Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000021
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01:04 In the 15th chapter of Revelation, we find
01:08 an interesting scene, just to get a little bit 01:10 of the background. Remember chapter 13 and 14 01:15 describe this cosmic conflict, this struggle 01:20 over the true worship of the true God 01:24 or the worship of the beast, the counterfeit worship 01:29 of a counterfeit God. Chapter 14 shows the 01:34 three angels messages going out to every 01:37 living being on this earth, every person on earth is gonna 01:43 have the opportunity to hear the everlasting Gospel. 01:46 In the setting of the judgment hour, 01:49 the hour of his judgment has come and every 01:53 living person on this earth will hear the call 01:56 to worship God, the creator of the heavens and the earth. 02:01 And then there will be warned about the errors of Babylon. 02:06 Babylon has fallen, Babylon and those who are 02:12 in Babylon trample upon the Holy things. Things that 02:18 God himself had set aside and made Holy and therefore 02:24 they find themselves worshiping the beast 02:27 instead of the creator, the creature rather than 02:31 the creator and then the third angel says 02:35 if anyone worships the beast or his image and takes 02:40 his mark on the right hand or the forehead, he will 02:43 also drink the wine of the wrath of God 02:46 poured full strength from the cup of his indignation. 02:51 So the truth goes to everyone, everyone is 02:55 warned about the false worship and 02:59 warned about the consequences of worshiping the beast. 03:02 Therefore no one has an excuse, no one is left 03:09 with an excuse for not worshiping God. 03:13 God has done everything that he could possibly do. 03:18 Then in the 15th chapter in verse 5, it says I looked 03:24 in heaven, I looked and in heaven the temple 03:29 that is the Tabernacle of the Testimony was opened, 03:33 the sanctuary in heaven is now opened and 03:37 out of the temple came the seven angels 03:40 with seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, 03:45 shining linen and wore golden sashes around 03:49 their chests and one of the four living creatures 03:52 gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls filled 03:57 with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 04:01 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory 04:05 of God and from his power, and no one could enter 04:10 the temple anymore until the seven plagues 04:15 of the seven angels were completed. 04:20 Now salvation only comes by faith, by grace through 04:24 faith in Jesus Christ and we've access to Christ 04:29 through the sanctuary in heaven where he ministers 04:33 for us today. So the time is coming, when those 04:38 seven angels with the seven bowls come out of the 04:41 sanctuary and the sanctuary is filled with smoke. 04:48 No one is allowed to enter that means that there is no 04:53 more access to the saving grace of God, every decision 04:59 has been made and now the angels go to pour out 05:02 the bowls of God wrath upon the earth. 05:08 In Revelation chapter 22 verse 11, Jesus says as he 05:17 finishes his ministry in the sanctuary in heaven. 05:20 He stands up and he says, let him who does wrong 05:25 continue to do wrong and let him who is vile 05:30 continued to be vile, let him who does right continue 05:35 to do right and let him who is Holy continue to be Holy. 05:44 Behold I am coming soon and my reward is with me 05:50 and I'll give to everyone according to what he 05:53 has done. In other words, sometime before Jesus comes, 06:03 the temple in heaven fills with smoke. Now one can 06:07 enter, no more access to the saving grace of God, 06:14 the wicked will stay wicked, the righteous will stay 06:18 righteous, Jesus is coming soon. Now, this doesn't 06:25 mean that all of a sudden one day God wakes up 06:30 from a goodnight sleep and says man this is it, 06:34 I've had it. I've had it up to here with those 06:38 stubborn stiff-neck people, that's it, 06:41 I'm finished, no more. That's not what 06:43 it is all about. What it's all about is that God 06:49 knows that he has finally reached the point where 06:54 he has done everything he could possibly do. He bore 07:02 through the years of the Old Testament times 07:05 with the prophets. He send his own son 07:09 Jesus Christ and he died on the cross 2000 years ago 07:15 and even after 2000 years, he has had men and women 07:19 stand for the Cross of Christ proclaiming Jesus 07:23 to the world and then finally at the judgment time 07:28 God raises up a people to say this is the end, time is 07:33 running short. The hour of God judgment has come, 07:37 if there was ever a time to get right with God, 07:40 the time is now and the message goes to every tribe, 07:47 every language, every nation, every people, 07:50 they're warned against the errors of Babylon. 07:53 They're called to come out of Babylon, lest they 07:56 share in her plagues and they are warned against 07:59 taking the mark of the beast and worshiping 08:01 the beast. God knows that the time has come when 08:07 if he allowed time to go on to an eternity, 08:12 he knows that no one else will change their minds. 