chapter 24 and look at, I'll deal with verse number 32 through verse number 44. It's a part I will read. I may deal with more verses in the book of Matthew 24 and just pray the Lord will speak to our hearts and just help us and give us the grace that we need. We're a needy people tonight. Whether we realize it or not, we're a needy people. So I pray he'll speak to our hearts and just help us. I appreciate the good number out tonight. I mean, it's an encouragement. And I know we're not looking for numbers, but the more numbers you got, the more people you've got to hear, amen? So I pray the Lord will just do something for us. I tell you, it's a blessing to see that many, because there's a lot of places where they run four and 500 in church don't have this many on Wednesday night. I don't know whether y'all are familiar with that, but that happens a lot of times. And so I appreciate the faithfulness of your being here. And I pray the Lord will just help. Is it not working? Oh, you may have turned it up. I don't know. Is it not loud enough back there in the back? Well, I'll get a little louder then. We'll work it out. I may be talking a little soft, but it'll come through now, okay? I saw the motion and I didn't know what, maybe I wasn't on or something, but all right, okay. Anybody, anything before I read this scripture, okay? Matthew chapter number 24, verse number 32 through 44. Now learn a parable of the fig tree when his branches is yet tender and put forth leaves. You know that summer is nigh, so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. But at that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angel of heaven, but my Father's only. 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, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and you not until the flood came and took them away, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field, one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would have suffered, not suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an As you think not, the Son of Man cometh. Let's pray again. Father, pray you'd help us to get hold of some things that you want us to see tonight and help us in the days to come to be strengthened for these latter days we live in. Lord, we do need your touch here tonight. I pray you'd manifest yourself to some soul that has already been prayed. Give us ears to hear. Lord, we all need that, ears to hear. and Lord hearts to receive what you have for each person tonight. Plow the heart, make it good ground that would bring forth fruit. We'll thank you for it. Help us to have the words we need tonight. That's from above, not my words, but yours. And then Lord, I pray that you'd speak it to some heart tonight. Somebody get hold of it and then be encouraged and strengthened to keep on keeping on and bring them through Lord and fold them into the family of God. And we'll thank you for what you do. I love you tonight. I pray you'd help me love you more. Pray you'd speak to my heart. Make your presence real to us all. Bind us together, purge us, cleanse us, solidify and you could sort of stand in these days. Lord, I just pray that you'd just touch those that's been requested prayer for, spoken and unspoken. We lift them to you again, asking that you'd hear, you'd grant, you'd touch, you'd heal, you'd save, you'd, Lord, do that work that's needed and never hard. You'd comfort the families of those that, of the lost ones. those that are departed, and we'll thank you for what you do. But now tonight, help us to see Jesus, give us the words we need, help us to have the recall we need, and keep back anything that don't need to be said, but help us, Lord, to be sensitive to you, and we'll thank you. Help us tonight, and we'll praise you, for we ask it all in Jesus' name. For his sake we do pray, amen. You may be seated. I want to deal tonight, and I'll probably deal with two Wednesday nights on this subject because it's hard to get it all in one night, but I want to deal with instructions for the last days. Instructions for the last days. Now, I know that as far as the last days that the Lord spoke about in the book of Hebrews chapter 1, it talks about after the cross is the term known as the last days. And yet, when we use the phrase last days many times, we're talking about the last days of the last days. Some people refer only to this period of time as the day of grace, and then they talk about the last days of the day of grace. But Jesus said, in other words, through Hebrews, the God's Word said, the last days begins at the cross. Time pass, last days. And so we are in the last days of the last days, I really believe that. with all my heart. I'm made more aware of it as things begin to unfold time after time. I know as we read this, it's out of chapter 24, and chapter 24 of Matthew and chapter 25 of Matthew is known as the Olivet Discourse. The reason for that is because he was on the Mount of Olives whenever really four disciples came to him, and this time it's kind of unusual. We usually see three together, what's called the inner circle. And some people say, well, I didn't think you're supposed to show favoritism. And it looks like Jesus favored James and Peter and John, but that's not so. You realize they drew closer to it many times, but here we've got not only Andrew and not only Peter, James and John, but we've got Andrew, the fourth disciple that's with Jesus as he drew up away from Jerusalem up in the Mount of Olives. And the Bible said in verse three of Matthew 24, he said, and as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately. Now, it didn't tell us how many here, but in other places it said four. And they sang, tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the signs of the coming of the end of the world? Or in essence, the last days is what they're saying. Now, the same questions we have today, as we look around us today and see what's happening. We know there's a lot of things been fulfilled in the last 40 years. Amen. A