In this sermon, the speaker shares a story about his brother's efforts to reach out to his neighbor with the love of God. The neighbor was known for his drinking and smoking habits. The speaker then reads verses from the Bible, emphasizing the importance of being prepared for the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. He highlights the temporary nature of the world and urges listeners to live in anticipation of Christ's return by watching and praying.

Hello, 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, Ephrata, PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Greetings, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah, we have a rock. The Lord Jesus Christ, that when my heart's overwhelmed, we can go to the rock. And brother, sister, there's honey in the rock for you and me. Greet you all in Jesus' worthy name. I won't ask you to raise your hands, but I wonder how many saw the beautiful sunrise this morning. It was gorgeous. The heavens declaring the glory of the Lord and the beauty of the Lord. And just the bright colors and, you know, the sun beginning to dawn, the day beginning to dawn. And the contrast of the blue and a few clouds on the eastern horizon. And the light of the sun beginning to turn those clouds into hues of yellow and orange. And then rays just going up. Oh, it was just lovely. Beautiful. Oh yes, our God. Everything is upheld by His power. All the planets, everything in perfect rotation. And here we are on this little speck called Earth, as we heard on Friday night in the vast galaxies. Here we are on this planet Earth. And then to think how that the Lord God not only created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is, but He created you and I in His image. And for thy pleasure, all things are and were created. Hallelujah. That's us this morning. Well, my morning didn't quite go as planned, but you know, God is in control. And I'm trusting that He will continue to direct us and lead us here this morning. You know, as I took a little walk out to the east, gazing upon the eastern horizon and considering the frailty of man, I walked by the little tombstones out there and read them. I thought it's good for me to look upon and consider the frailty of man. And as I looked at them, there was one thing that really stood out to me. The vast majority were far younger than I. As I read the dates, the date of birth and the date of death, and I considered, Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him? Who am I upon this planet Earth that God would look upon me and would take knowledge of me? You know, everything was just so beautiful, so quiet, so peaceful. The whole creation just shouting of our Creator, awesome, magnificent, majesty on high. I thought, you know, as I walk upon this planet Earth, the beauty of nature and creation, that the Scripture speaks of one day when all these things shall come to an end. Open your Bibles with me to 2 Peter chapter 3. Can we stand together and read the Word of the Lord, the Holy Scriptures? 2 Peter 3, beginning in verse 1. This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, both in which to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Saviour, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to us for not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. We'll stop reading there for now. Let's pray together. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus. Father, we know that your word is forever settled in heaven. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, said the Lord Jesus. And Father, here we are this morning. We live in the space of time. We live on this planet earth. Father, we walk and we talk and we touch and we taste and we see. And Lord, it is maybe at times difficult for us to grasp the reality of the fact that this earth, though it seems so solid, it seems so secure, that at the day of the Lord it shall be dissolved. It shall melt like wax before the flame. All the elements and all that is in it shall be dissolved. It shall melt with a fervent heat. It shall be burnt up. Father, I ask today that in mercy you would visit us, Lord. I ask, Father, you would give unto me your servant utterance, Lord. And I ask, Father, that your word would have its effect in our hearts, Lord. Father, your word, it is quick, it's powerful, it's sharp, Lord. Father, I pray that none of us would ignorantly, willingly, ignorantly shut our heart to you and to your word. Oh, Father, I ask in Jesus' name. Father, let your word settle down deep into our hearts. May your Holy Spirit speak to us today and draw us unto yourself and unto the realities of the times and the seasons wherein we live and the soon coming of our Lord, coming in clouds and in power and in great glory with a holy host of flaming angels. Oh, God, Father, I pray that you would awaken us where we need to be awakened. And, Father, cause your holy fear to settle upon our hearts, that we may be of those that are watching and ready at the trumpet sound. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. The Bible speaks quite a lot about the end of the world, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I'd like to speak on that this morning from the Scriptures concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus, concerning the end of the world, and what are some of the things that we may see and that we may be awake and not be as others who sleep and are not prepared and are not watching. He says, knowing this, that first, in those last days, there's going to be scoffers. They're walking in their own lusts. They're not concerned about a holy life. They're not concerned about walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not concerned about prayer. They're not concerned about the lost. All they are concerned about is self and walking in their own lusts. But it's a strange thing here. He says that, they say, where is the promise of His coming? So, it seems like these may be people at least that have a knowledge that there is a promise of His