Praise the Lord, it's good to see familiar faces out there. I'm glad you've all been faithful over the years. Can you hear me okay now? Good to see some old friends, faithful members, and glad to see you're still sticking by the stuff. Now, there was a little brief break between Sunday school and morning service, and I wanted to talk to everybody, but a whole bunch of folks kind of came around and couldn't possibly talk to everybody, other than a smile and a brief handshake. If I didn't get a chance to talk to you, please try to stick around for a few minutes after the service and we can fellowship a little bit. It's so good to see Brother Ralston. Amen. Sister Faye. Amen. Yeah. Yeah. I see Sister Evera. I see a lot of folks that have been faithful members for a long time. And Brother Emerson, Brother Emerson calls me up once in a while, gives me a report. So I'm really good to see a lot of old timers and some new timers too. Amen. Making some new friends. That's good. It's hard to stay healthy. You got to keep getting people saved, bringing people in. Amen. Yeah, that's what it's all about. We're doing fine. As you know, we were supposed to preach last year, but well, we were interrupted, hindered, but the Lord allowed that for a reason, I believe. Sometimes, like the old song says, we'll understand it better by and by. And then we scheduled for just a few weeks ago, the Sunday after Labor Day. Then my wife and I and her mom got COVID. I was kind of expecting to get it. It's like a sword hanging over my head. I wonder when I'm going to get COVID, you know? People I know call me up. I got COVID. Yeah, I got COVID. I just got over COVID. David Vilsius called me. Hey, Pastor, I had COVID. I'm like, when am I going to get it, you know? I kind of feel like the Calvinist that fell down the stairs and said, hmm, I'm glad I got that over with. But if you don't understand that, Pastor Lubin will explain it to you. But anyway, Saturday, August 21st, Camilla got sick. Of course, we didn't know it was COVID at the time, but find out later on it was. But August 22nd, I was supposed to preach in a church in LaBelle, Florida that I preached in many times before, and I drove up there about an hour from my house, and I felt okay. But throughout the morning, Sunday school, the morning service, I just started feeling weaker. I think, uh-oh, something's not right. So after the service, one of the men in the church who used to take me out to eat all the time, after the service, took me and my wife out to eat, after the morning service, said, I'll take you out to eat. I said, brother, not today, I just don't feel well. So I drove home, and man, I started falling asleep with the wheel, I felt delirious. Driving down interstate 75 like Lord, please get me home safe. I thought I was gonna die in a car wreck on I-75 I don't wanna die of COVID, but I don't wanna die in a car wreck either. So I just kept praying and we got home safe and sound and got into bed and slept. After a couple hours I woke up, my wife said, you got a fever, you're not preaching tonight. I said, oh man, I wanna preach tonight. So I knew she was right though, I was really sick. So I called the church and said, sorry, I can't make it tonight, I'm sick. The next day, we had ladies come over to the house, usually Monday to Friday, sometimes on a Saturday or Sunday, but mostly Monday to Friday to help take care of Grandma. She's 88 years old now, and her dementia's getting real bad. My wife's brother's watching her right now. Anyway, the lady who came over that day, August 23rd, called up the office and said, there's people in this house with fever. And they said get out of there get out of there. You're not going back until they're no longer contagious So camella went to the drugstore took a test found out she was positive. I didn't bother getting tested I figured she's got I probably got it. I feel sick as a dog. So I must have a cover too. So uh We called up walgreens camella had already got a prescription in for ivermectin And this is really unusual. When Carmela called Walgreens, they said, we got such a huge order of ivermectin last night, it's going to take us a while to sort this out. Called back in a couple hours. She called back in a couple hours and said, we filled so many prescriptions for ivermectin, we have nothing for you. But you can go to another Walgreens a couple of miles away and get it. So I got in the car and drove a couple of miles further, a few miles away, got the ivermectin. Started taking it immediately. Within a few days, we got better. Now, it was still a little tired, though, fatigue. If you're familiar with COVID, it makes you really tired. I mean, I was so tired. I was even too tired to go up to the couch and go in the kitchen and get a glass of iced tea or something. I mean, I was really, really weak and tired. But we went down to one of these emergency care places. You walk in, and they took a chest x-ray and said you got mild case of pneumonia. Then they gave us a prescription for antibiotics. A few days later, here we are, healthy, robust, vigorous, ready to preach the word and I'm out in New York, amen. But I thank God he gave me a good wife who's not only a godly woman, but knows how to pray and also is a good nurse. I mean, every time I turn around, here's some vitamin C, here's some vitamin D, take some zinc, take this. And not only did she nurse me and her mom back to health, she herself had COVID throughout the whole thing. And all three of us got through it pretty well. In fact, the nurse came over to the house and looked at grandma, was shocked how well she was doing. 