Our Father, sometimes we become so settled to a form, and I fully believe that that which we have here is correct, a correct form of worship. Introduction to. But because we leave out one or two things. It can affect us that we never really get involved in hearing. So we ask thee for help. We ask thee for the spirit, thy spirit. that you might give the right words, that you might quicken your word to our hearts, and that you might give us a soft, pliable, receptive heart, for thy word is so scarce. or not that everyone doesn't have a Bible. But sometimes we can read and seemingly never, never hear from thee. Then maybe the next time just one verse opens up And in that verse, we hear thy voice to us. Lord, we can only plead with you for your mercy and grace to be bestowed upon us, that you might open our eyes to behold wondrous things, wondrous truths, out of thy word. Give us hearing ears and understanding heart. And may each of us now in our own hearts as we pray, have something of thy greatness, thy magnificence, Your being infinite and yet condescending to speak with us and to visit with us. And your love was so for a people that you gave your son. You put us in his place and you put him in our place as a guilty sinner. Our Father, our entrance into glory is based solely upon him and his great salvation. So I pray you might help each of these. You direct us, Lord, for thine own glory and Christ's exaltation in our midst. In his name we pray, amen. I suppose the fitting title this morning would be The Last and Final Apostasy. Though you will not read these words, for I am looking this morning. But if you do not know by now that you and I are living in one of the most dangerous times that there's ever been. The voice of God is almost gone. The workings of the Spirit They are so few and far between that sometimes we go through long days without a word from that distant land. Out of the tender voice of our God, speaking in our ears to our hearts. Later on, you will turn. Are you already there, Jude? And I want to look from verse 10 down through 20, 21, but this would be the verse that I would use. to tell you about the last and final apostasy on the earth. In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse three, where Paul said, you let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, shall not come, except there come a falling away. Falling away is a defection. This has always been. Since the very beginning of time, many will make a profession, but there will be only few that will endear to the end. But falling away also means apostasy. Gonna be a great falling away. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Now in the same chapter there, 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul said the mystery You won't know anything about it unless God tells you. See, I might have a mystery that I keep to myself, but if I wanted to share it with anyone, then you would know. The mystery of iniquity and very few, will ever know about the mystery of iniquity. But Paul said, it's at work, already at work. Only he, the Spirit of God that now leadeth, that is to hold back, will lead or hold back until he be taken out of the way. Now, folk, you don't have to be very old in the Lord. And you do not have to have been walking with Him for a long period of time to know that the Spirit of God is not working today as He worked even 20 years ago or 50 years ago. And even then, He was being withdrawn from us. Paul wrote the last letter to the church at Thessalonica about 31 or 32 years after the death of Christ. And he said, the mystery is already here. That of iniquity, it's already at work. Now, when our Lord Jesus rose from the grave that sealed and secured His Word and His works, though that time was without a witness, earthly witness. But He did remain on earth 40 days after that, showing Himself to the disciples here and there, And then after his ascension, later on to Saul of Tarsus, the last one, except John there, exiled as a prisoner to the Isle of Patmos, where he saw Christ there in his glory. And when Prior to, prior to his death, John 14, he told the disciples, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. Well, they couldn't understand language like that. I'll be with you to the end of the world. I will come. You will be comforted. Lord, how are you gonna do that and you taken into glory? And we remain in here. How? I'm going to send the comforter. I will not leave you comfortless. So 10 days after Christ rose, After He departed from this old world, back to be seated at the right hand of His Father, then the Spirit descended, and the other sheep that Christ told the disciples that He had, He said, I got other sheep that are not of this foal. And so when the Spirit of God descended, and He anointed men to go preach the gospel, and especially Paul to the Gentiles, to the other sheep, our Lord said, when He's come, when the Spirit of God's come, He'll reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. That's John 16. Now, fellas, this you must do. Terry, in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endowed with power from on high. Until you are endowed, until you put on, until