In this sermon, the preacher discusses the impending judgment of God on America and the world. He emphasizes that God will strike the economy and take away people's livelihoods to get their attention. The preacher also mentions the signs of the end times, such as the sense of impending crisis and the belief among Jews that the Messiah is near. He urges Christians to be ready for the coming of Jesus and warns of a cry that will be heard when the mosque is blown up by militant Jews.

Christian in name only, Matthew 25, 25th chapter of Matthew, verse 13 verses, a very familiar passage of Scripture, I'll read to you, Matthew 25, 1 through 13, and all of our guests in the annex, guests in the annex, and our people there in the overflow rooms, God bless you, we trust the Word will find its place in your heart today. Beginning to read, Matthew 25, verses 1 through 13, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. When the bridegroom carried, they all slumbered and slept. At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom's coming, go you out to meet him. All those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, our lamps are gone out. The wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. When they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him, and the marriage, to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I send you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, when the Son of Man cometh. A Christian in name only. Heavenly Father, this is an evangelistic message to the Christian, and I pray, Lord Jesus, that you make this everything you want it to be. Lord, I'll not let up. I'm not, I will not soft peddle it. I'll not try to sugarcoat it. I'm going to preach it as you said it. Lord, there are people here that call themselves Christians are not going to heaven. They're going to be lost. It's that plain. It's that simple. And Lord Jesus, we're in a time that we can't play games in church. It's not a time just to be coddled. It's not a time just to be told you're okay. Lord, we have to measure ourselves by the Word of God. And I've come to you, and I've come to your Holy Word, and I ask you to put an unction on me. Now I may speak this with divine love. Lord, I know you love us. But Lord Jesus, you're also a God of justice. You're a God of holiness, a God of righteousness. And we can't put that aside. Lord Jesus, I pray that you speak to us about the coming of Christ, about the soon return of our Lord, and whether or not we are ready and prepared in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, I think it's a very tragic thing. Probably the worst thing I can think of is being an atheist. And yet, I believe even more tragic is to be a Christian in name only. More tragic than being an atheist. The sad truth, there are millions today that call themselves Christians, and if you ask them, they're convinced they're going to heaven, and they're not. Not at all. Even though they have the name. And when I pray and ask God in my prayer closet for Him to share His heart with me, and tell me what grieves Him so that I can preach it, and what blesses Him so I can preach it, I feel the greatest grief of God right now when I pray, is the grief over so many becoming foolish virgins. Those who were once wise, those who had been preparing, those who were diligent, somehow getting caught up with the spirit of this age, somehow allowing themselves to drift away from Jesus Christ, from faithfulness to the house of God, becoming Sunday morning Christians. And many that sit here right now, that's exactly what you become. You're a Sunday morning Christian. You don't come to any other service. You don't go to any other, whether it's this church or another church. In fact, it's quite a job for you to make it through Sunday morning. It's not just being a Sunday morning Christian. It's much more than that. That this foolish virgins is another term for a Christian in name only. You don't hear much preaching today about the coming of Jesus. Not at all. You preach, you hear mostly about coping with problems and a little bit of pop psychology. And I dare you to go to churches today and never hear a message anymore about getting ready for the coming of Jesus. That the coming of Christ could be right at the door. And we just don't hear that anymore because people, pastors would tell you, my congregation is so full of fear, there's so much turmoil in their families, there's so much difficulty, so much pain, that we just have to give the message how to cope, how to deal with it. And many Christians have to just be propped up just to get through the week, just to get through another day or through the week. But Jesus preached so much about his return. He warned over and over again about being ready to meet him when he comes. He told of a day when he's going to stand, he's going to come with a sound of a mighty trumpet and the whole world's going to see his appearing. Listen to the scripture. 