88 years old, all the health problems, and she had COVID, and she's fine. So I can go on record saying I've been making works, and we're glad that we took it, and glad we got through it okay. Glad we're back on track here, because Louie and I were in contact. He reminded me of something. He said he called me when I had COVID. He says, I can hardly remember the conversation. I was so sick. Tom Knickerbocker called me up, and I felt so delirious. I didn't know what you were talking about. I thought I was in a dream or something. So when I got out of the COVID, I called him and said, brother, you called me up, right? Yeah. I was so sick. I didn't even know what you were talking about. I hope I didn't say anything stupid, you know. But he said, that's all right, you're okay. So anyway, we're back to normal now. I don't know if I wanna be really normal, but you know, normal for me anyway. But I'm so glad to be here. I'm glad for those who came to Sunday school, you heard the message on why are we pre-tribulational? Oh, by the way, one more thing. I announced it in Sunday school, for those who weren't in Sunday school, our kids are doing well. When you pray for Sister Pam, my daughter Isabel's due date is the same as hers. For Isabel, that'll be number four, which means Carmelo and I will have eight grandchildren. And you grandparents know what a thrill it is to have grandkids. I mean, we are thrilled. We really love our grandkids. And fortunately, living in Florida, they come to visit us a lot because we're close to the beach. We got a pool. So it's a fun place to see, to go visit grandma and grandpa. And so we see them pretty regularly. We're going to probably go to Greenville, South Carolina after the new baby comes. But thank God they're all doing well. Keep them in your prayers. James, Isabel, Rachel, and Sarah, they're all doing pretty well, thank God. All right, open your Bible, please. By the way, I want to thank everybody for praying for us. I know people contact me and say, Pastor, we're praying for you, I appreciate that, and of course I appreciate the financial support, prayer support, and we thank God for Bible Brothers Church. I mentioned Sunday School, I'll say it again, I am so happy Pastor Lubin's doing a good job here. You know, I thank God. Don't take it for granted. Not all preachers are like him, they're not. I mean, you know, a man who knows how to preach, a man who believes in soul winning, a man who loves the members here, got a good godly wife. You better count your blessings, amen? Not all preachers are like Pastor Carl Lubin. And I can say that from the bottom of my heart, after working with him as my assistant for seven years, I got to know him pretty well, because I knew him even before then. I'm not gonna get into that when he was a little kid or anything. He's so cute. But seriously, I knew him since he was a little kid. By the way, he was always a good kid. I mean, always a good kid. Never got into any trouble, always polite. So it's not surprising he tried to be a good preacher, amen? All right, James chapter five, verse seven. James chapter five, verse seven. James 5, 7, Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he received the early and latter rain. Verse 8, Be ye also patient, establish your hearts, and watch this, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. I want you to note that, mark that. Grudge not one another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Watch this. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. He's right at the door. The judge standeth before the door. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help me do my best to preach this message. I pray it'll be a blessing and encouragement for those that are assembled here today. We're thankful for those who came out to support this service. Pray they'll come out the rest of the meetings and support the whole conference. We thank God for Bible Brothers Church. Thank God for Pastor Lubin, Sister Pam, the faithful members here. Give us good service, filled with the Holy Spirit. Give me the right words to say. Help me to say what should be said and leave out those things that need not be said. And I pray there's anybody in this room that's not saved, they'll get saved even this morning. And for Christians, maybe you got a heavy burden, maybe a little discouraged, maybe a little cold, maybe a little backslid, I pray the Spirit of God will really work in their hearts today. Help me now to do my best to preach, in Jesus' name, amen. Now this morning in Sunday school, I emphasized that the rapture is imminent. It means it could take place any time. That's what imminent means. Many, many years ago, I was at an ordination council, and a young preacher was nervous, and he said, the rapture's intimate. Maybe, but imminent is the word we use, imminent. The rapture is imminent. Philippians 4, 5 says, the Lord is at hand. He's right at the door. Keep that in mind. The Lord is at hand. James says, the judge standeth before the door. Paul wrote, and we looked at this in Sunday school this morning, we which are alive and remain. unto the coming of the Lord. There will be a generation alive when the Lord Jesus returns. Beloved, we could be that generation. I don't believe in date setting. I never have. I always stayed away from speculation. By the way, I believe strongly, and I want to say this as the prophecy conference is just getting going now, Bible prophecy should not lead to speculation, but to motivation. motivate us to be stronger Christians, motivate us to pray more, motivate us to try to win souls. The Lord's coming back. Let's reach people. So Paul said, we which are alive remain unto the coming of the Lord. The Lord is returning. Now, this was the expectation for all the apostles. Look at Acts chapter 1. Keep your place in James. We'll come back. But look at Acts chapter 1. In verse number eight, but ye shall receive power. There's no excuse for Christians to be powerless, by the way. If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit. You've been dwelt by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Algeria, and in Samaria, and unto the othermost part of Elmont. I mean, othermost part of the earth. That includes Elmont, too, amen? And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. We call it the ascension. The Lord ascended into heaven. Verse number 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Now watch this. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you and went to heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. The Lord's coming back. And that was the blessed hope of the apostolic church, and it's our blessed hope today. Notice another so I want to share with you some first Thessalonians 110 you can shoot over there real quick I'm gonna preach a whole message. I think on first Thessalonians 110 this conference if the Lord directs me to do so I I'm praying about what to preach when and so on and But first Thessalonians 110 says and to wait for his son from heaven We are to be waiting waiting for the Lord Jesus. Now, if you're waiting for somebody, what does that mean? You expect him to come, right? If you saw me down the street standing on a corner, and you saw, oh, there's Pastor Barker standing over there. And you said, what are you doing? I'm waiting for Pastor Luke. He's going to come fetch you? No, I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. He's like, that's strange. Waiting for somebody, not even sure if he's coming? Right? When you wait for somebody, you expect them to come. Unless you're crazy or something. I don't know. But a normal person waits for someone who is going to come get them. We're waiting for the Lord because we believe he's going to come get us. Receive us unto himself is the way he put it in John 14. Now, the New Testament consistently teaches that our Lord's return might occur at any moment. That is what we mean when we say the rapture is imminent. It means the rapture will come, will take place before The tribulation, that's why in Sunday school we studied why we are pre-tribulational. A lot of Christians go to church, I'm not talking about here, but all over, and someone will say, what does your church believe? Well, we're pre-tribulational, what does that mean? Oh, I don't know, but we believe it, though. Well, that's not really good. You ought to be able to explain why you're pre-tribulational. And that's true for anything. What does your church believe? Oh, we're premillennial, what does that mean? Oh, I don't know, but it sounds pretty good, we're premillennial, I don't know. You really ought to know what these terms mean. Hopefully by the end of this conference, everybody will know what they mean. What do you believe? I believe what our church believes. What does your church believe? My church believes what I believe. Oh, okay, I gotcha. All right, now, in the New Testament, Christians are never told, never told to look forward to the tribulation. Study it out, you'll find what I'm saying is true. Never, ever. are Christians told to expect the tribulation. But we're told often to wait for our Lord, to expect our Lord to return, to be looking up. He's coming back. That's our blessed hope, as I said. Our Lord's imminent return is so important because it motivates, there goes that word again, motivation. I preach Bible prophecy often, not because of speculation, I don't believe in speculation, I believe in motivation. I want to motivate Christians to to get right with God, because the Lord's coming back. It's important, it motivates us to purify our lives. Romans chapter 13, verse number 12 says, the night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of night. I'm sorry, let us cast off the works of night and put on the armor of light. The Lord is coming back and we need to be prepared, need to be ready. You know, this could be our last Bible conference. As we mentioned earlier, we're supposed to come for the church's 30th anniversary. I was going to be a special speaker for the 30th anniversary. We're going to make a big thing about it, like we did for the 25th anniversary, with a tent outside and lunch, invite a lot of old members who've... By the way, some of the old members said to say hi. Dave Carnes and I see each other all the time. He's right now in the Dominican Republic. I said, what's he doing there? He's hiding out. He said, things are getting so bad in America. He just bought an apartment in the Dominican Republic. I'm going to stay here until things get better. I said, I'll see you soon, probably. I think I'll be down there, too. But seriously, he bought some real estate in the Dominican Republic, and he's staying there now. But he does come to Florida a lot, and he was, in fact, we celebrated my birthday together a few weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago. But so Dave set aside, and Sister Sharon Rose, she's also in Southwest Florida. We can't stay in touch. She said, sends her greetings also. But this could be our last conference. You were supposed to come last year for the anniversary. Well, we had to scrap those plans because they had such strict lockdown rules and it made it very difficult to travel to New York at that time. And then we pushed it back past a little bit. I pushed it back a month or two and things hadn't really improved much. So President Lula and I agreed we'll shoot for next year, 2021. And we finally settled on a good time. Right. Sunday after Labor Day, we figured that that way at the VBS and revival meetings, things are kind of quiet down. And then we got COVID. But the Lord allowed all that for a reason. And now we pushed it back to now, and I'm glad you're here. I'm glad I'm here. I'm glad my