you're clothed with. And it really means until you slip into this garment, endowed with this power, I think of a fireman and their sleeping quarters on the second floor and the alarm goes off and within a matter of seconds they are fully clothed downstairs on the fire truck. They've got them where they slip into them and they're gone. When he is come, ye will be endued with power from on high. And that will bring about the completion of God's work on earth as the sent ones go out into all the world, proclaiming the gospel in power. But as I told you, the Spirit descended 10 days. Tarry in Jerusalem. Get ready for You need time to prepare for the reception of the Spirit of God. You know all of us are in a rush to get somewhere, to get something done. We'll cut short our time in the closet. We'll cut short our time in preparation to sit here on the pews. We just don't have time today to wait on the Lord. God called Moses and Joshua and 70 of the elders up into the mountain. And then he called Moses and Joshua on up, but they tarried. They tarried until the seventh day when the Lord called them, come up and the mount was on fire. Moses had to be ready to enter into that blazing fire. And Acts 2, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, 50 days after, later being the second of the third great feast. That was right before or right after a completed harvest. 50 days after the Passover lamb was offered. Seven weeks. And those men had 10 days to wait. There in that upper room, suddenly there was a sound of a rushing mighty wind that filled the house. Not only wind, but cloven tongues sat upon them, cloven tongues of fire, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Shortly after, I wished all of our little ones were here. You can carry this to them. Shortly after, and I'm not only speaking to them, but I'm speaking to every one of you here. Not long after they were filled with the Holy Ghost, Peter stood up and said, You men have taken, and by wicked hands you've slain and crucified the Lord of glory. You did it. Well, that was the promise in Zechariah 12, I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of supplication and they shall look on him whom they've pierced and shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only begotten son. So now as Peter was about to finish that great sermon there on the day of Pentecost, he told all of them to remain in their seats. And at the end, then he would have someone come up and lead them in a hymn, and it would be the invitation that day. And everybody that wanted to be saved could be saved. But all of you wait now till I give this invite to come down to this altar. Not a one of them was invited to accept Jesus. Not a one of them was told that someone had opened this little can prior And they were told what to say. You don't have to tell a guilty sinner looking on the Lord Jesus that he or she had part in his death. Now you gotta repent and you gotta believe. That crowd cried out, men and brethren, what must we do? How long's it been since you heard anything like that? How long's it been since you actually saw an individual that was guilty before God? And he won't ever save you until you become lost. Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved? That's what takes place under Holy Spirit anointed preaching. People's hearts are pierced. And for the first time ever, they become guilty. Oh, not of a few little sins, but of putting Christ to death. If you're saved, he died in your place. If you are a Christian, he paid your eternal hell. That's not going on today. And you young ones, don't you let anybody, I mean, don't you let anybody You don't have to be young. Don't you let any of you here let anybody talk you into some little old sweet profession of faith. When he is come, Jesus said of his spirit, he will reprove the world. Reprove him of sin, of judgment, He's going to do that. That occurred under Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s. And during that sermon centers in the hands of an angry God. He paused more than once and saying to those that were sitting on the pews, weeping, try to hold down your moans and try to control your weeping. Let me get through. My, if that happened in America today, you wouldn't hear about some revival that's taking place where they got instruments on the stage, exciting people, and it lasts for weeks. Wouldn't be any of that. But we don't even know what that is anymore. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may also be. And you hear that time and time again at a funeral. Well, the Lord Jesus just came after his, but they might be with him. No doubt that's true. But I assure you of this, that time and time again, and that one that is now in glory, they were with him. Oh, their feet didn't leave the earth. But their heart was up there, their affections was up there. I'm going to prepare a place for you and I will come again. There seated in glory, I will receive you unto myself. Children, there's nobody gonna be in glory except those that are with him in time. No one. God didn't save you and turn you over to look after religious deeds. He saved you to bring you to Him time and again. The sinner made aware of his condition. He repents, he believes, but it is a lifetime of striving to be with Him on a daily basis. I feel the day is wasted if I can't get there. And it is you down here with Him. That's the only thing that's going to prepare you to be with Him eternally. We sing We sing a hymn. I think it was Isaac Watts, either he or Newton. How sweet and awful is the place with Christ within the doors while everlasting love displays the choices of our stores. How sweet is this place as Christ does that. Here every bowel of our God with soft compassion rolls. Here peace and pardon bought with blood is food for dying souls. And you ought to ask what the old hymn writer asked. Why was I made to hear thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands made a wretched choice and rather starve than come? I wish that they, in pointing that, had not left out the last verse. We long to see thy churches full that all the chosen race may, with one voice and heart, sing thy redeeming grace. How precious is that to you. And can those words that you say as we look through our hymn from time to time. Is it your heart running out? Is it a time of praise and thanksgiving? Or has your singing become just a routine? Only you can answer that. Now, Jude, verse number 10, we begin. But these speak evil of those things which they know not. but what they know naturally. That's the way of salvation today, natural. As brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Now there are three men mentioned in verse number 11. These, verse 10, have gone in the way of Cain. Cain approached God without a sufficient sacrifice. Cain looked at the works of his hands. He was a good farmer. He brought from his garden things to offer to God. These are sufficient. I grew them. I did this. I labored for them. They're even better than that that my brother brought. He just went down to the flock. Oh, he said he was very selective in looking for that perfect lamb. But I worked. Second, Balaam. Balaam was a false prophet, though he heard the voice of God from time to time, even saying that when he died, he'd like to die the death of the righteous, but he wouldn't do it. He loved the wages of sin. So when he was offered money and a high position in government there, he wanted God to let him go. God said, you beware of being there before me. And the last was Corey. The gang sayings, Corey was a cousin of Moses. Corey thought, we don't need a priesthood. He told Moses, I and the congregation are all holy. Cain didn't need a sacrifice. Balaam didn't need the heart of a true prophet, and Corey, he didn't need an intercessor. Why'd you put Aaron in that position? I can go just as good as he can. Moses, don't you know that we're living in a democracy? No, no, none of you here ever begin to think that. You might vote on what color you want the walls or what you want for pews or hymn books, but you don't vote on receiving the Word of God and bowing to it. and you don't vote on bringing music in that is unscriptural, ungodly, and bringing in a lot of instruments. And I assure you, soon I, well, it might be a little while after I'm gone, you'll have that be offered to you. We can get more hearing. So God warned you. Acts begins and is the acts of the Holy Spirit. And the New Testament closes out with the acts of the evil spirit. That's our day. Now verse number 12, these are spots in your feast of charity. Oh, they feast with you. Feeding themselves without fear, clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees, started off with fruit, but it never matured. It withered. It's not the fruit you bear today, is what you will be bearing at the end of your life. Twice dead, plucked up by the roots, raging waves of sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars. You can't fix any directions by them. It's not like the North Star that hangs over the North all the time. These are just wandering out there. Wandering stars. To whom is reserved the blackness, children, As sure as I am before you here this day, there are many degrees, or let me just say degrees in hell. Luke 12, the one that knew to do his Lord's will and didn't do it, he's beaten with many stripes. You brought greater judgment on yourself by coming here, by staying here, unless you do something about and make this a productive place for your soul. That's the blackness of darkness. Hell's bad enough having to eternally pay a debt that you owe God that you never found a substitute for throughout your life. Verse 15, to cut it shorter, to execute judgment upon all, to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lust, Your mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But brethren, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles, of our Lord Jesus Christ. He told you there'd be markers in the last time. He told you about all these things. Now be cautious, watchful. He said in verse 20, building up yourself in the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. No man can get to God the first time for salvation, nor can, if he is saved, when he does get there and he will be, if he repents and believes, nor can he get there any time