Go over now with me to 1 Thessalonians,
Chapter 5. The book of 1 Thessalonians,
Chapter 5. We were blessed last week to
hear Pastor Mayhem preach and teach throughout this book, 1
Thessalonians. Something in this chapter caught
my eye. I'm going to look at that and
study it tonight. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, look
at verse 6. Therefore, let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. Many, many times in
the Scripture you'll find this word, watch, watch, watch. Throughout the Old and New Testament,
you'll find this word, watch, watch, watch. Preachers in the
Old Testament are called watchmen, watchmen. They are eating watch. They are told to stand on their
watch. People are told to watch. Have
you ever, have you ever stood watch? over anything or anyone. I bet you everyone in here has.
At some point in time you have stood watch over something or
someone. At least one military man in
here, a military watchman. It's a fellow who stands guard
at the gate, that's a sentry. He stands on the lookout for
approaching enemy. That's a watchman, a night watchman. In a business or a factory or
whatever, a night watchman is always going around the place
looking about, checking, watching, to guard against intruders or
whatever, to watch. Watch means to be alert to danger. Watch means to stand guard. Watch means to be aware of. When
you're standing watch, it means to be aware of what's going on
around you. You don't sleep. When you sleep,
you're not watching. You've got to be wide awake to
give a good watch. To watch means to be observant. We're observant of things, to
notice things that other people that aren't on watch don't notice. Are you with me? That's what
it means to be on the watch, to look for signs and things. All right? The Lord throughout
Scripture tells us to be on the watch, watch, watch, be alert
to danger. We're in danger all around us. Temptations. Typical. Stand guard. Stand guard of what you have. Old fast scripture talks about
what you have. Easily be taken away. Be aware of all about you. Beware. Peter uses that term
throughout his second epistle. Beware. Beloved, beware. Beware. Be wary. Be wary, be aware of
everything going on around you. Be aware. We're told throughout the Scriptures
to be observant. Be observant. All right? Now, you stood watch over something. I know you have. Perhaps someone's
sickbed. You ever stood watch over your
child's sickbed? While they're languishing in
a fever or something, you're watching for the fever to break.
You're watching for the fever to go up. You're not going to
go to sleep. There's danger there. Have you
ever stood watch over someone in a sick bed? Well, all true
believers are told, old and young, are told to be on the watch.
Be watch, be on the lookout, be aware of it, alright? Watch
for what? It should have been already apparent
to you when I gave meaning to watch for dangers and things
like that. But principally, what are we
watching for? What is the believers in Joachim
looking for? Look at chapter 4, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4, verse 16, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with the child. We read over there in Luke 12,
and he said, who watch, who wait for their
Lord's coming. Does He still come, first watch,
second watch, third watch? He's coming. He said He would.
So we're told to wait and watch for Him. He's coming. The disciples
were standing on the mount when the Lord, the Lord, after he
was crucified and rose, he spent 40 days on the earth. He stayed
here 40 days. What a 40 days that must have
been with his disciples. Anyway, none of them wanted to
leave. None of them were absent when
he was around there. Guarantee that. But anyway, they
all assembled on a mountain. And they watched him just go
outside, just stand up in the air. And they were all just gazing
up into heaven, watching with amazement. And an angel of the
Lord said unto them, out loud, you men of Israel, My Savior
gave him in the heaven. This same Jesus, whom you saw
go, shall so come in like manner as you see him go." He's going to come in
the same form. It was incredible what they were
watching the Lord ascend. Well, it's going to be incredible
what we shall see Him appear. They were watching. And He Himself
said that. Watch, for you know not what
hour your Lord may come. All right? He said this. You
know not what hour it is. That means we don't know the
exact time. We do not know the day or the
exact time. No man knows that. Anybody who
makes a prediction is an utter fool. And many have done so. And why
do people continue to hear them? I don't know. A true preacher would never make
a prediction. It goes against the Church. But
now, the Lord did say this, you can discern the times, the general
era, the general time. that is around his approach,
that approaches his return. You can discern those things. He said it's like discerning
the face of the sky or weather. You see certain signs in the
sky, you know certain weather is coming. And he said, use the
fig tree. Remember the fig tree when it's
getting green in the springtime, when it puts forth its leaves
in the summer, puts forth its fruit in the fall, the leaves
start dropping, it's over. And the Lord gives us those things
that we might not be ignorant of at the time. Paul tells us that over and over
again. Tell us the time. Look at chapter 5 now. He says
this in verse 1 of chapter 5, "...of the times and the seasons,
brethren, you have no need that I write unto you." Does that
mean it's not important? Is that what he's saying? No.
