This sermon emphasizes the importance of being prepared as 'children of the day' for the imminent return of Christ. It delves into the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, highlighting the need to faithfully use the resources and gifts God has given us for His kingdom. The speaker urges believers to seek a deep deposit of Christ's life within them, to have compassion and love for a world growing increasingly cold and dark, and to be willing to go where God calls, trusting in His strength and provision.

I want to talk to you today about becoming a child of the day. Becoming a child of the day from Matthew chapter 25, beginning at verse 14. If you'll turn there, Matthew chapter 25 in the New Testament. Father, thank you, Lord, for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. Lord, you're the only one that can quicken this Word. You're the only one that can make it live in our hearts. If you don't quicken it, it just becomes more knowledge, but it doesn't lead us to any place of new life and power. I ask for an anointing today, O God, to come upon the frailty of this human vessel. Quicken me, Holy Spirit, quicken my thought process. Lord, allow me, God, to convey your heart to this congregation. Give us the ears to hear what you're speaking to your church in this generation. O mighty God, mighty God, mighty God. Above all else, Lord Jesus, let your heart be satisfied today. When we leave this sanctuary, may you be the one who says, this was a good day. Lord, we thank you for it. We praise you. God, help us. Help me, Lord, in Jesus' name. Matthew chapter 25, becoming a child of the day, beginning at verse 14. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one. To every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I've gained besides them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered to me two talents. And behold, I've gained two talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid. And went and hid thy talent in the earth, and lo, here thou hast that is thine. His Lord answered and said to him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him which has ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, folks, this chapter begins, chapter 25. As a matter of fact, the whole discourse right from chapter 24 at the beginning to the end of chapter 25 is really in response to a question of Jesus' own disciples. And they said to him in verse 3, Tell us, well actually in verse 2 he said, Do you see all these things? He's talking about the temple and the city. He said, I say to you there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. In other words, the destruction of everything you see with your natural eye is going to be complete. And as he said upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? When are things going to be destroyed? When is this total destruction of the temple? And it's not just the temple that was destroyed in AD 70, but it's the entire system. I personally believe he's speaking about it. It's the whole world system. And ultimately, as you and I are aware, that there's going to be a destruction or in a sense a dissolving of planet Earth and the heavens as we know them. And they're going to be recreated after Christ's return. But they asked him a question, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming? And of the end of the world. In other words, what will it be like just before you come? What can we look for? What will be some very telltale signs that will be going on in the world that tell us that the end of things are coming and that you are returning again? Now, I'm not going to go into the things that are in Revelation. That might be some other time. About the rise of the former Roman Empire, which has happened. The rebirth of Israel, the rise of ten nations in Europe. The rise of a leader from the old Roman Empire in the sense of that part of the world that will become the final global leader. I'm not going to go into those things. I want to deal strictly from these particular chapters of Scripture. Now, chapter 25, when he says, then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Now, remember that Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven does not come with outward display. Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. And now there's an exterior kingdom, but there's an interior kingdom of God. That's when Christ came into your life. The kingdom of God, the working of God, the very work that God is doing in the earth came to you. And God took up residence inside of your physical temple. And you became his church, his testimony, his witness, his work, for lack of a better way of saying it, on the earth. Remember the question was, what will be the sign? He says, then the kingdom of heaven are going to be like certain people who are prepared and another group are not. And there's a group of people in the end time that don't have any spiritual ability to see. They're strangely locked out of a spiritual understanding at a crucial hour that is soon to come to the world. They don't see. They don't know. They have no awareness of the hour that they're living in. You and I have to understand, something has caused this mysterious inner blindness to come into them. They're not aware. Jesus said, there are a portion of people who become aware that Christ is coming. There's something inside of them. There's something, there's a heavenly vision given to them. There's something in their heart that causes them to cry out in the midnight hour, behold the bridegroom. The bridegroom is coming. I can literally hear him. I can see him. I can hear his footsteps. There's something in the hearts of those who belong to God. Yet, there's a whole other contingency who claim to be part of the kingdom of God, but they have no spiritual vision at all. There's no inward light. There's no working. They're perhaps part of a panicking society at the end of time. They really don't know. Their heads have not been lifted up. They really don't understand that the redemption of God is about to come to its completeness. Listen to what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 1, 3, 4 and 5. He said, That that day should overtake you as a thief. You're all children of light and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. If