lot of things. I mean, I read something, if you was born in 1944, which I just happened to be born in that year, they said you were born, in other words, anybody born before that time was born before TV ever came around. you know, and they had a long list of what we didn't have before 44, amen? Well, I want to tell you what, a lot of things we've got since 44 is not all that good in some ways, but there's a lot of things happening, you understand. A lot of things has happened in this world. I know we had World War II and that situation, and of course God miraculously intervened and America won, you might say. I know they was allied with England and some others, but America came out on top and became to be a superpower as a result of that. And then of course the Korean conflict, and I don't know what happened there exactly. I don't know what the outcome of that is. Didn't settle a whole lot, I don't think. And then the Vietnam conflict, that didn't settle nothing. That wasn't nothing but a political deal. But you know, the Berlin Wall came down a few years ago. I mean, I'm talking about in the last 20 years or so. I don't know exactly the year that is right now. And of course, I know Carter gave away the Panama Canal to our enemy. I mean, things don't look good in that sense. And then the Berlin Wall did come down, and so-called the communism fell. Well, I've got news for you. Communism's still alive, it's just in a different form. But then we had the Persian Gulf War. I don't know whether you remember one Wednesday night we came to church about the time they was fixing to go in or do something in the Persian Gulf War. And we put a radio back down to just four churches to see what was happening. And of course some people said, well that's Armageddon. No, it wasn't Armageddon, it wasn't time for Armageddon yet. if you had any knowledge of the Scripture you'd know what, but these things happen fastly I guess you could say. And now we've got the Iraq situation and I know Israel has gave away land to appease really the enemies. They gave away land that they should never have given away because God said that land belonged to her. And so as a result Hezbollah and all that stuff, I mean there's wars and rumors of wars is what Jesus said. Here in chapter number 24, he spoke of the fact that there would be wars and rumors of wars, but he said, don't worry about it. That's just the beginning of sorrows. Pestilences in divers places. Earthquakes in divers places. That's just the beginning of sorrows. The end's not yet. There's still some time, there's still some things that's got to be fulfilled. Now, all the way back, you can think about wars, and you know, we don't even know how many wars is going on right now. I mean, you don't even hear about those wars over in East Timor or whatever that is over there. If it hadn't been for our missionary, we wouldn't even have heard it. and I don't even know what transpired. Indonesia, didn't I hear something the last day or two about Thailand, something about Thailand or Thailand or whichever way you pronounce that. I just heard a little flash and just something about something they're trying to, I don't know what's going on. But I mean, it's wars and rumors of wars on every side. The people fighting all the time, civil wars. In Nigeria, they've had several wars in the last 20 years. But what all that, Jesus said, hey, you're gonna have wars and rumors of wars. But the end is not yet. That's just the beginning of sorrow. But there's some other things that's going to happen. So there's a lot of questions as we think about. A lot of things happening. The New Age movement, of course, has been running rapid in my life, I guess, since the 60s and gaining ground in a sense. And it's accelerating and leading our country towards a spiritual decline. towards moral collapse, it feels good, do it. This homosexual movement is something that's hard when they get on the national TV and talk openly about homosexual activity. Folks, I want to tell you, that's not natural. That's not God. Amen? God's not in that. And then, of course, we're facing some economic disasters. We've been through stock market downs and ups and whatnot. And we don't know what the future holds, in one sense. So some are suggesting, because of the way the signs of the times are going, that if you could put your ear to the ground, you could probably hear the four horses coming on the scene, if you please, of Revelation chapter 6, of what we call the apocalypse, if you please. They suggest it's time, and it is close. There's no doubt about that. Some says, you know, the antichrist is close to putting his feet in the stirrups of the white horse rider. Well, it's the white horse rider, and you can hear the jingle of the stirrups. It's getting that close. It really is, and that's not a scare tactic, but as a result of all this, many are wondering what they need to do to prepare for the days ahead. What do we need to do? Ask yourself that question in your spiritual condition, whatever you are, what do I need to do to prepare? Well, some would say, how do I protect my children if this thing opens up? What should I, where should I invest my money if I have any? Some would say that. Should I store up food? Should I hoard silver and gold? They're saying you need to get a hold of silver and gold. Should I purchase weapons and prepare to protect myself and my family? In other words, is there a safe place to flee for protection when things really get bad? I'm not talking about Y2K or even the bird flu that may come upon us. They're trying to control us right now with all these scare tactics and whatnot. that's upon us. But should I avoid purchasing a home or a car or other major items? What should I do? Well, let us look first at some general guidelines regarding the end of the age, if you please. See, the first thing about the general guidelines, we can hope We can have hope, and we need to have hope. I don't care where you're at tonight, you need hope. Now, you