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Proverbs chapter 27, verse number
one. Boast not thyself of tomorrow,
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Do not boast
about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. With this one verse as our foundation,
the specific gospel objection that I want to set before us
this morning is, I'll get right with God later. I'll get right
with God later. Among all the verbal excuses
others give as to why they feel justified remaining indifferent
and careless toward matters relating to God, God's word, eternity,
and the state of their soul, surely this particular excuse
is among the most common. How many are those in this world
and even among the fellowship of the church who presumptuously
believe that they can come to God on their own timeframe? How many are those who suppress
committing themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ today because
they have convinced themselves that God will give them an opportunity
to be saved at a later time? in my conversing with others
about their personal need to reflect upon their accountability
to God, their approaching day of death, and their spiritual
need to be born again. Many times others will say, quote,
I'm not really interested in all of this God and Bible talk
you're speaking of at this particular moment in my life. But perhaps
sometime later in my life, I might be. Right now, I have a lot of
things in my life that demand my attention. Right now, I'm
busy with school. I'm a single parent. I have little
kids to take care of. I'm working several jobs. I'm
doing my best to provide for my family. I'm preparing to get
married. I'm dealing with various health
problems. I'm going through a divorce. I'm chasing after court appointments.
I have this concern and that responsibility, and I'm just
too overwhelmed by everything going on in life to even think
about where I'm going to spend eternity, much less commit the
whole of my life to being Jesus' disciple. So the verbal excuse
that is proclaimed is, maybe later. Maybe later in life I
will read the Bible. Maybe later in life, I will go
to church and learn more about the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe
later in life, I will become more serious about living for
God, but for now, I'm too busy. I don't have time. Tied in with this particular
excuse are those who purposely suppress thinking about the biblical
claims of Jesus Christ because they want to live how they want
to live outside of God's authority. Those belonging to this group
of people say things like, right now, I'm enjoying the youthful
years of my life. At this present moment, I'm having
fun, I have this girlfriend. I have this boyfriend. I enjoy going to the dance clubs.
I enjoy going to the casinos. I'm a part of a group of friends
who enjoy partying on Friday nights. I know that my life would
not be considered holy by any means, but I'm okay with that
because right now I'm finally doing what I want to do. Right
now I'm enjoying life to the fullest. They say things like, perhaps
when I'm older, I'll settle down and think about God, but at this
present moment, I'm content with where I'm at in life. The excuse
is, not now, but later. And the cycle usually goes something
like this. A child thinks or says to himself,
when I grow up, I'll seek after God. So the child grows up to
be a teenager, and when they are teens, they see that among
their peers, it is not cool to seek after God, so they think
and say, when I'm an adult, I'll seek after God. the teenager
graduates high school, perhaps they go to college, they join
the military, they find a job, they begin to seek after a career,
and the busyness of life and the sinful temptations of the
world begin to lure them away from thinking about their soul,
so they, as a young adult now, think and say, after I graduate
college, I'll seek after God. After my time in the military,
I'll seek after God. When I get married and start
a family, I'll seek after God. The young adult gets married,
starts a family, and is being pulled in every direction to
this responsibility and that responsibility. So they continue
pushing off, caring for their soul, suppressing their previous
affirmation to seek after God in their adult years, which leads
them to think and say as a young parent, when the kids get out
of the house, then I will seek God. The kids eventually leave the
house when they are mid-40s, perhaps 50s. Eventually, they
enter into their retirement years, no longer working as they once
did, no longer having all the responsibilities of life to attend
to, and they retire. In their retirements, they busy
themselves with traveling, with golfing, with gardening, with
playing pickleball, going to the senior center, watching TV
hours on end, playing games on their phone, chasing medical
appointments every other day, giving excuse after excuse as
to why they cannot commit themselves to Jesus Christ. So those who are 60, 70, and
80 say, I will get right with God on my deathbed. I will become
a Christian during the final hours of my life. Do you see
the pattern? Tomorrow becomes next week. Next
week becomes next month. Next month becomes next year. Next year becomes next decade,