you are a child of God, this day is not going to catch you by surprise folks. You're going to know in your heart. That's really what the scriptures say. You're going to know because you are listening to the voice of God. Your security system is not in this world. You're not clamoring for some safe haven in the midst of whatever calamity comes to this world today as we know it. No, you have another system at work inside of you. And you are able to hear the voice of God in this final hour of time. Now let me explain to you what it means to be a child of the day. Remember that Paul said, You're not in darkness, but you're children of the day. John said of Jesus Christ, He saw him. And he said in John 1, 4 and 5, In other words, John said, I saw in Christ a clear expression. It was unhindered. I saw God at work. I saw God on a mission on the earth. I saw Him coming to reclaim that which was lost and was passionately dear to His heart. I saw the light. I saw what He had come for. I knew what He was all about. I knew what His work was in the earth. He never hid it. He never hid it. Not even for a moment. He said it very clearly. The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. John knew it. John saw it. And he said it was a clear vision. It was a clear expression. Matthew 23, 37. Jesus stood in front of Jerusalem. The scripture says He wept and said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How I've longed to gather you. As a hen would gather her chickens as it is under her wings. But you wouldn't come to me. Now He knew that there was going to be a new Jerusalem one day. He knew it would be populated by other people from other times. He knew perhaps that you and I would be there in this new city called New Jerusalem. But He was weeping over the loss to Himself of those who were presently in that city and those who would be part of that city who would be lost to the depth of His love for them forever. It was about individual people. He was not a Savior just to be satisfied and say, Well, oh well, I'll have 10 million at the end or I'll have 50 million at the end of time. I'm just figuratively throwing that out, folks. So these reject me, so what? There'll be others. There'll be more. And perhaps that's the way sometimes we think. But that's not the way the Savior thought. Every soul, every man, every woman, every child ever created in the image of God that He knew He was going to lose would bring weeping into His heart. It wasn't all just about numbers. It was about individual people. It was about this passion of God for every person that He knew intimately before you and I were even created in the womb. He knew you. He knew what you would be thinking. He knew you'd be here today. He knew everything about you. But the one thing that you don't know about Him is the depth of His love for you. How passionately He loved you. Which is the only reason why He was willing to bridge the gap between God and man and become a man on this earth and go to a cross because He could not bear in His heart the thought of losing you or any person on the earth ever created in the image of God. John said to know Him was to see this expression of such incredible love and in this love there seemed to be no fear. He didn't fear the loss of any security, the loss of any comfort, the loss of anything this world has got to offer. As a matter of fact, He said to the early disciples, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. He didn't come for the things of this world. His security was not in it. He came only for that which was dear to His heart. Thank God for that. He came for you and He came for me. And there was no fear in Him. John said there was an absence. That's why he could write in 1 John 4, 18, There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. And he that fears is not made perfect in love. He said I saw something in Him. He was so set on something. And of course in retrospect John knew what it was as he wrote these words in 1 John. He was headed for a cross. He was headed there because He was going to reclaim you and He was going to reclaim me. And there was no fear of what this world could throw at Him because of the love that was in His heart. God so loved the world. God so loved the world. Put your name in there. God so loved you. God so loved me that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. God so loved you that He was not afraid to go to a cross. He didn't relish the separation from His Father obviously from the study of scriptures you know that. And it was a difficult road that He had to travel more difficult than our natural minds could ever comprehend. But He was not afraid of the cross. The scripture says for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross despising the shame. For the joy of you being here today. For the joy of hearing your voice raised in praise. For the joy of seeing you walk out of the prison of sin. For the joy, for the joy of being able to come in the power of the Holy Spirit and inhabit your physical body as the temple of the living God. For the joy of knowing that one day you would inhabit eternity with Christ forever and ever and rule and reign with Him. For the joy that was set before Him. He endured the cross. Not afraid of the cross because the perfect love in His heart for you had cast the fear out of His heart. John said in Him was light. The light in Him was not only showing us the way home but also giving us through what we came to know as the work of God the way to get there. Not only showing us how to get there but what should we be doing along that journey. Hebrews 3.1 the writer of Hebrews says when He came to us we became partakers of the heavenly calling. In other words Jesus planted His heart and life within us and called us to join Him in His work on earth until He comes for us again. I'm called into the work of God and so are you. As the church of Jesus Christ there only ever has been one work of God on the earth and that is the redemption of fallen men. That is bringing the gospel to those who need it to hear it. In spite of the rejection, in spite of the pain in spite of whatever it means for you and I to carry that personal cross that Christ gives to us. It is worth it folks. I don't care what we have to go through it is