08:17 He has done all that he can do and all that he 08:21 could possibly do at that point he says is done. 08:29 The righteous stay righteous, the wicked stay wicked, 08:33 I'm coming soon. Now the question is, 08:39 when that day comes what will you be doing? 08:48 What will you be doing on the last day, 08:55 the answer to that question is found in the word of God. 08:59 In Luke, the Gospel of Luke, the 17th chapter, 09:04 Luke chapter 17 verse 26. Justice it was in the days 09:11 of Noah, so also it will be in the days of 09:15 the son of man. So what was it like in the 09:18 days of Noah? If we can find out what it was like 09:21 in the days of Noah, then we'll know what we will 09:23 be doing then, because look he says in verse 27, 09:27 people were eating and drinking, marrying, being 09:29 given in marriage up until the day Noah entered the 09:32 Ark and then the flood came and took them all away, 09:36 it destroyed them. It says, verse 28, it was the same 09:40 in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, 09:42 buying, selling, planting, building. But today that 09:46 Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from 09:50 heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just 09:54 like this on the day that the son of man is revealed. 09:58 What will it be like, it will be like it was in the 10:00 days of Noah. What will it be like on the last day, 10:04 it'll be like it was in the days of Lot, what was it 10:07 like in the days of Noah? What was it like in the 10:09 days of Lot? What were they doing at that time? 10:12 They were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in 10:14 marriage, buying, selling, building, planting. 10:18 Well, what's wrong with those things? Not a thing, 10:26 not a thing, you see that's the point on that day when 10:35 Jesus says it's done, righteous stay righteous, 10:39 the wicked stay wicked, on that day it will be 10:45 business as usual. Things you're doing now 10:51 are probably the things that you're gonna be doing then. 10:55 Business as usual, just like it was in the days 11:01 of Noah, going about life, you see we don't like 11:10 to change. No one likes to make changes in their lives, 11:14 we're creatures of habit, we like to just go on 11:19 doing things the way we've done it all alone. 11:23 Business as usual, the things you're doing now 11:27 are probably what you're gonna be doing on that day, 11:30 just like it was in the days of Noah. What was it like 11:35 in Noah's day? What a man, Noah. He preached for 11:46 120 years that God was gonna destroy this world by 11:54 flood and the only way to be saved was to get into the 11:58 Ark that he was building as a visible evidence of 12:02 his faith and trust in God, 120 years. Now that's a long, 12:12 long evangelistic campaign. Some of you wrote on 12:17 your cards the other night what would you change 12:19 if you could change one thing. I asked you 12:21 some of you said, make it shorter. Imagine living 12:25 in the days of Noah, 120 years and after 120 years, 12:32 he made his final altar call and only seven people 12:36 came forward, and they were his own family. 12:42 After 120 years, sometime I confess I get a little 12:47 discouraged because God doesn't seem to move as 12:50 fast as I wished he would move, but I've never gone 12:52 for 120 years and just seven people. What a 12:58 committed man of God Noah must have been. 13:03 I've got to believe that Noah was so impassioned, 13:07 he was so confident to preach for 120 years 13:10 without ever giving up. He believed his heart 13:13 burned with the truth and I believe he must have 13:16 preach his heart out as deep as he possibly could, 13:21 I believe that he moved the hearts of those people 13:23 they heard things they had never heard before. 13:26 In the way they had never heard it delivered before, 13:30 but they didn't change. Just seven people, why? 13:40 They we're too busy building and planting, 13:43 buying and selling, they didn't want to change. 13:50 As it was in the days of Noah. I'm sure that 13:54 people hearts were touched and I'm sure that when 13:57 people went to hear him preach they thought I never 14:00 heard anything like this before, what if it's true. 14:04 I am sure they even went running to their churches, 14:06 in their temples and wherever they went to worship and 14:09 asked their pastors and their priests what about this. 14:12 He said that God is gonna destroy the world 14:14 in six days, in seven days, God is gonna destroy 14:18 the world by flood. What about it? 14:24 Pastor said, give me a break. God is gonna wipe 14:30 out the whole world, just whoever joins his little 14:34 boat church is gonna be saved. Can't get very many 14:38 people in there, he even said he is gonna save animals 14:41 in there, that doesn't leave room for people and besides 14:45 that God would never do anything like that, he is 14:51 Santa Claus, he gives us whatever we ask him for. 14:59 Or another one would go to that church and pastor 15:01 would say, don't you listen to Noah, he don't 15:06 have it all together up here, he's got a few loose 15:08 screws up there, doesn't know what 15:10 he is talking about. Have you ever seen rain, 15:13 it never rained on the earth before till that time. 15:17 It's impossible, it is scientifically impossible, 15:20 besides that, he is building that boat up on the hill, 15:23 everybody knows