next decade becomes when I'm dying, and before you know it,
death comes at an unexpected time, and then it's too late. I'm too busy for God leads to
death. Not now gives way to forever
being separated from God. So in the time we have together
this morning, I want to show you that God not only knows that
putting off Christ until tomorrow would be an excuse that we are
prone to make, In knowing our proneness to make this excuse,
God has provided us with a pill after a pill, argument after
argument, illustration after illustration, and reason after
reason in His Word regarding why making such an excuse is
reckless and can lead to our eternal ruin. Let me show you
what I mean by establishing in my first point the truth that
God, through his word, recognizes that presuming upon tomorrow
is our natural tendency. God, through his word, recognizes
that presuming we have tomorrow to live is common. If there's one truth that rings
loudly through the entirety of God's word, surely it is the
truth that in our sin, we foolishly think that tomorrow will inevitably
be ours. We foolishly think that we are
going to be living on this earth tomorrow, next week, next month,
when God provides us with no guarantee that such will be the
case. Let me illustrate. Isn't it interesting
that so many people become absolutely dumbfounded and devastated when
a close family member, friend, or well-known celebrity that
we know dies young and unexpectedly? When an infant dies, for one
reason or another, Others shake their head and wonder,
how can this be? When a child dies, others say
things like they had their whole life ahead of them. When a teenager
dies, in our minds we think they were so young. When a young adult
in their 20s, 30s, and 40 dies, it's almost as we act as if they
were guaranteed a long life. And strangely, strangely, even
when someone dies before they're 70, people say things like, wow,
65 is still young to pass away. In thinking and saying such things,
it's almost as if we assume that everyone is promised a long,
healthy life. Now deep down, we know that such
a reality is not consistent with life, yet nonetheless, there
is a natural presumption that abides in our mind that encourages
us to believe that we will be alive tomorrow, our spouse will
be alive tomorrow, our children will be alive tomorrow, our grandchildren
will be alive tomorrow, and the people we know and love will
be alive tomorrow. King Solomon says, boast not
yourself of having tomorrow because you are not in control of your
existence or your future. Boast not that you will have
an opportunity to get right with God at a later time because you
may be in eternity tomorrow. What is Solomon speaking about
here in Proverbs 27.1? He is speaking about our natural
tendency to think that we have tomorrow to prepare our soul
for death. Solomon is seeking to wake us
up and alarm us to reality. We do not have the promise of
tomorrow. Another text that speaks about our presumption upon tomorrow
is the text that we looked at last week from Luke chapter nine. among the three potential disciples,
as I call them, two foolishly thought that they had the freedom
to be Jesus' disciple at a later time. Do you remember? Two of the three potential disciples
in Luke chapter nine said, Lord, I will follow you. Lord, I will
be your disciple. Lord, I will do what you want
me to do, but not now. Later. Let me first do what I want to
do, and then, and only then, will I commit myself to you.
You see, there's the excuse. The excuse is later, at another
time. And the presumption tied in with
the excuse is that tomorrow will inevitably come. A third attention-grabbing text
that highlights man's presumption upon tomorrow is the Apostle
Paul's evangelistic opportunity before Felix, the Roman governor
of Judea. The Bible tells us in Acts 24-25
that having heard the apostle Paul speak boldly about the Christian
faith and Felix's need to personally seek after the Lord, Felix responded
by saying, Paul, go away for now. Paul, I've had enough of your
preaching. When I have a convenient season, I will call for you. Translation, Felix says, I've
heard what you have to say about God. I heard what you have to
say about sin, about Jesus Christ's salvation and eternity. I've
heard your plea for me to repent and believe the gospel, but I'm
not quite ready to believe your message. But when I have an opportunity
to think about these things, I will call for you. The excuse of Felix is, not now,
but later. And the presumption that is stimulating
his excuse is that he will be alive tomorrow. That God will
give him another opportunity to think about spiritual things
in the same way. To our knowledge, such a convenient
season never came for Felix. As far as we can tell, Felix
did not keep his word to call for Paul. As far as we can tell,
Felix continued to give excuse after excuse after excuse as
to why he did not have a convenient time to prepare his soul for
death. All these biblical exhortations
and examples solidify the first truth that I'm seeking to convince
you of this morning. It is our natural tendency to
presume upon tomorrow. I mean, how many of you wrote
death upon Monday's date tomorrow? Anybody have a calendar you said