worth it. It is worth it for every child. It is worth it for every young person. It is worth it for every homeless person. It is worth it for every Islamist that comes to Christ. It is worth it. It is worth it. In Matthew 25 verse 15 it talks about the talents that were given. Now talents are not talents as we your ability to sing and play the guitar and all that stuff. That's not what this is. Talents was a currency. And it speaks of God in Christ being willing to put within us the deposit of His life that was necessary for us to fulfill the specific calling that He had given to us. Some places require five talents. It's a harder place. It requires just a little more of His presence. Some places require two talents. Some places require ten. There are different times. There are different seasons. Sometimes you are going to need this five talent deposit of His life and other times you are going to need just this two talent deposit. He knows it. He will never ever send you to a place or call you and I to any task for which He is not willing to give us the resources to perform it. That's really what this is all about. Wherever He calls me whatever He asks me to do He will put the deposit of His life within mine if my heart is open to it. And He says don't look in the mirror for strength. Don't reason this. Just walk in obedience. And when you get there you open your mouth and I'll fill it. If your heart is cold ask and I'll warm it. If you are short of grace ask me and I'll give it. You knock, you seek, you ask and especially at this midnight hour when there are so many that are hungry. Folks if ever there was a time that we need to be knocking on the door of the one who has the bread that we need it's now folks, it's now. It's time to knock on that door. And notice that the rewards are the same. We always think of the five talent guy the two talent, the ten talent person as someone maybe being it's strictly a North American perspective anyway of more dynamic than somebody else. But I want you to notice that the reward is the same. When the person with five talents who had gained five came to him in verse 21 he says well done you've been faithful in a few things I'll make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of the Lord. Person came who had been given two talent this deposit of life for what he was given to do and he says well done you've been faithful over a few things I'll make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of the Lord. Folks the reward is the same. He said elsewhere in scripture there was a people at the midnight hour that they said we bore in the heat of the day and you've given these people the same reward as us who more or less just had a belly slide under the grabs door before it came down. There are people who get saved on their death bed. They get saved an hour before they die. My father did for example. And they get into heaven and the little time that they had to talk about God the little time to rejoice in their salvation they stand one day before the Lord and he says well done you've been faithful over a few things behold I'll make you ruler over many things and we're standing beside these people saying hey wait a minute hold on for a second I went to Africa I mean listen and the Lord says what are you accusing me of wrong you agreed with me for the price that I gave you you agreed that you'd walk with me for the salvation that I gave you are you accusing me of being evil because I'm doing good that's a phenomenal thought when you think of it you see that's why it's just so important to just be obedient wherever you are and trust God for the strength sometimes you need ten talents to reach the person across the table and only five to go into Africa folks that's just the way it is you trust him for the resources wherever he's called you to go some you've got to stand in a vile workplace right now and I know that the society is really turning the whole heart of the society seems to be turning against the testimony of Christ and it's very difficult but the Lord will give you the grace that you need you and I are not called to stand in our own strength at any time and anywhere now we get down to that person with the one talent and it's an incredible thing because the one talent seems to indicate to me that there was some measure of new life in Christ maybe just in an awareness of salvation but there's a measure at least of God here there's a measure of the deposit of the life of Christ in this person so what then happened to this person why was there no fruit born why did this deposit of life not go anywhere why did it not produce anything for the kingdom of God I think it's a person who actually came to the knowledge of the purposes of God listen to what this testimony is in verse 24 it says then he which had received the one talent came and said Lord I knew that you're a hard man reaping where you've not sown and gathering where you've not strawed and I was afraid and I hid your talent in the earth and lo here that thou hast is thine I knew in other words that you send people to places where seed is yet to be sown and where a harvest is yet to be gathered I knew that you don't turn back from hardship I knew that when your face is set to something not only will you go there but you will call those who are called by your name to go there I knew you're a hard man you're not a soft saviour I knew that when you said in the scriptures you're going to the cross that that's exactly where you went I knew and came to an understanding when you said to those who are your disciples if you are mine you're going to take up your cross daily and you're going to follow me I knew you're a hard man and I knew I came to the knowledge I was sitting in a church somewhere I attended a missions conference I heard something in the word of God and I knew that you send people to places where there's the seed is not sown yet and you send people to gather where there has not yet been a harvest now that can be into some Islamic state that can be across the table in your own house when everything in you just wants out when everything in you just wants to leave, when everything in you wants away from your neighborhood, away from your apartment building, away from your place of employment away from the people