water doesn't go up the hill, 15:25 how is he gonna float the boat anyway. One day, 15:33 they were listening and Noah said time is short, 15:40 one day soon you're gonna see the animals coming out 15:44 of the woods and they're gonna lineup and they are 15:47 gonna get in that boat, don't wait until it's too 15:50 late, because one day soon God's angels are 15:56 gonna seal that door shut and when the door shuts 16:00 it will be too late, you need to get in now. 16:04 Well, I'll wait till those animals start going in 16:07 and then I'll go in the Ark. I'll wait till I see the 16:12 prophesies unfold then I'll know that it's true, 16:16 I here that all the time, I'm sure glad I learned 16:19 those prophesy in Revelation, I'm gonna wait until I see 16:22 those things start happening and then I'm gonna step 16:25 across the line. Folks they're happening now. 16:30 In the days of Noah, they saw, they saw animals 16:34 lining up, two by two coming out of the woods 16:36 by the unseen hands of the angels guiding them 16:39 up to gangplank into the Ark, they saw it happen, 16:42 they heard the prophesy, they saw a miracle with 16:44 their own eyes and not one person changed 16:47 their mind, not one, why not, business as usual. We don't 16:55 like to change, they didn't like it back then, we still 16:59 don't like it today. I am sure the scientists had an 17:03 explanation. Oh! Those animals just got tired 17:06 of living in the woods, they wanted to try 17:07 something different, so they went inside the boat, 17:10 you know you can explain away anything if you want to. 17:18 Noah makes his last appeal. You've heard me, 120 years, 17:24 you've seen the prophesies, you've see it happen, 17:27 now is the time, this is your last opportunity, 17:32 no one. Oh! How are you gonna get that big door 17:37 closed Noah, you made it too big, its too heavy, 17:39 you'll never get it shut and the unseen hands of the 17:44 angel slowly close that big door to the Ark, 17:50 slam shut. You know I've got to believe that there 17:55 were people standing on the outside of that boat 17:57 wishing they were on the inside, but it was too late, 18:04 they had every opportunity, they didn't want to change. 18:10 Bible says Noah was in that boat for seven days, 18:14 nothing happened and everyday that went by 18:18 the people started feeling more and more relieved, 18:20 whew! Boy then, wow! Glad I didn't get in there. 18:24 Noah, what's it smell like in there by now. Noah, 18:26 come on out, the air is clear and fresh not a 18:28 cloud in the sky, but one day they did see a cloud, 18:36 first one they ever saw and then another one, 18:38 another one and another one. Rains came down 18:44 and flood waters came up, and every living 18:47 person on the earth was destroyed except Noah 18:54 and his seven family members, that is impossible but 19:03 it's true. Sometimes people ask, hey, if the things we 19:08 hear in Revelation Now is really true why doesn't 19:10 everybody else see it? Why didn't they all see it 19:13 in the days of Noah? You can't find truth by what's 19:18 popular. It's eight people in the whole world, 19:25 saw a miracle and nobody changed their mind. As it was 19:29 in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming 19:31 of the son of man. In 18th May, 1980, 19:38 I remember we were driving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19:43 to do a Revelation Now meeting, we heard 19:46 the news, Mount Saint Helens began to spew ash and some 19:53 of you will remember that. And they had enough warning, 19:58 people were warned to get off of the mountain, 20:00 get out of the area, many did, but you know I saw 20:07 that interview. I'm sure you saw it a number of times, 20:10 crusty old Harry Truman. I've been here 50 years, 20:15 nobody's getting me off that mountain, he is still 20:17 there buried under Spirit Lake, he didn't want 20:21 to change. People will die for what they've been 20:29 living for all along, we just don't like to change. 20:37 79 AD Mount Vesuvius did the same thing, began 20:44 to spit ash into the atmosphere, people and 20:49 citizens of Pompeii were warned to get out of the 20:53 city because Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt and it did. 21:05 My wife and I had the opportunity to visit 21:09 a museum in Dallas, Texas years ago and they 21:13 had brought over some of the artifacts that had been 21:16 excavated from Pompeii, we went to see that. And I 21:23 wanna tell you, it wasn't a very pretty site, 21:28 the art work, the sculpture was the grossest kind of 21:31 immorality you could think of, it didn't take 21:34 a lot of imagination to wonder why God allowed 21:37 Pompeii to be destroyed. But the reason I went was 21:45 because I'd heard about the exhibit that they had 21:51 at the exit door. The last exhibit in the museum, 21:57 it was a large glass case and inside the case were 22:05 two plaster of Paris molds, models, statues 22:13 of people trapped at the instant of their death, 22:20 you see when they excavated the city of Pompeii 22:24 they noticed these empty cylindrical shaped holes 22:29 that looked kind of like people and they thought 22:34 Oh! This can't be, is it true, so they filled some 22:41 with plaster of Paris and then after the plaster had 22:46 time to set they chipped away the lava and what 22:53 was left, it was a perfect replica of those two 22:59 individuals trapped at the moment of their death. 