What he's saying is, you already know these things. How do we
know these things? The Lord told me so. They had
the Gospels. They had the Gospels. Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John, those Gospels had been, had taken place. Right? All of that was packed. They were writing in this, but
they had the written account of what our Lord gave in Matthew
24. We're going to turn there in
a minute. All right? But the Lord in Matthew 24 goes
into great detail, great detail for His people concerning the
things that precede His coming, His imminent return. Look at
verses 2 through 4 here in 1 Thessalonians 5. He says, You're still to know
perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh, so cometh as the
evening and the night. Who said that? Christ said that
in Matthew 24. He comes at the end of the night,
and we read it in Luke 12. It's in all the accounts. It's
in all the gospels. Well, verse 3, But when they shall say, Peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman and child, and they shall not escape. When they shall
say... Who's he talking about? They
are going to say, peace, and say, this is they. My Lord said
this in Matthew 24, false prophets, false prophets. They say, peace,
peace, one another. There's no peace. False prophets. Tell me, and this is all you're
hearing today, isn't it? God loves you. That's all they're
saying. That's all they've been saying.
That God loves you. Peace, peace, when there's no
peace? God said, we're going to lose
it. The destruction of this planet
is all it's not. There's no peace. Peace, peace. Oh no, out now destruction is
coming. Not peace. There's peace in Christ Jesus. But outside of Christ, the wrath
of God will pass on him. Well, look at verse 3, it says,
For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction
cometh upon them as travail upon a woman. Our Lord, I'm getting
a little ahead of myself, but our Lord said that as in the
days of Noah, they didn't even know it until the door was shut
on them. They weren't even thinking about
it. Although 120 years Noah kept
preaching. And it wasn't until the gold
showed on that ark, and even the first rain started falling. It never rained before. And I'm
sure even then they thought, let's see it. Oh well. And the
creek started rising a little bit. Well, huh. And it got serious. And that didn't even bother me. I knew not. It's like you took them out totally
by surprise. Travail 101. You ladies that
went into labor or premature or whatever, you know, you come
home, you hitch in things. You're feeling fine, and all
of a sudden, wham! And travail, that means excruciating
pain, difficult. They shall not escape. First
of all, you brethren, but you brethren, I'm talking to believers. First of all, you brethren, you're
not in darkness. Darkness is ignorance. Darkness
is not aware. You can't be unaware of anything
in the dark. You're just talking about the world being in darkness. You're not in darkness. That
that day should overtake you as a being? You're all, verse
5, you are all the children of light. Children of light. Children of
the day. We're not of the night, nor of
the darkness. Men loved... John, this was John's
indictment against the world. He said, light came into this
world, but men loved darkness rather than light. Why? Because
their deeds were evil. It says down in verse... Verse
7, they that are, they that sleep, sleep in the night. They that
be drunken, they're drunken in the night. All sorts of mischief
takes place at night time. That's when men, that's when
their true nature start to come out. They love darkness rather
than light. You're not that way, Sam. Men
don't like it. You know, what you don't know
won't hurt you. I guess it will, damn you. The men don't want to know, they
don't want to think about Christ coming, they refuse. Peter said
this in verse 2 Peter 3, he said, they're willing to ignorance
of creation. This is what Peter said in chapter
3, 2 Peter. They're willing to ignorance
of creation. They don't want to think about
the fact that somebody created us. Why? It means it owns us. That means an answer to it. If
somebody makes you, you answer to them. They own you. They do
with you what they want, what they will. Men don't like the
thought of a sovereign owner, God, a judge. Their will and
the ignorant of creation. It says their will and the ignorant
of the flood. Peter said this. Men and women
are willing to ignore, that is, refuse to believe that there
was a time. You know what they call it? You
know what they call this worldwide cataclysmic? Everybody knows
and believes there was a worldwide cataclysmic event, something
which destroyed dinosaurs and turned this whole world upside
down. Everybody believes that. They
call it the Ice Age. You know what it was, don't you?