death? I'm preparing to die tomorrow. None of us. We assume we're gonna
make it through the next week. So our natural tendency to think
about going past this month. It's our natural tendency to
think that we are going to be in a proper frame of mind to
consider Christ tomorrow. It's our natural tendency to
think that if we push away Christ now, we can quickly pull him
back at a later time. So this leads me then to the
second biblical truth that I want to submit on your hearts this
morning. Number one, God in his word not
only recognizes that presuming upon tomorrow is common, God
in his word would have us to know that presuming upon tomorrow
is foolish. It's foolish. It's foolish to
think that you know better than God. It's foolish to think that
you are the master of your future, the ultimate controller of the
days of your life. It's foolish to think that you
can seek God on your own terms and on your own timetable. It's
foolish to think that you are going to live forever. Listen to me for a moment. Do you know how many young people
in their 20s that I know who have already
fried their brains with drugs and alcohol abuse and are now
addicted to video games and their phones who want nothing to do
with God at all. More and more with each passing
day I hear of such instances. They're living zombies. And I'm talking about kids who
used to go to the Christian school. I'm talking about kids who grew
up going to Sunday school, hearing the gospel every week. I'm talking
about kids who had the blessing of growing up in a Christian
home. Such, quote, sweet kids grew up in a Christian environment,
hearing sermons like these, and they said in their mind, not
now, later, And in their later years, the
sinful enticements of this world grabbed a hold of their heart
and pulled them closer and closer to the devil's way, one temptation
after another temptation, one puff after another puff, one
sip after another sip, one immoral relationship after another immoral
relationship, and now they are spiritually hardened against
God. Whereas once, these sweet, little,
church-going kids were tender-hearted. They seemed eager about the word
of God. Now, they're stubborn, bitter,
angry, unapproachable, and completely careless about anything that
has to do with Christianity. You say, what happened? I'll
tell you exactly what happened. They foolishly presumed. Number one, they presumed that
they were truly Christian when they had no biblical evidence
that they were. And number two, they presumed
that they could enjoy the pleasures of sin for time and get right
with God later. And in doing so, God left them
to their sin. Again I say, presuming upon tomorrow
is foolish. It's foolish to think that you
will have an opportunity to call out to God on your deathbed.
Let me speak to the older generation for a moment. Those of you who
are pushing off Christ thinking, I'll wait, I'll wait. When I
have my family around me in my last moments, then I'll get right
with God. I like what J.C. Ryle says about
the two thieves on the cross. He says, quote, one thief was
saved so that no sinner might despair, but only one that no
sinner might presume. One thief was saved so that no
sinner might despair, but only one, so that no sinner might
presume. In other words, not everyone
is tenderhearted and willing to commit themselves to Christ
on their deathbed. Some people on their deathbed
curse God from their hearts and their lips, which only shows
that God has given them over to their unbelief. And I've personally
witnessed both. not only as a pastor but also
as a family member. I had a grandma who by God's
wonderful sovereign grace cried out to the Lord from her heart
in her final hour. And I've had a grandpa who pushed
my hand away so strongly when I sought to care for his soul. You must not presume that you
will be like the penitent thief on the cross. For all you know,
you may die quickly. For all you know, you may be
one of those mean-spirited, miserable, bitter old people in the nursing
home who hates everything and everyone, all because you've
rejected God over and over and over. How foolish it is to presume
upon tomorrow. Oh, I wish we could all take a field trip to
the local nursing homes and just walk through the halls so that
you can see where many end up. And when I say where many end
up, I'm not talking physically, I'm talking spiritually. I would
love to take you through the halls of the nursing home and
let you listen to the hardness of heart of those who are almost
in eternity. You say, well, that'll never
be me. And I say, how do you know? Some of those miserable,
bitter, hard-hearted people went to church every Sunday. How can
you have the assurance that if you keep living for yourself,
that you will want God later? How can you know without a shadow
of a doubt that God will deal with you down the road? God says
you have no promise. You have no promise that tomorrow
will come. You have no promise that you
will have the mental ability in knowing that you will want
to receive the gospel and call upon the Lord. You have no promise
that you will be in good standing with Jesus Christ when he comes. And here's another truth to consider.
