have him preach. Brother, come preach what the Lord has given to you. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you very much. Okay. I've often said that for a preacher, one of the greatest forms of self-flattery would be to expect that somebody remembered what you preached. I get asked once in a while, when I was there last week what did you preach then? I knew then what I was preaching but it's to think back on it. So, for a preacher to expect that somebody would remember. Now, I do know there are people that when you use a text they mark it in their Bible. Anybody like to do that? Mark it in your Bible and who preached it and such as that? So, maybe somebody did that. Now, the reason I'm saying all that is two years ago I Now, you know, if we talk about two weeks ago, we'd have trouble saying, oh, what was it? But two years ago on this night, I was here at this church, and I'm going to use the exact same text tonight that I did then. And some of you are probably saying, well, it's probably because you messed it up and you want to try to get it right. And I may have, but that's not it. We're just taking a, we're gonna, I've got it, actually, this text, I have it divided into about four parts. And so I'm gonna, did part one the last time I was here, I wanna do part two tonight. And it's found in the book of Jude, if you'd open your Bibles there, in the little book of Jude. And while you're turning there, I can go ahead and, with a little bit of a background here because in the book of Jude we understand this, Jude set out to write a devotional letter. He was going to encourage the Saints and write to them in verse 3 of the common salvation. So I'm allowing that he was considering a devotional letter of a letter that would help them all rejoice together in the common salvation. Somebody says, what's the common salvation? Well, are you saved? Are you saved? Well you all got saved the same way. That's what we're talking about. And I got saved when I was six years old. The Apostle Paul considerable before me and a lot older than me. And I never had a Damascus Road experience where I got knocked off a horse or a beast and where I was blinded and heard the voice of God from Heaven. I never had that experience. But Paul and I got saved the same way by acknowledging our sin and our dependence upon Jesus Christ. That's the common salvation. So, he wanted to write a letter, but he said, I couldn't. The Holy Ghost stopped him. instead he said, verse 3, I gave diligence to write, but it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. And the faith once delivered to the saints is what we know as the body of truth that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so he said, I had to, I couldn't write a devotional letter about how wonderful it is to be saved and how we got saved. I had to write to you and exhort you to earnestly contend for the faith. Now, if Jude is writing by inspiration of the Holy Ghost and exhorting them to contend for the faith, what is, what is he saying? What does that say? It says the faith was under attack. Why else would you exhort the people, earnestly contend for the faith, unless the faith was under attack? And indeed it was. Because what Jude does, beginning in verse number four, if I can explain, I think I probably did it before, but not that anybody remember, I'm just saying, that is, if you begin in verse number four, go all the way down to verse number 19, watch me now, here's what Jude is doing. cover off the false teachers, and exposing their heresy, their error, and their motive, and the fact that they are in line for the judgment of God. he does that. And that's basically what he's doing. People need to know false teachers exist. They did then, they do now. Just like Jesus said they would. Like John the Beloved said they would in the book of I John. And so, so he is causing the people to confronting them with the reality that false teachers are attacking the truth. The Apostle Paul put it this way. He said, you got to be careful and you got to pay attention to those that preach another Jesus. Now, if somebody's preaching another Jesus, it's not the Jesus. Somebody help me, please. And they preach another gospel. If they're not preaching the gospel, but another gospel, then it's a false gospel. and they are of another spirit. Now, if it's not the Holy Spirit, then it's an unclean spirit. Is everybody with me here? Okay, so they do exist. So what Jude is doing, I mean, he lets them have it. I don't have time. If I get started, I can never get off the subject in time for us to get to where we're going in tonight. But I'm just telling you, he makes it clear that these people have set themselves against the truth of God and God is gonna deal with them accordingly. And in no uncertain terms, he says that. So you come down to verse number 19, and this is the end of what I would call a Holy Ghost-inspired tirade, because this isn't a fleshly matter. Jude's not just a mad preacher. And we all ought to hate the truth. My life verse is Psalm 119, 128. Therefore, esteem all thy precepts concerning everything to be right, and I hate every false way. And so that's where Jude was, he hated them. But this isn't the word of just an upset preacher here. This is the Holy Spirit of God. And look how he ends the tirade in verse 19. These be they who separate themselves, sensual having not the Spirit. If you say that in today's time and contemporary Christianity, there would be a plenty people that would say, who are you to judge? And they kind of buy in the mentality of the culture, you know, that if that's what you believe, then it's right for you. And if that's what you believe, then that's right for you. Yeah, but the Bible says, I know, but this is truth for me. You'll never get that to fit with the truth of the Word of God ever, ever. No, sir, this is truth. And so Jude tells them that they are sensual, reminds them that these false teachers, they're not being led by the Spirit of God. It is sensual, selfishly carnally motivated. In verse number 20, the tone of the letter changes completely, where he says, but you, beloved, see how it changes? a Holy Ghost inspired tirade against false teaching and the false teachers to the beloved. Who are the beloved? What does that mean anyway? Well, if my wife is here, I would say, it wouldn't be unusual or inappropriate for me to say, I want to introduce my beloved wife. What does that mean? It means I love the woman. You would hope, wouldn't you? But anyway, that's what the term means. beloved or our beloved children. We have three children and even, you know, another level up, beloved grandchildren. That's really good stuff there. And we got five great-grandchildren. Well, what do you mean when you say you're, well, they're a part of our loved ones. So who are the beloved in the scripture? The loved ones of God. Those that have received the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, and we enter into this relationship with God, he's the father, we are his children, we are his beloved children, see? And so Jude says, but ye, beloved, as opposed to the false teachers and how God exposes and deals with them, but ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God." Now that's as far as we got here two years ago, right there, stopped right there. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And if some have compassion, making a difference. and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, and even people that don't say amen ought to say it right here. Amen. Yes, sir. want you to go back to verse 21 and this is at the heart of verse 19 through 23. His conclusion or the doxology is verse 24 and 25. But what he is saying to the beloved is in verse 20 through 23, here as is at the heart, we call it in our preaching class, the central idea of the text. This is what he is talking about right here. This is central to why these four verses are here. Look at the words. Beloved, keep yourselves in the love of God. And then what he says right before that, and what he says right after that, in verse number 21 through 23, is directly related to that line right there. This is about the beloved keeping themselves in the love of God. Father, we ask your blessings in a wonderful way now upon the remaining time that we have together in your word this evening, and we'll praise you for it in Jesus' name, amen. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Let's dispense with a problem that this verse presents to some. It shouldn't, but it does to some. Keep yourselves in the love of God. And just a casual reading of it, a person might think, okay, then it's my job to keep myself in, well, for God to love me. I have to live a certain way to be in the love of God, or for God to love me. Now let's just clear this up right now. Because if you're a true Bible reader, then you can see there's already an issue, you got some kind of problem with that. If we think that we can do something to cause the love of God to be upon us. And we remember and understand from the Lord God, that when we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So the reality is, you didn't do one thing for God to love you. I have not done one thing for God to love me. The second verse of that is, I can't do anything for God to keep loving me. He loves us because of himself, not because of something innate. within us that we have deserved or earned the love of God. One of the ways I like to look at this and use it is when God is speaking to Israel through Moses in the book of Deuteronomy and it's chapter six where he is speaking to Israel about his love for them. And he said to the nation of Israel, I didn't set my love upon you because you're more in number than any other nation. In other words, God didn't say, I don't love you because of this, and then make a list of all the reasons he loved them. Well, then somebody might ask, why did he love them? All right, here's his answer. But because I love you. So why did God love Israel? Because he did. And if you're sitting there saying, that's no answer, it's a good answer if that's what God said. And that's exactly what God said. That he didn't look upon the nation of Israel and say, oh, what a lovable people. If you've read your Bible about the second grade level, you figured that out. They're not that lovable a people. But then if we understand the Bible clearly, then we understand neither were we, neither are we. and yet he loves us. So whatever he is saying here, he is not saying it's up to you now to keep God loving you. That contradicts the revelation of the Bible from the beginning to the end. That's not a fact that we can do anything to earn the love of God. He loves us because God is love. That's it. But I have everything to say about whether I love God or not. I have no say about His love for me. He loved me when I was lost. He loved me when I was yet in my sin. He loved you in the same way. And so you have nothing to say about whether He loves you, even when we go astray. Read how Jesus deals with the disciples. I don't have time to stop and talk about this, but if you'll read after their failures, Jesus confronted them about their failures and he dealt with them, but it was always in grace and mercy and love and kindness. Why? Because having loved his own, he loved them to the end, the Word of God says. See, that's him. We don't earn the love of God, but we do decide what we love or whom we love. That's up to you. And so to keep yourself in the love of God doesn't mean keep God loving you, but keep yourself loving God. Now, how many of you got saved? You can remember, you can remember, I actually remember when you got saved, okay. Did anybody have to tell you to love God when you got saved? I'm talking about when light replaced darkness, when truth replaced lies, I mean, when God moved into you by the Holy Ghost and shed abroad His love in your heart by the Holy Ghost, Romans chapter 5, when God moved into you and saved you from your sin, did anybody have to say to you, now you need to love God? Probably not, because you love God. How could you just have your sins forgiven and not love God? How could you halfway understand? I have just passed from eternal death to eternal life. How could you receive that and not love God? How could you be under the burden and the guilt of sin, the condemnation of sin, and now you are free from sin and not love God? See, so nobody had to tell you to love God anymore than they had to tell me. Sammy, that was what they called me then. Not now, please, thank you. But Sammy, you need to love your daddy. Nobody had to tell me to love my daddy. You kidding me? If a child does not love their father, something real, real perverse and weird is going on. See, so you don't have to tell a child to love their parent. And when you got saved, you loved God. But I dare say that if most of us, probably all of us, had, let's say, a chart put up, I can clearly remember using this the last time I was here. And that is when I used to work in a cafeteria, a nice high-class cafeteria in Springfield, Missouri, and I was in Bible college when it was, quote, cool to go to cafeterias. Last time I tried to take my wife to a cafeteria, she said, I'm not going there. I said, well, what's wrong? Why? Only old people go there, so she didn't want to go. And so, anyway, but I remember I had to clean up after business