coming. It's not speaking to those people who are totally outside of any Bible knowledge. In fact, this may even be speaking to people who are backslidden, lukewarm and apostatized that once believed the promise, but now they are cooled off and they are walking in lusts and walking in pleasure and in wantonness. And they say, well, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue from the beginning of creation as they were. And for this, they are willingly ignorant. Deception settles in. And we think we have plenty of time. And we think the Lord Jesus is not coming today. And all things continue as they were from our fathers. And so, we can eat and drink and be merry because the Lord delayeth His coming. And we don't know when He is coming, but He is delaying His coming. And some even go so far as to scoff and to mock. And it's sad to say, but in our day, there are those in professing Christendom that are questioning or mocking the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are looking at the Bible and they are resting the Scripture and twisting it. And somehow, they do not believe in the imminent return of Christ. They do not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again as He said He would, the same way that He left, the Lord Jesus said, I will come again. And this morning, I believe it is important that we look at the Scriptures and we see what the Bible has to say concerning the end of the world and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says here, I write this to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. I find that I need my heart and my mind stirred up, lest I go on from one day into the next, and into the next, and one day turns into another, and finally it turns one week into another, and I am not living in the conscious reality of the Lord Jesus Christ's return at any moment. Anybody identify with me? You know, life just sort of rolls on, and we have a lot of work to do, we have a lot of responsibilities, there is a lot of voices calling, and we can become a bit dull, and we need our hearts and our minds stirred up, and to be stirred in remembering what our Lord Jesus has said, and what He has said will come to pass. He that shall come, will come, and shall not tarry. One other thing we notice about His coming, it always speaks of His coming, as far as I could tell, and we certainly welcome your input, but as far as I could always tell, it speaks of His coming as being a sudden event. Is that right? The Bible speaks of His coming as being a sudden event, and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, like as a flash of lightning. The other evening I was out back in the yard, and the blue clouds were sort of rolling in, and I thought, well it doesn't look too bad, and I was just sort of enjoying being out there. But in a moment there was a flash of lightning, and a crack of thunder not far behind. I went inside. Now that is what the Bible gives and depicts as the returning of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be like as the lightning that shineth out of the heaven into one part, unto the uttermost part. It happens so quick. Anybody remember what's the speed of light? 186,000 miles a second. That's pretty fast. As the lightning flashes out of heaven into one part and into the other, so shall also be the suddenness of the coming of the Lord. Well, they say, where is His coming? And they're willingly ignorant. Close their eyes to truth. It tells us here that the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. What shall be the sign of His coming in the end of the age? We'll look at the words of our Lord Jesus in a moment. But let's look at a few clear prophecies of men moved by the Holy Ghost spake forth. In 1 Timothy 4, 1 through 5 it says, As the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Let's just stop there for a moment. In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith. They were once faithful. They were once believing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. They were once rooted and grounded in Christ. But now He says, they shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The one thing that Jesus said concerning the sign of His coming and the end of the age was, He said, Beware lest any man deceive you. For there will be many deceivers, and many deceivers gone out into the world. We must examine every spirit by the Word of God. Everything expressed, spoken by the Spirit, we must test it and examine it by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is holy, and the Holy Spirit will speak the things that Jesus has spoken, He says. He will bring them to our remembrance, and it will line up with the Word of God. They will speak lies in hypocrisy, until the point of finally, the conscience becomes seared as with a hot iron. It's a seared conscience, to where they can speak lies, and their conscience doesn't even trouble them anymore. They are so deceived. They are speaking lies and doctrines of devils. And then it goes on to say some of the things that they will do. They will forbid to marry. And I think of the great, the great heresy and damnable doctrine, that in order to be a priest of God, you cannot marry. And they forbid to marry. And that is a heresy. That is a doctrine of devils. Because God says, marriage is honorable in all. And the Lord Jesus Christ says, in the beginning, God created man and woman. Male and female created them. And God ordained marriage. And we see throughout Scripture, that some of the apostles were married also. But it's not saying that you have to be married. Let me clarify that. But the doctrine being taught, forbidding people to marry in order to be a priest, in order to be a man of God, that is heresy. And that has deceived many. So they will forbid to marry, and they will be commanding to abstain from meat. And so there will be vegetarianism promoted. And this has more than one side to it. It's made a religion. It is promoted. And also, right in there, animals are elevated to be equal with man in creation. And so, we are animal writers and animal lovers. And we lift them up to the same plane as humanity. And so therefore, you're wicked if you would eat of an animal. So they will forbid to eat meat. And that is a growing religion. That is a growing religion in our world. And in America especially, and probably parts of Europe as well. More or less, what you would call your more civilized nations. So they're speaking lies. Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meat, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. So those who believe and know the truth, they can receive that meat with thanksgiving, and it is sanctified through prayer, and they give thanks to God for it, and they can eat that with a clear heart and conscience before the Lord. Now if somebody has a health issue and a problem, and they are not able to eat meat, God bless you, you're not under any condemnation, but I warn against this doctrine. Because people who are well-meaning Christians can get off course and onto this thing to where it becomes a focus on their heart and their life, and it becomes their gospel, and it becomes their life of what they live for. So let us beware. I'm not saying that we should be considering to live a healthy life and be careful what we eat, but here is very clear warning and mark of the last days, that they will forbid to marry, and they will command to abstain from meat. It is sanctified by the word of God in prayer. The last days. Where an animal has more rights than an unborn child. Are we there yet? It's pretty close. Signs of the times. This he also says in 2 Timothy 3, This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, there will be covetous, and boasters, proud, and blasphemers, disobedient to parents, and unthankful, and unholy, and without natural affection, truth-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. What are we supposed to do with such company? He says, from such turn away. Do not have fellowship with those. I don't know how many billion dollar industry it is in United States for pleasure parks and theme parks and all of the pleasure industry, but it is surely a major god. And it's an idol in the last days. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. Well those are some of the things of the signs of the times. Now let us turn over to Matthew 24 and let us look at what the Lord Jesus has said concerning the end of the world. Matthew 24, and we'll start in verse 1, And as Jesus went out and departed from the temple, his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat 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? See three things here. They're asking, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? And as we know from studying Scripture and reading history, some of this is Jesus speaking to the overthrow of Jerusalem, which took place after Jesus ascended up into glory and Jerusalem was surrounded by armies. And was it Titus that surrounded the city there and Jerusalem was overthrown and destroyed? But it also goes on and it speaks concerning his coming and it also speaks of the end of the world. And I'd like to look at that this morning concerning the end of the world and of his coming. Jesus answered in verse four and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many. So the first warning is to take heed that you be not deceived. And as we already read in Peter and in Timothy concerning the great deception in the last days. So take heed that no man deceive you. Be in the word of God. That is the only way that we will not be deceived. It's to be into the Scripture and to love the truth and obey the truth. He says you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do we live in that day? Are we hearing of wars and rumors of wars? Yes, we are in that day. We are living in a day when there is war and there is threat of war. And things seem very shaky. But hallelujah, we have a rock. Christ Jesus. Which is solid. He says, see that you be not troubled. Our parents lived in time of wars and rumors of wars. World War II. World War I. And they lived in a time of troublesome times. But all those whose hearts and their eye and their faith was settled and fixed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, they weren't troubled. They were not moved. They steadfastly went on to love the Lord God. They steadfastly went on to raise their families for God. They steadfastly held fast to the Word of the Lord. And they were not led astray by all of the false prophets. And so likewise, we must stand and keep our eyes on Jesus and not be troubled. He says all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Nations shall rise against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. We see that happening as well. There is earthquakes. There is famines and pestilences. But he says nations shall rise against nation. And all these are the beginning of sorrows. I think too, to just interject here, Jesus said when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes. So we have all these things in place, supposedly, to keep peace. We have the United Nations. And, you know, so they're going to keep the peace in the Middle East. And we're going to keep everything stable here. We're not going to allow anything to blow up or get out of proportion. Peace. Peace and safety. We have our economy much better secured. It will never happen again what did in the 1930s with the great economic depression because we learned from that. We won't make that same mistake again. And so there is this false peace. They're saying peace and safety. Yet there is concerns about it. But yet there's also, you know, all of this governmental affairs and all of this propping things up and interjecting more cash into the system and we're going to keep this thing from crumbling. Well, but there's a God in heaven. And He has a timetable. And the end of the world is going to come. And there's going to be earthquakes. There's going to be wars. There's going to be famines. And there's going to be