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, and God's the first
one that said it in Genesis 3.15. Someone's coming. First two chapters,
three chapters in Genesis are about the fall of man, okay?
The ruin which man fell into. Sin and darkness and ignorance
and sin. Genesis 3.15, God is the first
one to preach the gospel about the coming Messiah, about the
coming Christ. And from there to Malachi 3,
every book, every prophet said, someone's coming. That the hope,
our only hope, the hope of salvation, is this Christ who's coming to
earth. All right? And He came. He came. And the
apostles in the prior gospels said, He's here. He came just
as the prophets said He would, and He's the exact Christ of
whom the prophets spoke. He fits the character perfectly,
every job can tell you. He's here. And the epistles build
upon what he said, and the Revelation says he's coming again. The epistles
and the Revelation say he's coming again. So this is what this book
is about. That one who came, and the one
who's coming again. That's what this whole book is
about. Look at one of the Old Testament prophets, it will suffice.
Malachi 3. Malachi chapter 3. All the prophets spoke often
of the coming of Christ. Why? Because that's our hope. That's the hope of every lost
combatant. Malachi 3. I love this. Malachi 3 verses 1 through 3. Let's read this. Malachi 3 verses
1 through 3. This is the last of the Old Testament
prophets before John. Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord, whom
you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger
of the covenant. whom ye delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the
day of his coming? And notice this altogether different,
Jesus, than many speak of. Who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap. Christ, when he came, he said,
Think that I have come to bring peace on earth? He said, Nay,
but a sword. That's what Jesus Christ said. He shall sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver. He shall purify the sons of Levi,
purge them of gold and silver, that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness." Significant is that the last,
the very last chapter of the last prophet said, someone's
coming. Someone's coming. Now which coming
was he talking about there? Malachi. When he came the first time,
he was under the refinery fire, of course. When he comes the
second time, it'll be the same thing. Only, let's see where
it's at. First and second coming. You
can read every, every prophecy of the coming of Christ, and
it applies to both. Same Christ, same world. World
hasn't changed. It really hasn't. Same purpose
in coming. Christ came the first time to
do what? Save His people and to judge unbelievers. He's coming
a second time to do what? Save His people and judge the
world. Same time. All right, back to
2 Peter, chapter 3. second Peter chapter 3 now they
mocked and stopped at Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Prophet
I Jonah, Micah, Naaman, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah,
Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Zechariah, Ze Whereas Malachi was the last
one to say that. He's coming. It was 400 years. 400 years until Christ would
come. Look at verse 3 in 2 Peter 3. Peter says, Know this first,
that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after
their own lusts, that is, their own desires, saying, Where is
the promise of his coming? Men don't want Christ to come.
They don't want this to be true. They don't want it to be true. They don't want a holy God. They
don't want a joke. And they walk in their lust, it says, saying,
scoffing, where is the promise of his coming? For since, read
on, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation. Where's the promise of his coming? I can't help but marvel at how
the whole world revolves around the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, though it doesn't want to, or like it. Everyone is conscious
of that man who came to this earth 2,000 years ago. You can't
even look at the calendar and not be conscious of him. And
it's a marvelous thing, it's a little bitty, little bitty
country over in the middle of the Middle East, it's still the
whole world is in turmoil about it. A little place called Israel,
where this man walked, of whom this whole book is written. But the whole world, like it
or not, is concerned with what's happening in that little place
over there. Can't they just forget it? No.
No. Because this whole world revolves
around that one who came, and why he came over there, and what
he did, and where he is now, and what all this means. Like
it or not, everyone is confronted with the existence of Jesus Christ.
Believe him or not, the question is still posed to every human
being, what think ye of Jesus Christ? You know? Like it or not, believe him or
not, everyone on earth is confronted with this question. What do you
think of Jesus Christ? Everybody's got an opinion. There's
no room for doubt. Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1.