You know what it was, don't you? You know exactly what it was,
what turned everything upside down and drowned everything on
it? It's a flood. Men don't want
to think about a flood. What's this all about? A sin-hating,
world-judging God? And they're willing to ignorance,
but not in, they're not in darkness. That's the willful darkness of
ignorance. We all have done this about some things, some things
we know, we refuse to believe. I don't want to believe this. No. That's willful ignorance. That's being in darkness. Don't
tell me. I tell my wife that a lot. I
don't want to hear it. That's what men do about truth, but not in darkness. Children
of the day, children of the light. What is light? What is light? You have to have light in order
to see. If you have complete darkness,
you can't see, you can't walk, you're going to sleep. You can't
see danger, you can't see the pit that you might fall into,
you can't see beauty, you can't see what gives us light, what
gives us understanding, what opens our eyes to see danger. This is life. The word I word
is a lamp. My thing is life. This is life. Entrance is a life word, given
life. You're not in darkness. You have
a light. And you need to have your own
light. Have you ever walked with somebody in the yard at night
time and they're carrying a flashlight? You ever done that? I hate that.
I hate that. You can't sleep with your flashlight. They can't. All you hear is,
wait, wait, stop. I can't see. Get out of my way. Get your own flashlight. Right? Don't pin on me, don't pin on
John Fletcher. And he won't stop. He won't stop. Remember us talking about this
being a rod and a stamp? A rod and a stamp being something
to ward off the wolves? Why is it that people fall for
all these wolves in sheep's clothing? They don't have a stamp. They're
not using the Sabbath. And they fall for every whim
of doctrine. Why? Why do people fall for every
scripture said, every whim of doctrine, every new thing that
comes down the pipe, you go after? Why? They're not grounded and
settled where? In the truth. Like Paul said,
I know whom I have believed, and I am the first slave. How? I am. I am. Well, you're children of the
day. Brethren, you're not in darkness,
that day's not going to overtake you. You're waiting, you're watching,
you're looking for his return. And you see the signs,
or should see the signs, that point to his near return. So this is why he says in verse
six, Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch
and be sober, serious, sober. That doesn't mean, I'm not talking
about alcohol and beer, I'm just talking about being, well, you
can be drunk on anything. Not just alcohol. You can be
intoxicated by, and your mind is swooned over anything. Anything. Material things. Oh, I don't
have that. Oh, you're just out of your mind.
You're drunk with covetousness of it. Or like young men get
about girls, you know. Beauty just makes them stupid. out of their head to do crazy
things, you know, like they're drunk. They are, they're drunk
on, you know, they call it leprosy, or hormones, anyway. But he said,
be sober, don't be intoxicated with this stuff. My pastor gave this, and I've
just noticed this, I start to write hymn numbers now, and I
jotted these notes down. You do well to do the same, or
at least get it tight and hear it in. He gives this recipe for
sobriety. This is what we should consider
to keep us sober and serious and not to be intoxicated with
things and people and whatever this were. Number one, he says,
consider what you were. You were drunk as a skunk, some
of us literally, and others, all of us, on the skunk. Just
out of your head, about something. Just acting like another fool,
going after whatever it was. Consider what you were. You're
not. You're a new creature in Christ's
name. Things that are higher, things, the psalm says, things
that are higher, things that are nobler, these ones. But we're
our size now. In Hebrews 11, it talks about
the people, Abraham and Enoch and all these people. Do you
think you have a heart? Do you remember our study of
Enoch? Three hundred and sixty-five
years he had no chance. What do you have to say? Adam and Eve, 130 years he had
to live here, and deal with every temptation you and I have come
through. We think we've got it hard. Oh,
we've lived for 30 more years. But it's in us with a lack of
bandwidth. It says there in Hebrews 11 that
if they've been mindful of where they've come from, They wouldn't
have had the opportunity to go back. In other words, they wouldn't
have been thinking about it. Locke's wife did. Locke's wife
did. Shortest verse in the scriptures.