wife was able to come with me. I'm glad her brother's watching grandma so she can travel. So praise the Lord, it all worked out. This could be our last conference. James says, behold, the judge standeth before the door. We don't know how long he's gonna be at the door. We just don't know. Matthew 24 and 25, we call it the Olivet Discourse, because our Lord preached it from the Mount of Olives. Those two chapters deal with the second coming of Christ. And Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 33, so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Listen, the Lord's at the door. He's coming soon. We just don't know when. We have to be prepared, be ready, be waiting for him. Robert Moffitt was a Scottish missionary to Africa, not as well known as his famous son-in-law. His son-in-law was David Livingston. He was a great missionary. But Moffitt was a great man in his own way, not just because he was the father-in-law of David Livingston. But Moffitt said this, we have all eternity to celebrate our victories. but one short hour before sunset in which to win them." So in other words, brethren, for all eternity, we can rejoice over our victories. And as Pastor Lubit mentioned, there's been many victories. You know, I often think back to the days here in Bible Baptist. I started this church in 1990, was here for 27 years. Oh, many people were saved. Many good preachers came out of here, like Pastor Lubin, Brother David, Vilsius, others. And many people discipled and trained. And I see a lot of you young people. I remember when you were little babies. In fact, I knew you before you were born. I remember when Lady of the Church said to my wife, please pray so we can have babies. And my wife and the ladies prayed. Now they're big and doing a good job. And you know, so a lot of you, I knew when you were little kids and grown up and so, we have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but one short hour before sunset in which to win, and that's the hour, that short hour's right now. Say an hour, in light of eternity, it is a short hour. Beloved, I believe that short hour is almost over and the Lord is standing before the door. Now let me get into this while we look at this passage and consider it. Christ is the judge. James says the judge standeth before the door. Who's the judge? The Lord Jesus Christ. In scripture, the Lord is often referred to as the judge. In Genesis 18.25, Abraham said, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Isaiah 33, 22 says, for the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will save us. By the way, if you study that verse and know anything about it, that verse represents our three branches of government. I'll repeat. The Lord is our judge. That's the judicial branch. The Lord is our lawgiver, that's the legislative branch. And the Lord is our king, that's the executive branch. So the people who founded our country used that verse to establish, they said, oh, they got that because back in England, yeah, but that was a big part of it, not just the English where they picked up from the Magna Carta and all that, but also the Bible. Isaiah 33, 22 says, for the Lord is our judge. Now we'll get to the New Testament. In Acts 10.42, Peter said, Christ was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. Of course, you know the Bible, quick means living, alive. Christ has been appointed, ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. In Acts 17.31, the apostle Paul said, God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. That man, of course, is the Lord Jesus. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4.1, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. And then in 2 Timothy 4.8, we looked at this in Sunday school this morning, Paul said, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Now when is Paul going to receive that crown from the righteous judge at the judgment seat of Christ? Christ is the judge. He's not only gonna be the judge at the judgment seat of Christ, but he'll be the judge at the great white throne judgment, which is recorded in the book of Revelation, chapter 20. There's so many verses, I'm not gonna read them all, dealing with Christ being the judge. Jesus said in the Gospel of John, chapter five, that God the Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. That's John 5, verses 22 and 27. There's a story I used to tell, and I got a hunch Pastor Living probably repeats it now, because he repeats all my good stories and stuff like that. But it's an old story about a young man. who saved a little boy in a runaway carriage. It was a long time ago, back in the 19th century, and this carriage was in the back of this frontier town. A little boy was sitting in the carriage. His mom and dad went into the store to get some things. And something spooked the horse, and the horse took off with that little boy in the back of the carriage. Well, people were yelling, stop, stop, help, help. And hearing the people shout and seeing the little child was in danger, this young man jumped on his horse and ran after that wagon, was able to stop the wagon and save that little boy. Well, that little boy grew up to be a bad outlaw. He was a cute little boy then, but a lot of little cute little boys grow up to be criminals, you know that, right? But he grew up to be a violent outlaw. And one day, that boy, who's now a man, had to stand before a judge to be sentenced for murder. Well, before the trial began, one of the outlaw's friends said, I got good news for you. That judge is the same man who rescued you when you were a little boy, when you were on the runaway wagon, he saved your life. The same man is now a judge. Well, that gave him a little confidence, you know? In the courtroom, the outlaw recognized the judge as the man who had saved his life. So he pled for mercy on that basis. Here's what the judge said, young man, back then I was your savior, but today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged. And here's where I'm getting at. One day the Lord Jesus Christ is gonna say to sinners, during the long day of grace, I was the Savior, and I would have been your Savior. I would have forgiven you, pardoned you, but today I am your judge. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. So now's the day of grace. Now's the time to get right with God. Now's the time to get saved. And the judge is standing at the door. It's foolish, beloved, to put off salvation. Very foolish. And not thinking about it. Some people say, I'm not going to think about it. I don't want to think about it. Don't talk about it. Well, ignoring it and not thinking about it doesn't change the fact that judgment is coming. A lot of people are like that. They get a bill in the mail. I don't want to think about that. Throw the bill away. You're going to get another bill, even worse, with interest now. So stupid. People just put it off. I don't want to deal with that. And when it comes to judgment, I'm not listening. I've met people like that. Don't talk to me about that. Not thinking about it doesn't change anything. The judge is still standing at the door. Over the years, we've had different evangelists and other visiting preachers come through here, and I have fond memories of many of them. And someone would sing an old song, The Great Judgment Morning. Now, don't worry, I'm not gonna sing. Don't worry about that. I'm not even gonna quote the whole song. It's a long song, but I'll quote a few verses. I'll quote part of it. It goes like this, the souls that have put off salvation, not tonight, I'll get saved by and by, no time now to think of religion. At last, they have found time to die. And oh, what weeping and wailing. as the lost were told of their fate. They cried for the rocks and the mountains. They prayed, but their prayer was too late. So it's foolish to ignore judgment. It's foolish not to think about it. I'll deal with that some other time. I don't want to deal with it right now. You know, there's hundreds of references in the Bible to judgment, hell, and so on. Somebody said, if you're driving down a highway and you kept seeing warnings, the road is out, danger ahead, the road is closed down, the bridge is out, you'd be foolish to ignore them, wouldn't you be? Oh, no, I'm going to keep going. I don't want to think about that. You know, then you get into a car wreck or something, or your car goes off into the river. Some people think they're just gonna ignore it, and there are many warnings in the Bible about the danger of ignoring God. Go with me to Proverbs 1. Look with me at Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1, verse 23. Proverbs 1, verse 23. Proverbs 1, 23. Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words unto you. Now look at verse 24. Because I have called and ye refused. So God says I've called, but you refuse to listen. You refuse to heed my warning. Because I've called and you refuse. I've stretched out my hand, and no man regard it. But ye have said it not, all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I think verse 26 is one of the saddest verses in the Bible. God says, I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. And speaking of fear, a lot of people are fearful today. Ever since this COVID thing started, I never saw so many fearful people in my life. People are afraid. I'm not going to get into all the details, but I think most of you know it's got a 99% survival rate. If my 88-year-old mother-in-law can get through it okay, I think most people can. But nevertheless, people are fearful. A lot of it's coming from the media. My advice, turn off the TV. If you're gonna watch TV, watch a good old Western like Hopalong Cassidy or the Cisco Kid or something. Don't waste your time with all this fear mongering on TV. But when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you, that sounds pretty scary, huh? Here's something to really be scared about. Leaving this world without Christ. Leaving here for all eternity without the Lord, going to hell. And hell's a real place, by the way. I heard people say, I don't believe in that. Whether you believe it or not, it's real. Doesn't matter. It's real, whatever you think about it. Verse 28. Verse 28. Then shall they call upon me. Watch this. But it will not answer. It's too late. Just like the people of Noah's day, when the door was shut. All right, all right, we believe you now, Noah, let us in. Too late, it's too late. All those 10 virgins, it's a matter of 25. Let us in, forget it, it's too late. Then shall they answer upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not. for that they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Did you notice you can choose the fear of the Lord? You can choose to have it or choose to ignore it, choose to deny it, ignore it, don't want it. I thank God I fear the Lord, amen? Kept me out of trouble all these years. So there are many, many warnings in the Bible about the danger of ignoring the judgment of God. Second Corinthians, Chapter 6, verse 2 says, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. It is very foolish to turn your back on God. Very foolish. Four times in the Bible, and by the way, if God says something once, it's very important. He says it four times, we better pay attention. Four times in the Bible, we read, hearted not your heart. Why would God say that four times? Because people have a tendency to harden their hearts, obviously. Hard heart, stiff neck, these are terms used to describe people that are like, I don't believe that. That's your opinion. I