collapses. And God's going to bring all these nations there anyway just to drop in a bucket to our Lord God, the Almighty God. And He has a plan and He has a purpose. And His plan shall be fulfilled. I don't know where and I don't know exactly where we're at in the timetable, but I would believe this morning, brothers and sisters, most surely, it is nearer than when we first believed. And we need to lift up our heads for our redemption draws nigh When you see all these things come to pass, O Isaiah, be not troubled. It is the beginning of sorrows that will deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Great time of testing and trial, afflictions, and being put to death for the name of the Lord Jesus and being hated. And many shall be offended and they shall betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and deceive many. You see, when there is when there is a collapse and when nations are reduced, I believe that sets up the platform for the false prophet, the Antichrist, to arise and come with a promise of answers and deliverance. As long as nations and governments are strong and their own systems are working well, they don't want to trade it all. They don't want to give it up. But when things are broken and things are broken down and people are looking for answers and for help, then that sets the stage and the platform for the Antichrist. Now, I'm not saying that as of us, saith the Lord, but that's what I believe from reading Scripture and just from sharing together with other brothers and looking at what God says and what He says in His Word will come to pass. Many false prophets. And He says, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Because iniquity abounds, the love of many shall wax cold. Ah, but he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. Hallelujah. Many a saint has endured steadfastly unto the end and has the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ standing right there with them. Giving them abounding grace to stand fast and to endure unto the end. Cruel mockings and scourgings and imprisonments and death. Ah, but to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord. Jesus said, Fear not them which can kill the body, but have no more that they can do. Verse 14, He says, This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. So, brothers and sisters, we have a commission. We have a calling. We have a mandate from the King. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preached unto all nations. So, let us not become fearful. Let us not lose our way in the midst of a reeling and rocking and swaying world and economic crisis and wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes. But let us be about the King's business. Preaching the gospel unto all nations for a witness unto the nations. Oh yes, and there is those that will believe. There is those that will hear. And the word will fall on some good soil, and it will bring forth fruit. And we can read the end from the beginning where He says, they will be there out of all nations having their robes washed, made white in the blood of the Lamb. When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place, whoso readeth let him understand. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For there shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time. No, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. And we can certainly apply what we just read to the time of the siege of Jerusalem and how that there was great tribulation and how that they were fleeing, they were escaping out of Jerusalem. But I think it also has an application to us today that we also shall endure great tribulation. There shall also come perilous times upon us. And God in His wisdom, God in His grace and power, He will not allow those days of affliction and trial and testing to be such, to such an extent that all flesh would lose their way, all of His people. But rather He says, those days will be shortened and therefore we can see that there will be those that will be saved and for the elect's sake those days are shortened. And I don't know what all that means. I'm not sure how all that plays out. I'm sure that there was many a cry has gone up and is going up even today. Oh Lord Jesus, how long! And there are those that are suffering of imprisonment and mockings and trials and scourgings in many parts of the world today, even as we speak here this morning. And they're crying out, Lord Jesus, how long do you come and deliver us? We're in the midst of great trial and great tribulation. Again, He warns us concerning false Christ. If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ and false prophets and they shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Brothers and sisters, we, we must be rooted and grounded in the Word and by the truth of the Word of God and not be moved by lying signs and wonders. It says here, they shall show great signs and wonders. Now, is God able to work miracles and signs and wonders? Most certainly He is, and He does. But His miracles and His signs and His wonders are filled with the character and the person and the nature of God, and they agree with Scripture. There are many false Christs going out and there are many false signs. And it says here that there would be great signs and wonders that they would deceive the very elect if it were possible. So, we must be grounded and rooted in the Word of God and not be of those who are looking for experience or experience oriented in our walk with God and in our Christian experience. Hallelujah! The real joy of the Lord and having a relationship with Jesus Christ is an experience. And it's wonderful. It affects us in every way. All our heart, mind, soul and strength, we love God. We're not just puppets or unemotional beings or just, you know, tin soldiers, you know, and just puppets in God's hand. We have a joy and a feeling and a relationship, and we have experience with God. And we walk with God, and He talks with us, and we know Him, and it's wonderful. It's a glorious relationship. And He says, He's given gifts to the church, and there's gifts of miracles and of healings, and that ought to be so. But beware. Beware of the false prophets and false signs and wonders. He says, I have told you before, this is what will happen. Wherefore, if they say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chamber. Believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be. We quoted that verse earlier. It's going to be very clear. We will not miss it. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. And the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens and the earth shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. What a day that will be. No mistaking him. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of the trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree, when its branches yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise when ye see all these things, know that it is near even at the door. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things shall be fulfilled. Till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man. Know not his angels of heaven, but my Father only. I'm sorry, I feel like I'm sort of rushing over this, but it's so much here that I felt it needful to read the verses and let them settle into our hearts, but I will not be able to take time to expound upon them all. But I'd like us now to zero in and look upon some of these. Verse 36 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. When anybody puts a date and starts to predict dates, we can know that they don't know what they're saying. He says that no man knoweth the day or the hour, but his Father in heaven only. And now he goes on and he speaks to us some clear things here. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be as it was in the days of Noah. How was it? You know, they ran about as business as usual. It's just like we read in the beginning. They were not concerned about Noah and his message. That preacher of righteousness, preaching to his generation, building that ark. I mean, he had a message he was preaching. And he had a message he was living out. He believed God. He believed God so in his soul that he built an ark on dry ground. And all the world was mocking and scoffing. What is this man doing? But he was preaching. He was a preacher of righteousness, the Bible tells us. And he preached to his generation that God is going to destroy the world. He's going to destroy the earth. He's going to bring a flood upon the earth. I don't know what all he preached. It doesn't tell us all his sermons. But he was a preacher of righteousness. And I believe by that we can know that he was preaching the righteousness of God and calling men to repent. But they didn't repent. They went on in life like normal, eating and drinking and marrying and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. So lest we think, okay, first before Jesus comes there's going to have to be great tribulation, great pestilence and earthquakes. But my dear brother, my sister, there may be a measure of peace in one nation and there may be a great tribulation and earthquake in another. Right? And all these scriptures can be fulfilled at the same time. Earthquakes, famines and all of these things happening. In fact, there's great famines presently in some of the, like Ethiopia and some of these countries. And earthquakes where there was the earthquake which caused that great tsunami in the Indian Ocean. So these things are happening and we sit here and we say, well he's not coming yet because it says first there's going to be all these calamities coming upon the earth. But they are coming upon the earth and they are taking place. And at the same time, there is a people and a generation who like Noah, living in a false sense of security and don't know that the flood is about to come. And they just go about whole hum living it up, enjoying life and know not that the flood is about to come. And that silly preacher, what does he know? Everything is going on day by day as it always was and they scoff and they mock. They knew not till the flood came. They had the warnings, they had the testimony, they had the message of a righteous prophet but they didn't hear. Then shall two be in the field one shall be taken and the other left. Two women grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and the other left. This is sobering words. Having fellowship, company together, maybe going to church together, maybe going out witnessing together. One shall be taken and the other left. Going about daily, routine. Need to grind some wheat, make some bread, grinding at the mill, one taken the other left. I'd also like to turn over to Luke. Turn with me to Luke 17 as we look at Luke's account here. Luke 17 and verse 26. We have the parallel account here. It says as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the son of man. They ate, they drank, they married, were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot. See the Lord Jesus is giving them something they can grasp and they hold on. As it was in the days of Noah and as it was in the days of Lot. They ate, they drank, they planted, they built, they bought, they sold and the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed. In that day he which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house let him not come down to take it away and he that is in the field let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. She looked back. Whosoever therefore shall seek to save his life shall lose it. Whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed. The one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be in the field the one shall be taken and the other left. These are sobering words. Two people in a bed. The one taken the other left. I can't help but think. It says two men but two people in a bed. You know I'm not going to be taken to be with the Lord Jesus Christ because of the righteousness of my wife. We are one in marriage but we each