know, the darker the night, the brighter the light. Have you ever been out on a dark night? You can take a little old bitty light and it'll shine a long ways. Amen. And that light that you see at the end of the tunnel, I want to tell you, is not a freight train. Amen. There's times when I went through some things, I began to wonder if it wasn't a freight train coming in the tunnel. But that light at the end of the tunnel is not a freight train tonight. I'm talking about hope. Now, hope means to expect with desire, to expect something. Listen, God's Word is true. His promises are certain. You can bank on what He says and what He shows you. What I'm trying to say is we can have hope, and we need to have hope. Well, what about for the seekers? What do we need to do? And I'm talking about a seeker's one who's not saved, but he's seeking the Lord. And I know we have some who call themselves that. Some may be, and that's why I pray every week and every day, Lord, make our people true seekers. Sometimes we call ourselves seekers. We say we know we're lost, but yet we're not really seeking like we should. But what's the hope for a seeker tonight? Well, Philippians 1.6, he said, I'm talking about God's Word's truth. His promises are true. 1 Thessalonians 5.24, Hosea 6.3, it's on the wall, part of it is. He says there, He said, then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning, and he shall come upon us as the rain, as the latter, and form a rain unto the earth. Psalm 25.8, he said, good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way. In other words, the narrow way that leads to the straight gate, he'll teach you. And sinners are those who are not saved, is what he's talking about. Seekers, if you please, those who've turned from the broad way, he'll teach you in the way. Psalm 25.12, he said, what man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. If you've got a fear of God, I'm talking about respect and reverence of an almighty God. That's what we're talking about, the fear of God. 2 Peter 3, 9, he said, Hebrews 11, 6, he said, but without faith it's impossible to please God. He says, please him, for he that cometh to God must believe he is and that he's a rewarder of them, him that diligently seek him, them that diligently seek him. I'm talking about the promises of God. In John 6, 45, he said, He that cometh to me, and then he said in John 6, 37, He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. I'm talking about for the seeker tonight, there's some hope. There's some hope in the times we're facing. You listen to the news media and you'll get a bunch of lies, amen, about what it amounts to, but they still will put out stuff and let you give you this and give you that. Folks, we're nearing, time's running out, according to the Bible, not according to the news media, Time is running out somewhere as far as the life like we know it today. And so therefore, I believe Brother Doug prayed tonight something about time. We're gonna, don't know what we have. I can't remember exactly, but he's praying about what are we gonna do? We need to have some place and we'll, God'll provide. He's faithful and for the seeker, there's promises of God that you need to learn and reiterate them and let God quicken them to you and help you in these days. And so that his promises are certain. Then for the saints of God, the hope we have is called the blessed hope. The Bible said in Titus 2.13, which is right after he said he'll teach us some things, but he'll teach us looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He said he'll teach you to look for the blessed hope. That means the hope, the desire for our Lord to come and split the eastern sky and carry the saints home. So that hope is intended to be the ultimate anchor of the soul. Listen, we're not citizens here. Our citizenship is in another place and one of these days we're coming, there's going to be a plain old air ride, not an airplane ride, but a plain old air ride for all the saints of God to be caught up is what he's saying. So it's an ultimate anchor of the soul. So no matter how dark the night, no matter how difficult the problems, obstacles are, how powerful the enemy seems to be, in Christ we are truly victorious. In Christ. The Bible said in the book of Romans, chapter number 8, verse number 35, when he asked this question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Who shall do it? Can the devil do it? Can any man do it? Then he turns from the who's to what's. As he says, man, the devil and all the world cannot take these seven things that he mentions. And by the way, seven's a number of completions, so it's a representative list. He said, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Any of those things you're facing, is it going to separate you if you've been saved by the grace of God? Nay, in all these things, verse 37 said, we're more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded neither death nor life nor power nor principalities nor angels nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in and through Christ Jesus our Lord." He's talking to the saints of God. We've got a blessed hope. If you've been saved by the grace of God, there's a desire, an expectation with a desire for Him to come back again one day and take you home, not just to get out of this mess, But it's there, it's there because he said he'll teach you looking for that blessed hope. So in Christ we're truly victorious. So this promise is for the seekers, the saints, and I'm talking about the fact we need hope. We've got to have that hope today. We can have hope and we need that hope. But also we need to guard against overreacting to the changing trends of the day. Now, there's nothing wrong with a certain thing, but listen, the economy and our government and the general conditions of the nations, they change daily. I mean, every day you wake up, I mean, I know you, it's hard to know in the newspaper or the news media really what's going on. up on the hill as you'd