don't know how many times people have told me that. I'll share the gospel with them. That's your opinion. That's not my opinion, it's the Bible. My opinion. My opinion doesn't mean anything, but the word of God is everything. So four times God says harden not your heart. Psalm 95 verse 8 says harden not your heart as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Now that is repeated three times in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 3.8 Hebrews 3.15, Hebrews 4.7, harden not your heart. People have a tendency to harden their hearts. They don't want to think about the judgment of God. They don't want to think about what's going to happen when they leave this world. When God repeats the same warning four times, you can be sure it's very, very important. Now, hardening of the heart is a spiritual disease. It's similar to the stiff neck. Once a person Adopts a fixed attitude of rebelliousness and disobedience His heart gets harder and harder to things of God. I've seen it many many times over the years I've seen it It's it's kind of frightening to watch you see it gradually getting harder and harder and you feel like Unless the Lord miraculously intervenes this person is going to go right to hell. I But you know, God is merciful. Many years ago, we were talking, a lot of people talking this morning about the old days in Queens Village. I remember when I was preaching on Jamaica Avenue in Queens Village, this woman used to come a lot. She was related to a member of the church. Some of you might remember Xiomara, going way back. I forgot the connection. Xiomara's brother was her boy, her boyfriend was Xiomara's brother. But anyway, she'd come and she'd listen, but she'd sit there like this. Rolling the eyes, you know, smirking. And, you know, not interested in getting saved. I used to wonder, why is she even coming? You know, she just sits there making faces at me. I was waiting for her to go like that, but she didn't do that, but just about, almost, you know. But anyway, one day I got a phone call and said she's in a hospital, she's dying. Her boyfriend had AIDS. He was a drug addict. And then she got AIDS, I guess, from him. So I went to the hospital. Some of you old-timers remember Orlando. Orlando went with me. And what was that hospital here? L.I.J., L.I.J. And we went in there, and she was in a hospital, and she said, please read the Bible. So I started reading the Bible. I kept reading the Bible, and she smiles. I said, you like me reading the Bible, but when you went to the services on Jamaica Avenue, you didn't like when I read the Bible. She goes, no, I was very, very annoyed at you. I didn't like your message. I didn't like your preaching. How do you think about that now? She goes, no, I know I was wrong. I should have listened. I was foolish. Now I know that you were right, I was wrong. The Bible is real. God is real. Heaven's real. Hell is real. Keep reading the Bible. So I kept reading the Bible, then finally I got to a point, I said, would you like to receive Christ as your Savior? She said, yes, I know I'm dying, I need to get right with God. I led her to the Lord. Oh, Orlando and I walked out of there, we were so happy, we were like on cloud nine. I got home, I had just about had enough time to take my coat and hat off, the phone rang, it was Xiomara. She said, my sister, my brother's girlfriend died. I said, do you know we just left the hospital? She said, no, I didn't know that. I led her to the Lord. Oh, praise the Lord. By the way, I've led a few people to the Lord at the end like that. I don't recommend people wait to the very end like that, though. I do believe most people don't get saved at the last minute, but I believe there is such a thing as deathbed conversions. I've had the pleasure of leading a few people to the Lord at the last minute, but again, I don't recommend people wait that long. But that woman, you talk about getting in at the last minute. So God is merciful. God is gracious. But I think, and I want to emphasize, it's foolish to put off salvation. Foolish. And a hard heart is dangerous. When you get a hard heart, it gets harder and harder, you're in trouble. Donald Guthrie, Donald Guthrie wrote these words, and I think it's important to share them with you. He said, a hardened state of mind becomes impervious to God's voice and leads to increasing ignorance of his ways. Not because God does not want to make them known, but because the hardened mind has no disposition to listen. That says it all right there. I heard about a little girl who loved to go to Sunday school. She loved it. And she kept pleading with her daddy to go with her. And he said, ah, no, you go, honey. I'll meet you. Come on back. I'll be here. You just go. He'd stay home and goof off and read the newspaper. He didn't want to go. This went on for quite a while. Every week after, daddy, please come to Sunday's. Go, please. No, no, no, you go, honey. I'm just going to relax here. I'll see you when you get back. And he wouldn't go. Well, one day the Sunday school teacher explained to the students that when sinners keep saying no to God, the hearts get hard, and harder, and harder, and eventually the teacher said, sometimes a heart gets as hard as a stone, and then it's too late. Well, that really got the little girl thinking, and she got a little concerned about that, so she ran home fast from Sunday school. She jumped into her daddy's lap, he was sitting in a chair, and she started rubbing her hand around, And he said, what are you doing? I'm checking for your heart, daddy. And she told her daddy what she learned in Sunday school. That daddy was convicted. He got out of that chair, got on his knees and prayed, tears coming down his face. God, I've been such a fool. Thank God he gave me a sweet