Remember, Locke's wife. She was handed out of a place
that was being destroyed. Yet, it was on her mind, on her
heart, that she could not get it off. Oh, my friends, my whole
mind. All that I loved here, all my
possessions, all my treasure, all my... I don't want to live! She hadn't left yet. She hadn't
left. So the Lord kept her right there. To herself. The Lord told her, Bob, this
is a game. Don't look back. Notice... Pilgrim said, they
didn't mind the way we were going back. No, they saw the better
country. Consider what you were, where
you were. I don't want to go back in that ditch. I don't want
to get back in the gutter. Dude, I don't want to go back. Peter, the Lord told Peter and
the boys, do you want to go? He says, where? I don't want
to go back there. Secondly, consider the vanity
of this life. The vanity. The vanity of this life. Solomon,
who had everything he could have, and it's too bad we can't learn
by just listening. Because he said, listen, I've
had it all. It won't make you happy. It'll make you worry. The more
you have, the more you worry about it. That's what our Lord
was saying over there in Luke 12. Where your treasure is, that's
what you worry about. Consider the vanity of this life. It's just a drapery. It's all
murdered up. You can't take it. You sure can't
take it. And you're not going to hold on to anything very long,
be it possessions or people. Consider the brevity of this
life. We don't have it all on this planet. It's almost 40 years old. And it's
showing. Some of you are approaching 50.
Some of you are approaching 60. Some of you are approaching 70.
Some of you are approaching 80. It's unbelievable, isn't it? BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! It's
gone! My wife's 25th class reunion
is coming in 25 years! It's incredible isn't it? It seems like we're going to
be hitting Smith Mountain Lake, you know, with all the rest of
the teenagers, doesn't it? We used to go to the lake, where
we live. The lake, Racin' Lake, that's
where we all went. Haven Lake. Every summer, teenagers used
to go to the lake. And you know what people will jump off the
highest pitch on the pumpkin? Kelly, you know who will. Hey,
watch this! I was like, now, oh man, now
I'm scared of heights. Gravity of life, consider those
around us. We're on a mission. We've got
children now. I've got to go on. But we have
others to consider and not ourselves. We're leaving here and we've
got souls around us to instruct and be an example. Well, go back to the text now. You're there. And so he says,
you know, you know, you're not in darkness. They sleep, sleep
in the night. First, therefore, let us not
sleep as do others. Let's watch and be sober. Let's turn, I don't have much
time, but I want you to see something in Matthew 24. Let's go back
there and see a few of the things our Lord said that precede His
return. Things that ought to tell us
that His return is very near. Matthew 24. And read this for
yourself, and really read chapters 24 and 25, because after he gives
these things in chapter 24, then in chapter 25 he gives several
parables, simple stories which illustrate what it means to watch
and wait for the Lord's return. All right, let's look at verses
42 through 44. The Lord said, Watch therefore,
for you know not what hour your Lord doth come, but know this,
that if the good man of the house had known what watch and keep
would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his
house to be broken. Therefore be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." An hour
when you think not. There's a key word. That is an
hour when nobody's looking. Everybody feels safe. Everybody
feels sound. Back there in verse 36 and 7. Of that day and hour knoweth
no man, knowing of the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Read on. As in
the days that were before the flood, they were eating, drinking,
marrying, giving in marriage, until the day, the very day,
that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and took them
all away. So also, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man
be. All right, what does this mean when they're eating and
drinking? The Lord is not condemning eating and drinking. That goes without saying. The
Lord is not condemning marriage. Marriage is good. It's honorable.