afterwards, except by the Spirit of God. Flesh cannot direct your path. And folks, I tell you again, you will know no more of God than of that that the Holy Spirit reveals to your heart. Oh, intellect can teach you a lot. Your steps could be ordered just like a righteous man. It doesn't mean anything. The Spirit of God has got to direct I will come again and receive you unto Myself. What about today, Lord? I didn't hear from you yesterday. What about today? It didn't seem like I was able to communicate with you yesterday in the closet. Would you make it possible today? Oh, I've got His Word, that's sufficient. It was that. His Word understood by the intellect of man and preached by the oratory skills of men, which brought about all these inventions that man made. God didn't take the learned. He didn't take the wise. He didn't take the dumbest. Fishermen and a tax collector would write the New Testament. He said, well, Paul was a very educated man, very brilliant, brilliant. They say he spoke five different languages fluently. Well, you know what God did? He sent him into the desert for three years. He got rid of everything that he knew, of the religion of his fathers, reduced him down to nothing. Same thing he did with Moses. Moses saw an Egyptian smiting one of his brothers, an Israelite, and he went out there and slew him. Next day, he stopped to quarrel between two. He thought, surely my time has come to lead these people out of bondage. For 40 years, God sent him on the backside of the desert to unlearn everything, educated in the high court of Egypt, set to take over the throne. But before he could ever become a true servant of God, 40 years out there, if I could use the word unlearning. And it was, it was Peter the one, Simon that denied him. But it was, it was that same Simon received forgiveness there on the banks of that shore one day that was anointed on the day of Pentecost. From the lips of a fallen disciple, thousands were brought into the kingdom of God that day. Paul wrote the letter to the Thessalonians, I think I told you 31 or 32 years after the death of Christ. Paul is already saying that the spirit of antichrist or the mystery of iniquity is at work. John is the one in closing out before the revelation. There are many antichrists, 1 John 2.18. They're already here. That was written less than a century after the birth of Christ. Less than 66, 67 years after the Spirit was poured out. You see how quickly we can lose God. And it won't be you waking up one morning and he's gone. It'll be you having gone through days. He's not there, but you're not concerned about it. Don't hear him in the book, don't hear it in preaching. You're not concerned about it. till one day you wake up too late. I come with a tremendous truth for you, the children of God, but a solemn warning for playing around with this God. Now hold your place here. in the New Testament. And I want you to go to the little book of Haggai. Best thing, just go to the beginning of Matthew and go back a couple of Haggai chapter one, beginning with verse nine. God's talking to his children. You look for much, I know it came to little. And when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? Said the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste. Folks, you can never do anything for this old building or for your church that's eternally lost. You never do anything except God or without the recognition of God. could just sweep the floor back there. Little thing, but oh, it is the little things that makes the child of God. This rich Christian, you look for much. I I blew upon it when you brought it home. Why, saith the Lord of hosts, because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. I call for a drought for the land. The word of God is often compared to rain, Deuteronomy. Dew or rain. And when these things are not taking place, you can plant whatever you want, you're not gonna get fruit from the ground or from the vine when there's a drought. And when there is a drought because of our carelessness in little things, You don't have to come down here and sweep the floor every day. You don't have to come down here in the week and sweep it. But there are some little things that could be done for the house of God. Remembering the other ones here, speaking to God about them, Folk, are we so wrapped up with my life and my deeds that I don't pray for anyone except me and my family? God, get us where we ought to be and what we ought to be. I called for a drought. upon the land, upon the mountains, upon the corn, upon the new wine, upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of thy hands. Drought, because my house is laid waste. Did you honestly believe that the preacher was in such need of God's help today that you prayed for him? Are these men that bring the devotions, that they just get these off the top of their head? Or you really believe that God must do it? You remember the hymn, how sweet and awful is this place with Christ within the doors. God help us, children, that he doesn't vacate us completely. Christ is only manifested here by spirit. And if that spirit's grieved, he vacates. the house and you, grieved or quenched. Won't heavens do? Live for him six days out of the week. You might have something when you get down here. You might hear something. Something might benefit your eternal soul. Little thing. One last, and I'll hurry. Philippians three. Philippians three, beginning with verse one. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision. Paul said true circumcision is that of the flesh. in Romans 2.29. We are the circumcision which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. If I worship God, like the Lord Jesus said, you must worship the Father in spirit and in truth. No worship apart from the attendance of the sweet spirit of God. Now children, you know this is true. After the spirit convicts one and then brings them to that one and only suitable sacrifice, there are two works. from that day continually taking place. Paul said, I've got no confidence in the flesh. From the day that you met Jesus, he begins taking away your own good works and your cloak of righteousness. But that's not once in a lifetime when you were converted. That's a daily, daily chore work of the Spirit. And it's a continual work throughout our lives. If God is not doing that for you, folk, you've lost Him somewhere if you ever had Him. How often have you experienced a brief moment, sometimes they seem so brief, you get through like it didn't even exist, but just a brief moment, maybe in prayer, with the God that could be here for you, when it seemed that your heart and affections were solely on Him. You didn't need anything, not a thing. But all of what's unbeknown to you, there you are. And it's such a sweet place to be there with the living Christ. But only to find, again, I'll use the word seemingly, almost immediately, some little shiny, flashy object will run across your mind or run across your heart and you're back on earth. This is hard. Mr. Spurgeon said, in the midst of all his duties and all his pain, He said, I honestly believe that there was never more than 15 minutes that my heart wasn't in fellowship with my Lord. Now, don't you that work and I still work, not physically, that's gone. But labor to have something from heaven for you. But for you that have jobs and so much is demanded physically or mentally or both, there is no way that you can be on a job and They're in heaven. Now, it can happen. But now and again, you've got to come down and take care of to see if this was done right, that was done right. And if I'm working with machinery or power tools or saws or whatever, I better have a mind on what I'm doing there or I'll go away less a limb or two. So don't go out of here thinking, I'm going to be like Spurge. I'm just saying you can have more. And you ought to want more, and you ought to seek for more, and you ought to quit letting the little foxes spoil your mind. And I close with this, the second continuous word from the day of salvation. is the Spirit of God leading you away from what seems to be always before you. Every day I go to the closet, the old man takes me there. And every day I open the book, the old man fastens his eyes on the Word of God. That's always there. Your sinful and predominant old man seemingly having the mastery over you no matter what you do, where you go. And it's here that it seems that your days are filled with this old fallen sinful nature. that the life of Christ dwells within. The work of the Spirit, number one, is lead you away from your own righteousness. Someone said, I can't remember where I read this, if one stitch of your garment that you got to get into glory, one stitch is of your own effort, you're not going. So he takes away our self-righteousness and our good works. But the second thing he does, he enables us to get above who I am by birth. And though a sinner will die a sinner, will forever on earth remain in this sinful nature, yet at times the Spirit of God gives you such a view of Christ that your old fallen nature doesn't have anything for you, you're just above it. And those old thoughts sometimes hinder you, those old deeds that would hinder you, or just that old sinful nature. Sometimes the Spirit of God thanks be unto our Lord. He'll give you such a view of the Lord Jesus. And he being my righteousness. And the old man is put down for a little while by a continuous work of the Spirit of God. You having a view of the finished work of Christ on Calvary and a regular view of your righteousness being that of Him. I'm clothed in the garments of his salvation, and I'm robed with his righteousness. I'm not always aware that when sin has the mastery, but the work of the Spirit is to lead me away from who I am in Adam. and enable me to see who I am in the Lord Jesus. Would you bow with me as we close? Our Father, if you've spoken to any, seal the word to their hearts. If they've lost a view of the glory of our Redeemer, And they've lost sight of that spotless garment and robe from Him that they wear. Bring them back. Renew a right spirit within all of us here. God help that we leave with a right heart, blessed. You take away that that you've given, and bring great punishment. Be merciful to all. In Christ's name, and for his blessed honor and glory, we pray these things, amen.