23:04 Now, there were just a handful of dust in the 23:06 bottom of an empty hole and we saw those statues 23:16 made of plaster, the last exhibit on the way out, 23:17 a big glass case, stopped by there, and I read 23:21 the sign, one was a lady, they found her on the door, 23:28 the doorstep of her house. She has had an opportunity 23:33 to escape, the little story told on the wall, she had 23:36 an opportunity to escape. But she went back in 23:41 to get something and they found her over the doorstep 23:48 with a tiny pearl earring clutched tightly 23:52 in each fist. She could have gotten away, but she went 23:59 back to get those earrings and it cost her, her life. 24:05 See people will die for the things that they've been 24:09 living for all along. The man, the other statue was 24:13 a man, they found him in the center street of Pompeii, 24:19 trying to run and escape the molten lava, he was 24:23 carrying a big wooden chest full of gold and silver 24:29 and gems and it was so heavy that it slowed him down 24:36 and he died, he could have just set it down and run 24:41 for his life, but he died. He died for what he had 24:46 been living for all along. On that day it will be 24:49 business as usual, that's why we need to be sure 24:56 that now, today, our business is God's business. 25:04 Amen. "Amen." And there was the, 25:14 the prophet Balaam. Numbers, chapter 22, if you 25:20 wanna follow with me tonight. In Numbers 22, Balak the son 25:28 of Zippor saw all that God had done to Amorites 25:33 through Israel and he was terrified because there was 25:38 so many people, indeed all of Moab, that was his country, 25:43 all of Moab was filled with dread, afraid of 25:47 the Israelites. And so in verse 4, it says Balak 25:51 the son of Zippor, who was King of Moab at the time 25:53 sent messengers to summon Balaam the prophet, 26:00 so they went to call Balaam and the messenger said in 26:04 verse 6, now the King says to come and put 26:07 a curse on these people the Israelites, come and put 26:11 a curse on these people. Because they're too powerful 26:14 for me and perhaps then I'll be able to defeat them 26:18 and drive them out of the country. Now, Balaam 26:22 was a prophet. He knew that is was not God's plan 26:28 to crush and destroy his own people. Balaam knew that, 26:35 but the Bible tells us that he told them in verse 8, 26:38 he said spend the night here, Balaam said and I'll bring 26:44 you back the answer that the Lord gives me. Now the 26:47 King said come with us and put a curse on the 26:51 Israelites and Balaam knew that it wasn't 26:57 God's plan, he was a prophet, but he said you wait here 27:02 I'm gonna go pray and seek God's will and 27:05 I'll tell you what God says. Now don't misunderstand me, 27:12 I believe in prayer, I believe in much prayer 27:18 and I believe in seeking God's will, but Balaam 27:24 already knew God's will and there's a difference. So 27:31 the Lord said to Balaam in verse 12, he said don't go 27:34 with them. You must not put a curse on these people 27:38 because they are blessed. Now God's will is 27:41 crystal clear. Amen. "Amen." 27:43 I mean there is no way to understand this, do not go 27:47 God said it, don't bless them don't go and curse them, 27:50 they're blessed people. So the next morning verse 13, 27:53 Balaam got up and he went to Balak's prince's, he says 27:56 go back to your own country the Lord has refused 27:58 to let me go. No doubt that he understood what 28:01 God said crystal clear. Well then verse 15, 28:06 Balak sent the other princes even more 28:08 numerous and more distinguished then the first 28:10 ones and they came to Balaam and said, this is what 28:14 Balak the son of Zippor the King, this what the 28:16 King says, do not let anything keep you from 28:21 coming to me because I will reward you handsomely 28:26 and do whatever you say, come and put a curse on 28:30 these people. Wow! I've never been tempted like that, 28:38 have you? I've never had a king tell me anything 28:42 you want, you can have. Now Balaam knew, 28:46 remember no doubt about it, Balaam knew it was 28:49 not God's will, but he could not resist. He was 28:54 blind to his own evil desires, he wanted, he wanted 29:00 more and so he tells them verse 19, stay here tonight 29:08 just like the others did and I'll find out what else 29:10 the Lord will tell me. So he said, you wait here 29:14 and I'm gonna go pray and I'm gonna seek God's will. 29:18 So he prayed. In verse 20, God said go with them, 29:27 go with them. So Balaam got up in the morning 29:32 verse 21, saddled his donkey and he went with him. 29:35 verse 22, God was very angry when he went 29:40 and the angel of the Lord stood in the row to 29:43 oppose him, well why did God say go with him and then 29:46 get angry at him because he went, listen to me 29:51 and please get this, it is very, very dangerous 30:01 to ask God what to do when he has already 30:09 clearly told you what to do. God doesn't 30:14 force anyone. The devil forces. God loves and 30:22 you can't force love. And Balaam showed 30:29 by asking God what is your will, he showed 30:33 that he really didn't want God's will. 30:36 He wanted to do his own thing and God is 30:40 not gonna force Balaam or anyone else. And so 30:45 what he really said was Balaam if that's what 30:47 you want, what can I do? I've loved you, 30:50 I've given you everything and if you 30:53 want to do that after I've made it clear that 30:56 it's not my will then go with them. Folks, 31:02 I hear it all the time. Yeah! Pastor, I've 31:07 never heard that before. Saturday is the 31:10 Sabbath day, not Sunday. Is it clear in 31:15 the Bible to you? Yes, it's clear, it's clear. 