say it today. But listen, but they change daily and they differ depending upon the source of information you're getting. If you're not careful, it's easy to get caught up in a conflict in claims and become an emotional yo-yo, up today and down tomorrow. mooring down the next day or whatever, you see. And therefore we need to live one day at a time with our equilibrium in balance because our confidence is in the Lord and in His Word, and in other words, not in the economy. What dictates how you feel? You get up, you look at the stock market, it's down. And some people say, oh, man, you got a bad day today. If it's up, they got a good day. Listen, our Lord is in control. And Malachi 3, 6 says, I am the Lord and I change not. He changes not. That means he's immutable. That means he's not changing. And so whether today, tomorrow, if the economy's up or the economy's down, Our Lord's the same. In fact, he said in Hebrews 13.8, he said, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. In other words, in our government, it changes every day. Our even preachers are changing from time to time. The Bible even mentions in the book of Proverbs, don't give yourself over to anybody who's given to change. Now we've run up on that in some situations, some ministers, and one time it says, this is the main thing, the next week, next year, next month, it's a different thing, next year or whatnot, given to change. It's all right to change if you're changing for right, from error to right, but oh, listen, when you just change from one thing to another like the barometer does, I'll tell you it's not good. And you see, but God doesn't do that. Psalm 119 verse 89, he said, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. In other words, when all is said and done, we really don't even know when the events of the 70th week of Daniel is really going to take place. We don't know when it's going to begin. I know we talk about some things, and by the way, the 70th week of Daniel is what we call for the end time of the last days of the last days. That's what the Bible terms in the book of Daniel about the 70th week. Most people call it the tribulation period, but that's not really accurate. It's not really what the Bible calls it. But there is that time when the Antichrist is going to rule and reign for a while, and then he'll set himself up as God in the temple. And so, you see, we don't know really when it's going to begin. We don't know when he's going to appear, and we don't know when the Lord is coming back. We don't know that, you see. We believe we're on the brink of end time events and so did Paul and so did Peter. Is that not right? You read the book of Peter, Paul's epistles and you read the book of Peter, you'll know that. I mean, that's 1,900 years ago and they thought, they believed in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they wrote like he's coming back in my lifetime. You say, well, I've heard it all my life. Preachers say, I believe the Lord's coming back in our lifetime. I think that's the way we ought to live, amen, the fact that he's coming back. But 1 Thessalonians 4, 15, he said this, he said, 1 Thessalonians 4, verse number 15, he said, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. And the word prevent is an old English word for proceed. We'll not be caught up before our loved ones who've gone on, and those who've died without the looking for the Lord to come, even though it didn't come, if they're saved, they sleep in the Lord, they'll be caught up together with the saints of God who'll be changed and caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So you see, we'll not perceive them, and that's the word for prevent. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse number 12 and 13, he said, Being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." We're looking. We've got an expectation for our Lord to come. That's the sense of God. That's the hope we've got. And yet all godly men through all the centuries past believed in the imminent return of our Lord. In fact, every generation of godly believers since the first century looked at their own age and saw its grievous sin and measured it against God's Word and believed that in the light of current conditions, the Lord's coming couldn't be for all. You look back in the other, well, they said this nation's just like Noah's day. They said that in the first century. They've said it all down through the dark ages and all the persecution was there and sin has been rampant all, and yet, you know as well as I do, it's more open today than it was 50 years ago. Amen. Some preachers today, if they could see what was going on, they'd turn over in their grave, amen, just to see how things have progressed. And I really believe it's escalated greatly in the last 50 years. It's really escalated with all the technology we so-called have And the speed that we have, not only with cars, but airplanes and whatnot. I mean, moments notice be here, there, and now you can see around the world. And everybody, you know, picture cameras and whatnot, and telephones now that take pictures. And, you know, anyway, I used to say, when I called somebody, aggravating them, I'd say, you're looking good today. And they'd say, you can't see me. But you know what, they're getting it to the point to where you can see one another if they got all their artillery right, you know? And so we're in that day already that's there, it's available. And who would have thought that? When we said that was joking, you see. Who would have thought Star Trek would have been, when they first come out with it, I never did pay much attention to it, don't know much about it, but some of the things they had on there has come to pass. Amen? I don't know what it's all of that, and I hope to God all of it, though. Amen? What little I did see of it, but some of it has come to pass in the technology. Now, did they just hit it or miss? I don't know. But still, the thing about it, we don't know exactly when these