meetings and such like that they had in some of these rooms, and they'd have these flip charts there. And on these flip charts, they would, I guess, be showing loss and, I mean, I'm sorry, profit and loss, gain and decline, on and on, sales are up, sales are down. And they would have these charts, and they looked like a meter, you know, on a, and a heart, what's that heart thing, you know, that goes up and down like that? And that's kind of what it looked like, up and down, up and down, sails are up, sails are down, sails are way up, sails are a little down, on and on, it looked like that. And I thought, I'm ashamed of this, but if they put the chart of my life and measured my love for God from the time I got saved until to this present day, I'm afraid there'd be too many peaks and valleys meaning I was really in love with God here and less here, and really and truly in love with God here and less here, and love here, up and down, up and down. And somebody say, well, what are you doing up there preaching for? Well, because I'm not a finished process, a project, and neither are you. But what Jude is saying is, in the midst of all the confusion of the day, which it was there politically, it was a political chaos in the days of the Jews, it was a mess theologically because of the false teachers and the damage they were doing among the young believers and in young churches. I mean, it was a day of difficulty. But Jude settles down and he says to the saints of God, but you, focus on this. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keep yourself in love with God. Let's get rid of the peats and the valleys. especially teenage years, most of you could relate to the ups and downs and the process of growing up and going through those years. And I can remember that we'd have a revival in our church at the fall, and man, the preacher would come and preach, and I loved it, I loved it. If I could, I'd sit right there where David is, or where the preacher is right there, I love front row. And the more, the louder they preach, the better I like it. Preachers with cowboy boots from Texas come up to Oklahoma, Our preacher, our pastor was from Texas. He had all those guys come up, man, they would preach and they were loud and they spit about four rows back. And they were, I mean, they were go-getters. You know, I thought, man, that's real preaching. And we get done with our revival, man, my love for God, I couldn't wait to go to school and talk to my friends. I brought friends to revival. Some of my friends got saved. I got to lead a couple to the Lord. But you know, that was in September, and long about the time of Christmastime, well, I mean, a whole lot's going on, and my friends aren't really where I am in this Bible and being a Christian stuff, and so there were times I loved the approval of my friends more than I loved God. Maybe some of you can Relate to that And then there were times that I remember when I got a car I have to say this is ridiculous a car for crying out loud But I got this car and it was a slick one. I mean it was a 50 chevy, man I wish I'd have kept that thing. It was a 1961 had 26,000 miles on it when my dad went to pick it up. He wouldn't let me get a v8 Nope, he said you're not getting a v8 as long as you're living at my house because they're too much power And so he said no and he bought this car and he bought it off an old lady The car was 11 years old and had 26,000 miles on it. And so he bought it off his grandma and it looked just like a grandma's car. But I had a vision. I know what to do with this car. It ain't gonna look like a grandma's car by the time I get done with it. And it didn't. So I had this car, man, I was so happy to have my own car. I probably loved it more than I loved God at times. Now, don't look at me like you pig and you heathen. You can love your property and your house more than you love God at times. And a car, and that boat, and that lake house, or whatever you want to talk about, the stuff and the things of this world that go up and down. And then we'd have my dad go to youth camp. That's when I told my dad, Dad, I'm not going to camp this year. I would be 16 soon. I'm not going to camp. My dad said, boy, you're going to camp. I said, I believe I will. So I went to camp. And I went to camp and I got right with God and I surrendered to preach about two weeks after camp. And I mean, I was moving along and I was a testimony and a witness at school. And then Sandra, my wife, her family came and joined our church. And she and her brother doubled our youth department, because it was just my sister and me, and there wasn't much harmony in our youth department, you know. And so, anyway, it doubled, and here came Sandra. And she was singing up in the choir with about eight people, and I'm sitting right about where you are, Austin, right there by one of my dad's good friends. I was sitting there, and I looked up there, and I saw Sandra up there singing, and that head kind of sheepishly down, and a sweetness on her face. And I sat there, I was 17 years old, And I sat there and I just, I said, that's her. I'm going to marry that girl. And it wasn't like, I'll marry that girl. No, it wasn't that. It scared me to death. I couldn't even go talk to her. I'd get sick of my stomach thinking about talking to her. I had to have my little sister who caused me all kinds of problems. I had to have her go talk to my, to Sandra to even get us together. I couldn't handle it myself. Yeah. And she came into my life and took over. She did. Because I do believe, I mean, I don't know when I actually began to love her like a man ought to love a woman or not, but I loved her more than I did God. And it wasn't her fault. It wasn't her fault. She just being her sweet self. It was me that lost my mind. and everything, yeah, up and down. Is everybody with me here? Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down. You know what Jude says? Let's stop that. Beloved, keep yourselves in love with God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Love not the world, neither the things that are in this world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him. In other words, you can't have it equal where you love the things of this life and the things of the world equal to what you love God. That is an insult to God. And what is the first and great commandment? Does anybody know? It's in the King James, so we may not be able to understand it. But let's try. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Now that is clearly stated by Jesus. What is the first and great commandment? And he didn't stutter. He said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with heart, soul, and mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So there's a fairly important subject we have here. Keeping ourselves in love with God. And we know that we should. And we know those ups and downs shouldn't be there, don't we? We know that. At least me and the preacher do. But we know those shouldn't be there. How do you get there? That's what I love about the plainness and the clarity of this passage. Because what he says is how it is that a person stays in love with God. Now look in verse number 20. Verse 20, build up yourselves on your most holy faith. And I preached most of the sermon the last time, two years ago about that. Exercise in the word of God. Nobody's, excuse me just a second. Nobody's gonna ignore this book, the precious word of God, and love God more. Nobody is going to ignore this book without loving God less. It's just not going to happen. And so that's what he is saying there. I don't have time to build the case again, but build up yourselves on your most holy faith, exercise in the Word of God. Secondly, he says, praying in the Holy Ghost. which has nothing to do with something strange and weird and some zap where somebody speaks and nobody knows what they're saying and they say he's full of Holy Ghost spoken tongues. Excuse me. That's not even remotely related to tongues in the New Testament at all, at all. I said at all. It's not even, what they call tongues today is not even a distant cousin to what's here. Word of God. What does it mean praying in the Holy Ghost? Likewise, here's what Paul said, likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should pray for as we are, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So what does that mean? Well, we don't go to God and tell Him how to do things. We We do not go to God and demand anything of Him. But we do go to God desiring, as Jesus did, for the Father's will to be done. And let's face it, we don't always know the Father's will. At lunch today, I got a phone call and I called a guy back later after lunch and he told me a situation they were in and wanted to know if I could work it out and be there and such as that. And I said, well, it's gonna take some doing, but we've got about eight days before a decision has to be made. So he's gonna pray about it and I'm gonna pray about it. And so we're gonna both pray about it. My wife got involved in it. I was talking to her later because this is gonna rearrange some plans that she had. And so therefore, I got her praying about it too. And the truth of the matter is, I couldn't sit there and say, this is of God that I do this. And there's not a verse in the Bible that says I have to do what he's asking me to do. There's not a verse in the Bible that says he's gonna be out of the will of God if he didn't ask me. We're both just seeking the will of God. So what do you do? We don't go tell God how to do it. We just say to God, know. You know what's right. You know what would best serve your purposes. Not my calendar, not His wishes, not His desire, not even what my beloved wife wants. It's not the most important thing. What is the will of God? So you go to God and you pray independent upon the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit of God who knows the will of God and makes intercession for us according to the will of God. So to pray independence upon him. So how will you make a final decision? I don't know. But I know the Holy Ghost is in here. And I know my wife is a spirit-filled lady. And I know the preacher I'm talking to is a spirit-filled man. So I'm just allowing like he has done over and over and over and over again. He'll bear witness by the Holy Spirit. That's what the Holy Spirit in us does, bears witness to the truth, bears witness to the will of God, and gives prompting to his saints to act according to his will. That's praying in the Holy Ghost. I think the bigger question is, do we pray? And that's what I preached the rest of the sermon on two years ago about our prayer life. Excuse me, just say, no love relationship thrives without meaningful communion. And we got people in this room today that have been married longer than I have. My wife and I have been married 57, we're growing up 58 years, and I've already met some that have been married 60 plus, 60 plus years. We have dear, a man that used to be on our church staff, Bill and Joy Chevron. They got married when they were 18. They have now been married 70 years. 70 years. Wow. And you ought to see them together, and you ought to hear them talk together. And she looks after him. Good gracious sakes, that guy's so spoiled, it's just unbelievable. She loves that man, and he loves her. But no love relationship thrives without meaningful communion, meaningful communication. I emphasize the word meaningful, because there's a difference in saying, oh man, I gotta hurry, but I haven't had my prayers yet prayed, and off we go. You can say your prayers to pacify your conscience, that's not the same as meaningful communion. There are times, Sandra and I, we drive a lot these days, and so we're together a lot that way, and I love it, but there are times we chat a little here, chat a little there, a little small talk, and she'll read, and I'll talk and listen to my music, or a sermon, or something like that, and we might just say this or that along the way, and then there are times that the noise has to stop, that the music is not on, there's not anybody preaching, and she and I get into this very meaningful communication. Well, that's where love grows right there. I said, that's how it happens. And there are people that expect to know and sense and feel the presence of God and the love of God, but totally ignore meaningful communion with Him. parents and children, or a wife and husband, or good friends, no love relationship thrives without meaningful communion. You will not play games in your prayer life and love Him more. Amen. Why did it get so quiet in here? I don't know. But anyway, look on. Now, what are we talking about? Well, we're talking about the main thing, verse 21. Verse what He says, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Well, what's that have to do with anything? It has to do with keeping yourself in love with God. That's what he's talking about. Is everybody with me here? If we can't agree on this central idea here, then I'm just gonna say a bunch of words. But if we understand what he's trying to do is help us. Help us understand that if we're gonna stay in love with God like we're supposed to, and love him as Jesus said the first commandment requires, it's not gonna happen without exercising the word, and it's not gonna happen without meaningful communion, and it's not gonna happen if