that stand on your street corner every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night you're just so sick of the whole thing that everything in you just wants out you want a safe haven somewhere if you could if you could ever come up with the money you'd just love to rent a nice little villa somewhere close to fresh water which is not going to be long like that I guess in our generation so much for that idyllic retreat he says I was afraid remember perfect love casts out fear and here's where it begins to tie together, I had no heart for the work I was not willing to ask for deeper resources or the love of God to cast the fear and indifference out of my heart I knew that if I really got close to you, you could call me somewhere that I didn't want to go and I was afraid I was afraid in verse 28 he says or 27 why didn't you then at least help those who were willing to go and put my resources why did you just stand back and do nothing if you weren't willing to go you could at least have helped those who were you could have given my deposit as it is to the exchangers and at my coming I should have received mine own with usury and then the servant says I was afraid and I went in verse 25 and I hid your talent in the earth and here's what I believe the Lord is telling me about this in Matthew 24 12 it talks about the last days and the scripture says and because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold and I've often wondered about that what does it really mean because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold and there have been a lot of interpretations about that particular verse and I do suppose that on several levels they are true but here's what I feel the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart it will get so evil in the last days it will get so vile it will get so violent I came out of my apartment building to walk my dog last Sunday morning not this Sunday morning the one before and maintenance people had brooms sweeping the vomit into the gutters all the way down the street from restaurants and bars I guess that are open this is on 54th between 8th and 9th was formerly a residential area now it's just filled with garbage and vomit and the violence of it there's just something in the heart that says oh God oh God oh God how long do I have to stay here in this world if you're an honest Christian if you love God with all your heart there's something that comes into your heart there's something of a revulsion for sin you can't just complacently walk down the street looking at vomit and garbage and know the human condition that has brought that into the streets and it's just going to get more vile as time goes on because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold and here's what I believe it means it will become so sinful in this world folks have you noticed lately who can you trust anymore people running for political office they bold facedly lie do you ever notice nobody's lying anymore everybody's misspeaking miscommunicating you ever notice there are no more liars and exaggerators anymore thieves crooks everybody's missing something miscommunicating it's like the adulterous man on a date with his new honey and he says oh did I forget to tell you I was married I must have miscommunicated that to you you see it's going to get so vile out there that many in the church now hear me on this are going to come to the conclusion wrongly that people are not worth giving your life for that's the coldness iniquity shall abound the love of many God shall love the world people will just internalize churches will begin to form around theologies as we shared in communion today of self will all become about me my future my happiness my joy my power my self estimation it will all be about me let the whole world go to hell as long as I feel comfortable in my God in my relationship with my God because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold but in Christ we have the pattern set before us do you not think iniquity abounded even the thieves on the cross beside him were reviling him people were spitting in his face the religious order of the day was calling for his crucifixion those that wouldn't have dared to even approach him now were pulling on his beard and slapping him and mocking him wagging their heads accusing him of all kinds of atrocity but yet he went to the cross folks and I have that same heart beating within me of that Christ if I will let that heart beat within this earthen temple if I will never get to the conclusion wrongly that people are not worth dying for once I get to that place I've lost the oil in my lamp I've lost vision I've lost sight that's why there are many who are not going to be aware of the nearness of his coming because they're not near to him not walking with him not sharing his heart not moving and living and having their being in him as the apostle Paul says I was afraid I didn't think that people were worth giving my life for so I buried the life of Christ within me in the cold ground of a loveless heart that's really what it means I buried this talent in the earth and lo he says here I'm yours amazing it's been all about me so here I am empty basket empty heart empty spirituality but oh god here I am I'm yours it's going to be hard in the days ahead if you think it's hard now it's going to get harder to love people as a matter of fact it's going to get so hard that you and I can't do it in our own strength anymore there's a measure of compassion in all of us there's a measure of natural love that we all have for suffering humanity but it's going to get so vile it's going to get so debauched it's going to so downwardly spiral that we're not going to be able to love this generation apart from the love of christ within us we've got to be able to go to god and say lord I need a deposit of your love I can't do this god in my own strength now that can be just in your own home right now it can be in your own neighborhood it can be something in your heart that you feel god is calling you to do somewhere you feel he's calling you to go maybe you're part of a community here in the city and we've had many people that are saved from various occupations and in those occupations there's such immorality there's such vileness there's