have a soul that will be accountable before the Lord. And oh wife you won't be taken to be with the Lord Jesus because of your righteous husband. One shall be taken. Two in a bed. One taken and the other left. It's good to have good company. It's good to keep good company and good communication because evil communication corrupt good manners. I want to be around other Christians. I want to be around other people of God who can stir my heart to remembrance and exhort me in the Lord. I want that and I think that's good. I think we should be doing that. Exhorting one another. But you know unless we have oil in our lamp ourselves we can't then go get more oil. It's too late. So let us be wise and have oil in our lamps and in our vessels and our lamps trimmed and burning. So here we see very clearly it's business as usual. Just like in Lot's day. They didn't know. They were caught up like it says here. Walking after their own lust fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And they didn't know. They didn't know that when Lot left the city and went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. You know so will it be at the end of the world. That beautiful sunrise I was talking about. That beautiful green grass under my feet. That beautiful fresh air. All of the lovely air. All of the lovely creation. It is all going to burn up. It's all going to dissolve. My dear brother, my sister. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought we to be? I think for sake of time we'll go back there again to 2 Peter 3. There's more we could read about. The words of our Lord Jesus. But I wonder here this morning I should yet quote what Jesus said. He said watch therefore and pray. Watch and pray. Speech to my own heart deeply. Am I watching and expecting Jesus Christ return? Am I living in the light of His return? Am I living for the eternal things and the things that will endure? Keep your lamps trimmed and burning. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God. Wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. But hallelujah, it doesn't stop there for the child of God. Nevertheless, we according to His promise, we look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Glory to God! Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. It doesn't matter if I'm a member of Charity Christian Fellowship. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Every man that has his hope in Him, He purifies himself, even as He is pure. His conversation is holy. Not only the things that come out of His mouth, but His life is a holy conversation and godly. And it's a diligent life. I think one of the things that we face as a trial and a temptation and a snare of the devil in our age is distractions. And I preached a whole sermon on social networking and blogging, blessing or curse. But I believe one of the things of our age is distraction. Keep people occupied so they don't think about the coming of the Lord. Watch and pray. Be diligent that He may be found of Him in peace without spot and blameless. Pure religion is to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Let us be blameless. If I offend someone and they have blame toward me, rightly so, let us go and make it right. Let us humble ourselves and let us walk in holiness and in blamelessness both of those that are within and those that are without. Therefore, ye beloved, seeing ye know these things, beware lest ye, also being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But let us be blameless. So what? And, uh, and the man, uh, our brother pointed to a heater in the garage. He said, so you're saying you could, you could sit right in front of that heater, and, uh, you know, and allow that heat to just sear your body, and you would, you would just be in that way, you know, in that attitude of, so what? And again, he just said, so what? A few weeks later, he died in front of that heater. Something happened with, uh, something happened that he was burned, you know, burned to death by a heater accident there. So God is not mocked, brother, sister, friend. Life is serious, God is in heaven, and is your heart clear before the Lord. Through Jesus Christ, we can have our hearts cleansed and washed and redeemed, and, uh, I'm thankful that this week, this past week, a few souls got saved, and, uh, maybe it's, maybe it's your turn this morning. Maybe God is speaking to your heart. Maybe there's an issue between you and the Lord that is not clear. You know God has put His finger on something this morning. You know He has. I think we'll just have a moment of silence here, and if there's someone that would want to respond, get your heart cleared up. Do business with God while there's time, while it is yet called. So let's just spend a moment in silence, and if anyone wants to respond, just come up to the altar, kneel before the Lord, and do business with God. Okay. Amen. Alright. These two brethren, if you, uh, need someone to pray with you, just make your way to the, to the basement. If not, um, you can pray here, and just go back to your seat, if you so desire. Brother John, could you take time to pray with us? Someone willing to take some time? Paul? Okay, I'll open up for comments or word of testimony. A message here. Somebody get a mic to you up front here, there's one. Okay, Brother John. I was just thinking last night when we left the tent meetings, we're staying up at a house here on Meadow Valley Road, and we went through town there, and they were just done putting off the fireworks, and there was cars and people everywhere, bumper to bumper there, and we were sitting on the porch there, and talking a little bit, and cars were going by, and my brother and I were saying that you know, it takes a lot of money to put those fireworks up, and a couple years ago, they hardly had enough of money, but I was just thinking, it seems like well, we're going to do it, I mean, how bad does the economy have to get to we stop you know, blowing money away like that? And they still keep on with their