31:18 You tell me, have you given any thought to 31:21 keeping the Sabbath on Saturday now that you 31:23 know that's what the Bible says. Well, I'll 31:27 tell you what I'm gonna do pastor. I'm 31:29 going to pray about it. And I'm gonna see 31:32 what God wants me to do. Don't do it folks. 31:38 Now don't misunderstand me, there is nothing wrong 31:40 about praying and there is nothing wrong 31:43 with saying God give me the strength and the 31:45 courage to do what you're telling me to do. 31:48 But don't say God do you want me to do it. 31:51 When he has commanded over 400 times in his 31:54 scripture to keep my commands, when he 31:56 wrote with his own finger on the tables of 31:58 stone and then we say, God do you want me 32:02 to do this. What you're really saying is, I don't 32:10 want to do it God, show me a way out. 32:14 And he'll show you a way out because God 32:16 loves you. And he knows that he can't 32:19 force love and he is going to say go with 32:24 them. So Balaam saddled his little 32:29 donkey, he went. The God was angry. 32:33 An angel of the Lord stood on the road to 32:35 oppose him. Verse 23 says, the donkey saw 32:38 the angel, not Balaam, the donkey. And so the 32:42 angel had a sword in his hand and she 32:44 turned off the road into a field and Balaam got 32:49 so angry at his donkey that he beat her and got 32:53 her back on the road. Blind to the divine 32:58 intervention of God because he was 33:00 possessed with his own evil desires, as you see 33:03 it was business as usual for Balaam. And 33:10 so then verse 24, says the angel of the Lord 33:13 stood in a narrow path between two vineyards 33:16 with walls on both sides and the donkey 33:19 saw the angel of the Lord and so she 33:21 pressed close to the wall trying to get 33:23 around that angel with the sword drawn and 33:26 crushed Balaam's foot against the rock wall. 33:29 Oh! Balaam wasn't very happy about that, 33:33 so he beat her again, the Bible says. So 33:37 possessed with his own evil desires, blind to 33:40 the intervention of God, he beat his 33:42 donkey again. The donkey saw the angel 33:44 and Balaam didn't. In verse 26, the angel of 33:49 the Lord moved on and stood in a narrow 33:50 place, where there was no room to go, either 33:52 right or left. Now the poor little donkey 33:55 didn't know what to do. So she just sat 33:59 down. She knew what was coming, but she 34:03 didn't have any choice and she just sat down 34:07 and the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, 34:09 she sat down on the Balaam and he was 34:12 beside himself. He was so angry this time he 34:16 beat her with his stick and then verse 28, the 34:21 Lord opened the donkey's mouth and 34:25 she said to Balaam, what I've done to you 34:29 to make you beat me these three times 34:31 haven't I always been a good donkey. Now 34:37 you would think that Balaam would begin to 34:41 get suspicious. Something unusual is 34:47 going on here, the donkey is talking to 34:49 me, but he was so blind to the intervention 34:54 of God. The Bible says, Balaam answered 35:00 the donkey. Balaam stood there and talked 35:05 back to the dumb beast. You made a fool 35:10 of me, he said, if I had a sword in my hand 35:12 I would kill you right now. Then the Lord 35:18 opened Balaam's eyes in verse 31, and he saw 35:21 the angel of the Lord standing in the road 35:24 with the sword drawn, so he bowed low and 35:28 he fell face down to the ground. Verse 32, 35:33 the angel of the Lord asked him, why have 35:37 you beaten your donkey these three 35:38 times, I have come here to oppose you 35:42 because your path is a reckless one before 35:46 me. The donkey saw me these three times 35:49 and turned away and if she had not turned 35:53 away I would certainly have killed you by 35:56 now. But I would have spared her. Balaam 36:02 said to the angel of the Lord, I've sinned, 36:10 I have sinned. I didn't realize that you're 36:15 standing in the road to oppose me. I have 36:18 sinned. Now you would think that at this 36:24 point Balaam would hop back on that little 36:28 donkey, turned her around and head home 36:31 as fast as those little legs would take him. 36:37 Is that what he did, no. He said, now if you are 36:46 displeased I'll go back, unbelievable or is it? 36:57 You see it just isn't human nature to 37:00 change. Business as usual all the way 37:05 through the end. And so the angel of the 37:09 Lord said to Balaam, go with the men. God 37:15 doesn't force anyone. God knows the heart 37:22 and he is going to give you what you desire in 37:25 your heart. Let's be sure we desire him, 37:28 Amen. "Amen." Go with the men, so 37:32 Balaam went. Unbelievable, I don't 37:40 know, not really, it's just human nature. 