How many are the presumptuous end times experts who say, well, will have an opportunity to be
saved. Such people fool others in thinking that if somehow they
are left on earth after Christ returns for his sheep, that they
can become a Christian later. I say, how foolish, how foolish. How do you know that you will
believe on Christ after he comes? How do you know? How do you know
that you might not just explain everything away as an alien abduction? I mean, others saw the miracles
of Christ. Others saw God in the flesh face
to face and they said he had a demon. They did not believe. So how do you know that your
heart will be open and ready to receive Christ after his second
coming? The scriptures tell us that if
you are not even ready to hear the word, no miracle is going
to convince you. The one should raise from the
dead, the rich man and Lazarus, though you should see a great
manifestation of God's presence, like Pharaoh did, by the way,
there's no guarantee that your heart will be ready then. Presumption has led many to hell. God throughout his word recognizes
that presuming upon tomorrow, number one, is common. God throughout
his word recognizes that presuming upon tomorrow is foolish. And then finally, God recognizes
that turning to the Lord in repentance and faith today is spiritually
wise and safe. As I mentioned earlier, God not
only knows that putting off Christ until tomorrow would be an excuse
that we are prone to make. In knowing our proneness to make
such an excuse, God has already provided us with argument after
argument, illustration after illustration, and a pill after
a pill to woo us to Him now rather than later. And I say, what a
gracious God. What a long-suffering Savior.
to know our sinful tendencies and still want to woo us to Him. Here we are in our sin, here
we are in our foolishness, turning away from Christ, going our own
way, making excuses of every kind as to why we cannot be His
disciple, and over and over and over, Christ pleads with us to
come. God, by His Spirit, invites us
to reason things out so that we might have everlasting life.
Listen to the urgent cries of God recorded in Scripture, spoken
through God's messengers that are mentioned in the Bible. Listen
as they stand in contrast to putting off God at a later time.
Joshua 24, 15. And if it seem evil unto you
to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other
side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land
ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord. But choose you this day what
you're going to live for. Choose you now at this moment,
who will be your God? Isaiah 118, God through the prophet
Isaiah says, come now. and let us reason together. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 55,
verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call upon him while he is near. Now is that time before Christ
returns, before you die, this is the moment to seek him and
to call upon him. Hebrews 3, 15. Today, if you
will hear his voice, harden not your heart. 2 Corinthians 6,
2. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Revelation 22, 17. And the spirit
and the bride say, come. Not later, but now. Let him that heareth say, come.
and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. There is a reason why this preacher
preaches the way he does. He recognizes that he's a dying
man preaching to dying men. He recognizes that he is standing
on the brink of eternity Sunday by Sunday. He recognizes that
there's no promise that everybody sitting in the pew today will
be here next week. This may be the last sermon I
preach. This may be the last sermon you
hear. I know we don't like to think
about our approaching day of death. I know you would rather
hear a pleasant sermon about what a good person you are and
how everything in life will be peaceful and prosperous. I know
you would rather have me tell you funny, cute stories so you
can laugh. You would rather hear about what's
going on in the news and in politics. You would rather hear about secondary
issues in life rather than hearing about your ruin, Christ's redemption,
and the Spirit's regeneration. I know. I get it. The Bible says
that there's a time coming when people will not endure sound
doctrine, but will turn away to find people who will itch
their ears. I know. I get it. I get that you talk with people
about what a nut job Pastor Casey is. How else do you want me to preach?
If these things are reality, how else do you want me to preach? In love, I encourage you to think
about your dying day so that you might prepare your soul for
the coming day of judgment. I will give an account of how
I've ministered to you the word of God. And if you should reject
Christ, your blood will not be on my hand. I have warned you
over and over and over. It'll be on you and it will haunt
you for all of eternity. I think that's one of the most
horrendous things about being separated from God for all of
eternity. In your separation from God,
it will not be because you didn't hear. It will be because of the
stubbornness of your heart. Sometimes I wonder if God will
just haunt you with voices of the pleas of preachers that you've
heard over and over and over to prove his long-suffering toward
your soul. Answer me this question. What kind of firefighter stands
outside of a burning home and watches the house burn knowing
that there's a family sleeping inside? Now answer me this question.