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. The Bible said he's going to send his angels with the sound of a great trumpet. He's going to gather his people from the four corners of the earth. And he said in the twinkling of an eye, suddenly he's going to take them and they're going to be gone from the earth. Jesus cautions, but of that day and the hour, no man knoweth. No, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Now that doesn't say that Jesus doesn't know. I've heard that said. But Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The Father knows. And he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. He said, we are one. But he said, no angel knows, no man knows. Watch therefore, for you do not know the hour when your Lord is coming. Therefore, be ready also for such an hour as you think not the Son of Man is coming. He's speaking to his own disciples. He's not talking to heathen. He's talking about Christians or believers, those who love him, being ready for his coming. Now, there's a lot of confusion about the coming of Christ. There are many people, the majority of evangelicals, believe what they call the rapture, a sudden taking away that no prophecy has to be fulfilled. Jesus could come at any moment. He could come in the next five seconds. He can come tonight. He can come tomorrow. He can come any time at all. Many others believe that Christians will not be taken. Jesus won't come until halfway through what is called Jacob's Trouble or the Great Tribulation. It's supposed to be a seven-year period, according to prophecy. And many believe that he's coming in the middle of that, that there's going to be a lot of suffering, and there'll be a mark of the beast, and that many Christians will be lost during that time, and others will be saved. And the others teach that we will go through seven years of Great Tribulation, then Christ will come. And there's another school that teaches this, that Jesus will not come probably 30, 40,000 years from now until Christians overcome all evil in the earth, and we will subdue the earth and push out all evil, bring Jesus back as king. That's far-fetched. The Bible said, Woe to any man who say the Lord delays his coming. He said he's an evil man who says the Lord delays his coming. Now, folks, listen to me. I believe all of these doctrines miss the point, completely miss the point. I have readers, as I told you, we have about 800,000 right now on our mailing list all over the United States, and I get so many letters saying, Brother, we're asking you to take a stand. What do you believe? Do you believe in the rapture? Do you believe in Jesus coming? When do you believe Jesus is coming? Well, folks, I'm not going to get involved in this. Let me tell you what the point of Jesus is trying to make. He said, Be ye ready at any time. It's all about readiness. Folks, you see, if you're truly living in readiness and you're preparing for his coming, it doesn't matter what he comes tomorrow or a year from now or ten years from now, you are living in readiness, and being in readiness gives you joy and peace. You can't lose by being ready. You can be very lost by not being prepared. So, please don't write me about this. Now, Jesus commands that we're to be always in a state of readiness. Be ye ready. Watch. He said he's coming for those who are looking for his return, and then he warned against any suggestion that he would delay his coming. For the evil servant will say in his heart, my Lord is delaying his coming. Now, folks, I'm not speaking against those who say he's coming halfway through the tribulation or seven years. I don't think those who believe that have any attempt to deceive or say the Lord's delaying is coming. In fact, if you were in Afghanistan, if you were in North Korea today, if you were in parts of Russia and in Georgia, part of Russia or former Russia, and if you were in some of these Muslim countries, you would believe that you were in the tribulation right now. They are going through tribulation, and I personally believe with all my heart that there's going to be a lot of suffering. Usually, we Americans don't like to suffer. We like the prosperity. We like it easy, and we want to go to heaven in an easy manner. We don't want to suffer. We have not suffered, and we're not going to. I'm not going to suffer. I'm telling you, there's going to be a lot of suffering. I was in Russia recently, and when I was in Moscow, and there were pastors who'd been in prison for 18 years, their wives in jail for five years, seven years, and come through such suffering. You can see the marks on them, and when I warned and prophesied that they're going again, a Russia is going into a time of great persecution. All of these pastors have been in prison. They've only been free for nine years now. Only nine years of freedom, and every one of them confirmed it, said, we believe the same thing. We see it coming from the Russian Orthodox Church, now supported by the Communist Party to stop all evangelical ministries. Even in St. Petersburg, our attempt to rent the large ice hockey arena was hindered, and fortunately we were able to get the hockey arena in Moscow, but they all agreed it's right at the door again. Tremendous persecution and suffering, and when you talk to these people about being taken away without any suffering, they would say that's a lying thing, but we've already been through this stuff. I've been in jail for 18 years. I've been beaten, and I went hungry, and we were separated. There was tribulation of all kinds. You see, the point is, it is the Lord saying, be ready. You don't know. You really don't know when I'm coming. I'm going to come suddenly, but he said, you're to be ready at all times. You're to be ready today, at any moment, you'd be ready for his coming. Jesus warned what would happen to Christians who persuaded themselves in their own heart that he's delayed his coming. He said, you'll start drinking with the drunken. He said, you're going to beat your fellow servants. In other words, you're going to start gossiping, and you're going to have murderous tongues and hatred thoughts, because you see, you don't believe you're going to have to stand before the throne and give an answer. You say you have all this time. The Lord's delayed his coming, so eat and drink and be merry. He's not coming. I'm not going to have to answer. In the mid-1800s, here in the United States, there was a pastor, a preacher by the name of Miller, and he was a statistician and a very brilliant man, and in his calculations, he had charts. He went all through the scripture, and he decided that he knew the exact day when Jesus was coming, and