For 4,000 years, the world didn't believe he was God. You know
what? For 4,000 years, the world did
not believe that he was God. But he did, didn't he? He sure
did. When he came, they didn't believe
him when he got here. Though there were so many things that testified of who
he was, Christ said this many times, why don't you believe
me? He said, if you don't believe me for my word's sake, believe
the works that I do. Many of them saw the miracles
and the things that he did and said, no man can do what you
do except God can do it. Even those that just did not
believe him said, we don't understand where you get this power. You
must be from God, but we still don't believe you. Right? When he came, they didn't believe
him. They didn't believe he was a Christ. They didn't believe
in spite of the marvelous miracles, in spite of his impeccable character. Impeccable character, that means
with incapable sin. He stood before everyone after
living 33 years and said, which one of you convinces me of sin? Can you imagine a human being
standing and saying, somebody somewhere find one fault in my
character. Somebody, anybody, find something
wrong with me. Think of it. His very character proved who
he was. Did it not? The Holy Son of God
without spite, the Lamb of God without spite, without blemish. The righteous one, the Holy One
of Israel. That's who this was. He proved
who he was by his profound wisdom. Every word that he uttered every
grace poured from His lips. Even His detractors, even those
who hated Him, despised Him, believed in Him, were confounded
by everything He said. There was a group, I love this
story, there was a group of men who were sent by the Pharisees
to apprehend Him. They ended up sitting and listening
to Him preach, marveling at His wisdom. And they went back in
a trance, I think, and their fellows said, where is he? You
were supposed to apprehend him. No man spoke of this man. Whole councils would get together,
the wisest men, lawyer, doctor, would get together to try to
catch him at his words, and they end up stumbling at their own.
Just like the scripture said, he brings the counsels of the
heathen to God. In spite of his profound wisdom,
in spite of rising from the dead, he lived, he was on this earth
40 days after he rose from the dead, and it says at one time
he was seen by 500 people at one time. And those that hated
him saw him alive, And they tried to cover it up anyway. They didn't
believe him. They didn't believe him. Now, 2,000 years later, he left
this earth with the promise that, I'm coming again. This is what
he said, I'm coming again. Surely, he said, I come. quickly
this time. It was 4,000 years before he
came the first time. It's been 2,000. A lot quicker
than the first time. Surely I come quickly. He said,
I'm coming again. But the world does not believe
it. They stop and look. Do you? Look at 1 Peter 1. Yes, you do.
Verse 8. I love this verse. Whom have
you not seen? In whom? That is, in Christ. Though now you see Him not, yet
believe Him. Do you believe in this One whom
you have not seen? Do you believe in that One who
came to this earth two thousand years ago? Do you believe He
came? Do you believe He is who He is? Do you believe He did
what He did? Do you believe He is where He
is now? Do you believe He's coming? Do you really believe that? Come
on. Do you? Yes, you do, he said. Though now you see him not yet
believing you, and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. And you try to tell people who
don't believe, and they don't understand. Not with Hosea. They don't believe. They don't
believe. But by God's grace, sovereign
grace, you do. And so back to 2 Peter 3. And
so Peter said, let me remind you. I'm here to remind you,
he's got it back. It doesn't matter what the whole
world says. Let me remind you, Peter said, and let me remind
you that people, we're not the ones who believe a ridiculous
and fantastical story. That's what we're accused of.
That's what believers are accused of, believing some fairytale.
Let me tell you a fairytale. You want to hear a fairytale
that men believe in? That seven zillion years ago, pick a few
years, doesn't matter, a billion, four billion, five billion, they
do. There was a speck of something
flying around in the, this is science, flying around in the
in the atmosphere somewhere, and landed on a big planet that
was like a bowl of soup. And that thing, after four billion
more years, it grew a little arm. Two billion more years went by
and it decided, I don't need another arm. One's not good enough. Grew another arm. Several billion
more a year, and I'd love to walk on land, so I'll grow me
some legs. Took a long time to get through.
A zillion years later, doesn't matter, take a few years. One
year they did. They said, we finally decided
the Earth's much younger than we thought. It's now four billion
years. We thought it was five. Huh. A billion year mistake.