little girl who's concerned about my salvation. Oh Lord, please save me. He got saved right there, then and there, amen? Listen, don't let your heart get hard. And by the way, let me say this. I'm talking about sinners. Christians can get a hard heart too, you know. I've met a few of them over the years too. That's another message, amen? Don't let your heart get hard. Don't let your heart get ready. The judge is standing at the door. Jesus is coming back any time. We need to be ready and we ought to patiently wait for the Lord. Going back to James, going back to James, and I've been focusing on James chapter five and verse number nine, the judge standeth before the door. Let me bring out, bring something else to your attention. The word patient or patience. is found five times in this passage, five times. Again, whenever the Lord repeats something like that, you know it's very important to take note of it. Verse seven, be patient therefore, brethren. You see that? And then at the end of verse seven, for the precious fruit of the earth that hath long patience for it. Verse eight, be also patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord to earth and I. You see that? And then go down to verse number, Verse 10, take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. And then verse 11 refers to the patience of Job. Of course, it's a famous story of Job and his patience. Listen, when the Lord comes back, he's gonna make everything right. We see things today that infuriate us, bother us, upset us. When the Lord comes back, he's gonna straighten everything out. So let's just wait patiently for the Lord. And verse seven says, behold, a husbandman, that means farmer, waited. Farming takes patience. Crops do not appear overnight. Farmers have no control over the weather. So they have to be patient. Could be too much rain or not enough rain. Could be an early frost. Certain things can kill the crops. Therefore, the farmer has to be patient. Behold, the husband waited. And then James says, be also patient. Establish a heart. For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. We've got to establish our hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 5. By the way, 1 and 2 Thessalonians deal a lot with prophecy. I'll try to deal with that this conference if we have time, but every chapter in 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians has some reference to the second coming of Christ. And that's something to take note of. Now, 2 Thessalonians 3.5 says, And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and watch this, and into the patient waiting for Christ. Would it be patiently waiting for the Lord to return? He's coming back. And while we're patiently waiting, we should be patiently serving. Keep busy serving the Lord. You know, a lot of people leave this world, Christian people I'm talking about, we already dealt with unsaved people, but let me make an application of unsaved people. And on their deathbed, some have said, I wish I would have served the Lord more effectively. I wish I would have been more faithful in my church. I wish I would have read the Bible more. I wish I would have prayed more. I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever heard of a Christian on his deathbed say, I think I spend too much time in church. Spent too much time reading the Bible. Why do you spend so much time praying? No, no one's ever said that. But some with a heavy heart and tears said, I wish I would have been a more faithful Christian. I could have made a difference. We could all make a difference, amen? Let's get busy serving the Lord. Jesus said, I must work the works of him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. Once the Lord comes back, our work is over. Let's get busy serving the Lord. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. Time is short. Our opportunities are fleeting. The Lord is coming soon. And the event draws nearer and nearer every moment. Let's look, we have a few minutes. Let's look at Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. 13, rather. If I go too long, just blame Pastor Lubin. Don't worry about it. I said, why'd you bring this long-winded preacher up here from Florida, you know? But Romans 13, verse 11, and that knowing the time that now it is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Let's get busy. The Lord is coming back. We don't know how much time we have left. The clock is ticking on the Lord has the, the schedule, the timetable, we don't know, but we're gonna be busy in the meantime. The judge is standing before the door. You know, I've preached this text many times. When I say the Lord is standing at the door, I'm mainly preaching it as a warning, the Lord is coming back, are you ready? But it's another way to look at it. Some of us, probably some people in this room, are gonna meet the Lord before the rapture. Yeah, I mean, ready, I mean, since I left this church, several members have died already. I came back from Bill Gilligan's funeral. I couldn't go back for Hans's funeral, but, and Sister Iris recently died. We've had a few faithful members that have died. And I'm not trying to scare anybody, but somebody in this room might die before the rapture. Have you considered that? Have you thought about that? The apostle, if you say it, doesn't worry about it, praise the Lord. Paul said, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. You know, the Gideons give away New Testaments. They give away entire Bibles, but also New Testaments, as well as the whole Bible. And many years ago, they gave away little white New Testaments to all the nurses of America. I got a special place in my heart for nurses, because I'm married to, I think, the best nurse in America, I think. I'm a little prejudiced, but I