through his charts and calculations, he announced. Now, he had quite a following, and they were called Millerites, and Pastor Miller announced to the United States that he was coming on a certain day. The whole country, the news picked it up. It was all over the nation. Jesus was coming on this certain day, and so I think it was in Kansas. I forget the state. The Millerites began to gather from all the United States. Now, I'll tell you, many of them sold everything they had. They gave up their houses and their lands. They started confessing their sins, and husbands became nice to their wives, and wives confessed everything to their husbands. Some of them had their last fling, because they said, I still have a week. That's true. A lot of Christians went out and had a fling, because they said, I believe I can repent. The Lord is merciful. I'll repent the day before, because he's coming tomorrow. He's not coming today. You begin to understand why Jesus said, I'm not going to tell you the time. You're not going to know. I want you to live expectantly, and so the day came, and they were singing something. They were dressed in robes and went up on a mountain. They were going to meet him on the mountain. Thousands of people gathered, and in other states, they, you know, because this is, I didn't get the whole, I read it once, but I forgot all the details, but you know the time changes around the world? When he says he's coming at midnight. Well, midnight in California, midnight in New York are three hours apart. Didn't take that into consideration, but they gathered. It was supposed to be before midnight. He was going to come, and so they're gathered on the mountain, and they waited, and they began to sing and shout just before midnight, because this was the last few moments, and he didn't come. Miller went back to his calculations and figured he'd made a mistake in one of the years, and he reset the date, and they gathered again. When did he come? He tried to reset it again. By this time, those who'd been fooled are now backslidden, many of them turned away, and the Millerites became a very small group of people still holding on to that truth. I think some of them may still remain, but you see, Jesus said, no man knows that day. Suppose the Lord had set a date, and he told his disciples, I'm going to tell you when I return, and he sets the date. Let's pick one, January 25th, 2085, midnight. I'm going to return 2085. Now, he said this at the beginning, that would have been zero, year zero, but in the year 2085 years from now, on a certain day, January 25th, I'm going to come. Be ready. How many generations would have gone to hell? How many generations would have said, I'd be dead and gone by then. He's not coming, I don't have to give an account. If I die, I've got to give an account, but I've got plenty of time. First pain I have in my belly, I'll repent. First time somebody says cancer, I'll repent. I have time. If Jesus had done that, even today, how many, how many in New York, how many in this church right now, would ease up and say, I don't want that, you know, he's not coming. This is the motivation Jesus gave us toward holiness. You say, well, love alone should be holiness. No, the Bible said we're bent on backsliding. We are bent, God's people are bent on backsliding. It takes everything the Holy Ghost has in his divine power to keep the saintly of us on fire for God. Now, to illustrate this call to readiness, Jesus gave us a parable, this parable of the ten virgins. The ten virgins represent the whole body of believers who call themselves by the name of Jesus. All of them were appointed to be ready, every one of them. Now, if you call yourself a Christian, if you say you're a lover of Christ, you love Jesus, you believe in Jesus Christ, then you're a virgin, according to the scripture, you're one of these ten virgins. That represents the whole body. Now, this parable is all about being prepared for the coming of Jesus, because the bridegroom here is Christ. The virgins are those who call themselves by his name. Jesus sums up the parable with this warning. After he's given us the parable in verse 13, then, watch therefore. Now, these are the words of Jesus, they're not mine. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour, the hour wherein the Son of Man comes. Now, see, the five wives took oil in their vessels with their lamps, and the foolish took none. They had just enough in the lamp itself, and it was burning, and it went out. But the wise virgins had oil with them. Now, I've heard many people say that oil represents the Holy Spirit. The Bible talks about the oil of gladness, the oil of anointing, there are a number of definitions of the oil. I have a problem with all of that, because the Bible doesn't say what the oil is, and these foolish were said, go buy the oil. We can't share ours, you go buy some. But who sells the Holy Ghost? I mean, come on, how do you buy the Holy Ghost? We're not talking about the Holy Spirit here, we're not talking about any other thing, but that which causes us to be ready, that force in us, this desire, this oil of preparation, it can be nothing else. The Lord, the whole thing, has to do with being prepared. Anything that motivates you to prepare for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the state of readiness. Now, the word foolish here in Greek means careless, heedless, and it also means blockhead. Get your Greek concordance and look at it. In the blockhead in the original, it means an unconcerned person whose mind has just gone lame. It's from a root word that means mystery or secret. They're secret believers. Nobody really knows. You can't tell by the way they live, you can't tell because they have no testimony, they never talk about Jesus, and yet they call themselves by his name. It's