Anyway, this is what people believed. It is fantastic and ridiculous! Until one day, it stood up. This marvelous creature called
a human being, that's the most marvelous thing on planet Earth,
mind, brains, bodies, it's the most complex machine ever created,
just happened to be in there. We're not the ones who believe
a fantastical and ridiculous story. Something this marvelous and
this amazing had to be created, right? I love, let me tell you
that story, I love that story of the believer and the fellow,
the watch. Maybe some of you haven't heard
it. The believer was talking to a fellow scientist, creation,
evolution. And he said, let me ask you something. You, he said, you have a watch
on? Phil said, yes. He said, let
me see it. So Phil gave him, took his watch
off and gave it to him. And the believer said, nice watch. He said, do you believe that
the person who made this was a skillful craftsman? Oh, that's a Rolex. Yeah, Swiss
made. What's all the movements? How
many jewels? Well, anyway, nobody here has
one. Anyway, so many jewels and so
many movements and so forth. Yeah, look at it. Can you tell?
The craftsmanship is exquisite. It's beautifully made. Yes, the
man, the believer said, I don't believe that. He said, I believe
that a million years ago, floating around in space were skins and
crystals and gears and jewels and quartz or whatever it is,
just floating in a big explosion took place, a big bang. And you got that watch. And the fellow said, well, you're
a fool. Am I asking for proof? And he said, no, you're the fool.
To believe something much more complex than a wristwatch could
just happen out of thin air. And this is what Peter talks
about. Look at it. Peter says they're willingly
ignorant. They're willing, verse 5, They
were willingly ignorant that by the Word of God the heavens
were above. How did this thing come into
existence? God made it. God spoke. He said, let there
be light. Why does that ball of... I got
it wrong before. It's hydrogen in it. The sun
said, heal him. There's a ball of hydrogen just
hanging in thin air. It's a hundred million times
the size of the earth. It's been hanging there a long
time. And if the earth gets about a foot closer to it, it'll burn
up. If it gets a foot further away from it, it'll freeze to
death. How is that thing hanging there?
It's been burning a long time. What keeps it burning? What keeps
it in place? The earth rotating around is
exact, perfect rotation or orbit around that
sun to keep it from burning or freezing. And the earth itself
rotating on it. God, by the Word of God,
God said, let there be light. On the first day, God created
light. So for the sun, moon, stars,
God made it all. David said, Oh, the heavens declare
His glory, the firmament show its handiwork. Day unto day utter
His speech. I am the night knowledge. There's
no language on the earth where that is not told. From the heathen
in the jungle to the heathen in the pew. Have y'all seen that
God is and that God made him? Just look at a thumbprint, it'll
tell you somebody made us. There's no two of these are alike.
Amazing, amazing. But they're willing to ignore.
Peter said they're willing to ignore of this. Why? Because if God made us, If there's
a person who made all this, what does that mean? Number one, it
means he owns it. If you make something, you own
it, don't you? And you can do with it what you
will. Nobody can tell you what to do with it. You can do whatever
you want to do with it, if you make it. Is that all right? So
that's number one why men willingly are ignorant. They don't want
a God. A fool says, no God, no, I don't want a God. That means
he owns me. They don't like to be owned by
anybody. Believe that. Secondly, men are willing to
be ignorant because that means he's the judge of all. He sets
rules. He sets down the law. And men
don't like to be under the law. They like to want to rule themselves.
But God is the judge of the earth, the scripture says. And men answer
to him. He made it, he owns it, he judges
it according to his, what he said. They don't like that. Some,
they unwillingly agree. Paul wrote in Romans 1, the first
chapter of Romans, About how that God, since they refused
to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.
That means a mind void of judgment. That means a mind believed that
there was a speck floating and fell in the soup. That's what
that means. A reprobate mind. But men call
it men having a PSA. Well, Peter said, I want to remind
you, they're willingly ignorant. will and the ignorant of creation,
verse five and verse six, that the world that then was overflowed
with water perish. That's the flood. And I could,
I could spend another hour talking about the flood today. The insurmountable
evidence to support the flood. I hate to use those terms, but
we're not trying to prove God. We don't stand up and argue creation.
We're not trying to prove God. God's not trying to prove himself
to anybody. God reveals himself to whom he
will. He's not trying to get anybody to believe. God, in mercy
and grace, reveals himself to someone. And they believe, and
they're amazed and astounded. So Peter says to the believers,
I want to remind you that God destroyed this world. They were
scoffing and mocking until the day that Noah entered the ark.
And that's what our Lord said would happen, will happen. In
Matthew 24, our Lord said, as in the days of Noah, so shall
the coming of the Son of Man be. They'll be buying and selling,
building, marrying and giving and marrying. There you go. Everything going
on like usual. Nothing in this book tells that
there's going to be some cataclysmic event and it'll be a big revival
on earth. No, no. This is the days of Noah.