we are not looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ eternal life. Now, about that line, I went for a long time just assuming that that meant the second coming of Jesus Christ. And Pastor, assuming, everybody else assumed the same thing. And then when I got to working on it one time in a little different way and started the little series I'm talking about here, then I thought, you know, I need to look into this and make sure I'm right because I could read it and sure, that's what it looks like to me, but is it so? So what I did is I did some digging into this phrase, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And there wasn't a whole lot said about it by commentators and such as that. And so here's what I did. I told you before, I'm big into looking up definitions and such as that. And probably if you said to the average person, I was just looking in a Bible, good Bible dictionary, to see what it means looking unto. You have to look in a dictionary to see what it means to look into or unto or to look for? You have to look that up? Yeah, I know, it's pretty sad, isn't it? But it's not because I have no mental capacity. No, I don't have exceptional mental capacity, but I wanna be true to what's the scripture say. And so when I looked this up, I found out that looking unto these words that we have here, it has to do with anticipation. This is no surprise, but it has to do with anticipation of something ahead. Or, watch this now, anticipation of a promise made being fulfilled. That's what he's talking about. So what we then want to do is look at this and say, Jude is talking about staying in love with the Lord, and he has said, look unto the mercy of our Lord Jesus, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Well, then the question comes is, did Jesus give his disciples then and all subsequent disciples? Did he give us any reason to look ahead to something that he promised? Now, he did promise them something. He told them, I'm gonna go to Jerusalem, be delivered into the hands of sinners, and the publicans, and the enemies, and I'm gonna be killed. That's what he said. He made that promise. That's when Peter got ahold of him, no, no, no. Peter said, no, this shall not be unto you, not under my watch. This ain't gonna happen. and there's a whole lot of preaching that should be done about that, but I'm just saying, Peter said that. No. But he said, no, I'm going to Jerusalem. So one thing we know, if Jesus said, I'm gonna go to Jerusalem, and I'm gonna be delivered into the hands of people that hate me, and I'm gonna be crucified or killed, if he said that was gonna happen, then we know already, you might as well take that to the bank. Because he doesn't say things just to say things. And he didn't make that statement and then expect them not to believe it was gonna happen. He fully meant for them to understand this is gonna happen. But that's already happened. So how could you and I take Jude's words that already happened by the time Jude wrote? And he is saying to the saints then, to the saints as it lives in the word of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. What has he given us to look forward to that hasn't come to pass? Well, you study that yourself. And what I found out is this, that Jesus, well, he said to them, as they were troubled about his coming death, he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, come on now, here it is again. It's King James, but if you think real hard, I think we can get it. He said, I will come again. Now you may need some real experts to figure out what that means, but I think the Bible makes it pretty clear what it means. When he says, don't let your heart be troubled. I'm gonna go to prepare a place for you. And this is after his death. And then when I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also. Now that's a promise that has yet to be fulfilled. And we call that the second coming of Jesus. Naturally, the second coming of Jesus, in spite of all the effort of the devil to confuse the issue, and it seems to come in waves, and there's a wave of it going on right now, but when we talk about the second coming of Jesus, we understand that Jesus is gonna come again, and we're gonna be caught up to be with him, and go to be with the Lord. there is a time He is coming from Heaven to this earth and He is going to rule and reign for 1,000 years and we are coming with Him. So when we say the Second Coming we are talking about the whole package. We are talking about the Rapture where the word Rapture is in even the Bible. Oh, Ravon for crying out loud. The definition of it is I will come again and receive you unto Myself. That is the definition of Rapture. The apostle Paul said, let not your heart be troubled. No, let's see, what did he say? There in 1 Thessalonians in chapter four, how was it he put that? How's that start? I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that your sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again from the dead, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or proceed. Them which are asleep for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up. That's the definition of rapture. The word rapture isn't there. caught up, that's the definition of the word rapture. If somebody doesn't say amen, I'm gonna preach this for about a half an hour. I mean, he said he will come again and receive us unto himself, and that's where we're gonna go and be with the Lord. Jesus is coming again. There are 7,957 verses in the New Testament. 7,957. One, as it averages out, one in every 25 verses is going to confront us on an average about the coming of Jesus Christ. That would be in the New Testament 318 times. So 318 times in the New Testament, if you just read the New Testament, I'm just starting Matthew, and read through the Revelation, there are no less than 318 times that we are gonna be confronted with the reality that Jesus is coming again. And that's what he is talking about. The apostle Paul wrote in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, he said, behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about the coming of Jesus. moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the imminent anytime return of Jesus Christ. Oh, it's amazing. Paul wrote in the Philippians, and he said to the Philippians, he said, that when Jesus comes, He said He is going to change this vile body that it might be fashioned like unto His own glorious body by the same working whereunto He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. So what is he talking about? He said, our conversation or our citizenship is in heaven, from which we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change this vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body. That's what the Apostle Paul said. Jesus is coming. Now don't get too excited. We're just talking about Jesus actually, literally coming. It's nothing to get worked up about. It's just a reality that could happen at any second. For the grace of God to bring us salvation has appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. What did he say? He said, Jesus is coming again. That's what he said. He's coming. 