a mystery. They're Christians in name only. Could have been a time, years ago or sometime, that they made a confession, they said a sinner's prayer. In fact, at the beginning there may have been a time in their past life that this particular Christian, this kind of Christian, this brand of Christian, may have read the Bible occasionally, may have whispered prayer, and may be in a crisis, they even cried out to God. But over the years there's been a drifting away, they don't think about him, they don't talk about him. They go to church, they're sweet people, they're loving people, they'll do anything for you, and if you ask them, are you going to heaven? Yes, I'm going to heaven. Are you a Christian? Yes, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer. But it's in name only, because they have no passion for Christ, they spend no time with him, they're not seekers after him, they're still virgins, but the Bible said they're foolish, and they're in real danger if they don't soon recognize how vulnerable they are because they're totally unprepared to meet Jesus when he comes. In Isaiah, don't turn to it, but in the third chapter of Isaiah, there's an account of awful judgments that fell on Israel because of their sin. The Bible makes it very, very clear that they were provoking the eyes of his glory. They declared their sins as Sodom did. Folks, isn't that what America's become right now? We're sinning just as Sodom did? We have become a sinful, ungodly nation where anything goes. Folks, I was reading a paper yesterday, and some of the people who used to be performers on MTV said this is the worst filth that the nation has ever had spewed upon it. These are those who were once in it, and they said, we can't even handle it. Those who just five years ago were on the cutting edge of immorality are saying, hey, this is too far, we've stepped too far now. We have stepped over the line, brother, sister, we have totally stepped over the line. And I don't even know what goes on because we don't have TV in our home, but I do a lot of reading and it appears to me, it sounds to me like we have come to the very abyss, to the very brink of the abyss of hell. And this is what happened in Israel, a time just like this. And the Lord said, I'm going to strike the economy. And he said, I'm going to take away the whole supply of bread. That means their livelihood. He said, it seems to me the only way I'm going to get the attention of these people is to hit their pocketbook. Folks, it's the only way God's going to get the whole of America. It's the only way God's going to get attention of this mad nation. It's the only way I'm going to get attention to Wall Street. God says, I'm going to cut off your supply of bread. I'm going to affect your livelihood. Those who are going to build this 52 story building on top of us because we don't have the air rights. They canceled that primarily now because of the economy, mostly because we prayed with the economy also. But you see, in that day, when you get to chapter four and chapter four is a continuation of chapter three, this is what you read. And in that day, when God begins to judge, in that day of immorality, seven women shall take hold of one man saying, we will eat our own bread, we'll wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name. Take away our reproach. This is an amazing thing, because this man is Jesus. I believe Isaiah is talking about Jesus in that day, in a time of turmoil, they're going to be people, they're going to be a certain kind of Christian who are going to try to have a marriage of convenience with Christ. A marriage of convenience. There's no love, no courtship mentions, not a word of forsaking all others, not one word about faithfulness, not a mention of the marriage bed, no talk about engagement, no talk about intimacy. They don't want this husband, seven women, what one man said, it represents the things of God, the perfection of God, things that are spiritual. These are people who appear spiritual or claim to be a part of the kingdom of God and they're saying, no, we will provide for ourselves, we will make our own living, we'll do our own thing, we just want your name. To take away our reproach, so we'll appear good before man. You see, this is the arrangement that many, this is the Christian in name only. They don't want the commitment, they don't have intimacy with Christ, there's no talk about the marriage bed, there's no talk about total commitment to Jesus Christ. There's no talk here at all about love, devotion, commitment. We'll do our own thing, just let us be called by your name. And we are seeing that prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes today. Our churches in America and around the world are filled with millions of so-called Christians who have no intimacy with Jesus Christ. They called themselves by their name, they somehow attached their name to him, they did it on their own because Jesus will have no part of this kind of arrangement. He might have it, but some have taken his name and said, I am married to Christ. Ask them the last time they spent 15 minutes in his presence loving him. Ask them the last time they picked up this Bible just to find out who Jesus is and even read one chapter. Here are people that God has blessed, here are people that God has touched, he's kept them, he's given them health and strength, he's given them children that love them, or young people even that God has blessed and kept and protected. And they can't even lay down at night and say, thank you Jesus. Listen to the heart cry of a true Christian, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in God. He that hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he's covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and a bride adorns herself with her jewels. That means that the bride, the true Christian, his heart goes out, or her heart goes out constantly to Jesus. There's a longing, there's a yearning, there's a cry, Lord, put your robe of righteousness on me, I'm dependent on you. But you see, the Christian in Amoli really doesn't want to depend wholly on Jesus. There's not dependence, it's I can do it on my own. I'll go my own way, do my own thing, and when I die, I'm going to change, everything will be different. This all happens, the scripture says, in that day, that's in the day when the Lord shakes the earth, when the child behaves himself arrogantly against the elderly. And when the wicked rise up against the righteous, when God's judgments are upon the land. And in that day, there'll be many Christians who claim to be married to Christ and claim his name and talk about his name. And Jesus will have no part of it and they are truly not his, the scripture says. The wise virgin cries out, O Lord, we wait for you. The desire of our soul is to your name and to the remembrance of you. Our soul desires thee in the night time. Yea, in my spirit within me, I seek thee early. I get up every day and my heart goes to you, Jesus. I yearn after you. That's the true Christian. The true Christian cries out, my beloved is mine and I am his. And the Bible says, when the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. This tells me we're living in the fulfillment of that prophecy right now. They all slumbered and slept. Would you please go with me to Mark? Turn right into Mark, the 13th chapter. Are you still with me? I've asked the Holy Spirit to help me preach this with the love of God. I'm not mad at anybody. But beloved, if I'm a true pastor, I've been on my knees with God and he's speaking to my heart. If you have any love for Jesus, if there's the smallest desire for Christ, you've got to hear what he says. You've got to take it to heart. You can't sit in your seat and say, this is for somebody else. You're going to say, Lord, if you're a genuine person, if you really have heart for God, otherwise you'd be an atheist. But you sit here and say, I want to know him better. I don't want to be left out when Jesus comes. Then I would say, you've got to hear. I'm not hitting you. I'm not railing at you. I'm telling you a verse and he still loves you and his great desire is to draw you. And what he'll do, he'll send arrows of conviction in your heart. He'll speak the truth to wake you up. That's why I'm trying to preach this quiet. For me, this is quiet. All right. Mark 13, verse 35 and 36. Watch you therefore. Here it is again. You know not when the master of the hour cometh, even or at midnight or at the clock crowing or in the morning. Lest coming suddenly, he what? Finds you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all. Watch. Watch. Even the wise were sleeping. Now folks, when I was preparing this message, that stuck in my throat. I said, Lord, how can wise people who have been preparing have extra oil? How can they go to sleep? I follow one scripture from Song of Solomon said the bride says, I sleep, but my heart was awake. I said, well, that may be it. Maybe, maybe the wives were just kind of nodding and their heart was wide awake. And that didn't satisfy me. So I called a doctor friend of mine who knows a lot about sleep from the clinic. And I said, doctor, I'm preparing a sermon about the virgins. And I'm stuck on this idea of the righteous or the wise virgin sleeping. I have a hard time with that. And I said, I heard that there are various stages of sleep. And he said, actually, there are four, brother Dave. He said, first of all is REM, R-E-M. And that means rapid eye movement. And that's the dream stage. And then he said there's the moderate stage where you, you know, you're not dreaming right now. And you come out of moderate into that every 20 minutes. He said 80 minutes, usually you're in stage two. He went all through this to the stage four. To the extreme and the deep sleep and all of that. Because the Bible does talk about deep sleep. The Lord put them into a deep sleep. And I said, that's it? The foolish virgins are in this stage four. Deep sleep. I got it all figured out and I was going to come here this morning and tell you that you wise, all of us as wise virgins, we're in stage one rapid eye motion. We're in REM. And our hearts are wide awake. And the Lord said, away with all your technicalities. Sleep is sleep. I had to blow it all away. All those hours of research down the drain. The truth is, Jesus prophesied in the last days there's going to be a great falling away. And I'll tell you, why would Paul the Apostle admonish brethren? Holy brethren, he called them. In the same chapter, to wake out of sleep for now your salvation is much closer when you first believed. Go to Ephesians, go further right, will you please, to Ephesians. Ephesians, the fifth chapter. There are a few people here saying, when will he ever finish this? Look, Ephesians, the fifth chapter, verses 14. Wait, yeah, Ephesians fifth chapter. I'm sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ephesians 5, 14. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Now look at chapter 5, verse 1. Who's he talking to? Be ye therefore, what? Followers of God as dear children. He's talking about those who are walking in love. Read it again, verse 14. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest. He's talking to the beloved. And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools or foolish virgins, but as wise, wise virgins. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wake up, saints. Wake up, Christians, is what he's saying. And he finishes, 2 Thessalonians 5, 6 and 7. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober for they that sleep, sleep in the night. What he's saying, listen closely. What he's saying, when just prior to his coming. Now this is very important, I want you to hear it. This suggests to me that just before Christ comes, there's going to be a great sleep. And slothfulness and slumber come upon many Christians. Many, many believers are going to be tested by this. I believe with everything in my heart. When I ask God to show me his grief. That I could preach what is on his heart and his mind. I begin to think, Lord, why would you want to bring to heaven a couch potato. Who spends all his time in front of TV watching sports, you know, 5, 6 hours. Has never had a moment for Jesus. Why would you want to bring into glory, to be with you a Christian in name only. Who really has been ashamed of you. Why would he want them in heaven? Because they're bored now. Why would he take them to heaven and be bored for eternity? Why would God want somebody with him? Why would he want you? He said, because, you know, 15 years ago I said, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a sinner. God forgive my sins. The Bible said, even the devil believes and trembles. You're not even trembling. Why would God want with him for eternity? Those who have no time for him now. He said, well, it's different. When I die, I'm suddenly going to change. I'll suddenly want him. How do you stand at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ when he comes and you stand there? And he says, give him a count of your time. And he's recorded everything that you've said, everything that you've done. And he can't find in the records even thoughts of him. Christian in name only. You say, well, God loves me. Yes, he does. He loves you. There are going to be many, many people lost even though God loved them. Because he's a God of justice. He's a God of holiness. He's a God of righteousness. Nobody believes he loves sinners more than I do. But even though he turned to Israel when Balaam mocked and said, I see no fault. Those are the same people who all died in the wilderness. They died in the wilderness. Because it was in name only. Their hearts had never been changed. God still loved them. You know what I hear in my heart? The Lord speaking. Not only do they neglect me. Not only are they not in love with me. Not only do they have no passion for me. No intimacy. But they don't even think about me. Now I've got a loving word for the wise virgins also. Before I close today. Those who have begun to slumber. This is what I believe is the grief of God. There's so many wise servants are becoming foolish virgins. They are turning away. They were in this category. And now they're moving into this category. And God grieves over those he loves so much. This has been burning in my spirit. The prophets wept on the backsliding preachers of his time. And Isaiah cried out. The watchmen have become blind. They're sleeping now. They're lying down. They're loving to slumber. And I have a message. And I want every Christian here. Every one of you said, well brother, I don't fit that category. I'm not a foolish virgin. I have a love in my heart for Jesus. I read my Bible. I'm faithful. I have a heart for God. I have a passion for the Lord. Here's what the scripture says. Proverbs 19, 15. Slothfulness cast into a deep sleep. Slothfulness means beginning to allow things that you've never allowed before in your life. Sloth is backing away from that zeal for God's house you once had. It is just a drift. It's a beginning to drift, little by little. Just little by little. First, it's missing the time of prayer. It ends up being a Sunday morning Christian. All Christians in Amalia are Sunday morning Christians. Now, many of you can't make any other service. I understand that. And it's not just church attendance. As I've said many times, going to church doesn't make you... Going into a barn doesn't make you a horse. And going to church doesn't make you a Christian. You have to have an experience to understand that. But this has really been burning in my heart. When there's a sluggishness. The Bible says, you become sluggish about my ways. And you begin to drift. That will cast you into a deep sleep. It will drive you into a sleep. Little here and a little there. The Bible says that the Christian in Amalia is going to be left out of the kingdom of God on that day. At midnight, there was a crime made. I'm going to tell you, in spite of dead churches. In spite of sleeping pastors and shepherds all over the world. In spite of the falling away. In spite of all the noise and din of false prophets saying, peace, peace. And trying to get people to just settle down in a love trap. In spite of all of that, God is going to have his servants crying out. It's midnight. Behold, the bridegroom is coming. God is going to have his servants that are warning that Jesus is coming. He's going to have that cry. It's going to be made. No matter what happens, there will be servants. There will be those. I am saying that now. I'm one of those voices here this morning in this church. And this message goes out tape by tape all over the world. By video and also by audio. And I am proclaiming right now the message. It's midnight. And behold, the bridegroom is coming. That's the cry of this hour. That's the cry from this pulpit. Be ye ready. Are you ready? Are you ready to stand before Jesus? Thank God for that little voice. But the Bible said there's another cry going to be made. Not only is it a cry that he's coming, but there's another cry. And it's going to happen, the Bible said, when men's hearts begin to fail them for fear. And looking after those things which are coming on the earth. When the powers of heaven shall be shaken. It's a cry that's going to be heard the day that the mosque is blown up by militant Jews. Who are going to sneak, I believe, right under in those taverns beneath the Muslim temple on the mount. And they're going to blow it up. You're going to know then that the Bible says very clearly that there is a moment of time. There's little time left when you begin to see that happen. And when intuitively everybody knows that America and the world is in critical mass. In that moment when everything in society is being shaken. In that moment when Jews all over the earth say, our Messiah is right at the door. In that moment when there is something in every one of us. Some of us know it now. There's a sense, there's an inner knowing, there's an intuitiveness in people right now. That something supernatural is going to have to be. There has to be intervention supernaturally. Something has to happen. This can't go on. And when we're getting so close that day. And when that cry comes. You see, there will be this cry, our lamps are gone out. They don't have the resources to face what is coming. Their hearts, Jesus said, will fail them for fear. And they're going to run to Christians. They're going to run to pastors and say, what do I do? What do I do? And you see, the whole thing is, now I know it says, go buy oil from those who sell it. I think the whole thing is the Lord saying, there's just not going to be time. It's just as simple as that. There's not going to be time to build your Christian character. There's not going to be time to build up spiritual resources. You're not going to have the time. Our lamps are gone out. We're empty, we're dry. We've wasted our life, we've wasted our time. And now the coming of the Lord draws nigh. And I'm not ready, I'm not prepared. And you say, if you have it in your mind today, that when Jesus comes or you die, suddenly, either death or the coming of Jesus by His angels to take you home, however it may be, you say, at that moment I'll change. Death is going to change me. Suddenly I'll have a heart for Jesus. Suddenly I'll be talking about Him. Suddenly I'll be praising Him. No, no, no. Death doesn't change anything. You're going to be known as you are known now. The same character you have now, you'll have when you stand before Jesus. Nothing's going to change. You're going to stand before Him still a couch potato. You're going to stand before Him just as you are in your sins and wickedness. Nothing's going to change. I said with tears, brokenness, because I have to stand before God. The Bible says an answer. The Bible says, while they were gone, the bridegroom came and the door was shut. Then they came knocking and said, Lord, Lord, let us in. And Jesus opens the door and says, I don't even know you. You've lived for 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, 70 years, 80 years. I didn't know you. You never even tried to know me. We're strangers. And the door's shut. Now, take that for what you mean. I know there are many people who say, well, that doesn't say they're going to hell. Folks, the Bible said the door's shut. To me, that's frightening. To me, what else can you say? The door's shut. Jesus shut the door in your face. And how hard that must be for the Savior. Because He's just a holy God. You were warned time and time and time again. I've got some good news. You ready? The door's still open. Three minutes. Let me tell you what to do. If you're an honest person, say, that's me, brother. You're describing my life. My first thing you do, number one. First step toward becoming a wise virgin. Start thinking about Jesus. Let Him be in your thoughts. Whatsoever things are honest, just, pure, holy, that's Christ. Just, pure, and holy. Think on this. Four, five, six times a day, as often as you can. When you get up in the morning. Just say it. Jesus. All through the day. Jesus. Mention His name. Think upon Him. Put your thoughts upon Him, the Scripture says. And number two. I'm going to give you a prayer that a man prayed in the New Testament. A man who was this very kind of person. A man who was, he could hardly lift up his eyes. And all he said is, Jesus. And this is the prayer I'm going to ask you to pray. Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus said, that's the man who's going to go to his house justified. This is the man that the door will open to. This man who says, Jesus. Now, folks, you don't have to learn how to pray. You don't have to pray in public. You've got to have this privately before the Lord. And, folks, if you'll start praying this privately. And say it over and over again. Say it 20 times a day if you must. Say it when you get up. Lord, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. What that does is say, I'm not what I thought of. I thought I was pretty good. Your goodness is going to get you nothing. Your Bible said, your goodness is filthy rags in His sight. That won't happen. You say, I am a sinner. That humbles you before the Lord. I'm a sinner. I need your grace. I need your mercy. I can be saved not by my good works, only by your mercy. Hallelujah. Jesus, have mercy on me. I am a sinner. And let that be known in you. That humbles you. And that takes the pride out of your heart. I'm a sinner. And then you can say, saved by grace. A sinner saved by mercy. By the mercy of God. Can I tell you something? If a door is closed on you, it won't be my fault. It won't be your wife or husband's fault. This is something that you have to answer. I'm going to ask you one last time in closing. If Jesus were to come this day, then this is not just to provoke fear in you. It's an honest question. Could you look in his loving eyes and say, I've been a wise virgin. I've prepared for this moment. I didn't drift away from you, Jesus. I've loved you. That doesn't merit. The only merit you get is through his blood, through his faith and finished work of the cross. But you're also saved by promise. Promise. He promised you. You seek with all your heart, the soul of my name. You'll find me. And you'll find the door open. Will you stand? I'll give you another scripture. Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before my father in heaven. But if you confess me before men, I'll confess you before my father in heaven. I'm going to open this. We call this the altar area. There's no altar here. It's just a piece of wood. We've got a little space up here. But I want you to make a public confession. If you can say honestly in your heart, Brother David, the word of God by the Holy Spirit touched me. I am one of those. Now, this is a bold invitation. That's who I am. I've been a Christian in name only, and I don't want to be that. I've been foolish. And I want Jesus to touch my life. Now, I know some of you will find it hard to step out. But if only 20, 30, only 10 were to come, I would have done what the Holy Ghost told me to do. Up in the balcony, you can go to the sides. I would tell you, in the annex also. This is so important. I want you in the annex to go back into the lobby. The usher showed them how to get down here. And you come through the stairs into this building and walk down the aisle and meet me here. I'd like to pray with you also. You can come. They're going to sing a chorus, not to create a mood for you, but simply to give us time for those that are coming. And I'd like to advise you a little here at the altar and pray with you and believe God to change your life. Folks, it's time to get serious with God. It's time to get serious. Some of you have been coming here for quite a while. You still haven't really haven't crossed that line of commitment. The Lord wants you to commit yourself and say today is the day. Husbands and wives, come on, take her by the hand, sir. Walk down this aisle and let's believe the Lord. Coming down here in itself doesn't save you, but it's a beginning. All right. You can still come while I'm talking. Those that are any others coming, put them down this aisle. That aisle is pretty close. Bring down this other aisle, if you will, please. Let me read to you from Psalms 86. Lord, you are a God full of compassion. You're gracious, long suffering, plenteous in mercy and truth. Oh, turn unto me, God. Have mercy upon me. Give your strength to your servant and save the son of your handmaid. And show me a token for good that they which hate me will see it and be ashamed. Because you, Lord, have helped me and you, Lord, have comforted me. He said, give me a token of good that my enemies will see it. Those that hate me. That's the devil and all the powers of hell that hate you. And you pray, Lord, show me a token of good. Show me your mercy. It's just that mercy and that's a touch of God in your life. Now, some of you that didn't step out. I'm asking you in the annex and upstairs, downstairs, wherever you are. You can pray this prayer in your seat right where you're at. And folks, I'm coming more and more convinced that this prayer means absolutely nothing. It's just a bunch of air unless it comes from the heart and there's a commitment behind it that says, I've heard the word, the word's dug into my heart and I want to obey God. There has to be something more than just saying this prayer is going to save me. It has to be so much more than that. There has to be conviction of the Holy Ghost in you. There has to be saying, I'm sick of living half-heartedly. There's something that has to cry out in you, Lord, send the Holy Ghost and give me power and anointing to live for you. If that's where you're at. If you can say right now, I accept the word of the living God. I'm convicted. And I want to go further than I've ever been. I want to know Jesus like I've never known him. And I want to give my time to him. If that's in your heart right now, the Lord's going to hear your cry. He's going to hear the prayer. I want every one of you to pray this prayer with me right now. Then I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to believe the Lord. Don't pray it unless it's from the inner part of your being until it's from the depths of your gut and in your heart. Pray it right out loud. Jesus, I am a sinner. Have mercy on me. Forgive me and cleanse me. Oh, Jesus, I turn to you with all my heart. Not half-heartedly. Not the way it's been. I want to change. I want to serve you with all that is in me. I need your help. I need the Holy Ghost. Now, Jesus, this very hour, I commit myself to follow you completely, honestly. Give me courage. Draw me nearer to yourself. Put a love in you, my heart, for your word. I believe you, Jesus, to go deep in my soul. Cleanse me. Pull out the sin and give me a heart after you. Now, let me pray for you. Heavenly Father, you heard the cry. Holy Spirit, you're the only one who knows the depth and reality of what you heard. But, oh God, you said, He that's begun a good work and you shall finish it. He shall complete it. God, finish the good work. This is just the beginning. Lord Jesus, don't let us lose the conviction that you have placed in our heart today. You promised me that if I would obey and preach this word, that you would drive into the hearts of people loving arrows, arrows of love and conviction and say today, cross the line, make your commitment and I'll help you honor it. I'll give you the power and the strength to honor your commitment. Just make it by faith and I'll carry you through. Now, Father, I thank you. You're faithful to your word. What great love you have for us. Lord, you love the wise and you love the foolish. But you've made a promise. The day you seek me with all your heart, you'll find me. Lord, thank you for that open door. Let not one person hearing me today that has turned to you ever have that door shut. Thank you, Father. I want you to raise your hands and give God thanks. Let's just give Him thanks.