things are going to unfold. We don't know exactly. We can't say tomorrow, next week, next year, but we ought to look with anticipation and expectation, knowing the condition of the age in which we live, the world in which we live, that it's not long till our Lord is coming back again. In other words, but until really the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel and the Great Tribulation really, I'm talking about Bible term for Great Tribulation, commences, it'll be only then can that one generation of believers that's alive at that time know, in other words, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the end is at hand. when it does come. Amen? When He breaks that treaty with Israel. Well, He hasn't made it yet, but it's coming. And it could happen fast, very fast, in a short period of time. You see, therefore, our Lord gave us four warnings and instructions for the last days as He told these four and and he's telling us today four warnings. Now, and he's teaching on the parable of the fig tree. In verse number 32, he said, there he said in verse 32, he said of chapter 24, now learn a parable of the fig tree. In other words, a window through which to see truth. And so when his branches yet tender and put aforth leaves, you know that summer is nigh. So he said in teaching that parable of the fig tree, he indicated that there's going to be some specific, I'll get it out in a minute, specific events that's going to be associated with the 70th week of Daniel. And when they begin to come to pass, then that generation of believers living at that time will know that his return is near, it's so close. When they do, get to that point. Now, that fig tree, we've heard all of our years back years ago. I don't know whether y'all have or not. Some of you have. For years they preached, oh, the Lord's coming back because a fig tree, when it put forth its bud, look out, that generation's not going to pass away until it's all going to come to pass. And so they began to set some dates, beginning in 1948 when Israel, who was sometimes used in the scripture as an example of a fig tree, and Israel budded in 1948 when it became a nation again, they said in 42 years it's going to be over with. Y'all remember them preaching that? They preached all those in the 50s and the 60s and 70s especially. Well, I preached that because everybody else did. I thought that was the thing to do. I mean, it looked good. It looked good. Boy, I tell you what, the Lord's coming back in this generation, 42 years. And that would make it in 2000, the year 2000, the Lord would have to come back. And people began to try to set dates on that. And you realize they took the parable and didn't understand what he was talking about. He's not talking about Israel. He just said, you've got enough sense to know to look at. In fact, Luke chapter 20, I believe it's chapter 21, verse number 29, which is a synoptic gospel, write this down. He not only said the parable of the fig tree, but then he said in all the other trees. He said, you've got enough sense to know whenever I come home from Myrtle sometimes and these pear trees out here are blooming, and they're blooming usually when I come back from Myrtle in March. You know what? I know summer's now. I mean, I can look at the trees when they go to putting out the little twigs and the little leaves. Now, a fig tree, when it begins to bud, it knows it's summer's night. He's not trying to make some deep thing about Israel, because you see, we've already passed the year 2000, so they changed from 42 to 52 now. Some of them say it's 52 years, it's a generation, so we've still got four more years left and the Lord's coming back, you know. You run into all kind of those things. It has nothing to do with Israel. He's just saying, look out at the trees. All the trees, if you've got any gumption at all, if you're a farmer, you can be a city dude and you'll know spring is here upon us whenever those things begin to bud and bloom and blossom and flower or whatever. They do. You know summer's nigh. And you look back, in fact, today, look out at the, what are you saying now? You're looking at the trees, and you know winter is around, falls upon us, isn't it? I mean, there's a smell of fall in the air, isn't it? I mean, things are turning, the corn is ready to harvest, the beans are turning, the green, you say, boy, it's about time for old, what do you call it, old frost to come upon us, anyway. Jack Frost. Yeah, I can't keep up with all that. But Jack Frost is about up on us. And you remember, it hadn't been but just a few years ago on the 24th of September, we had a freeze that killed everything right here. I don't know whether you remember that or not, but it killed everything. And if you'd have been flashing beans, you'd have known it messed them up, messed them up. But it wasn't matured yet. So you hope you don't have a freeze. You hope you don't have a frost right now. But you know it's near. One of these days you're going to get up and it's going to be white out there on the grass. You just got enough sense to know and that's what Jesus is telling these for. He said you can read the signs of the time just by looking at the tree. You know summer now has nothing to do with Israel. He said just look at that and you can tell something there. In other words, when you see some things, some specifics that he told them about, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. He said, you know, when you see these things come to pass, then look up, lift up your head, verse 28, I think it said, Luke 21, for your redemption draweth nigh. It means the redemption of your body. You're going to be caught up to be with the Lord. Now, that's talking about believers going to know some things. In other words, what? Well, the Bible says, Well, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse number 5, he said, Ye are all the children of light and the children of day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. He's talking to the saints of