The Spirit is safe. He gets hit in the point. What
he's saying here is everything's going to go on and be going on
just like it always has. And this When you're eating and
drinking and marrying and thinking about that, buying and selling,
another place talks about buying and selling, that's prosperity. It's a time of prosperity. And
I don't know where all these small profits get the notion
that there's going to be worldwide dearth and all of that. I don't
know where they get it. They don't get it from God's
Word. But our Lord tells us it's going to be a time of prosperity.
So much so, everybody's going to be so in need that They're
not thinking. Back in history, at times like
the Civil War, they tell me, I read accounts of revivals,
so-called, throughout the Northern Army, Southern Army, where all
the soldiers, you know, were facing imminent death and were
very serious about the things of God. At least that's what
I read, where they're facing imminent death. They're serious
about it, and they're expecting to see God, meet God. Well, after
World War I, the whole world thought Christ was going to be
there. World War II, the whole world
thought he was going to come then. But he didn't, because,
no, he said, over here in Matthew 24, verse 6, look at this. He
said, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See this, you
may not believe. It's sort of, as long as human beings are on
this earth, they're going to find one another. As long as
they're there in Jews, they're going to make one another if
we take a copy of each other. As long as they're whatever,
black, white, red, yellow, we'll hang each other, we'll tie each
other. No atomic bomb is going to destroy us now. Scripture says that Christ shall
destroy this world. There was no comet that hit the
earth and caused the flood. It certainly didn't call it creation.
It didn't ban him. That's men's ridiculous notion.
We are not in darkness with others. The Scripture doesn't say that.
The Scripture tells us that the Lord himself is going to burn
up this planet. That he's going to come, and
at his coming, we're going to be caught up. All of his people
are going to meet him in the air. It's going to be the moment
when we're going to die. Oh, it's a secret race. We're
going to get passed. Because they're angry, that's
why. All these false prophets and all these people have this
notion of secret rapture, you know. Bumper sticker, if this
car suddenly goes out of the bumper, you know the rapture
is taking place. Every eye, the scripture says,
shall behold Him. That's what the scripture says.
Every eye shall behold Him. It says there's a lightening
from the east to the west, so shall it come to the Son of Man
be. At the trumpet, everybody's going to hear the trumpet. Graves
are going to open up. The dead in Christ are rotten.
Don't you ever see that? You see these ignoramuses. They're throwing people, leading
people astray. But you're not in darkness. That's
that thing. And we're watching them all.
Looking. Verse 11, here in Matthew 24,
it says, Many false prophets shall rise and deceive many.
Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Right there's a key verse. The love of what shall wax cold? The love of God. Love without natural affection.
Well. The Gospel preached on the four
corners of the globe. Has it? Well, then it's a lot clearer
now than it was, isn't it? This Gospel has been preached
throughout the world. Well, it has. Are they receiving
it? Is there a big revival in Russia? There's revivals throughout Southeast
Asia. They've heard of it. Yeah, there's been
missionaries in Japan. What's that fellow's name in
Japan? Has he been there for 40 or 50 years? China, Burma,
India, the Jetsons in Burma have been there for years, have they
not? Is this American conqueror? What, Admiral Jetson? And then the answer comes. You know the darkness. You see the darkness. I'm sure
you do. It quickly abounds. He tells
us in our text, let us watch. Alright, here's a few things
about watching. And we're as the Lord's men who
wait for His return. We're waiting for His return. Young people, this doesn't mean,
and there have been some preachers, you know, that have absolutely
false prophets who have led people to sell their homes, quit their
jobs, dig dugouts, store arms and food and all of that. Where does it say in that scripture? You see these people?
They've been led astray. It's your own flashlights. So
some dude says that, and you go, hey, where does it say that?
You won't fall for it. It doesn't say that. And young
people, nowhere does it say quit living. Don't get married. Don't
make plans. Nowhere does it say that. Nowhere
did the Lord say that. And when He said, take no thought,
that doesn't mean a wise person makes plans. The Lord didn't say, don't get married.