What kind of preacher stands behind a pulpit knowing that
all who die without Christ will spend forever in torment? And the pastor says nothing to
awaken people out of their spiritual slumber. You think I'm harsh in my preaching?
You think I'm too strict? You think I'm too pointed? You
think I'm too passionate? I can assure you I am not. In
love, I plead with you. I plead with you to find hope
in God, to find peace for your soul, to find forgiveness for
your sin. Is that harsh? Is that unkind? Some of you teenagers need to
think about this. You teens. that think life is about phones,
and social media, and sports, and video games, and girlfriends,
and boyfriends, and being cool, and getting money. I know you
don't recognize this, but I used to think like you do. I used
to be fully absorbed in the God of basketball, thinking myself
to be invincible. I, like you, thought I'd have
every promise of tomorrow. Until, until a good friend of
mine, 17 years of age, died in a car accident going to school,
and I stood before his open casket, staring at his cold, discolored
body. And I asked myself, why is he
dead, and I'm still here. I asked myself, what's going
to happen to me when I die? It woke me up. Fellow classmate. fellow basketball team member. Are you among those who say,
not now, maybe later? If so, let me plainly tell you,
many are in hell today because they said the same excuse. Don't
gamble with your soul. Today may be your last day. Your family members may be planning
your funeral tomorrow. Your heart could give out this
afternoon. You could be the victim of a deadly car accident on your
way home from church. But the door of the ark is still
open. The opportunity to be saved is still here. So enter into
the ark before it closes and it's too late. Christ, Jesus
Christ is the ark All those who are in him will be saved from
the eternal judgment to come, but all those who reject Christ
will face the wrath that is to come. Let me reason with you
one final time. If you were financially bankrupt,
and you haven't eaten in days, and you have no food in your
home, and there are no government assistant programs to help you
obtain food, and someone comes along with $100 for you to buy
food, would you say, not now, maybe later? If you had a deadly cancer spreading
throughout your body and your doctor told you that you only
have weeks to live. But amazing new technology figured
out a dependable cure for cancer was available for you for free. Would you say? Not now. Maybe later. Only a fool would say such things.
How much more foolish to decline the great offer of the great
salvation. You see, you have a sin problem.
Sin is the reason we die. Wherefore, as by one man's sin,
entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sin. Why do people die at all? Because
of the curse of sin. So what is needed to escape this
curse, this death that is coming in eternity? The Bible says the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
the accomplishments of Jesus Christ. The Bible says God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life. The
Bible says if you will in desperation call upon the name of the Lord
you can be saved. The way of salvation is twofold. You must believe that you are
a great sinner that cannot save yourself and you must believe
that Jesus Christ is a great savior who alone can save yourself.
soul. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ is the
only way, the only truth, and the only life. He's the only
way to God. There's only one mediator between
holy God and sinful man. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
is through means of the new birth. You must be born again. You've been born once physically.
If you are to see the kingdom of God, you must be born twice. You must have a physical birth
and you must have a spiritual birth. And that process is tied
in with you calling upon the name of the Lord. With you receiving
Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior. So have you. Have you received Him by faith? I didn't ask if you joined a
church. I didn't ask if you were baptized. The baptismal waters
cannot wash away your sin. There's only one thing that can
wash away your sin, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. I didn't ask if you read your
Bible. I didn't ask if you like to pray. I asked. Have you repented,
turned from your wicked ways, and received the gospel that
is able to save your soul? Is there evidence in your life
that you know Jesus Christ in a personal and saving way? That's
the question. Death is coming, and it's coming
fast. Are you prepared? You can be prepared if you trust
the one who's died for you. You can be prepared if you become Christ's disciple.
“I’ll Get Right with God Later”
Series Gospel Objections
| Sermon ID | 810251947403804 |
| Duration | 39:09 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Proverbs 27:1 |
| Language | English |
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