festivals and carnivals, you know, and we're going to do it, as long as we can, just keep on. I was just thinking, if we as Christians could have a faith like that, when the whirlwinds come, and the storms, and the trials, and the storms of the enemy, that we could have a faith that we're going to just keep on, whatever happens, however much it costs, reputation, whatever, we're going to just keep on, and keep the fireworks of the Holy Spirit, and we're just going to keep on. Thank you. I was very blessed with the message this morning, and just hearing the clear warnings, I really do enjoy looking and studying these things of the end of the world, the time coming, first of all, because it's the time when Christ is coming back, and we shall evermore be with the Lord, and as I realize, too, about all the different things that there are that will happen, and so forth, and the deception that's possible, I realize that one of the, I was just reading through Revelations, too, so really this message this morning really meant a lot to me in hearing this, and realizing that if we keep our hearts attuned to Him, and loving Him, and ready and watching at all times for these things, but not trying to figure out how this is all going to take place, but if we are watching and studying the Scriptures and knowing what His will is for us today, as was so clearly pointed out in the message, how should we live our lives now, that there is no need for deception if we keep ourselves in that place, but otherwise, yes, we have great need of, there's great danger of being deceived, and I'm just blessed with the warning that we had this morning again, it's a great safety for us to always just stop and think, and wait a minute, what are we doing with our time? How are we spending our time? And I needed that this morning, I felt like I was so busy, and that it's time to just stop and ponder, yes, actually I should be more watchful for His return, so I'm very blessed this morning. Yes, I say amen to the message, it was very good to be here and to hear the warning that God has for us, according to His word, and what struck me already in time past and again this morning, in Luke 17, verse 31, it says, in that day, He's talking about the return of Christ, He which shall be upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away, and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife. Now, we have to realize that our experience is not going to be the same as Lot's wife was. So what is God telling us there? Lot's wife's heart was back in town, back in the city of Sodom. Her heart was there, that's why she looked back. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. If in the very second or minute that Christ comes back, we in our heart go back to remembering the things that are back there, oh, I need to take care of this yet, or I need to put this in place or that in place. Our heart is too fixed on our things. We're going to have to just allow the Lord to have our eyes on Him in such a way that when He does come back, we're going to see Him for all that He is, and we're going to forget about everything that we have. And if our eyes are not on Him in that way, our heart is going to think of things back there, and we're going to be turning back. So I just want to praise the Lord that He can do that, that He can fix our heart on Him that strongly that when His return comes, it could be in a time before His return, He comes for the whole world, but we could be in an accident, we could be in a situation that we die before He comes back for everybody else, but we could still have our eyes on Him that much that all the other things, we just forget about those things. I just thank God that He can do those things for us. Praise God. Up yours ahead. Sisters, go for it. Yes, I was blessed this morning with the opening and the whole service this morning. I just felt like when John Mark opened it up this morning for answers to prayers, so many things came to my mind, the way the Lord has provided for us over the last years financially and other needs for our family and spiritually and just such a blessing. I'm also encouraged by Aaron's message. I myself have been doing a lot of meditating on the book of Revelations recently. I've been listening to some messages on that by our brother Jerry Malhor and been encouraged and blessed by that and also it also brings kind of a sobriety just settles upon you when you read the reality or hear the reality of some of the things that we are facing in this world and where it's all heading, where it'll climax and you think of the world just laughing and mocking. I had to think of the cover I once read on a rock album. I'm not sure where it was or where I even happened to see that but there was a cover on a CD of a rock album, rock singing and there was a picture on there of a white horse in the clouds and there was a picture of the armies of the earth and there was a the wording on there said that something to the effect that we will shoot that white horse right or out of the sky and I just had to think about that this morning again and just how there's people out there that will laugh and mock in God's face but they will but God will not be mocked also had just a little comment on our dear brother Tim and his thing that happened this morning. I just spoke to him last evening as he was leaving the tent and just thanked him for his dedication to the leading a singing there this week and thanked him for just putting his heart into that and he just expressed how he was just so enjoying it and how he was just blessed to be a part of it and how last year he just couldn't really be a part of it because of little Austin and taking care of him and how he just felt so blessed to be a part of it this year and I just as when brother Mel shared this this morning I just felt like you know there's a spiritual battle going on and I feel like brother Tim took a hit and I think we just really need to lift him up in prayer and ask the Lord to just stay the enemy's hands.