think she's the best. Now, perhaps the Gideons are still giving away New Testaments to nurses. I just don't know. I haven't heard lately, haven't heard anything about that in years. But years ago, they were doing that. I heard a story about one Christian nurse that kept her little white New Testament in the pocket of her nurse's uniform. You know, if you can kind of picture this as a nurse's uniform, you know, make believe, yeah. And she stuck it in her pocket like that, you know. And you can see the imprint of the New Testament in her pocket. And the outline of it, the outline of it or something, was seen by a patient. This patient was a worldly fellow. He goes, oh, you got a pack of cigarettes. Say, what brand do you smoke? Well, she said, no, I don't smoke. She says, it's the New Testament. Do you mind if I read it to you? And the man said, yeah, go ahead and read it to me. So she started reading the New Testament, and he liked that. He said, keep reading, that's good, I like that. And he kept reading, and then it turned out, he said, later on, should you come by here and read a little more to me? She says, yeah, and this went on for a while. Every now and then she stopped by and read the Bible to him, and this went on for a while. And eventually, the man got saved. You know, the Holy Spirit used the word of God to open his eyes and open his heart to convict him. God is real. And that his days were numbered. He was in bad shape, lying there in the hospital. He needed to get saved. So he confessed his sins and he asked Christ to save him and he got saved. Anyways, the days passed. The Christian nurse had a strange impulse, an intuitive feeling. Is that what they call it, women's intuition? I don't know. But she had this feeling, I better go see that man. I should go by his room and see how he's doing, check up on him. So she went to his room. And as she walked into his room, and when I read this story, I was so impressed. When she walked into his room, she saw him sitting up in the bed, and he said, I'm ready. I'm ready. Thank God I'm ready. And he fell back in the bed and he died. The judge was standing right there. And the judge is ready to take him to heaven. So not everybody, who leaves this world, meets the Lord. In other words, we're not all going to meet the Lord in the air at the rapture. Some of us are going to meet the Lord before the rapture. And thank God this man was ready to meet the judge. And I'm trying to press upon you, make sure you're ready. And as I said, this could be our last prophecy conference. I don't know. Maybe not. I hope I can come back again before the rapture. But either way, I'll meet you here or meet you in the air, amen? But make sure you're gonna be there for that great meeting. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we're thankful for the opportunity to preach the word of God. And it is a joy to be back here, and it's a joy to see so many members that are still faithful, still supporting this church, helping out here in the church, working in the church. And it's glad to see Pastor Lubin doing so well. We rejoice over that. We believe that he's the man you wanted here to take over this work. And he's proven that abundantly, that he is your man for this church, for this position as pastor. But Lord, we wanna pray specifically now for anybody in this room that needs to get things settled. Whether it's a Christian that needs to get something settled, Before the rapture, or maybe it's an unsaved person, he should get saved. I pray you'll speak to hearts even now. While the heads are bowed or eyes are closed, no one is looking about. I don't want to embarrass anybody. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I'm going to say, Pastor, I'm saved. There's no doubt about that. I know I'm born again. I received Christ as my Savior. I was born again. I was saved by the grace of God. But I got to be honest before God, if the Lord was to come back today, there's some things I got to get settled before he comes back. Some things I want to make right with God before he comes back. If that's your testimony, just raise your hand. We'll pray for you right now. Yes, God bless you. Amen. Amen. Oh, yes. Yeah, I see that in the back. God bless you, too. Anybody else? We'll pray together right now. We'll pray together. Maybe as our pianist plays quietly, come on up here and pray if you want to pray as the Lord leads you. Let me ask one more question. One more question. This is a question for unsaved people. How many say, Pastor, please pray for me. I don't think I'm saved. I don't know if I'm really born again. If the Lord were to come back, I know I'll be in trouble because I'm not ready to meet the Lord. Anybody like that, just raise your hand. Just slip your hand up. Say, please pray for me. I'm not sure. I have questions, what it means to be saved by the grace of God, what it means to be born again. I hear you talk about being converted, being saved, but yet I wonder, am I really saved? Just raise your hand, we'll pray for you right now. We'll pray for you now. Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful for those who raised their hand. Christians, we know Christians in this church want to do right, want to live right. And that's why they're here now. They want to be in God's house on Sunday and hear the Word of God preached. I pray to continue working in their lives. And maybe there's somebody here not saved. Maybe they're just not ready to raise their hand. Maybe they're just hesitant for whatever reason. If that's the case, I pray you'll save them before it's eternally too late. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Pastor Lumen. Hey man, what a wonderful challenge. And I hope that we take heed of the warning, the judge standeth at the door.