He didn't say that. When He said, take no thought,
He said, don't be filled with worry. And the cheap way to not
worry is to be found in Christ. And this is the only way that
you're going to look forward to His coming in life. You're
going to live your life like we did. What is the believer
going to do differently? If we knew the Lord was coming
tonight at nine o'clock, what would the believer be doing differently
than they do right now? Nothing. We're here now. That's what we're
doing here. We're a Christian. And a believer,
if he knew the Lord was coming at 9 o'clock tonight, oh, he
might not go home early to get something to do, something, you
know, that needs to be done. But a believer, you know, a believer
is, the Scriptures tell us to pray less, they say. Work hard. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy your family. Worship. Seek your space. Live your life. In an attitude of prayer, thanksgiving,
worship the Lord. It's time to worship. Worship.
Seek Him first and all things. But God gives us all things richly
to enjoy. Go ahead. Man don't get married.
Get married. Man don't build a house. Build
a house. The Lord doesn't condemn that. Looking for a new job or
whatever it may be. The Lord does not condemn these
things. But when He says, take no anxious thought. Don't
worry. And there's only one way to not
really worry about the future. And that is if you know the Lord
is in absolute control of the future. Absolute control. And you're waiting, watching,
looking forward to His return. Now, the reason most cannot look
forward to the Lord's return, even those who claim to believe
Him, who do believe Him, I believe that there are many who do believe
the Lord and may be weak in the faith, who cannot, you know,
with utter enthusiasm, say, you know, I'm looking forward to
His return. The scripture says, I have not seen you, you have
not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
that God has prepared for him. If you could see, this is how
Paul, Paul the Apostle, living in a prison could say,
well I'm content. I don't learn what sort of state
I'm in to be content. He said, but I sure haven't desired
the fire to be removed. Why? He said, I heard things, but I can't
repeat them. Words can't express them. I've been sitting here, haven't
heard it, need to have the energy of the heart, man, that things have
gotten prepared for them. But if we could take one little
glimpse in the glory, would not you accept? And that's the reason the Lord
doesn't let us. We'd be met so miserable on this planet. If
we could really glimpse into what's in store for us, we'd
be so much better. And the Lord made it with that
Lazarus turned and followed him. But I don't believe Lazarus went
there. I don't think Lazarus went there. I think the Lord,
you know, I think he slept. The Lord wouldn't be so cruel
to bring him back from glory at this time. But, you know, this is why we're
so loath to leave this place. So loath to leave it. We had
to think what life would be. The children of Israel wouldn't
hang around and want to stay in Israel. Didn't they? Want
to go back to Egypt. Oh, when they get to the Promised
Land, they're a great stigma. Great to that day was just too
good to be true. But it was true. And so is this. So it's this, it's too good not
to be true. The Lord, He said, He might have
brought us down from heaven, as if it were not so, but I know
it's a fair place. He said there'll be joy, it'll
be so joy, it's going to be so joyous. So there's a ceaseless,
endless rapture in joy and happiness. So much so that the former thing
won't even come alive. There's an old saying, you know,
he who laughs, laughs, laughs best. Well, let me change that
a little bit. He who laughs, laughs, laughs forever. This is Blaster, Psalm 126, David
says, Oh, when the Lord turned again our captivity, we were
like in the dream, the dream. He said, then our mouths were
filled with laughter. So my life, we're
going to laugh forever and enjoy a season of joy. As a matter
of fact, we can't get rid of that. Can we? We just can't.
Ever again. No more tears. Ever. Ever again. No more sorrow. No more depression. No more pain. No more suffering.
No more sadness. No more loneliness. No more nothing. Sheer ecstasy. Joel, with the
Lord and his people. You get a little glimpse of it
right now and you're going, I like that. I like that. It's true.
And I can't describe it. But you're getting excited about
it. And we're going to experience it. Joy of the Lord. Enter now, what do we say? Enter
now into the joy of the Lord. The speechless joy. Have you ever, I know you have,
you've spent time with family, with brethren, around the table
or whatever this, around the gospel that you didn't want it
to end. He said, that's my Peter. Barbara,
that's my Peter up on the mountain. So, let's build three set of
messes up. I don't want to stay here, Lord. We have to go down
there. We're mounted up on the wings of evil. We have to go
back to the church. That's right, the wind is bad.