God. He said you've got enough light, you've got enough understanding, you know some things, and you're children. The word children there is mature children. And now a little child may not know that spring's around the corner or summer's around the corner or fall's around the corner by looking at the trees, but those that's got any maturity and any knowledgeable sense about them. No, it's not long till Jack Frost is coming, amen, this fall. And in the springtime, you'll know when you go out, you may have a little more about the 1st of April, you begin to see those things begin to bloom out. They may get bitten by frost as things happen that way, but you know summer's just around the corner. Isn't that what you say? Haven't you said it year after year after year after year? He said, when you see these things come to pass, Then you gonna know who? The children of day. Those that saved by the grace of God's gonna know that. In other words, they'll not know the specific hour or the day. What did he say in our reading in Matthew 24 verse number 36? He said, but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. In fact, Jesus said while he walked upon the earth, he didn't even know that day. In other words, only the Father did know the day and the hour. So people who, if anybody ever sets the day or the hour that he's coming back, you can just mark it down, he's loop-de-loop, amen? He's something else, he's not right, he's wrong, because no man knows the day or the hour. But he said, he didn't say you're not gonna know the year, meaning you're not gonna know it when it's near right at the door, because you're not of the night, you're of the day, and you're gonna know some things. I'm talking about a general time period, you're gonna know. We're not of the night. In 1 Thessalonians 1, 5, 5, what did he say? You're all children of light and children of day. We're not of the night nor of the darkness. Now, he's talking about the unbelievers as of the darkness, children of darkness, folks. He's not talking about seekers here. Now, seekers fall in a class of people that's a little bit different than believers or unbelievers, okay? You say, what do you mean? Well, you realize something. You know a lot of preachers, if you heard them preach, they'll talk about a bunch of Billy Goats. Y'all heard, anybody ever heard anybody talk about Billy Goats in the church? Huh? Anybody ever heard anybody talk about Billy Goats? Miss Wilma, answer them out there. Amen. I got the answer, okay. She's heard about it. Anyway, but the thing about it is they talk about billy goats. Don't they? You've heard somebody about a bunch of goats. You get off sometime, preacher's meeting, they'll talk about a bunch of goats in their church. Folks, I don't like that. Amen. I don't want to call you goats. I believe like Jesus said, you're sheep, lost sheep of the house of Israel. another sheep of another foal that he has. Folks, there's something different about you when you come to a point and turn from the broadway to the merit way. You've got some light. You've got some understanding. You're not good for either world yet. You can't go back the other way, I hope and pray you can't, because if you do, it's bad. But you're not there yet, and you're just stranded in the middle. But I'm gonna tell you what, that's not a bad place to be as a seeker, because the Bible said in 1 Corinthians 2, 14, the natural man receiveth not the, nor not the things of God, the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness unto him. And another place it talks about, but he said that for only the things of the Spirit of God is spiritually discerned. Only God can give you the things about the Spirit of God. But when God begins to stir you, you're not natural anymore. When God awakens you, you're not natural anymore. There's conception taking place in your soul. You've got some light. You've got some understanding. You begin to look around and you begin to wonder if anybody's saved. Anybody ever do that? Begin to look around and wonder if anybody's saved out there. In other words, out there because God's given you some light. He's given you something so you've got some light and you're not really just the children of night. You may not be completely mature children of day as the believer, but oh, God's done something for you. He's giving you some understanding and He's going to help you along the way. He wants you to have even hope if you please. And so therefore, we see that the unbelievers now are just plain old lost. They're not even seeking God. They don't know they're the children of night and the children of the darkness He talked about. But you know what he said about Abraham before Abraham was ever saved? Hebrews 11.8, he said this, Hebrews 11.8, by faith Abraham, and this was probably 41 years before he was ever saved, when he was called to go out into a place which he should have to receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out not knowing whether he went. made a lot of mistakes, but he was what we would refer to as a seeker, moving toward the things of God, trying to obey God as best he could. And so therefore, in the Lord's teaching on Noah and the flood, he indicated the unsaved world would have no awareness of his coming until it was too late. But folks, if you're a seeker, there's some awareness of His coming. There's some things you've seen. You know that at this time, you know God's not gonna let this sinful world go on like it is. You know that already, amen? There's some things that God's already shown you, and you ought to thank God for that. You see, in Matthew 24, 37, and 38, in our text verse, he said, until the day that Noah entered the ark. You go back to Genesis 6, and they said that man did everything that he could think about, imaginable. He committed sin in that day. Folks, it's that way around us today. It's upon us today. And so, therefore, for the unsaved world, his coming will be as a thief in the night. Now, when he comes back, there'll be no