That Noah, until the day he walked in that ark. And that was it. So shall it
be, and he said, so shall it come into the Son of Man. A time
when you think not, then suddenly, suddenly, not gradually, suddenly,
Peter says, I want to remind you of all this. I want to remind
you. The men are willing to do it.
They have no evidence to support what he's saying, really. I've
told you before, with the whole theory of evolution, all of the
actual concrete evidence, bone evidence, so-called, of man can
fit in a small child's coffin. I'm telling you a scientific
truth. Every bone frame that's ever
been found to support their ridiculous notion can be placed in a box
like this big. I'm telling you the truth, and
they'll tell you the same thing. They have to. It's a huge concoction. It's a huge conspiracy by man
to try to disprove God. Willingly ignorant. Willingly
ignorant. Verse 7 says, The heavens and
the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store.
As I said, that ball of hydrogen hangs there because God says
hang there. This world keeps spinning because
God says spin. You keep living, you keep breathing
because God says breathe. Daniel said For God in whose
hands thy breath is, and all thy ways." Our very breath. He said, the
very hairs of your head are numbered. That's right. The same earth,
he said in verse 7, which is kept by the same word in store
is reserved unto fire. Are you preaching hell's fire
in the Annihilation Preacher? No, Peter is. Peter, I'm just repeating what
he said. All right. Against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. That is, men who, you can
be ungodly and sit in the church pew. Ungodly means you don't
believe the God of fire. All right, enough of that. Enough of the husband-too-much-time
talking about evolution. Now, beloved. Now, I'm talking
to the believer. Now, beloved. Beloved of God. For love of God, whom he did
foreknow, that is, for love, he did predestinate. When he
predestinated God, when he called, he justified it. When he justified
it, he called it what you say. He loved it. He loved it. Don't be ignorant of this one
thing. While the world is saying, where is this coming from? Three
years have passed since the turn of the millennium. Or they think
it's the turn of the millennium. They don't know. The Jewish calendar has this
about the year 1996. Right? No one knows the exact
year it is. But anyway, since the turn of
the millennium, a year goes by, 2000, and I reminded you when
the millennium, you know, when it came and went and nothing
happened, whew! There's a collective side of
belief in world culture. Even among those who didn't believe,
something's going to happen. And then the year went by. Or
really, two years went by. Three years go by. I see. I see. I told you. Don't you be ignorant of this.
Now listen, verse eight. One day is with the Lord as a
thousand years. A thousand years as one day. Don't you be ignorant of this.
One day with the Lord is as a thousand years. A thousand years as one
day. What does this say? He says,
I want you to keep in mind that God is not subject to time. In a thousand years, God won't
die. God is not subject to time. Time is subject to God. You and
I live for the moment. We're creatures of the present.
We can't do anything about the past. We can't do anything about
a one minute from now. We don't know what's going to
happen, I mean 60 seconds from now. We are confined to the present. Everything about it. The knowledge,
everything. Our purpose. We're creatures,
we live for the moment. We have no knowledge of the future
event. We pass the time and wait for time to pass. And you hear that? We pass the
time, and we wait for time to pass. Not God. Acts 15, 18 says,
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning. That's what Acts 15, 18 says. God is not subject to time. Known
unto God are all His works from the beginning. When God first
purposed everything, before the world began, in Him might have
done it. And it can't possibly be all
that. He said, I've spoken it, it'll
come back. He said, I've purposed it, I'll
do it. Victim, victim. Said, done. God is not subject to time. One
day, and one day is a thousand years. How can God, well, This
marvelous thing of creation, so marvelous, the ordering of it, the purposing
of it, the workings of it, God, in ordering one day, a 124-hour
day, a thousand years, to direct and purpose and work one good day a thousand
years. God's eternal before it ever
started. Do you understand? No, we don't
understand. I don't. I said a thousand years
is one day. Let me just give you an illustration.
This will help us all understand what we have. A thousand years
is a day, a day is a thousand years. Do you ever watch reruns? Do you ever watch a film, a movie,
or whatever it is that you've seen before? All right? If you've never seen that movie
before, say someone comes over and you have a movie that you've
been watching before. They've never seen it before.