318 times in the New Testament we're confronted with it. Don't you love the words of John when he said, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Now again, let me calm you down a little bit, not get too excited. We're just God's children. God who is God is our Father. We call Him our Father. Jesus taught us to pray. When thou prayest, enter into thy closet and shut the door and say this, our Father. And if you're ever having trouble with self-esteem, why don't you go in the closet and go to God and say, Father, and then think about what you just said. That on the authority of His Word, you called the God who is your Father. calls you as a believer in Jesus, His child. Now calm down. Don't get excited. We're just talking about the relationship that we have with God. Oh, and that's why John said, behold. He said, behold is not a No, it's passion. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, the children of God. Now are we the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Oh yeah, he's coming, absolutely. Well, why are we talking about all this? It's directly related to keeping ourselves in love with God. It's directly related to that. Excuse me, do you think if a person goes along long stretches of time and they are not living with any expectancy of Jesus' return, their love for Him is growing? Because if they're not focused on His coming, where is their focus? I said if they're not focused upon Jesus, if they're not focused upon His promise, if they're not looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ and to eternal life, if there's no anticipation of that, then where is their focus? Probably here. Probably things here. Stuff here. Duties here. Activities here. Money here. On and on. Relationships here. And that's why he says, set your affection on things above. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And it has everything to do with whether we're staying in anticipation has to do with the expectation that Jesus is coming again. We are thinking of him. He is going to come. He gave us every reason to believe it. In 1966, Sandra and I got married. In 1967, we graduated from Bible College. And they had given me a diploma at the graduation, but they said if I really wanted anything on it, I should stay for summer school and do a couple of courses. Okay, so I'd messed up some grades. But anyway, so I stayed for summer school. at the end of summer school during that summer the pastor that was a childhood hero of mine that preached the revival meetings in our courthouse park in our hometown that God used to get our church started and all it's a it's an incredible story I don't have time to tell it all well he came and he said to me Sam you and Sandy need to come and visit City, that's the southeast Oklahoma City suburb. You need to come and I'll talk to you when you get there. So you come on this weekend." I said, well, I don't think my job, I doubt if I can get off to come. He said, then quit your job and come. He was not a real patient man. So he said, then quit your job and come. And I said, yes, sir. So I went and told my boss and he said, yeah, go ahead. So I went off and went down there and I And he had me give a devotion to some men. And he talked to me, took me to his house. And that night he said, well, you and Sandy need to go back. And now that you're finished with your summer course, he said, get your stuff together and quit your jobs and get down here. The sooner the better. And I said, okay. He didn't say anything about here's what we'll pay, here's what your job is. He didn't say anything. He just said do it. So I said, OK, and we're driving back to Springfield, Missouri. And I said, did he just hire us? Or what are we doing? She said, I don't know what we're doing. So we both agreed we didn't know what was going on. But we did move down there. And they had a house. The church owned homes. So he gave me the responsibility of starting an adult Sunday school class. telling the pastor and the guys on Monday that when I started this class I could have nobody that just came in off the street to visit the church. None of them could come to my class. I could only have the people not from any other class in the church I had it could only be people that Sandra and I brought to church. And we're going to build a class with them. And if in one year the class does not pay my salary then I can go find another job somewhere. And that was how it was. And he meant it. He meant it. And so I told them the upside of that is I didn't get paid much. So it wasn't quite as hard as you might think, you know. But it was a challenge. Well, in the midst of that, we both volunteered for a bus route and started working a bus route. She over in Midwest City. She over in, yeah, North Dale City and North Midwest City. I over in Central and South Midwest City, Oklahoma, a suburb there by Tinker Air Force Base, a big area all attached to Oklahoma City. So anyway, we started a bus route. Well, there were many military personnel that lived off base, married men. And so in knocking doors and trying to build a bus route, I'd find prospects. And so that's how we built a class, just like that. And so I can remember early on I'd probably been there two to three years, somewhere right in there. And I had two couples, now these two couples, there was more than this, but two couples that were military and neither one of them were members of our church yet. I think one of them needed to be saved, one of the men, the others professed to be saved. And so I was just working with them along. And teaching the class and visiting their home and trying to encourage and such as that. Well, about like that, the men got called up, these two men got called up to go TDY. And that means they're going to be gone from their military guys know what that's about. And so they're going to be gone from their family for a year. One was going to Germany and the other was going to South Korea. And so before they left, I went by their house and had prayer with them. You gotta understand, I was no older than them. And I was 24, going on 25 years of age probably. And so I went by their house and I prayed with them, because they're gonna be apart. I