such crudeness there's such a cursing of christ going on that they feel it's impossible apart from the love of god to love the very people they work with folks that's where we're at today we're going to need it there's going to have to be a cry in the heart that says oh come lord jesus come lord jesus god almighty I need a deposit of your life for I can't do this I need your love in my heart god I need that which sent you to a cross it's got to burn within me lord otherwise I'm not going to be able to advance on this journey I'm just going to end up just writing off almost all of humanity taking this deposit of your life and burying it in a cold heart you see this is what happened to those at the beginning of the chapter verse 49 it says that servant begins to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken in other words I made light of those who followed christ I said well that's the way they choose to do things and they're a little bit extreme but I'm not quite like that I began to smite my fellow servants I began to say well that kind of a walk isn't really necessary it's not really required he says the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him and in an hour that he's not aware of you hear these foolish virgins in chapter 25 verse 6 it says midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom comes go out to meet him and I don't know about you but I feel that cry already I'm aware of the nearness of christ I don't know how much time we've got but it's not much folks I can hear it and it's at midnight it's at the darkest of times scripture says they all slumbered and slept and suddenly at midnight there was a cry made behold the bridegroom suddenly those who had a living relationship with god could see something that others couldn't they could hear something that others ears were closed to they said behold the bridegroom they're foolish they said they had no oil they said our lamps are gone out there's no passion in our hearts there's no light in our eyes there's nothing in us that wants the work of god yes we claim to belong to him and yes we came to church and yes we sang the songs and yes we even occasionally read the scriptures but there was no passion in our hearts for his work and there was no light in our eyes and we didn't see things the way god saw them paul the apostle said I'm persuaded of better things of you oh folks if you are wise if you are wise you will call out to god now you will call out like you never called out before you will go to that door of the one who has the bread at the midnight hour and you will knock and you will seek and you will ask you will have the courage to say god I don't have what it takes but you do I don't have the resources but you do a friend has come to me at midnight who's hungry and I don't have what it takes to feed I don't have the love I need for my own family I don't have the love I need for my office and where I work I don't have the love I need for my neighborhood but you do and I'm not going away until you give it to me and I don't care how late it is and I don't care what's going on in heaven I've come to your door oh god you were the one Jesus that told me I was to ask and to seek and knock and you're to say you told me that I was not to give up we've come to the final moments of time if you don't believe it now you will shortly the final moments of time as we know it and the only cry in my heart is oh god fill me with light help me to obey your purpose for my life send me to hearts that have yet to hear and to places where there still remains a harvest to be won I will not draw back in the strength of my god now you and I both know that we can't do this in our own strength but we can do it with the deposit of Christ's life that he's willing to put within us oh lord oh god help us not to draw back help us Jesus Christ son of god fill me with your heart now it doesn't mean you it doesn't mean you walk around weeping every day all day when you see the lost on the street and you lose all your joy that doesn't mean that it means there's something deeper it's something about the compassion of god it's something about god birthing his heart within us to the point where we won't say no to him when he says go somewhere that seems impossible we will go we will obey him we will do what he calls us to do help me obey your purpose in our lives and send me to hearts that have yet to hear deposit your life within me I know what this is about in measure over the years the lord has called me into places that I would rather not go I remember as a police officer one time I was invited to speak in a prison primarily for sex offenders there's 700 sex offenders in this prison that was a place I really didn't want to go but I had to cry out to the lord and say god you love these people you died for them and you gotta help me feel your heart you gotta help me lord it's not that going there negates what has been done there's a grave and a great penalty for these things that have been but lord you died for these people and I don't feel it in my heart I remember I had to cry out to the lord I just don't feel any compassion you've gotta give it to me and I remember standing in that prison with 700 prisoners and telling them that christ loved them telling them that christ died and seeing the tears begin to flow and people who thought they were beyond hope that there was no redemption there was no way out that hell was their only destiny began to realize that there is a heart in god that does love them and died for them I remember when I first got saved I absolutely hated motorcycle gang members because I'd had some some bad experiences there and I hated everything about it I hated the initiation rites I hated what they did I hated the club houses I hated everything about it and I didn't believe it when a friend of mine told me that one of the outlaws would be similar to the hell's angels here in the united states had come to christ I just didn't believe it was possible it couldn't happen there's no way these guys could come to christ and I remember going to this meeting and I went there reluctantly and I met this man and I was astounded at the change that had come into this man's life I was astounded at what god had done for him I was somewhat stunned it was that