While they're watching it, they don't know what's going to happen
the next 30 seconds. They're filled with doubts and
fears and worries and they're crying and they're scared and
you're not. Or some of you are. But you shouldn't
be, right? Do you know the end? Do you know the end? If you absolutely
start to sing the end from the beginning, you're in no hurry. My wife, she watches the same
old movie and knows what's going to happen. And I don't know. Honey, you know, you work like
that, you've seen it. Don't worry. If you know the
end, if you've seen it, you know what's going to happen, no hurry.
You're not in a hurry. No worry. No hurry, no worry. God's not such a time. While the whole world says, we
don't believe him, where is he? There's a verse in Ecclesiastes
that I love. It says, because sentence against
an evil word is not speedily executed. That is, because men and women
do what they do in sight of God, and there's no judgment, you
know, lightning doesn't talk. It goes on to say, "...therefore
the purpose of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."
That means, see, God's not subject to time. He's
not subject to man. He's not subject to time. He
doesn't react. God does not react. We do. God acts, and things react. You wouldn't react if you knew
things from the beginning. No hurry. Is that a good illustration? That's
the way it is with God. And they say, where's the promise
of his tongue? Well, the Lord has promised. Verse 9, the Lord
is not slack concerning his promise. Verse 9, the Lord is not slack
concerning his promise. What promise? He promised to
save all that come unto God by Christ. He promised that all that the
Father gave Christ would come unto Him, and of all that He'd
given Him, He would lose nothing. That's fine. He promised that He would come
again to receive them all to Himself. And that promise, he
says, is not, the Lord is not slack. He's going to honor His
promise. Whatever He's supposed, whatever
He promised is going to happen. So when you trust Christ and
believe Christ, you'll be saved. You are saved. And He's coming
again. But not when men think He ought
to. And not because men say they
want him to, or they don't want him to, but not because time
gives you no money. Nobody could. Nobody. The man's a fool who says so. He's coming again, and he says
here in verse 9, that the Lord is longsuffering. Verse 9. Now,
to keep it in context, beloved, the Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slack. But He's longsuffering
to us-worth. Who? Who's the Lord longsuffering
to? Look at the pronoun, us-worth. Not willing. Who's He talking
about? Beloved. That's right. Not willing
that any should perish. Who? God's not willing that somebody
should perish. They're not going to perish at
all. Isn't that right? He works with all things that
can counsel His will. Whatever God's not willing to
do, it won't happen. Whatever God wills, will be done. God is not willing that any should
perish. Who? That's right. And Beloved. He said, I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Keep it in contentment. But that all should come to repentance. He's not talking about the world.
He's talking about all His people, all the beloved, all the lustful. I like this verse. Even though
people have butchered it and misused it. Oh, this is a promise. Not willing that any of us should
perish, that all should come to repent them, that is, change,
conversion, salvation. But the day of the Lord will
come. I've got to hurry. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night. He will come, a thief in the
night. Would you turn real quickly to
1 Thessalonians 5, just real quickly? See, we're so subject
to time, aren't we? 1 Thessalonians 5. Our Lord was preaching for hours
on end, may I not grow tired, according to His will. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night. Thief is an unexpected intruder. A thief is someone you're not
looking for. A thief is somebody you don't want. A thief is somebody
who scares you to death. I've had some friends
whose homes have been broken into, and they were alive. It's
horrifying. Nobody's looking for a thief. 1 Thessalonians 5. says in verse
one of the Times and Seasons, Brethren, you have no need, I
write unto you, you yourselves know perfectly the day of the
Lord shall come and place a thief in the night. But when they shall
say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman and a child, and they shall not escape. And
you, brethren, are not invited. That that day should overtake
music day. He's not going to come and scare
the heathens to death. He's supposed to thrill them,
fill them with joy. Thrill their hearts with it.
There won't be one second, one moment, one second's fear or
apprehension or trepidation on the part of the believer. Oh,
there'll be fullness of joy when he comes. In a moment, a twinkling
of an eye, it will be changed. But the unbeliever, here, their
hearts will fail them, the Revelation says. Not the believer, their
hearts will leave them. It's like the bride, the bride
beholding the bridegroom. That's the way it'll be for the
people. You're not in darkness that they should overtake you.