challenged them to communicate well while they're gone, you know, and make sure they keep themselves right. Wife and kids stay in church and on and on. We had a good time with them, and they took off. then time passed. And one of the ladies dropped plum out of sight. I couldn't find her, couldn't get any response. My wife and I couldn't get any response out of her at all. And the other one was hit and miss and I could tell by her attitude something is not right. And what happened in one case was the man from Europe I think I'm almost sure he's in Germany or Belgium I can't remember which but anyway he came back with a woman who and told his wife, I'm divorcing you and I'm marrying her. And I remember at that stage of my life, I was shocked and it was shit rattling to me. And the other one came back, and his wife had met a man at work. She got a job, her kids were in school, very early in school, but she got a job because she needed to do something with herself, and met a man there that was interested in her in a way that her husband never had been, and in her loneliness, and on and on. And I sat down with both of these couples, and both of them said the exact same things. that from the time they left, they had every intent of doing things right. They had every intent. But I don't know, the time of departure, then the communication dropped off, and then duties called where the communication couldn't be quite like it was before. And I don't know, there was just kind of a communication breakdown, and then it seemed like it was so long, too long. And they were weak and couldn't wait. And it was heartbreaking. And I remember going to church when I was, how old are you Austin, 16? 14, 12. Revival is about the Second Coming of Jesus. I sat there as a 12-year-old kid thinking, I'll never graduate from high school. Jesus is coming before I'll graduate. I believed it. I did. And then it looked like I was going to graduate from high school, or at least they'd moved me on. And so I got to thinking, yeah, well, this may work out after all, but I'll never get married. Sandra came into my life and our revivals had so much to do with about the coming of Jesus that I remember thinking if we're going to get married we probably ought to hurry up and do this because I believed Jesus was coming again. God called me to preach and went off to Bible college. I remember in the prophecy class we had a great teacher, Brother Sears was a wonderful teacher and he was teaching about it while a lot of things were going on in the Middle East and there was a whole lot of prophecy interest and everything. And I remember thinking, well I'm here and I've surrendered to preach but I'll never preach because I thought Jesus was coming. And I did. I truly did. Now, here I am, 78 years old, and Jesus hadn't come. What am I to do with that? What do you mean, what am I to do with that? I'm supposed to look for Jesus to come. Because that He didn't come in the realm of my expectation doesn't mean He's not coming. We don't want to be like those that said, oh, there's really no need, like they said back in the book of Ezekiel. Oh, the things Ezekiel's prophesied about, don't get worked up about that. Those things are far off. There's no need to get excited about what he's talking about, Isaiah, Jeremiah, about the coming of Babylon and the judgment of God. Those things are way off. Just live it up, live it up. We don't want to be among that number. We don't want to be like the scoffers who said, where is the sign of his coming? And there are some people that have reached that point, I'm afraid, and they would never say that out loud, perhaps. But by the observance of the dedication, the devotion of their life, and what's really important to them, and what they really live for, often doesn't have anything to do with the expectation of the coming of Jesus Christ. Why? Well, because it's been so long. They were preaching about it years ago and years ago and years before you ever came along, Davidson. They were preaching about that and Jesus hadn't come yet. I'm here to tell you right now, ladies and gentlemen, we are confronted with the Word of God that Jesus said, I will come again. And what kind of sense does it make that we assemble less as we see the day approaching, instead of assembling more. And who, in their right mind, could look at the condition of our world right now, and in light of the prophecies, while we're not looking for signs of His coming, who could not be thinking If I lived in the last days, which I did as a boy, and Paul lived in the last days, which he did as an apostle, surely we're in the last days of the last days. Surely we are. And we're supposed to anticipate his coming. And if we're not anticipating his any time coming, he'll still come, but our hearts, where will they be? Our affection, where will it be? Our devotion, to whom will it belong? And if we're not anticipating, expecting the coming of Jesus, then we'll flirt around with the world like that lady did with the man at work. Like the man did with the woman in Germany. Does everybody listen to this? That's where many a saint is. I'm not accusing you, I'm not able to say, it just appears as a pastor, I watched it, and it's just hard to keep people focused on the fact that Jesus is coming again. I was about five or six years old, and after the wheat harvest, my dad loaded up his combine, on a truck. Boy, the scenes of those days are still in my mind. But he loaded that old Massey Harris combine up on this little two-ton Chevy truck, 1946 Chevy. And so he loaded it up, and his brother loaded up his combine, my uncle, and my grandpa loaded up his three combines, and they took off because of my grandpa's connections and went to Kansas to cut wheat. And so I was very close to my dad, always was till the day he died. I was 37 years old when he died. And so, you know, my dad was leaving, and my brothers, they were 8 and 10 years older than me, and so they were both teenagers. And so I couldn't ride the tractors with him. We had two tractors. My dad put them to plow and doing the work while he's gone on the wheat harvest trying to make a little extra money. And so there I am between my two sisters and missing my dad and, you know, feeling sorry for myself and all that kind of stuff. My sister got a new bike and about two weeks after my dad left and I was grieving that, I was trying to ride my sister's bike. My sister, two years older, she mastered it just like that. My little sister, a year and a half younger, it was like she was born on a bike and she just took off. And here I am out there in the driveway crashing and hurting myself and all kinds of issues. And so I'm riding that