Let's build a tent right here. I want to go back to earth. So,
I'm back on the mountain. I don't have to. And it's watched. That's not
all fantasy, that's not fiction at all. It's truth. Those who know the Lord. And they're watching, they're
waiting. Can our change come through that? Wait for our change
to come through this? I don't even want to study it,
I can't deal with it. If you could talk to me about
it, I would tell you. I don't know what I saw crawling
around on the ground, eating dirt. I don't know what I saw
crawling around. Watch. Watch. Let me tell you
how we watch, alright? A few things on how we watch.
I told you watching is to be aware, be on the lookout, be
observant. It's certainly where the Word of God. This is number
one. This is the way that we watch.
Right now, you haven't been put on your watch. Ever. You probably
weren't thinking about the Lord's return before you came. If you were real honest, you
would say, I haven't given a whole lot of thought in the week leading
up to this, or at least since Sunday. Any honest people here? What
we do here is put, what I'm doing is putting you on your watch.
Watch that. Don't fall asleep in enchanted
ground. That's what the evangelist Warren
Fieldrum of, Fieldrum of Progress, he said, now you're going to
come into a place called His Chancellery. There'll be many
dangers to you, things and all that. Don't like it? Don't like
it? You oppose it? And he was just, and he did,
he did. Did any of you know where he
ended up? You did? You read it? They ended
up in Dowling Castle. in the dungeon of the giant of
despair. You ought to read it. You read
it? Have you got that anywhere? There was a giant called Despair. And
he lived in a place called Dowden Castle. And because they weren't
watching where they were going, they fell asleep and all that.
And they ended up in the dungeon full of doubts. In doubt. In doubt. Full of despair. Under the bondage of despair. had to get out. And one of them
said, let's pray. Let's call on the Lord. And they did. Do you know what
happened? One of them said, what? A key. I have a key right here, my friend. A key to get out of this room. Have it down in your head and
sit on your feet back on the way, which is the key. And here, write it all along. Oh, I forgot all about everything. Don't fall asleep in a man's
despair. Pilgrim and his companion, they
got the band prepared. And oh, there was a party going
on. Everybody was having a big ol' time. And they thought, oh,
I'd like to eat, drink, and be married to a pilgrim. And they
did. They got called up, and they got in trouble. And they
got put in another jail. Thank you. The Word of God is
our life. This is what keeps us watching,
preaching. I'm a watchman. And I'm a poor
watchman if I don't tell a quack, look out, watch that, be careful. Preach reading. As I said, pitch
your own platform. Start each day. If you're working
on it all the time, you better. The pit falls are many, the nets
are many. The net is laid for your feet. The snare is laid
for your pad. You better get your turn your
light on before you step out in the world and you fall in
the pit. You'll fall for something. I'm going to take a step. Secondly, the Word of God, number
one. Secondly, prayer is how we watch.
Peter said this, watch unto prayer. Watch unto prayer. Watch and pray, our Lord told
us in Matthew 26. Watch and pray. You know not
what happens. Watch and pray. Prayer makes
us mindful of these things. You know that? Prayer makes you
mindful of spiritual things. Prayer makes you thoughtful of
the Lord Himself. It gets your mind thinking on
Him. It gets your mind thinking on things other than prayer.
And prayer is not a posture. You don't have to get down on
your knees. You don't have to close your eyes. You don't have to
say it out loud. It's an attitude of calling on
the Lord. That's how we can do it without ceasing. Scripture
says do that without ceasing. If the Lord gives us grace, whatever
we're doing throughout the day, just call on somebody. Just think about it. Communion,
Lord, help me, help me. That's what I find myself praying
more than anything. How about you? Help. If there's
one word, though, John, that I pray more than any other, it's
that. Help. Going through the Vanity Fair,
help. Going through the Enchanted Ground, help. And the next word
would be mercy. Have mercy. But prayer is communication
with people, is it not? If I don't talk to Nancy Parks
for a week, I don't even think about Nancy Parks. Is that right? Huh? Out of sight? Out of mind?
Out of communion? You don't talk to people, you're
not thinking about them. Is that right? Come on, man,
where's the honesty thing? If you don't stay in touch with
people, commune with them, you're not thinking about it. Prayer should be mindful, thoughtful,
watchful, watchful of the Lord. Stay in touch, mindful of Him.
Fellowship, what we're doing right here. Third, fellowship
is a way that we watch You're sitting beside someone who's
watching you. Right? Get up here. You're with people that are watching. What we're doing right now tonight,
we have a forsaken resemblance of ourselves together. We've
gathered together to do what? To provoke one another, I'm sure
you see. We're both on another block.
Who are we? Don't we yet? That's what we're
doing. We're urging one another. Don't
we yet? It's sudden death. It's very sudden death. You believe,
Dan, you believe it's sooner now than you did when you came
here. I know you do. You've been looking at the Word.
It's made you conscious of it. We're talking about it. All of
us are mindful of it. This is what it means to hasten
coming to the Lord. The more you watch the Son, the more you
look for it and wait for it, the sooner it'll come. Because
you're waiting to watch it. Fellowship with those who walk
the world. You know, we have to go out in
the world and we have to rub shoulders with and do business
with the world. But they don't even know God.
They're not interested in God. They sure don't want to come,
if He is coming. Unless you're not talking about
Him. You can talk about everything
but Him. And the world, if evil communications corrupt good manners,
then they'll keep you from watching. and say, look here, come here,
come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here,
come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here,
come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here,
come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here, come
here, come here What are they going to report? Nobody in this
world wants to leave this world. So that's what they're after.
Not us. Not us. So we gather together
in fellowship, and it causes one nothing but to watch. Thomas
missed And the Lord said, go into Jerusalem
and wait for me there. I'll meet you there. I'll be
there. And eleven, ten of them did. And maybe a bunch of us
did. I don't know. I don't know what
he was doing. Maybe he had business to do. I don't know what he was doing.
But it wasn't whatever it was. It sure couldn't be. And because he wasn't with those
whom the Lord, whom He gathered together, to wait for the Lord
to turn and say, come, you've got to go there and wait. I'll
be right there. Did he say that to him? Did he
come? Well, sure, he did. But Thomas
wasn't there, and so he was pulled out. We called him Daddy Thomas.
He's full of doubt, they all came to him, full of so much
joy. Old Thomas, you should have been
there. You should have heard that. You should have heard it.
It was wonderful. I had a terrible fear. Well, he said, I can't. It had
to have been that night. Thomas said, I don't believe
it. Believe me, he didn't believe
the Lord in return, no matter what any of them said. He said,
I won't believe it until I purchase it. And he was in a mess. Well, the Lord did, in mercy
and grace, appear back to Tom Stifford. And he said, don't
buy it, sir. Thank you, sir. I told you, here's
the whole actual, the whole drama. I told you to wait. You didn't
wait. You watched home, didn't you? Thomas. You reckoned that
Thomas gathered with the people from then on. Oh, you're gonna miss it. Oh,
I got to admit, I'm gonna miss it right now. Oh, I missed it once, man. God,
I used to miss it. We, it seems like we make spirit when we make
a baby step forward and five steps back. No. We need every opportunity like
this. You're that much more watchful now than you have ever been.
You're that much more conscious of the present in this life. You're that much more aware of
the fantasy of this world. That's intuitive. You're that
much more discerning of what all's going on. You see it in
the faces of God, sure. And you should be that much more
desirous, as feeble as our attempts were, describing it. I can't describe it, I can't
get there either. But you ought to be that much
more desirous of going there. So, this is a good time. All right, stand with me. Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. In darkness that we sleep not
as others do, we watchful children of the day. Lord of the day,
children of light, Lord, cause us to look into your word, cause
us to seek your will, your way, before we go our way. Lord, bless your word. Hide it
in our hearts that we might not sin against it. Let us be as
those who watch and wait. We pray. Keep us by your spirit. In Christ's name, amen. Very good.