You're children of light. That means you're looking for
it. You have to lie to them. You have to lie to them. He will
come, Peter said. He will come. And in conclusion,
Peter says in our text, see of men, verse eleven, that all these
shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
we to be? What should we be taken up with? What should we be thinking
about? Huh? We ought to be looking,
1st Quail says, looking for and hastening the coming of the day
of God. What makes Christ's coming seem nearer? Are you more conscious of His
coming now? Do you believe more than when you came into your
hand that He's coming? Do you believe He's coming sooner than
you believed before you got here? That's what it means to haste
the coming. You don't do that unless you're under the Word.
You have to go under the Word in order to be baptized. You've got the word. You're not
even thinking about His coming. If you're under the Word, you're
hasting the coming of the day. Wherein the heavens be on fire
shall be dissolved. Verse 13. But don't let that
bother you. We, according to this problem,
look for new heavens and a new world. Young people, I know this,
you know, I'm not ready to go. I've got a whole life to live.
You don't know what living is. I don't know what living is. Paul writes, or Isaiah wrote
it first, and Paul quoted it, "...I have not seen, e'er hath
not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things
that God hath prepared for them that love him, from the youngest
child to the oldest adult. Those that believe in the things
that he hath prepared are unspeakable." There's not one person who'd
left this planet who'd given the option he would come back? Oh no. The song says, at the Father's
right hand are joy, pleasure, and unspeakable. But I want to
get married. Oh, you married a beloved. Oh,
you get married, all right. I want to go through the wedding. Whoa, wait till you go through
that one. But I want to live life. He said,
you going to have life more out of thunder? We're dead men walking. I wish I could preach that. I
know it'd be pretty good. Our Lord said, at my father's
right hand, in my father's house are many mansions, if it were
not so, I wouldn't have told you. I told you folks earlier. And you're going to be so happy,
so happy that there'll never be a tear, not one moment's sadness,
not one moment's regret, not one moment's remorse, not one
moment for the rest of your life. Now, who wouldn't want to go
there? You're done with sin, you're
done with sadness, you're done with death, you're done with
sorrow, you're done with this guilt. Don't give in. That, Brother
John, perhaps, is the real meaning of raising the very responsibility.
Sitting among princes, would Mephibosheth go back to sitting
at those bars? Have you sat at the table with
David? Mephibosheth, you can have the old house back. Burn
that thing! Here's the old writer, and he
thinks about it. Oh, I don't know what the hell he's talking
about. Huh? We according to his promise.
Oh, this is a fantasy. Oh, you don't believe that, do
you? I sure do. That's fantasy. No, it's a promise. Who said
it? He that cannot lie. They tried
to prove that He did, but nobody could. Wherein dwelt the righteous?
Beloved, seeing you look for such a thing, be dimwitted. That
is, get serious. The older we get, the more serious
we ought to get, sir. The more devoted we ought to
be. Oh, we ought to think of these things. David wrote in
Psalm 9 and oh, that they were wise and would consider their
ladder in. Man, the scripture says you're
going to do it long and hard, from which you won't come back.
Why does a man have to make preparations
for a trip? Seventy years here, 30. That's
what we ought to be thinking about. Yep. And account, I'm
sorry, I have to skip over some of this. I've preached on this
chapter about eight times. But go back and get the tape. The long-suffering of our Lord
is salvation. Now, I love this, and I want
you to consider this and be mindful of this. Ten years ago, I wanted the Lord
to come back. Come, Lord. There's some people
sitting in this room. be judged if the Lord comes ten
years from now. The long-suffering
of the Lord is salvation. Twenty years ago, most everybody
in this room flew the plane, be judged, thirty
people. The long-suffering of the Lord
is salvation. I've got some people I know some people that I hope
the Lord will reveal Himself to them. Well, He must have some more
healing. He's not here yet. We need to
take Him into account. It's a long suffering, His mercy,
His grace. He's not willing that any of
his people should perish, and none of them will. He's still
got sheep out there. The gospel's still being sent
forth. Sheep are still being brought in the fold, just little
by little. But they are being brought in. And he's not terrorizing. He's not terrorizing. He's right
on his time. But his long-suffering serves
salvation. I like that. And he says, Paul
spoke of these things, some things hard to be understood. Read it
for yourself here, see. And beloved, you know these things,
verse seventeen, you know these things, and beware lest you also
be led away with the error of the wicked. Don't listen to the
CNA. Don't do this. Don't, you know, let your subscription
to Roman times just run out. I've got good advice for you.