37:46 You know many times people wait until the 37:49 last minute to do things. Did you know 37:53 that, how many of you have already finished 37:56 your income tax. Few of you, I haven't, I'll 38:01 wait till April 14th. Deathbed conversions 38:09 do happen. I've seen people at the last 38:15 moment accept Jesus Christ as their savior. 38:19 And I believe that you can be saved on your 38:22 deathbed. But folks, I also believe that it's 38:27 extremely dangerous to wait till then. 38:36 Acts chapter 24, verse 25, Paul preached a sermon 38:41 to Felix and he made a powerful and passion 38:48 plea for him to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ 38:51 and to be saved and Felix responded. He 38:55 said, Paul, call me back at a convenient 39:02 time, see it wasn't convenient for him 39:06 then, Paul I got a few things I got to get 39:10 taken care of first. You know, I got my work 39:14 here and I got these things and I got my 39:16 family, I got to work it through all, work it all 39:19 through with them and I got, I just got a lot of 39:21 stuff that I have to get worked out, but then, 39:24 you know, it makes sense when I get the 39:26 time to think it over a little bit more, 39:28 studied all through again and then I'll 39:30 make my decision. Call me back when it's 39:33 more convenient Paul, I'm too busy right 39:35 now. We never read in the Bible where that 39:39 convenient time ever came, never. Paul 39:46 appeared before came King Agrippa, same 39:51 thing in passion Gospel appeal, 39:53 surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and 39:56 Master. Agrippa said, Paul, it sounds good. 40:02 You have almost persuaded me. Oh! I'm 40:05 right there, but we never read where he 40:08 was ever persuaded. Can we say no to God 40:15 when God tugs at the strings of our own 40:17 hearts. When God appeals with us, 40:20 appeals to us to come to him, can we say, no 40:24 God, not yet? Can we say, no God, I'm not 40:27 ready yet, no God I got a few more things 40:29 I want to do first, no God I want to live out 40:31 a little more my life first, no God it's not 40:33 convenient. Well, God I'm close just hang on, 40:36 no God not quite yet. Can we say no, no, no, 40:39 no to God and then finally, well, God here 40:41 I'm, I'm ready. Did you know the Bible 40:46 says the time is coming when the Spirit 40:47 of God won't be tugging at the string of 40:49 hearts, at the strings of men's hearts? In fact, 40:53 in John chapter 6, verse 43, 44, Jesus said 40:58 no one can come to me unless the father who 41:01 sent me draws him. We can't say no to 41:07 God over and over again, every time he 41:10 calls us and then when we decide the time is 41:12 right. Here I'm God. He may not be calling 41:15 anymore. I'm gonna show you that 41:17 tomorrow night. Time comes when he doesn't 41:20 call anymore. Nope, on that day it will be 41:26 business as usual just like it was in the days 41:29 of Lot. What was it like in the days of Lot. 41:35 In Genesis, the 18th chapter verse 1, the 41:38 Lord appeared to Abraham, sitting under 41:40 the tree in the shade, the angel of Lord 41:42 appeared to him. In fact, it says the Lord 41:44 appeared to Abraham. In verse 20, the Lord 41:48 said to Abraham, the outcry against Sodom 41:52 and Gomorrah, the two cities in the plains, the 41:54 outcry against them is so great and their sin is 41:59 so grievous that I'm gonna go down there 42:01 and see if what they have done is as the bad 42:03 as the outcry that has reached me and then 42:05 I'll know, that's interesting. Did God 42:10 have to go to Sodom and Gomorrah to see 42:12 how wicked they were. No, he didn't have to 42:15 go. He knew how bad they were. So why did 42:19 he have to go because God was about to 42:23 destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and he 42:26 wanted to be sure that Abraham understood 42:30 why, and so he appeared to Abraham 42:34 and he told him that. Abraham said, Lord, 42:38 you can't do that, will you sweep away the 42:42 righteous with the wicked. Lord, you 42:46 can't do that. What if there are 50 righteous 42:48 people there far be it from you, will not the 42:51 judge of all the earth do right. Can you see 42:54 Abraham was scared to death that God was 42:59 about to do something that would prove that 43:01 he wasn't fair. He was worried about God. 43:06 How can you destroy the righteous along 43:08 with the wicked, won't the judge of all the 43:10 earth do right. You see he was worried God 43:14 was gonna be show that he wasn't fair, that 43:16 he wasn't trustworthy, that it wasn't just. And 43:20 so God said no if there are 50 righteous people 43:23 there, no, I won't destroy it. Then Abraham 43:29 started counting up, no he couldn't get to 50? 