seekers at that point in time. Amen? I believe you'll already have made a choice, either to turn back and go back to the entangled in the world, or you'll seek him, you'll drop those things, you'll lay it all aside and be saved before our Lord comes back. I don't believe there'll be a seeker at that point in time. So the unsaved world, those that's not saved when the Lord comes and splits the eastern sky, it's going to be as a thief in the night. Now, folks, we've been taught all of our life that he's coming as a thief. That means it's going to be a secret coming. That's not what the Bible teaches. This means a thief coming. In other words, you see, If you knew 1 Thessalonians 5, 2 and 3, look what it said. 2 Peter 3.10, he said, Therefore the unbelievers will be caught, in other words, totally off guard and unprepared. But it doesn't mean that they'll not know when he comes. See, a lot of people say, well, I know it says two in the bed, one will be taken and one left. But listen, when the Lord comes back with a shout, the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. If a thief come into your house with a trumpet and blowed it, the only way you wouldn't hear it if you had earplugs and you was under the pillow and had your head covered up, amen? I mean, everybody in the house is going to hear. I mean, the thief don't come in that way. I mean, he doesn't announce his coming, but the Lord announces his coming. He just means that the suddenness, unexpectedness, they wasn't prepared, and it slipped up on them. off guard, but they're gonna cry out. The Bible said in the book of Revelations, chapter number six, verse number 15 through 17, he said, and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and chief captains and mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said unto the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that setteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand? That's talking about when he comes back, every eye's gonna see him when he comes with clouds. Clouds associated with the rapture. Revelation 1-7 said every eye's gonna see him. Now, but yet, what it's talking about, it's symbolical that if you really knew when the thief was coming, you'd watch for him coming. But you see the unbeliever, the unbeliever, the one that's not saved, not the seeker, but the one that's not saved, the one that's lost and undone, he, where's the promise of his coming? I've heard that all my life. He's scoffed. And one day he's going to be caught unexpectedly. One generation of believers will know beyond all doubt that Christ's return is getting very close. In fact, it talked about every eye seeing him and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne. That was prophesied in Isaiah chapter 2 verse 19 through 21. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks. and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth, in that day a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. That's the rapture. Right after that, the day of the Lord. In other words, that generation of believers will be the only one know when he's coming. And they're to be ready. But the unsaved will have no awareness of his return. It'll slip upon them. Therefore, it will be sudden and unexpected. Now, his coming, there'll be a separation of the wheat and tares that he talked about. In other words, he illustrated it in Matthew chapter 24, verse number 40 and 41, when he said there, two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Those taken will be taken into the presence of the Lord. That's the rapture, that's the children of life. Those left behind will be left to experience the wrath of God on the earth during that day of the Lord as his wrath is poured out. And that's based on the truth Jesus had just taught in Matthew 24. And based on that, we can see that he gives four urgent warnings regarding preparation for his return. First thing we see is to be watchful. And I'm not going to deal with all these. I just want to sort of recap and come back and explain them. What's the instruction for the last day? What do we need? Whether seeker or whether saved, what you need to do is to be watchful. Did He not say in Matthew 24, 42, Watch therefore, for you know not what hour the Lord doth come. You don't know when it is, even if you're a seeker, you need to be aware of the fact that He is coming one day, and you need to be watchful. And watchful means that you're going to be active, you're going to work, you're going to, in other words, you're going to do some things at that time. And then also, you need to be faithful. you need to be faithful. That's why he gave the parable after this and I'll deal with that more later when he talked about the Lord of the household left his servants there to be faithful while he was gone and he didn't know when he was coming back. Some worked and some didn't. Some wasn't caring. What went on, folks? We got a lot of people today who are not faithful at their job. They're not faithful seeking the Lord. They're not faithful. What I'm saying, be faithful. That's the instruction. Be watchful. Be faithful. And then you need to be prepared. Be prepared. Be ready for Him to come at a moment's notice. Get things, your house in order. In other words, prepare to meet God, as we talked about the other night, and then you need to be fruitful. Be fruitful. Those four things are warnings, in essence, in view of Matthew 24, what the Lord told these four things. Be watchful, be faithful, be prepared, and be fruitful. That's what we need to do more than any other thing. Now that doesn't mean that we, what do we do about these other things? You just have to take one day at a time. There'll be time that we may need to store up food, amen? I don't think, I know 2000 year Y2K didn't come, but I tell you what, I believe we're gonna need the food we got stored. And the problem is we've let down our guard and gotten rid of some things. But hey, a big earthquake coming right through this country, if it