thing down at the end of the driveway. I looked down the road and I said to myself, that looks like daddy's truck. But I knew it wasn't time for him to come back. it sure looked like it. Then I talked myself out of it, tried to ride some more, looked back, and by the time I started back down again, my dad's turning in the driveway. And when I saw my dad coming home, I was totally, absolutely unexpecting it. And what happened is he had an accident where he about tore a finger off, hooked his ring on a bolt, jumping off the truck and hooked it on a sideboard fastener there, you know, and about tore his finger off. At the same time, it started raining. They couldn't cut wheat, so he just jumped in the truck, took his opportunity to go home, go to his own doctor, and get patched up again. So when my dad pulled in the driveway, my mom came out of the house. She knew he was coming. My brothers started coming out of the field, and they saw him driving up the road. And they saw him coming. Everybody's out hugging Dad. And you know what I did? I started crying. When I saw him come, when I knew it was him, I just started bawling. Why are you crying? I was just so happy. I didn't know why. I just couldn't help it. I just started squalling and bawling. And my sisters went up, and they greeted Dad and everything. I'm standing over there. I'm trying to work my way in. Dad said, Sam, he told me this about three times, if you don't stop crying, I'm not going to pick you up and talk to you. If you don't stop crying, I'm not going to talk to you. So I'd cry more, louder. And I mean, I was just having emotional issues at that time. And there was any medication for me or anything. So I was just there bawling and squalling and finally I got it under control and my dad picked me up and we had dad and bud time and it was all great. And I thought later, if somebody had told me, I wouldn't have been squalling like that. I'd have been looking for my dad and I'd have been delighted and happy and rejoicing, standing at the front of the line for my dad to love me and pick me up and give me that bud hug. No, I didn't know he's coming. I got totally surprised by the fact that he's coming. Now, hold on just a second. If you get surprised by the coming of Jesus Christ, that's on you. Absolutely, no argument about it, that's on you. Did I tell you how many verses there are in the New Testament? I thought so. Do you remember how many times it's mentioned? 318 times. Do you know why we ought to be exercising ourself in the Word of God? Exercising yourself in the Word of God is gonna give you a continual reminder of the coming of Jesus. I found it in the 96th Psalm today, in the Old Testament. Jesus is coming again. And if you get surprised by that, then who is responsible for that? If you haven't been in communion with him, you may not be expecting him. You may get all interested in the things about you and think they're actually important. No, I'm serious about this. But if you are in communion with him and you are in his word, exercising yourself therein, then you can't but live with the awareness that Jesus is coming again. close with this. Paul said, I fought a good fight. I finished my course and I've kept the faith. He's not boasting except in the Lord. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the righteous, the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but But to all them also who love His appearing." Do you love Him? Then wouldn't it be sensible to say, we will love His appearing? Did you love your dad, Sammy? Yes, I love my dad. When he appeared, was you happy? So happy I couldn't even talk. all I could do was squall. It wasn't because of offense. It was just I was overwhelmed. I didn't know my dad was coming. Look at this, my dad. I didn't expect him for weeks. And there he was. He's coming. For all those that love his appearing. You know where a lot of people are today in this confused world? world of turmoil and upheaval as we watch ourselves losing our country right before our eyes. You know where a lot of people are? I've heard it. I've heard it with these ears. I just wish Jesus would come and get us out of here. I just wish Jesus would come and get us out of here. And where I felt like I could and I knew the people well enough I'd say, wrong motive. That is not noble. You're selfish. Because it's not we're to love our disappearing because of the craziness of this world, but we're to love Him to the degree that our desire is His coming and being with Him, not absent from here. Is everybody with me? In other words, as my pastor used to say, we're not to love our disappearing, we're supposed to love His appearing. And that's where we're supposed to be. But it all goes together. Exercising in the Word of God. and we'll be reminded over and over. Holy Ghost. Keep in meaningful communion with God. Pray, listen, we have a great High Priest Jesus. Let us come before Him, the Scripture says, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Love Jesus. Commune with Him. Sing of Him. Speak of Him. Worship Him. Talk to Him. Talk to Jesus. He's real. He's there. He wants you to talk to Him. And and talk to Him, and then that anticipation of His coming will keep the fire lit under the heart that will desire and love His appearing. Father, help us. Help us. Help us not to get entangled in the things of this life. We had the text of the soils the other day. The rocky ground is shallow. There's not much depth there. Not much can come of that. The thorny ground, well, it's the cares of this life that choke out any interest in the coming of Jesus and our communion with Him. Oh God, may our hearts be good soil. May our hearts be attuned. May we live with expectancy. Help us, oh God, to be people of the Bible, not in a token manner, but genuinely. As we read last night, great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. And we love the law when we are in awe of it, when we love it. And we are affected when we act upon your word, oh God, and obey it. All of this goes together. so that we might be prepared, ready, anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ. We say with John, help us to say it sincerely, amen, even so come, Lord Jesus. If there's somebody that can't pray that with a sincere heart, then probably there's work that needs to be done before your throne. Might your Holy Spirit work. If somebody's here that's never been saved, might they just acknowledge that and come down here to the front and let us take the Bible and take them aside and show them how they can know they have eternal life. Help your people, oh God, work in our hearts in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together, shall we?