43:32 And so he says Lord what if there were just 43:34 five less then that 45. No, I won't destroy it, 43:40 he's counting again, can't get the 45, 40, 43:43 no, 30, no, 20, no. Lord what if there 10 43:50 righteous people there. Would you destroy 43:52 that whole city if they were 10 righteous 43:55 people. Would you destroy the righteous 43:56 with the wicked. What if they were 10. God 43:59 said, no, I wouldn't. I don't know why he 44:03 stopped at 10? May be he thought, may be 44:08 I push God far enough here or most likely he 44:14 thought, aha! Surely there are 10. You mean 44:20 in the whole city, 10. Truth is there weren't 44:27 even 4 and so Lot was sitting at the gate and 44:38 that's the position of honor and leadership 44:42 in the community in Bible times. And two 44:45 angels arrived in Sodom in the evening, 44:47 while Lot was sitting at the gate. So, Lot 44:52 knew there was something special 44:53 about these two men and he knew how 44:55 wicked Sodom was. It's evening time, sun 44:59 going down. The men were beginning to 45:01 break up, going to their own little immoral 45:03 parties. And here are these two righteous 45:07 looking strangers coming and so Lot said 45:11 to them in verse 2, my lords please turn aside, 45:13 come to your servant's house, you can wash 45:15 your feet there and spend the night and 45:17 then go on your way in the morning. You 45:19 don't want to be here overnight and they said 45:21 no we want to spend the night in the square. 45:24 We want to see what Sodom is really like, 45:27 but Lot in verse 3, insisted so strongly 45:30 that they went with him, so he went and 45:33 entertained his two angels in his home. 45:36 Verse 4, before they've gone to bed, all the 45:38 men from every part of the city of Sodom both 45:40 young and old surrounded the house. 45:42 They called to Lot, where are those men 45:44 they came to you tonight? Bring them 45:46 out here to us, so that we can have sex with 45:49 them. Now that's how wicked Sodom was. 45:54 Lot goes out and he says, no my friends, 45:57 don't do this wicked thing. Who do you 46:00 think you are, get out of the way, we will do 46:01 worse to you then we would do to them. 46:04 Verse 10, but the men inside, those two 46:09 angels reached out, pulled Lot back into 46:12 the house and they shut the door and then 46:16 they struck the men outside with blindness, 46:21 they couldn't see. Now you think that they'd 46:25 get suspicious. There must be something 46:28 unusual going on here. Help me get back 46:31 home, no, struck with blindness. The Bible 46:36 says they varied themselves, groping 46:39 for the door. Blind to the divine intervention 46:44 of God, possessed with their own evil desires, 46:47 they were not gonna change because it's 46:49 business as usual on that day. As it was in 46:53 the days of Lot. So the two men said to the 46:58 Lot, do you have anyone else here in the 47:00 city? Sons-in-laws, sons, daughters, 47:02 anyone else, go out there and get them out 47:05 of here because we are going to destroy this 47:08 place. The outcry to the Lord against its 47:11 people is so great that he has sent us to 47:13 destroy it and so Lot went out. He spoke to 47:19 his son-in-laws. Imagine in the middle 47:22 of the night, 'dad, what are you doing here in 47:27 the middle of the night?' Lot tells them 47:31 the whole story. You can't be serious dad. 47:39 You're saying that we need to pack up, now. 47:44 Take everything we own now and get out 47:46 of here and leave our house, so looters will 47:49 come in, take everything. God isn't 47:52 that way, he is not gonna destroy all of 47:54 these people. They are good people. I mean 47:57 they don't believe exactly like we do, 47:59 they have their own ideas about what to do, 48:01 but you know, who are they, they are good 48:03 people. God isn't just gonna just destroy this 48:05 whole city and besides that you have told us 48:09 all our lives, how God let you and Uncle 48:12 Abraham down here and he brought us to 48:14 this place. He led us here. Do you think he 48:17 would lead us here and now ask us to go on 48:20 somewhere else. No dad, you just had a bad 48:25 day. Why don't you go home and soak your 48:29 feet in a tub of hot water, you feel better 48:31 tomorrow morning. And so Lot goes to the 48:38 next door. And it was his daughter, Dad, 48:45 what you doing here in the middle of the night 48:47 like this, and he tells the whole story. Oh! 48:51 Dad, you got to be kidding. You know my 48:55 husband does not believe the way we do, 48:58 if I started packing up and taking the kids out 49:01 of here, he would just tear this place apart, he 49:03 does not understand, I need more time, you 49:06 know, just the other day, he asked me 49:07 a little bit about God and so I know that he 49:09 is gonna come around. I know, I shouldn't 49:11 have married him, dad you told me, I shouldn't 49:13 but I did and I just need a little more time 49:15 with him now. No dad, you just had a bad day. 49:20 God isn't gonna do anything that quick, 49:22 that fast. Why don't you go home and take 49:26 an aspirin or two, you'll feel better 49:27 tomorrow morning. Goes to another son, 49:32 knocks on the door, dad, what's going on? 49:37 Tells him the story, you know I can't 49:41 believe God wants us to do that. We just 49:43 brought that big plot of land on the East side of 49:45 town. We are gonna build a shopping mall. 49:46 We'll have a lot of money that we can 49:48 make and put more into the church 49:50 offering and build the church up really nice. 49:58 Dad, why don't you to just go home and put 50:00 cold rag on your head. I think you just had 50:02 bad day. Poor Lot, all the excuses he heard 50:07 seem to make sense. Nobody wanted to 50:10 listen. So he went home and you know, 50:17 I really like this part of the story. Went home 50:21 he sat down on his big easy chair, his mind 50:25 