night that I was filled with the holy spirit in that meeting because there was a willingness to go in a sense where I couldn't go in my own strength and not too long after that down the road I got an invitation to speak at a christian bikers convention and I really didn't want to go to this thing because I felt it was like these weekend warriors that buy a vest at walmart and they buy a bike and they drive around thinking they're tough and I remember going to this thing and it was out in the country and I drove in I'm a cop at this time you have to understand I drive in the backyard and there are some real choppers there like incredible bikes and I remember thinking boy this is no mickey mouse outfit and I walked in around the back and they're all hell's angels and outlaws and all of these gangs they're the real deal and they're not christian one of the chapter presidents had come to christ and he had gathered these guys and girls together to hear the gospel at I believe great peril to his own life and so here they are sitting and you know chewing on straw looking at me as if I'm a village idiot and uh saying talk to us and I'll never forget the compassion that came into my heart when I realized that christ died for these men and women the devil was making them into what they were but christ had died to give them new life and was able to share with love and to see barriers broken down to see some of the hardness begin to melt to see great strides being made into many hearts for the kingdom of god and there's been something in my heart all these years that says lord don't let me draw back don't let me ever see any person is not worth the shedding of your blood don't ever let me be in in body as it is in representation of you a hindrance to who you really are and what you really did on calvary god would you please just soften my heart would you help me I need that deposit of your life cause I can't do it I've always known I can't do it I've needed that deposit of his life time and time and time again over the years and I need it again today you need it again today we need this deposit of his life I need to see him everyday and that's why for those that in Matthew 25 it's not a strange thing when he appears because he's appeared to them everyday they've been walking with him they know his heart they know his voice they know his nearness he's always been near to them and so the coming of Christ is not something that is that they've not been tuned to because he has had to come to them constantly they have loved his appearing as the apostle Paul says this is a generation where we're going to need light we're going to need his heart because there's a great hardness that still remains to be won and it's not going to be easy this is not a call for cowards you're going to make up your mind it's not going to be easy in this generation but it's worth it if I witness to a hundred people that reject me for one that receives Christ then it's worth it it's worth it folks I'm going to give an altar call this morning for people that are here that just say pastor I've heard what the Lord's speaking and I need a deposit I need a deposit of the life of Christ to face the battle I'm in right now not the mission field that might come five years down the road but where you are right now and you recognize that you can't win this without a deposit of the life of Christ but I promise you if you have an honest heart you make your way to the front of this sanctuary today when you leave you will be strengthened Paul says we're strengthened with his might in the inner man that he actually does give a deposit of his life that which you and I need he will give to us we're going to stand in a moment and worship for a few minutes if you need strength you need strength to face the battle that you're in today you need strength to love people you need strength to go where God's calling you to go trust him for it trust him for it every person in this city is loved by God and should be loved by his church let's stand together please the Lord's calling you just come in the new testament scripture says without faith it's impossible to please him for he that comes to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him Jesus said if you ask it shall be given to you if you seek it shall find if you knock it shall be opened he said if you know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him now you have to believe coming to an altar is a good thing but it will leave you empty if you don't have faith behind it you have to believe as you lift your heart to the Lord today and just let your requests be made known to him you've got to believe that he is a rewarder of those who are seeking him you have to believe that he will not withhold from you as a son or daughter wherever you need strength wherever you need that power of God wherever you need just a rekindling of your heart to say God I don't see men as any more than trees walking you've got to open my eyes Lord you've got to help me to see what you see you've got to change my heart oh God and help me Lord to be part of what you are doing on this earth in my generation lift your hands please if you will Father we thank you God almighty for the strength of the Holy Spirit to do the work that we need to do Lord God thank you that you called us to be co-laborers with you thank you Lord that you didn't send us out to do it in our own strength but you promised us all the resource we will need to do what we are called to do oh God almighty I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ today Lord I pray for an endowment of power from on high I ask oh God that you put that deposit of your life within us to give us the power to stand in our generation give us the eyes we need oh God give us the heart we need Lord give us the vision oh God that only can come from heaven itself give us love Lord that casts out the fear of facing people in this generation take fear out of our hearts oh God and replace it with that love Lord that will not turn away it cannot be turned back Father we thank you for this God we thank you God we praise you Lord we bless you we know that we have what we ask for today we know it Lord we know it because we ask it in Jesus name hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah