In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of not just making a mental decision to follow God, but actually taking action and responding to the gospel. He uses the analogy of being in a plane that is about to crash, and how simply deciding to put on a parachute is not enough - one must actually jump out of the plane. The speaker then discusses four different times of harvest, with the current time being the end of the summer season. He compares himself to a boy on the end of a train, signaling that the train is leaving and urging the audience to respond to the message. The speaker also mentions the importance of not just hearing the word of God, but actually responding to it, and highlights the grace and harvest of God that has come to the audience.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. What a song. Praise God. Thy mighty arm make bare. It gives the idea there of God rolling up His sleeves about to do some work. About to get involved in something that's heavy. Something that takes some effort. Speak with the voice that wakes the dead. Only this Word can do that. And make Thy people hear. Disturb this sleep of death. Oh God, disturb this sleep of death. Quicken the smoldering embers now by Thine almighty breath. The idea there of God blowing on a fire that's about to go out. The embers that are there and blowing on it until a flame comes back in. The sleep of death creates soul thirst for Thee. Do you have a thirst for God today? Do you have a thirst for God today? Do you have a thirst for God? We're just saying that we pray that God would give you a thirst for Him. And we're just saying that we pray that God would give you a thirst for Him. And hungering for the bread of life. Well, praise God. It's a blessing to be here this evening. It's been an overwhelmingly full weekend. As we've heard so much of the Word of God, we've been encouraged by practical things, we've been encouraged by visions, We've been encouraged by revivals in our hearts and thoughts and dreams. And my heart is overwhelming. My heart is overwhelmed with what I've heard already. As I thought about this, where I saw that I ended up on this speaking series here, you have to understand that I was trembling pretty hard to see that I was closing this. If you could, I would ask for several of you to be able to pray for me during this time. Thank you, brother. And as I thought through this, I also thought of the summer. This has been a very full and a very rich summer for many of us, hasn't it? We've had this white horse meetings. We've had special meetings. We've had all kinds of special meetings. And this has been a very rich summer. A very rich summer. And when I thought of all the summer and all the different meetings that have been going on during this time, it hit me that at the very end of all that, there's going to be this little sermon tonight that pretty much brings to an end the summer season. And we all go back to some busy lives and homeschoolings and different jobs and busyness. We've all made a time for the summer. And at the end of this little message here tonight, the summer is over. To be honest with you tonight, the way I feel, I don't feel like I really have a new sermon for you tonight. You know what I feel like tonight? I feel like, you know, have you ever seen the image on the end of a caboose? And the train is going away. And there's a young man or a boy on the end of the caboose and he's got this lantern. And he's saying, the train is leaving. The train is leaving. And he sees this little lamp. You see this little lamp and he's letting you know it's the very last moment and the train is about to leave. That's what I feel like tonight. I feel like the engines have already been through here tonight. I feel like the engines have already been through this summer. Then you've heard some preaching and you've been under the hearing of the Word of God in such a powerful and meaningful way that I believe that you've heard the engines already going by. But here I am on the end of the caboose and the summer is about over. And I'm holding up that little light and I'm telling you that I believe that that summer, as it closes, I have one last word to say to you. Let me ask you this. How many people here tonight, here in this last three months, have been to some kind of an extra preaching meeting other than Sunday and Wednesday? Raise your hand if you've attended. Look around at this. You've attended an extra meeting. OK, add to that how many people tonight has either listened to a tape, downloaded or even read an extra message during this summer, this three months. Add that to the other number. OK, praise God. We are truly blessed people. And if we add to that now to those who have been to the regular Wednesday night and the regular Sundays and the cell group meetings and the different things that we are constantly hearing the Word of God preach to us, I will think that you'll understand that we are a very, very spiritually rich people. There's not too many people that could have raised their hand that in three months an entire room filled with people who not only get the normal food, but have been able to be giving a feast of things to be able to spiritually eat on. We are a blessed people. Now, if I could call the notes serious right here off from the start. Could I do something tonight? Could I have each of you, if you have a place there you gather in, could I have each of you, I'd like to ask a personal and probing question tonight. Could I have every one of you at this very moment bow your head and close your eyes? Now, I want you to think back on those meetings with me tonight with your eyes closed. I want you to think about those meetings and what God was saying to you personally through all those meetings and all those sermons that you've heard this weekend, that you've heard this sermon, that you saw those extra sermons that you've listened to. And now with every head bowed and every eye closed, I'd like no one looking around. I want you to raise your hand and put it right back down if during one of those meetings you knew that God was wanting you to respond. You knew that during one of those meetings that you have been to that God wanted you to respond, but for some reason you just couldn't. Put up your hands real quick and put it down. Thank you. Thank you. All over the auditorium. Thank you. Put your hands up. That's good. I'm not going to ask you to come up, but I just wanted to know what God is doing in the hearts here today. Many of you may have been scared. Many of you may have been fooled. Your hands with babies. Many of you may have felt that it wouldn't do any good. You feared what your friends would think. Let me ask you if you knew if you're here tonight, let me ask you right off here with not one eye looking and you knew that God wanted you to respond to salvation. Could you just lift up your hand real quick and put it right back down? You knew that God wanted you to respond. Thank you. We have any others? You knew that God wanted you to respond to a message of salvation. And come and receive the grace of God and to act upon it. Put your hands just up and put it right back down. Thank you. All right, you can put your head up now. Young people and all of us, we've been hearing the voice of God. When I ask, first of all, how many of us have been feasting on these messages that we have heard over these last three months, you all practically raised your hand. But when I asked how many should have responded to one of those messages, I want you to know that practically the entire auditorium raised their hand this evening. Something is not happening between what we hear and how we respond. So that's why I'm here tonight as that boy on the end of the train swinging that lantern and saying, the train is leaving. The grace of God, the harvest of God has come to you in a wonderful and marvelous way. When I heard the message this morning, I was a bit overwhelmed by Brother Moses' message. The things that I wanted to bring to you tonight, I figured I didn't know if I could really even say these things. And I heard Brother Moses preach them this morning. And I was astounded, frankly astounded. And I said, Lord, what do you want us to hear? What do you want us to hear? The name of my message tonight is The Harvest is Past. The Harvest is Past. I would like to take from my text that message from Jeremiah 8, verse 20. It's a small verse. You might want to turn to it because I'll be repeating it. You might want to mark it. Brother Moses told us about what Jeremiah was dealing with there. In Jeremiah 8, verse 20, there is a stunning passage there that I think applies to us here tonight, sitting here at the end of this feast. Sitting here at the end of this summer. The end of these three months. In Jeremiah 8, verse 20, the Scripture reads this way. Jeremiah 8, verse 20, The Harvest is Past. The Summer is Ended. And we are not saved. The Harvest is Past. The Summer is Ended. And we are not saved. Can we pray again? Please pray for me and pray for yourselves. Pray that God would make a different connection between those who heard the feasting and those who God wants you to respond. Let's pray. Oh, God, have mercy upon us tonight. Lord, wake us from this. Lord, wake us up, Father. You want to take us further, Lord. We have been under some of the... I believe God in my heart. I believe You have placed us under some of the most anointed preaching on the face of this earth, Lord. I set and I am amazed under some of the things that I am constantly hearing and receiving. And, oh God, I pray for even myself here tonight as I preach. Dear God, help me to be able to put it to practice. Help me to be able to apprehend, oh God, what has been placed before us by Your grace. Lord, I can't do this in my own flesh. Can You give us the grace of repentance tonight? Can You give us the grace of action tonight? Oh, God, can You help us tonight, Father? Speak to us, Father, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. What I'm going to be talking about tonight is that I believe as the harvest has passed, very similar to Brother Moses' message this morning, I believe that there is a time in your life when salvation is closer than at other times. That there are times of harvest and there are times of famine. I believe that in your personal life, there are times when God is going to speak to you in a more intimate and a closer way, and there are times when that closeness will be gone. I'm going to say tonight with Brother Moses that I believe there is a time when you can grieve the grace of God so far out of your life that it is nearly, and we do emphasize the word nearly, impossible. And I'll ask you to bear with us. It is hard sometimes to balance every sermon. You know, if you were to be walking with Jesus and you heard Him preach hate your father and mother, you might have walked away from that sermon with a big question mark. But when you walk with a brother, you can see where he goes and you can understand where he's at and you can understand when you heard Jesus say, even love your enemies, then everything would have started to make some better balance. So if you bear with us when we talk about these times when it is nearly impossible to be saved, no one here believes it is ever impossible while you still live. But the fact is, if we keep having to just say all the disclaimers and all the disclaimers, sometimes we miss out on a very important message. And that important message is this, the very fact that there are times when the grace of God is close and a harvest is here. And there are times when it is not. And our burden here this evening is that you grab that harvest while it's here. And as I gave you the text from Jeremiah, they waited too long. As we heard about Jeremiah this morning, we heard about... You understand that Jeremiah's rebuke is to Judah. It's to Jerusalem. The city of David. It's not to the tribes of Israel. It's to His precious people. It's to Judah. And Jeremiah is coming there to rebuke the people from Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah. And he's going there to rebuke them because of their idolatry, because of their covetousness, because of their complacency, because of their adultery, because of the things in their life which is apart from God. And Jeremiah is sent there as a scathing rebuke to them for their idolatry and their sin. And then, he's there to pronounce the judgment of God that it is too far. You have pushed things too far. We heard that message this morning. You have pushed it too far. God's harvest has passed away. The people of Judah were warned again and again by Jeremiah of the approaching captivity, but they would not repent of their sins. They kept thinking in their mind, you know, Egypt is going to take us out of this. Egypt is going to somehow come in here and when the Babylonians come and try to besiege us and do different things, Egypt is going to rescue us. And even though Jeremiah kept warning them, in the back of their mind, they had a little lifeboat. And they kept thinking, okay, but the fact is Egypt's going to do this for us. Surely, before the ripening harvest, the siege would end. They could gather their harvest and have food and plenty. They fought. They had a harvest out there. Surely, this will be all finished before the harvest is over and we can go out and get our food. But you know what the Bible reports that happened? And I hate to even repeat this here, but the word of Jeremiah and the word of God told us that when that siege came around Jerusalem, that it brought such utter devastation. Starvation stalked through the city. It says here that mothers cooked their own children and ate them. It was rampant, absolute, utter destruction. The crops that they had hoped to reap were wasted in the fields. And the Jews were left to starve or surrender. And it is to that, it is to that that the cry went out. The harvest is past. The summer is ended. And we are not saved. We are not saved. The Egyptians did not come. We're dying here. I waited too long. I didn't respond. I didn't walk forward. I didn't follow what Jeremiah had prophesied. And it's too late. It's too late. The burden of message is this. Again, that there are times in the person's life when God's offer of salvation is closer than at other times. It's just a fact. Leave it to the theologians to figure it out. It's just a fact. And if my burden tonight is that after leaving a harvest seizing such as we've had this summer, that you have the wrong impression if you think that you can just continually to keep the voice of God, that beckoning grace of God that you have sensed and felt in a cage like a canary to be brought out at your good pleasure, that after a while, the voice of God you will no longer hear. You will no longer hear it. And my burden tonight is that I believe that in hell, at this very moment, there are multitudes who felt the exact same way. They'll wait. They'll wait for harvest. Surely something will turn out a different way. In every single person's life, there are times when it is more likely that you will be born again than other times. So we may even say that there are times when it is possible for you to be saved. And listen, listen. There are times when it is nearly impossible. Nearly impossible. And again, we know that while we still live, there is hope. And you know, that line is drawn. And let me just say real quick here, in the Old Testament when there was a definite line and finally God was at the utmost end and He pronounced His judgment, what was the one thing that could break that line? Tell me. When God says, I'm going to judge this people. I'm finished with them. I'm done. Repentance. Amen. The people repented. What else would be the way to break through that? The intercession of God's servants. Have mercy on them, God. Moses said, destroy me. Save them. If you're here tonight and you hear this message and there's going to be some hard things said, and in your mind you know of someone who as you believe has gone too far, intercede for them. Beg God for them that that line will not be drawn. The book of Isaiah says it this way, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Apparently to Isaiah, there are times when Christ can be found. But there also seems that in Isaiah, there is also time when He is far from the sinner. Far from those who have long rejected Him. Is this a New Testament concept? Some of these things, you know them to be true. You've seen them in your friends. You older ones have seen those who have gone off in different tangents and different things and you've seen them and you knew a time in their life when they were close. I mean, they were close. But now they're so far. Oh, it's my burden tonight that there are some here tonight that are close. But if you reject it again tonight, I don't know. In the New Testament, the Gospel is presented a way. In the New Testament, when Jesus Christ came and gave you the Gospel, it was presented in such a way that demanded a response. Did you hear that? The Gospel was presented in such a way that demanded a response. A decision of either to receive it or to reject it. When Jesus came and preached, He gave His sermons, gave His warnings, gave His words in such a way that demanded a response. You must receive it or you must reject it. Turn your Bibles to Mark 1. In Mark 1, we have after Jesus was baptized, after He received the temptations in the wilderness, then Mark tells us of the first cry of Jesus' ministry, of the first thing that He said when He went out and He preached. And He also records the first response of the people. Hallelujah. In Mark 1, verse 14, it says this. In Mark 1, verse 14, now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. So as soon as John was put into prison, Jesus came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the Gospel. And there it is. You see, in their minds, He wasn't giving it to them to say, well, just take this home and chew on it for a while, or I know you'll hear this again next week, or you'll hear it again, you can read it again in your Bibles some other day. Some put it off to another time. Jesus gave it to them as a response needed command or declaration. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel. In verse 16, it says, now as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, His brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And listen to this. Couldn't this be our response, every one of us tonight? And Jesus said unto them, come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Oh, look at verse 18. And straightway they forsook their nets and followed Him. And when He had gone a little further then, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John His brother, who also were in ships mending their nets. And straightway He called them. And they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants and went after Him. And they went into Capernaum. And straightway on the Sabbath day, He entered into the synagogue and taught. Gospel offered. Response demanded. And what a blessed response that was given. Jesus preached and He demanded a response. These responded well. My question tonight is, why are you lingering so long in the boat? These heard and responded. Why are you staying there? James and John heard. They knew they were to respond. And they responded. They knew it. The Gospel arrived at that place. The season, so to speak, had come and they responded. The season came and they responded. To give you the biblical doctrines, or the backing of this sort of concept of there being a close time and a far time to the preaching of the Gospel. The New Testament speaks of this sort of thing. And it calls it in the Gospel preaching a day of salvation. It speaks of a season being in season or out of season. It speaks of an acceptable time. Let's just look at some of those just as a basis for this idea. In 2 Timothy 4-2, the Apostle Paul is giving some instruction to the young ministers there and the young preachers. I'm sure the street preachers as well. All the ministers there in the church. He was giving some instruction to them. And he said this in 2 Timothy 4-2. He said, preach the Word. Preach the Word. And then he says, be instant. In season. Out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And that was Paul's Word. You must preach. And sometimes you'll preach in season. And brothers, sometimes we'll preach out of season. But it doesn't matter if it's in season or out of season. Preach. Preach. In 2 Corinthians, we see another type of day of salvation brought up. A concept of a day of salvation. In 2 Corinthians 6, if you want to turn there. In 2 Corinthians 6, at verse 1, Paul again speaking says, we then as workers together with Him, hallelujah, beseech You also that You receive not the grace of God in vain. Now, that's not a very popular teaching tonight in the evangelical world, I'm afraid, in many of the world today. How can you receive the grace of God in vain? That means the grace of God is offered to you. It's there. And it just becomes something of no value. Vain means of no value to you. It doesn't profit you anything. The grace of God in vain. Then he goes on to say, For he saith, I have heard Thee in a time accepted. He's quoting here. For he saith, I have heard Thee in a time accepted. In an accepted time. And in the day of salvation have I succored Thee. And then he tells them this. And I want you to hear it tonight too. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. In Hebrews, the last one I'm going to give you on this. In Hebrews chapter 3, you might want to turn to that. I have several, 7-15 here. In Hebrews chapter 3, the writer there is taking them to the example when the Israelites, the Hebrews rather, were there in the wilderness. And they had no faith in God and His promises. And that was the problem. They did not believe the promises of God. They did not believe the promises of God for them. They couldn't enter in because of their unbelief. And this provoked God. And he says there, and he speaks of this as a day. Listen to it here. In verse 7, this is Hebrews chapter 3, verse 7. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, and that's important when you hear that. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, verse 9, when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works for the year. Wherefore, I was greed with that generation, He said. They do always err in their heart, and they have not known My ways. Be careful with verse 11. I swear in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest. The writer of Hebrews is giving to this as a very severe warning. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest in any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We should be encouraging one another with the faith and the promises of God. Encouraging one another to let us know we don't want to fall like those in the wilderness who stop believing in God. Verse 14, for we are made partakers of Christ, hallelujah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. Now listen to this. He repeats this. While it is said today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. So as Paul and the writer of Hebrews gives us the messages and gives us the warning and the encouragements to the preachers, to all of us as we go out and evangelize and we speak to our children and around the table, when we speak to different ones, we are to always, as we present the Gospel, we are always to preach the Gospel. But like I said, there are times it is hard to preach. There are times when there is little conviction that you see coming over the people. You'll experience this. You'll be out witnessing. You'll be speaking to someone. You'll realize there's not much conviction here. And then there are times when there just seems to be a presence of God and the Holy Spirit is working in that individual and there is a season that just makes someone ripe and ready to hear and to receive the Gospel. And that's the fact. That's just the way it is. If you have any experience in sharing the Gospel or even speaking to your children, you'll experience this thing. Or look at your own life. There are times when it is closer and there are times when it is not. The Word speaks of this as seasons. You know, we know this in our gardens. As I've come here to Lancaster County, I've tried to learn some of the, oh, how do I say, just these blessed things of families and the godly habits and structures that I see. And one of the things that I've tried to do oftentimes is our family likes to do a garden, but I haven't been that successful in gardening. And as I do these things, I've learned and I've asked questions and I've heard about seasons and I've heard about what times that I'm usually putting my peas in too late or I'm waiting some time or I'm doing something and all those different things. And I've began just a little bit to learn that there are seasons of where you can grow something and there are seasons that you cannot. And we're finally beginning to learn those things. And the Bible speaks that way of our salvation. Now, isn't that a sobering thought? Because you see, I believe for many of us, the summer has passed. The harvest is over. And we're still not. We're still not saved. So as I come here at the end of the summer, that's the burden of my heart. I remember one time, my wife and I and my mother, we were wanting to take a trip to Amsterdam. We were living in Germany and we wanted to take a trip up to Amsterdam. And we got there and I'm not used to the 24 hour clock that the Europeans were using. And I think we got there like 9.30 or 9.45 in the morning and I wanted to buy a train back to Frankfurt. So we said, okay, we'll take the train at 10 o'clock. So this will give us all day in Amsterdam and then we'll just enjoy and then take a late train home and get back to Frankfurt at 10 o'clock. We showed up about 9.30 at the Amsterdam train station and realized the trains that left for Frankfurt had gone long ago. That to them, 10 o'clock was 10 o'clock in the morning and 2200 was 10 o'clock at night and there was no trains going back to Frankfurt at 2200 o'clock from Amsterdam. And so my wife and my mother slept there on the floor of the Amsterdam train station waiting for morning to come. We had missed the train and there was nothing that was going to change that. Missed the train. There are times when this harvest is ripe and there are times when the harvest is over. My burden tonight is that I believe that for many of us, we're about to miss the train. We're about to miss the train. Paris Reedhead who preached the famous sermon 10 shekels and a shirt in another different sermon spoke of his prison ministry and he said that one of the things he was amazed there is that every single person in the prison had their own plan of salvation. Another thing he noticed that no one did the crime. He said it was a travesty to think of all the people that we've stuck behind bars because no one has confessed hardly anyone to their crime. They're all saying they're innocent. And each person he talks to all have a plan of salvation. He says in that sermon, he says that everyone on earth has a plan of salvation. Everyone does. If you're an atheist, your plan of salvation is you have solace in your soul by just telling yourself over and over again that there is no God. And that you're just going to go on and you just keep reminding of yourself that hopefully maybe you'll just believe it. To those who believe in works, you just believe that if you keep on going and do things just right here, just right there, that you're going to work things out just the right way and that's your plan of salvation. Everyone has a plan of salvation. But many of you here today have a right theology to a degree about your salvation, but for some reason, you've told me here at the beginning of this sermon, you've decided to wait. You've decided that you're going to do it another time. Another very famous sermon, Jonathan Edwards, when he preached sinners in the hand of an angry God, spoke of that time. That he says that many people today in their minds are somehow thinking that they are wiser and they're using their somehow thinking that they have a plan that's just going to work it out just the right way. And that he said that if we could go to hell and if we could go there and speak to them one by one, each and every one of them would say, I had no idea that I would come here. You see, I had it worked out. I had thought that I was going to do it another time. Another sermon. I was going to wait one more time. I was going to read one more book or I was going to go get one more counselor or I was going to go do one more thing and then I was going to do it. But death caught them. The wrath of God caught up with them. Each one flattering himself that he would escape the wrath of God. Oh, you know, you have heard. Jonathan Edwards encouraged us. You have heard over and over again that there are very few that are actually saved. We've heard that the road is narrow. Is that correct? And you've heard and you've known that the great vast majority, he charges us, the vast majority of those who have died today have gone to hell. Very narrow and the vast majority of all people living on earth has gone to hell. Yet, you will dally with this thing and think that somehow you've got a better plan that it's going to be able to time this thing more correctly and to be able to do this just right when all those have perished. All of them. It's a serious warning that he gives us there. It was unexpected. Death outwitted me, they cry from hell. God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness, they cry out. What prevents you tonight? What prevents you tonight? I am asking you tonight to make a decision. If you know in your heart tonight that you should have responded, not for sake of my sermon, but for the sake I'm here as an altar call that goes on for an hour, that you have heard this engines go by, and I'm telling you, I'm here with the light saying, don't keep just putting it off. Make that decision. If God's grace has been working in your life and you know, make the decision. And I don't mean a light decision. You know, in my background, we made decisions. We made decisions. We talked a lot about decisions. I'm not talking about a decision like that. I'm talking about a decision that causes you to get up and follow after God. Just a decision in your mind is not enough. You know, if you have the three people and they're up in a plane tonight and they're up there in the plane and suddenly the plane starts to shake and they realize that something's going to happen and the plane is going to go down and they realize it. And as they're there in the plane and they realize the plane is going down, one of them makes a decision to put on, he's going to make a decision to put on a parachute and jump out. He makes a decision to put on a parachute and jump out. He makes a decision to put on a parachute and jump out. Now, I ask you, in that plane, how many people are left out of those three? Three. Three are left. If you're here tonight and you've merely made a decision that you're going to give your life to God, but something has stopped you from actually jumping out of the plane, you're going to go down and you're going to crash with everyone else. Everyone else. Don't just make a mental assent. Repent and believe the Gospel and respond to it. Respond to it. Respond to it. Okay, when is the harvest times? I'm going to talk to you about four, I believe, times of harvest. Now, listen to this, because one of them applies to you. The first time of harvest is a time like this. I don't know why it is. It's not by the sake of the preacher I don't believe, but God has used preachers and God has used meetings like this many times through history to bring in a harvest. And you know it. You know that you've gone to places like this and you've been under the preaching of the Word and you know for a fact that you have heard the voice of God telling you to do something. Matter of fact, a lot of you told me that tonight. And God uses times like this as a harvest for you. I don't understand that. The Bible says in Luke 10, Jesus said that you should pray that God would send forth laborers into His harvest. You know, God has done that. He's done that with your parents. He's done that with your cell group leaders. He's done that with your pastors. He's done that with those concerned brethren. He's done that with those who are caring after your soul. And they're asking and they're pleading with you and they're asking about your soul. I don't know why it is. The famous pastor says, how then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? There's something about being under the reading, the ministering, the preaching of the Word of God that God brings in a harvest. I don't understand it. It's just a fact. I'm just telling you some facts tonight. Do you want to shun that? Do you want to stop saying I've had enough of it? I'm going to go away. I'm going to run away. I'm going to leave this. I'm tired of people asking about my soul. One young man once asked his Christian friend, when am I ever going to stop having people always pester me about my soul? And you know what the Christian young man said? Yeah, one day in hell is the day when you will be sure that no one will ask you if you're saved. If you're here to this morning and you have felt pestered by your ministers, pestered by your father, pestered by those Christian friends who have been burdened for your soul, oh, it's a harvest. Don't grieve it. Don't walk away from it. It won't always be there. It won't always be there. Another harvest. And this one is a particular one. It's the harvest of youth. The harvest of youth. In Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Solomon cries out, Remember now Thy Creator in the days of Thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when Thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Ecclesiastes 12, verse 1. Remember now Thy Creator in the days of Thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when Thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Here's a fact. I can't explain it. I don't know why, but let me tell you something, young people. Let me give you something that you need to understand. The vast majority of people are converted while they are young. That's just a fact. Ask the older people. Ask those who have seen. The vast majority of people are converted while they are young. Most people who don't get saved while they are young go to hell. It's just a fact. I'm not trying to build some sort of theology here tonight. I'm just trying to tell you a fact that most people, if you are not saved while you are young, that there's something about a harvest of youth that you will grieve away and it will be gone. It will be gone. Don't get me wrong. God can save you at any time. He is willing at any time until your death. But, I believe we let that fact be a deadly anesthetic to us many times. A deadly anesthetic. Because there are countless souls in hell today that said tomorrow. Countless souls. A preacher named John R. Rice did a study. He was an evangelist and he did a study. Whatever it's worth, I'll give you the statistics of this study. He did a study to see when did people accept the Lord and when did people not accept the Lord. And he did a big study and he wanted to find out what these ages were. And here's the results of that study. He found that almost no one gets saved after the age of 50. That's why we rejoice when we have that. It's a miracle. But do you hear this? He said that whatever it's worth, he said that hardly anyone gets saved after the age of 50 and that 90% of all conversions in his study, 90% of all conversions happen before the age of 30. Going further, he said that 7 out of 8 people, that is 87.5% are younger than 20 when they get born again. 87.5% are younger than 20 when they get born again. Well, what does that mean to you? If the statistics are true and it's not gospel, but if Rice's statistics are true, if you have reached the age of 20 unsaved, if you're here today and you have reached the age of 20 unsaved, you have a 12% chance of never getting saved if Rice is correct. Your chances also get less and less every year until there is very little hope by the age of 35 or so. 35 or so. You must be saved during this harvest of youth. Are you going to grieve it away? Are you going to say, I'm not going to do it now? Are you not going to take advantage of this harvest? I suggest you do. The harvest of youth. I don't understand it. Let me say that again. And let me say again, God can save you at any age, but I'm just letting you know a fact. We see that God's grace works in this way. Many times. The third one is the harvest of Christus. Of special things in your life. A harvest of Christus. A harvest of Christus is this. A harvest of Christus is you've been turning from God. You've rejected God. We talked about a little bit this morning. And somehow God in His temporary judgment, His punitive judgment, has decided to wake you up in any way that He can. So He allows you to go through an accident. I'm not saying that anybody who has an accident is somehow judged of God. I'm not saying that. But I am saying that God will use anything He can to wake you up. And He does some drastic things sometimes. And I'm saying that as He does that, that you have there, and I'll tell you, you know it's true. You know those who have been in some serious accidents. And if you could be there right in their eyes, right when it was happening, there is like a grace of God. Speaking to them and beckoning to them to respond to this. It is a harvest of Christus. And if you have taken that harvest of Christus and you have just let it go, brothers, young sisters, old sisters alike, you have let go a harvest. He did it to wake you up. There's other things that are situations with death. You've seen a friend die. You've looked there in the grave as you've seen your friend be put in the ground. Remember the first time you heard of that death. Maybe it was a loved one. Maybe it was someone your age. Maybe it was your father. Maybe it was someone else. And the first time you were gripped in your heart about that Christus of that death. And do you remember the grace of God in your life at that time? It was close, wasn't it? There was something particular that God was saying, it happens like this. Death is real. It'll be soon. Have you lost the harvest, Christus? In Luke chapter 12, Jesus brings about an example of a man who did not take care of his soul. Can we turn there? It's an interesting passage. It's the one about the man who builds his bigger barns and doesn't take care of his own soul. In Luke chapter 12, at verse 15. Luke 12, verse 15. He says, In Luke 12, verse 15, we see a man who didn't care for his soul. In Luke chapter 12, verse 15. And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Verse 16. And he spake a parable unto them saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. Now stop there because I know you know the parable. Can I break in right here? It didn't say that this man ran out and started to get into the stock market or ran out and started to do something sinful or went out and did an ungodly practice. I mean, the man was a farmer. It's probably one of the most noble professions you could have. And it wasn't his fault the ground came up bountifully. It was blessing. Perhaps there was great rains then. And he was blessed by all that he had. He didn't do anything deceitful. The ground of a certain man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down the barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. Again, it's not like he's trying to extort somebody. It's not like he's doing something wrong. He's trying to walk in wisdom. What am I to do with all these things? I have to do something. But something deceitful happened to him there. He got very busy. He got very involved there. He got very self trusting there. Because this is what happens in the next verse. This is what happens in the next verse. And he thought within himself saying, What shall I do? Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits. Look at the next verse. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Thou hath much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. He didn't feel he had a need. He didn't feel he had a need. But God said unto him, Thou fool! This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hath provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Have you dealt with God? D.L. Moody breaks this parable out in a very impressive way. And I'm going to share some of that that he gives. D.L. Moody gives the idea that if we look at the setting here where Jesus is, that this is a place where John the Baptist was. And that if Jesus was pointing to a certain rich man or a certain farmer there, he was pointing there. He gives the idea that perhaps it's not too far from where John the Baptist was actually preaching. He was there and John the Baptist was preaching and he never went out there to hear. He never in all his busyness took time to take inventory of his soul. And he perhaps was putting it off to another time. Now he was a very good man. Again, there's nothing evil being said about him. Moody makes the point that if it was Chicago in those days, they probably would have made this man a deacon. And maybe you could say the same thing here in Lancaster County. I don't know. So he says here that this man was a very good man. There's nothing evil said about him. It's an honest trade. He's doing these things and he's there. He's planning and his life is planning his tomorrow. He's going to do something else. And he's planning and planning and planning, but never makes plans for his soul. And then one day Jesus gives us the impression that right in the middle of planning this new whole development, right there where he's there with the architect, Moody goes on about how he's there, that in the midst of that, the architect finally leaves, he suggests. And there this man is just dreaming about his future and how he needs to, his soul has no problem. And finally he sees a visitor. And a visitor looks at him and the visitor is death. Oh, not now. Yes. Now death came to visit him that night. And just when he didn't think he needed to take care of his soul anymore, death visited him and was there before him. Not now. I didn't know about this. Yes, you did. You remember when your father died and you were there and there at the, at the place and you buried your father. I was there and I stared you in the face and you knew death would come and you rejected it. You saw me. Do you remember when your, when your sister's husband died and he was there? I was there and I visited you. You knew I would come and you did not take account for the day that it would come. And I'm here. I'm the death has visited him. And that day he died. They went on the next day and they began to talk about the great things this man had done, his accomplishments that he's given. And he suggests, Moody makes a suggestion that they put up this great monument there and listed all the great things that this man had done in the community. And then an angel comes by unseen to those who are watching. An angel comes by and you know what? The angel writes on that monument. You go through the cemeteries today, tombstone after tombstone after tombstone, fool, fool, fool, fool. Why? Because he's not prepared their hearts for God. They put it off for another day. Somehow you thought you had time to put it off for another day. Somehow when you know, I'm not talking about someone that I'm trying to convince. I'm talking to you here today. You know that God's grace has spoken to you, you know, during this session, as you've heard the different things preached to you, but you've put it off. You've put it off. Which brings me to the last harvest, and that is the harvest of conviction. Oh, the harvest of conviction. It was grace that taught my heart. You know for a fact there's been times in your life, you know, when you heard the sermons being preached through this summer, you know, during this very session, when Brother Larry was talking to us about the kingdom of God and being so confident of it. You knew God was speaking to you. When Brother Dale brought us some very specific things about rebellion, about our first love and about our first things, you knew, you can say, I can see God looking right at me. You saw Brother Mark showing us the subtleties of how a small sin can get turned into a big sin. And you were pricked in your conscience about those things. You saw Brother David, and he's talked to us even today very clearly. You know that you are ashamed of Christ. You know that you are offended. You saw Brother Moe's, and he talked about the wrath of God. And we spoke about the judgment of God. It was grace that taught your heart to fear. But the anesthetic here that is so deadly to you is that somehow you've convinced yourself that that harvest of that fear, of that grace, will always be there. Somehow you've convinced yourself that. Somehow, you who are a rebel, how many times are you going to be rebuked from your parents? How many times are you going to be rebuked and said, this is rebellion, it's wrong, it's sin against God? And just time and time again. How many of you who are involved with pornography, or involved with looking on the internet, how many times when you've been there, and you know you can point to the day, the first time you committed that sin, and we heard about it today, who was preaching about it, about just the force that we feel of God's conviction on our life. But now you would have to be honest with me, it's not quite so bad anymore, is it? It's not. Why is that? Because the harvest is leaving. You there who have gone off into lust and jealousy and pride, you who are cheating and loving the world, how long, when you know for a fact that you've been convicted about these things, how long are you continue to sin against God and expect these convictions to be there? D.L. Moody tells us of a young man who grieved his mother so much in his sinful life that she finally died. She died of a heart attack or something. And finally, as this young man kept getting older and older, he grieved his father so much, and he was a frail man, he was an older man, and he pleaded with his son, and he pleaded with him, please turn your life around. And his son just despised him and took advantage of him and didn't take these things from him. Well, finally, one day when he knew that his son was about to go out on a night of sin, a night of wickedness, his frail old father just laid there at the doorway and said, if you're going to go, you're going to have to step over this old body to get out. And you know what that young man did? He stepped over his father and he marched right out. Do you know it's no difference for you tonight? You just continue stepping over and trampling underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ over and over again, doing that to our Father in the exact same way. It's the same thing. Do you understand? You just can't keep doing it. You just can't keep doing it. In Jeremiah 13, a striking passage there in this whole idea of Jeremiah calling out in Jeremiah 13, right there, the last verse in chapter 13, he sees these sins. God sees every single one of them. And he says in Jeremiah 13, verse 27, I have seen thine adulteries and thy neighings. Do you know what he means by neighings, young men? In another place, he talks about how people are looking after another man's wife like a horse and they're just neighing after those things. Just a longing of the lust. And he says, I've seen that. Disgusting. I've seen the way you've just looked upon these different things, your adulteries and your neighings, the lewdness of your whoredom and thine abomination on the hills in the field. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem. Then listen to this. Wilt thou not be made clean? You see the heart of God coming out there, even at this point, wanting repentance, saying, come on, I'm accepting anything. And then he goes on to say, well, if not now, when? When shall it once be? When? When? These harvests come in our life. And they are profound to us. Have you let them go by? Can you know here for a fact? You can say, brother, I know for a fact. I have to be honest with you. As you talk here, I realize that there was a time in my life when I mean those convictions were hard. But now I feel them, but they're not quite so hard. And so I'm just going to kind of wait for it to get hard again. Do you realize what's happening? The train is leaving. The harvest is going past. And you're still not saved. Had you grieved one of those harvests? But let me tell you tonight, what causes a man to be lost? Number one, he loves sin. And there in John chapter three, when he tells us why do people not receive the light, he says very plainly, it's because they love their sin. Number two, the love of the world, the businesses, and the things that keep us from just thinking about Christ, and we don't do inventory with ourselves. Number three, the love of pleasure, keeping a man or a woman or a child or a young person, the love of just trying to keep themselves in folly and entertainment and amusement. These things keep us from God. They numb us to that feel of God. Number four, there's many of you who have not responded to these things while this auditorium was filled with hands because you did not respond because of the fear of man. Jesus said that if you are ashamed before men, I shall be ashamed of you before my Father. Are you ashamed of God today? Are you scared of your friends and what they'll think of you? Self-will stands between a person in Christ and pride. You just don't think you need it. But you know what? Again, where I want to leave you tonight as we come close to the end here now is this. Jeremiah, I do believe, as Brother Mose brought us to this morning, it is some of the most scathing rebukes I think that are in the Scriptures. I mean, they're severe. Preachers, beware reading Jeremiah. He has severe rebukes for false shepherds and false prophets. He has severe rebuke for those that are covetous and looking after the things of the world and the lust and the adulteries. He has severe rebukes for them. He talks in graphic language in the book of Jeremiah in ways that still, if you read that and not tremble, I don't understand. But in that, the heart of God still is coming out. It's still coming out. Turn to Jeremiah 29. And it's still coming out that God wants to save you. In Jeremiah 29, verse 10, after He's just rebuked them for prophesying falsely, in verse 10, Jeremiah 29, verse 10, For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished... This was a punishment that was meant to bring a response. That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good Word towards you and causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord. Doesn't this make you almost cry? For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon Me and ye shall go and pray unto Me and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart. With all your heart. Oh, that's the heart of God to us this evening. That's the heart of God as we round up this summer. That's the heart of God to you today. That's the heart of God if you still are there and you still are feeling in some way God's voice still there. Are you a bruised reed? Are you a burning coal that's just barely... God won't extinguish you, He says. It's barely there. He won't extinguish you. He's crying out. That's His heart. And ye shall seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart. Over there at chapter 32. After Jeremiah, after the rebukes, He finally comes and just makes this beautiful confession of sin for the nation. Judah. And then He says there, and He's asking, God, is this too hard? If you're here tonight and you think, Brother, you don't understand. You're right. I've grieved this for years. But there has been a harvest for you tonight. There's been a harvest for you that you're even here tonight. That you've been given one more chance tonight. You are within a harvest tonight. And Jeremiah prays there. He says, is this too hard? Is this too much to ask for? Is this one too big? And what does God answer in verse 27? Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? And then over there in 33. Verse 3. 33 verse 3. Call unto Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knoweth not. That's our Father. That's the heart of God. And that's God who is still crying out to you tonight. There was a bird watcher. There was a scientist. This is a story. There was a bird watcher and he was a scientist. And he studied these rare exotic birds off coast of an island with giant cliffs. And he would take his rope and he'd rappel down and be able to do some study of some eggs and some different things. And he would get into some places with giant, deep gorges in these cliffs and he'd do this and make this study. And as they did this, he would have his rope and be able to rappel and do the different things. And one of the times he got ahead of himself, one of the times he got to a place where he wasn't careful and he started to fall. And instead of making his rope in such a way that it would just fall a little bit, he fell a great distance. And he fell a hundred feet all the way down, a hundred and fifty perhaps, down to finally the emergency rope caught. And he took there, but it took a jolt on his body and he was there. In the midst of it all, he thought he broke something and he was there dangling in some little precipice there on the side of the cliff. And as he was there, he shouldn't have done it, but he untatched the rope and let it go so that he could get out from being so tangled. And as he was there, he realized he was on this precipice and he looked and there that 150 feet, this rope slowly swung way over to the other side of that gorge. And as he was there, he realized for a moment the rope came down here, but he had climbed all the way over to here. And as he was going down and he dropped that rope, he realized that that rope was the closest it ever was going to be the moment he dropped it. He realized. And as that rope swung, it had those little belt attachments on it, and as it swung to the one side, he knew this is my chance. It's going to come and it's not going to ever be so close as it is right now. And that rope came up and he looked at it, but with all his wounds and all his things, he tried to grab for it, but he couldn't get it. And he slipped and the rope was gone. And it swung again all the way over there. And he realized, this next time is going to be my last chance. This rope was the closest it ever was going to be the first time. The second time it's going to swing and it's going to be a little less. The third time it's going to be almost impossible. And so finally that rope came back and with everything he had within him, he jumped out and he grabbed that rope and he got it. And he knew that he had salvation. He knew he was able to then reattach himself and climb himself back up to the top. Brothers, sisters, young people, if you think tonight that the harvest will continue to go on and on, I'm afraid I'm going to have to report to you tonight that you are deceiving yourself. Many of you here tonight realize that already you know that the first couple of swings of that rope have gone on and it's getting less and it's getting less. We're going to give an altar call now. And what I'm going to ask you, if you've been here and you know you've been to these messages and you know that there's been a particular thing that God has told you to respond to, then get up and respond to it tonight. And don't think that that harvest is always going to be there. And particularly, let me say to you young people, don't grieve the grace, the harvest of youth. Have you despised the harvest of youth? It goes away. And let me tell you something from experience and many of you more experienced than I, it goes away very quickly. It goes away quickly. Oh, that rope swings less and less. If you're here and you know you've looked into the grave and you know you've looked into your sick mother or you know you've had some crisis of your own and at that moment you remember, do you remember? Think about it. Remember how close God was during that crisis. He wanted you to respond during that crisis. I ask you tonight, if you've been putting any of those things off, I pray, respond tonight. Oh, don't let salvation pass by tonight. Don't let whatever God was wanting to do to your life pass by tonight. Don't let repentance pass by tonight. If God has convicted you and you know you need to get your life back right with God, you know you need to repent and get right with the church or get right with your family or get right with someone, then repent and don't let it go anymore. I'm going to pray. And Brother James, who's leading that? Where is he at there? Brother James, if you could have a song for us, we're going to pray. If you could have a song, we're going to have an altar call. And then after that, we're going to close. And the summer is ended. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, oh God, oh God, look down with mercy again tonight one more time. You said that if anyone asked for the Holy Spirit, that You would give it. So, God, we're praying for the Holy Spirit conviction tonight. God, oh God, renew those crisis moments. Renew those youthful moments. Renew those conviction moments. Renew those. Bring them. Rehearse them. Bring them back to our hearts. The ones that we know we have never responded to, God. And that rope is getting further and further away, oh God. I pray, Lord. Oh, Father, bring it tonight. Oh, Father, we thank You for Your Word. It's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Brother James. 896. Obviously, this isn't a time that you should dally with your coming to the altar. Let's all stand to our feet. We'll sing this. You know for a fact, God wants you to deal with this. Rise and come forward and get right with God. What was that number again? 896. 896. Hallelujah. Oh, do not let the word depart. Amen. Praise God. You know that God is speaking to you. Hallelujah. Don't let it wait another day. Be saved tonight. Oh, why? Can you give me a reason why not tonight? Are you grieving the harvest of youth tonight? Are you grieving the harvest of conviction? Oh, why not tonight? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Oh, why? What are you waiting for tonight? Oh, why? He's lingering. You know, you don't have very long now. Three months have gone by on the table over and over again. But yet you still why not tonight? Why not? Oh, why not tonight? Oh, why not? Remember, Jesus gives his word and demands James and John. Let's bow our heads and pray. Here we are, God. We're at the last meeting. The last revival meetings, God. We're at the last night of the revival meetings. We're at the last sermon of the last night of the revival meetings. And now we're at the last verse. Oh, God. Lord, I pray now, Father, be with us now, God. If there's anyone here, oh, God, move them, Lord. Move them, oh, God, to respond to your grace. God, I pray. Father, please have mercy upon us. All right, Brother James, we're going to sing this last verse. Listen to me very closely. We're going to sing this last verse. And we're going to, that's going to be it. And the summer is going to be ended. Brother James, let's sing. Come. Our blessed Lord refuses none, who would do in their souls to die. Get up, move from your pew and come tonight. This is it. We're singing this and we're closing. Come now. Oh, why not tonight? It's a good question. Why not tonight? Why not tonight? Not tonight. Why not tonight? We'll die, be saved, then why not? Amen. We're going to bow our heads. We're going to pray. I'm going to hand it over to Brother Rick. While I'm praying, if you want to come out while I'm praying, the door is just left open a crack. I'm going to pray. If you still need to come after this, we're going to divide people up. They're going to go back. And we have the grace of reapers. Remember that one? The harvest of counselors. The harvest of concerned brethren. We're going to have that here. Don't grieve it. So we're going to pray. If during that last time you would like to come while we're praying, then come. Let's everyone bow their head and let's pray. Oh, dear Heavenly Father, I thank You, O God, for speaking to us. I thank You, O God. And I pray, Father, if there's anyone here tonight, O Father, who still needs to make those decisions in their life, that they will do it, O God. And I pray, O God, that the fear of man would be left. Pride would be left. Self-will would be left. And, God, that people would know they must deal with their soul. I pray now that You be with these who have responded. O God, work Your grace in their life now, Lord. O Father, they've said yes, Lord. They've said yes. And the grace of God was there and the harvest came. They said yes, Lord God. So now, Father, I pray, pour Your grace into their life. And make it sure. Make it steadfast, O Lord. And keep them, O Father, in Your way. We ask You, O Father, in Jesus' name. With Your blessings, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, amen. Those that need to pray further and need counsel, we'd ask you to be dismissed at this time. The women over towards my left over here. In the hallway to the left here. And then the men over here to my right. Go down through the double door here. There'll be someone back there. Brother Moses headed that way. Brother David's over here towards the sister's side to the left. If you'd like to take advantage of some counsel, someone to help you pray through some things, give you some words of encouragement. Then, sisters, you go over here to my left. Brothers to the right. Men to the right here. There'll be somebody to help you. I'd ask those that are here that are counselors, like we use at Men's Leadership or Bible School, if you would please make your way. There's quite a few here. Some of you ministers that are here, if you could go back. And different ones. Looks like we'll need brothers and sisters. Just pray that you would please go back and be of help there. Looks like there's several there that need some help. You know, I'll tell you something that I think you know, but I'll tell you anyway. Did you know that conviction is a gift from God? Did you know that? You know, even though this is a sober time, it's also a time where we can say, praise God, conviction is a gift from God. Even though it may be a season, brother, just like the harvest only comes at a season. But what do we do when the harvest is there? We just, it's a gift, you know. And that's what's happening here. This is one of those seasons. And while it's here, amen. It's a gift. And we can't make these things happen. Men don't create conviction. It wasn't our idea. We'd have thought of something. Well, men have thought about things. It's called religion. But conviction is of God. So, though we're sober on the one hand, on the other hand, there is some rejoicing. Aren't you thankful for conviction tonight? You know, it's good, isn't it? And it's a gift from God. Amen.