whirling, confused, not sure what to do. Verse 50:30 16, when he hesitated, the men grasped his 50:35 hand and the hands of his wife and one of his 50:37 two daughters and let them safely out of the 50:40 city. He hesitated, but God loved him so 50:48 much. He sent those angels to take him by 50:52 the hand, come on Lot, it's time to go. See 51:00 that's the way God works. And I know 51:04 some of you have probably felt like 51:06 Pastor you're coming on a little strong in 51:08 these sermons. Just leave me alone, don't 51:14 push me, some of you maybe feeling like that 51:18 right now. Don't resent it when God send 51:23 someone to tap you on the shoulder and say 51:27 time is running out, it's time to go, this is the 51:33 way God works. He could have finished his 51:37 work with angels. He could have finished it 51:39 himself, shouting out the Gospel in a loud 51:41 voice, but he chose to use people. Don't 51:45 resent it, when someone cares enough 51:48 about you to be to risk being rejected because 51:53 they want you to take by the arm and say 51:54 hey, it's time. It's the way God works. So 52:02 they took him by the hand and they led him 52:06 and his wife and two daughters, safely 52:10 outside to the edge of the city. What a God! 52:15 He will do everything he can do to save even 52:18 just one and here were four, the rest didn't 52:24 care. He couldn't do anything else with 52:30 them. And then the angel said flee for your 52:31 lives and don't look back. Wow! That's not 52:37 easy to do. You see we're creatures of 52:41 habit, we don't want to change, we always 52:42 want to look back. We make a decision then 52:45 we look back, should I had done this? Don't 52:49 look back. There is Lot. He is standing on 52:52 the edge of the city. The angel had to let 52:54 go. He can't take the next step for him. He 52:58 will get us so far, but the next step is up to 52:59 us. You can't force people. You can't 53:03 pressure people to make their decision. 53:07 Just left to let them do it and pray to God they 53:09 do the right thing. And so the angels let go of 53:13 his hand and there was Lot and his one 53:16 daughter and other daughter was standing 53:19 there. Everything he owned, everything he 53:20 worked for, everything he lived for was 53:22 behind him. Flee for your life and don't 53:25 even look back. I'm sure the Lot thought 53:27 Oh! What am I gonna do? Man, I don't have 53:31 anything, I don't even have my clothes with 53:32 me. I didn't even bring my tooth brush, what 53:35 am I gonna do? But you know the more he 53:37 thought about the goodness of God and 53:40 the glory of God and how he even sent the 53:42 angel to come and to lead him to edge of the 53:43 city. He took that first painful step and then 53:47 another one, but the more he thought about 53:49 the goodness of God, the easier those steps 53:52 came in, he and his daughters fled. But 53:56 there were somebody else there that day, it 54:00 was Lot's wife. She was there. He couldn't 54:06 take her. She had to make her own 54:09 decision. I wish God could save us as a 54:13 group, but it's an individual thing 54:16 because it's a love thing. And she had to 54:20 love God. So she is standing there on the 54:24 edge of the city. Everything she owned, 54:26 lived for, loved and cared for practically 54:28 was behind her, and the angels said, don't 54:31 look back. How can they even ask me not 54:35 to look back. My daughter is there, my 54:39 sons are there. My daughter is about to 54:41 get married. We got the biggest wedding 54:43 planned that Sodom had ever seen. We 54:45 rented the biggest hall in town. I just moved 54:47 into my new house. I got three brand new 54:49 camels parked in the garage. Don't look 54:53 back. How can he do this to me? About to 55:00 become a grandmother, grandchildren, grand babies, 55:03 I can't go on, I won't go on. She turned and 55:06 looked back. The Bible says, she froze into a 55:13 pillar of salt, an eternal reminder. She came so 55:20 close, so close, but not close enough and so 55:31 some of you have come a long way, have 55:36 been studying your Bible night after night, 55:38 almost four weeks now. You've learned 55:42 more in the last four weeks. Some of 55:44 you've told me that you have never learned 55:46 in our whole life about the Bible and about the 55:48 word of God. But you haven't yet quite made 55:53 that decision. Many have, but a few are still 55:57 standing on the edge, trying to decide what 55:59 to do. And I know some are still looking 56:04 back. How can I leave. My family doesn't see 56:09 it the way I do. My Church doesn't see it 56:12 the way I do. I love those people there. 56:14 They have loved me. They've poured out 56:15 their lives to me. How can I just walk on and 56:18 leave, without even looking back. Jesus 56:24 said, don't look back. Just follow the lamb. 56:32 He will never lead you astray. Don't look to 56:36 the left, don't look to the right, don't look to 56:40 the person behind you, in front of you, to the 56:42 right or to the left. Follow the lamb. 56:48 Don't look back. Just move straight ahead. 56:51 There is destruction back there. There is 56:55 a city of God straight ahead. That's where 56:58 the lamb's going. And you will always be 57:02 safe when you follow the lamb. |
Revised 2014-12-17