They're the ones that said there's no life on Mars. And they've since said, in a
very small paragraph on the back page, that there is no life on Mars. Very common in human thinking. Why don't you believe God, huh?
Why don't you reject Peter Jennings and believe Petoskey? Huh? Forget these people. Forget what
the world is saying. Forget it. They've been saying
things they've been saying fantastically so from the beginning. Smart
people. I believe in Columbia, all right?
I believe they're all a bunch of monkeys. They all came from monkeys. Beloved, don't be led away with
error of the witness. That's how you start listening
to what the world is saying. To grow in grace, verse 18, to
grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. How do you grow in grace? Peter said it before, desire
the sincere milk of the word that you may grow in grace. Desire, that's how you grow.
To Him be both glory, or glory both now and forever. Amen. All right. I got another message. A short
one. This is the way to start the
new year. Somebody said you're going to have special services.
I kind of think every Wednesday is pretty special. I really do. I kind of think
it's pretty special. I'll show you. Go to Luke 22,
Luke chapter 22. This is a wonderful way to begin
the New Year. Wonderful. This is how the Israelites began
preparing for the New Year. Lot of questions. Exodus 12.
He said this would be the beginning of the New Year. They're going
out. They're going out. They're going to come in. Luke 22, look at verse 14. When
the hour was come, he sat down, and twelve apostles with him. We sing that song, What a fellowship,
what a joy. You think about sitting. I often
think about that. Wouldn't you like to have sat
with the Lord? I mean, actually sat around the
fire and say, they did, three and a half years. Well, I've had no problem. We
do too. He called those twelve and they
came to him and he sat down with them and he said, and the same
thing is happening to you people here. He said, sir, uh-huh. He called them he would and they
come and he sat down. Where two or three out there
sit, he sat with them. Read on, verse 15. And he said
unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover
with you before I suffer. And the margin says, I heartily
desire to eat with you. Don't you like to go and suffer
in somebody's house that makes you feel well? I don't like these
general calls. People say, y'all gonna have
to come over sometime. You ever get those? I get a lot
of them. Yeah, I'm not a tacky looker. I'm a winner. But I like it when people call
me. And say, we want you over tonight at 7 o'clock. My wife's
got a roast already cooking and everything. We'll celebrate now. Don't break the fast. Come on
over. Just bring an appetite. Come on over. When you come to
the door, hey! Ron, tell me how you do it. Just
stay there. Come on in here. Jello? That's
what man calls it. Come on in. This is the city. Ain't many of us. You never get
here. Don't you like to eat somebody else like that? Christ said,
what desire have I desire to eat this person with you? No
less so every time we meet. That's something to think about
anyway. Christ desires and loves to be with his people. How much
more should we desire to be with him? Huh? We're the needy ones.
He doesn't need our company. We sure think he does. But Lord delights to meet with
his people. Verse 16. He said, I will not eat any more,
not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom
of God. The last supper before he suffered. It may be our last. How important is this message? It might be our last. Now, I'm
not being dramatic, I'm being truthful. It might be our last.
How would you listen to this, Patrick, if you thought it was
the last message you'd ever hear before you met God? Huh? It might be. It might be. It might be the last one I've
heard. How would we listen? How intently would we listen?
How would we turn to every scripture? How would we say, wait, wait,
don't, now don't shout. Huh? It might be. Most likely
I'll suffer tomorrow. You don't know what tomorrow
may bring. Christ said, I'm not going to
eat any more until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven. The
last supper before he suffered. And it might be our day. But
he said, I will eat again. We will eat again. Verse 18, he says, I say unto
you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom
of God shall come. Isn't that, now that's a, this
is a blessed thought. Look down at verse 30. He said,
you will eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. Now that's something to think
about, isn't it? That marriage supper of the Lamb. What a blessed
thought, sitting at the Lord's table in heaven. And nobody's going to be absent.
Nobody's going to be missing. We're all going to be there.
Everybody's going to be there.