wasn't, it could really devastate us. Two weeks of no electricity in the wintertime, there'd be a lot of people die in this place because they've got no alternative heat, amen? There's a lot of catastrophes. Did he not say earthquakes in divers' places? Did he not say wars and rumors of war? Thank God most of them's been on the other soil. years, I guess you could say, but as far as we're concerned, but folks, I'm going to tell you, we need to be prepared. We need to be watchful. We need to be faithful. We need to be prepared, and we need to be, what was the last one? We need to be fruitful, living for our Lord and ready for Him to come, because after all, if the Lord was to come back, would you want Him to come back? and see where you're going, places you're doing, what you're visiting and what you're viewing, what you're reading, all those things. Well, he does anyway, but we don't know that, do we? We want to be found faithful. Would we want to be found faithful? Faithful, that's what we need to be. That's the instruction for the last day. The Lord said, we don't know the day or the hour, but you're not of the night, you're of the day. And even if you're not saved, if God showed you some things tonight, he's shown you that you're a seeker in essence, you've been awakened, you've been stirred, you're of the day. You've got some understanding and you don't know the day or the hour, but we know whenever things begin to unfold, And it'll come. We don't have it all right. There's no way of having it all right. But I'll tell you, as they begin to unfold, it'll begin to fill up the peg holes in the scripture. And then we can say, there, oh, we're getting closer. We're getting closer. And that generation, when the Antichrist breaks that covenant with Israel, can say without a doubt, it's not long till our Lord comes. Then you'll have to go and hide. Then you'll have to do everything you can because you can't buy or sell. because of the Mark of Beasts. Folks, I want to tell you, we need to have instructions for the last days. May God help us to get ready. More than anything, be ready in our soul, ready to meet Him when He comes back. So it would not be a shame. May the Lord help us to do that. But I'm thankful that We've had enough understanding, enough God showing you some things, and yet I know that some may be sitting here tonight, as Amos said, there's coming a time when there'll be a famine of hearing of the Word. Now that could apply to two ways, and I think Brother Doug prayed about that, was talking about that in the prayer. There's not many places where truth is preached in practice, amen? That could be that famine. There wasn't there to hear, but there's also the famine of ears have been stopped up by the things of this world and programmed by all the gadgets and Nintendo and there's a Pac-Man and all that stuff and I'm way out of my line because I don't even know what's going on now, amen. But that got you so caught that you cannot even hear. Cannot even hear. Don't you have trouble telling your kids what to do? You gotta listen to what I'm saying, son. Listen to what I'm saying. Huh? And their mind is on vacation somewhere else in Timbuktu, amen. Huh? Hey, it's all of us. We got problems with that at times, haven't we? But it seems like we've got so much gadgets, it's got them captured. Famine of hearing of the word of God. The Lord said, if you got ears to hear, you ought to be thankful in so many words. If you let him hear, it's got ears to hear. And if you've got ears to hear, God's give you something. He's given you something that lets you know you're not of the night anymore. You've been awakened. Even if you're not saved, you're a seeker. So therefore, be watchful, be faithful, be prepared, and be fruitful. That's the instructions for the last days. May God help us. to walk in that light, and we'll try to instill more specifics about those four warnings that he gave. Father, I pray you'd just help us tonight. Speak to our hearts. Let no one quench your spirit. Thank you for light. Thank you for truth. Lord, I look back and realize all those years I was in darkness and didn't even know it. Thought I had understanding and didn't. didn't have a clue. Lord, I pray you to waken everybody in this place. I pray you to let them see their real need, let them see themselves and that their need for you is the righteousness of God. And I pray you draw them with your mighty hand, help them to hear from you, but help them to learn to understand of the Father and set their sights in seeking you and coming to you like Abraham did. Look for a city which has foundation whose builder and maker is God. Help those that are saved by the grace of God to just prepare and be ready as well, so we'll not be ashamed at your coming. Lord, we know it's not long. We know there's, I believe it'll be in our generation. I believe I'll see it. If I live to be of normal age, and yet we're getting closer, but if I don't, He's still, the Word is true. Lord, those things that we've tried to portray, I pray that someway, somehow, it'll not fall on deaf ears, but it'll prepare some people that'll help prepare the next generation. If you don't, if you tarry, you're coming. And I know you don't tarry, you're coming in one way. You got a time, you got a purpose, and whenever it's time, you'll come. Lord, it seems to be near, seems to be upon us, and we'll know when it's near right at the door, when these things begin to unfold, just as you told James and John and Peter and Andrew, when you see the signs in the sun and the moon and the star, lift up your head for your redemption, Dwarf. Now, your body's going to be glorified. It's going to be caught up in the rapture. Lord, help us today to get hold of these truths and walk in them. by being watchful, by being faithful, by being prepared, and being fruitful. We'll thank you for what you do, for we ask it in Jesus' name, for his sake we pray. Heads bowed, eyes closed, altars opened. Will you mind the Lord tonight as she plays?