Okay, we're ready to begin our studies once again of the times and seasons concerning Bible prophecy. And I'd like to say at the outset that I don't know of anything that could be more important for us to be thinking about in this subject of Bible prophecy. Because it has to do with the very soon coming of the one who died for us some over 2000 years ago. And I don't know of anything that will cause a person to search their souls more carefully than study and Bible prophecy not as an academic subject so that you can appear you know knowledgeable of the Bible in conversation with other people, but primarily because very soon you're gonna see him, the one who died for you. And folks, I'm gonna tell you, I don't know how to emphasize this more than you're gonna hear it today, but I don't know of anything that will separate the wheat from the tares more than teaching on this subject. I don't know of anything that will stir a soul to think more carefully about whether they have the real thing or not than a study of this subject. And this is the reason is because I believe And I'm absolutely persuaded in my mind as I study this subject that we're gonna see Jesus Christ very soon. We're gonna stand right before him alone, not with other people. And hopefully not with some opinion about our relationship to him. but with a fearful consideration of what he had to say about this subject. And that is, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And vast multitudes of people are gonna see his face one day and say, Lord, Lord. And he's gonna say, I never knew you. I never knew you. And so there's something about entering into these words of the prophets that will help us purify ourselves even as he is pure. We read that in 1st John chapter 3 verses 2 and 3 and John is basically encouraging people to think very carefully about the soon coming of Jesus Christ. That's what that passage is about. Because we're going to be standing in front of the judge of the whole earth. The one that is the dispenser of the gift, the giver of the gift. And we cannot extract that gift from God by some view of ourselves as though we walk into a court of law and tell the judge that we're innocent, that we're holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. How can we be that way in his sight? Well, it's the gift of God. We do not extract a gift from somebody. They give it. And the Lord is the one who defines what causes him to give that gift. And that's what we need to think about. We need to study this very carefully. What it is that is in his mind that causes him to give this gift to anyone? Well, I can tell you that what he's looking for is a broken heart. And a person that does not have a broken heart has no basis for assurance of salvation. Broken, why? Why should our heart be broken? Well, it's because we have heard the horrible message from heaven. It tells us the truth. And the truth is we deserve to burn in hell forever. We sure do. That's a horrible message from heaven. It'll break your heart when you realize the truth of it. that there's no one excluded from that, that's what we deserve. But then he's looking for a contrite spirit, those two things, broken heart, contrite spirit, that he will not despise. A contrite spirit is a spirit that has godly sorrow concerning the horrible message from heaven. That causes us to want to die to everything that we are, as he has described us to be, and we have a desire to be like him. And we know there's only one way you can get that, and it's not by works, it's the gift. It's the gift of God. He will give you, as a free gift, his righteousness. That is what Abraham found. He found that. He discovered that. And so the other thing I would like to impress on our minds, and these are things that you will hear me over the years repeat over and over and over again, for the simple reason they cannot be said too often. I repeat this in chapel every year, over and over and over. Isaiah 8 and verse 20, Isaiah 8 and verse 20. To the law, to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. Folks, that statement is so profound because it teaches us how important this book is right here. This book is the only thing, it's the only source that we can appeal to to know where we're going to be in eternity to come. It's this book and what God says. We're not saved by embracing some religion or some personal opinion about ourselves. There's only one place that you can go. to find the assurance that we should be looking for, and that's right here, to the law, to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. That's why in this church, we're so big on the King James translation of the Bible. We are those that understand that you cannot add to or take away from God's word. If you diminish his word, if you change it at all, or even privately interpret it as it's written, then there's no way that you can have assurance of salvation. There's no way. We have to receive the message of this book and this book alone, and search it carefully, diligently, until we understand the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord. And so, the reason studying the times and seasons which the Lord talks about in numbers of places in different ways, times and seasons is really alluded to. You do not find the words in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21. You do not find that phrase there in those passages, but you do have the Lord talking about seasons. But he doesn't use that word. He talks about the fig tree. He talks about when the leaves are yet tender. He talks about looking at Israel, which is the fig tree, and all the trees, speaking of the nations. He's saying, when you see these things begin to take place, this season, this season, he says, you'll know that summer is nigh at hand. That's a season. Okay. He's not using the words, but he's giving you an illustration that obviously involves those words, times and seasons. But the phrase times and seasons is found in First Thessalonians chapter 5 and also in Acts chapter 1 verses 7 and 8. And that's where you find the actual phrase times and seasons and how this is critically important. Well why does the Lord put that in there? Well he puts it in there because There's only one group of people in the human race that's even gonna be interested in when he's coming back. Only one group of people. And that's the people that are genuinely saved. Not false professors of salvation. I think it's very important for us to Examine ourselves very carefully and and think about how it affects us When we think about the fact that The Lord is Right at the door and fixing to come Now as a farm boy, there are certain things that I have learned and I'm gonna share one of them with you and so that you will understand that this is no little matter, what we're talking about right now, because I'm telling you, I believe that in the very, very near future, and I'm talking about maybe just a few months, you're probably sitting out there saying, oh me, boy, look at him. He's trying to be special now. He's trying to, he's trying to be that prophet that's going to draw all this attention to himself by telling you when the Lord is coming back. When you're convinced that the Lord doesn't tell us when he's coming back. Well, I believe he's right at the door and I'm fixing to tell you why as a farm boy. Now, I want you to just think with me. That's all. Just think with me. Do you think that times and seasons are very far away from day and hour? Think about that statement as a person that is growing up on the farm. How far apart is a time and a season from the actual day and hour that you're gonna be in the field planting? How much time is there between when you plant seed in the ground and you harvest whatever you planted? How far do you think that would be? I'll tell you what, if you're not a farm person or someone who grows a garden or whatever, you can find any of this on the internet. And I can tell you about how far apart it is. Once you put the seed in the ground, you're looking at about three to four months. And it's harvest. If it's tobacco, if it's cotton, corn. Of course, corn is usually left in the field until it totally dries out, but it depends on what kind of corn you're planting. If you're planting something that you're gonna eat, sweet corn or whatever, you harvest it a lot earlier. You don't wait until it dries out. Tomatoes. You know, potatoes, cucumbers, things like that. You're not talking about a great distance between the season that you start planting and the time that you actually harvest. It's not far away. I told you the other Sunday, I believe it was, that I thought that there was a very good possibility that we'll see the Lord. sometime by the close to this election that's upcoming. Now, you may not think that that's realistic. Maybe even offended by the thought that somebody would say that. Well, I'm not trying to tell you that that's when the Lord is gonna come. But I believe I can show you from this book every reason to believe that it could very likely happen. And that does not disturb me. If it disturbs you, you better think carefully about why. Why would it disturb you? It tells us in Matthew chapter 25, in verse six, the Lord is talking about the second coming. He's talking about, in Matthew 25, the 10 virgins. And the kind of thing that he's gonna encounter when he comes back. And what he says is five of these virgins that are professing Christians are genuinely saved, professing Christians, they're genuinely saved. But five of them are lost and have every outward appearance of being saved because they've got their lamp. And you know what the lamp is, it's the Word of God. They've got the Word of God, they sure do. They've got the real thing, King James Version. But they do not have the Holy Spirit. And because they don't, they're lost. And so the point of this message this morning is to get you to think just a little bit about the second coming of Christ in a way that maybe you haven't. And that is going beyond just Bible prophecy. Knowing what the Bible has to say about the second coming of Jesus Christ, that's academics. We're not talking about academics, not right now. What we're talking about is whether or not you're really even saved. That's what we're really talking about. And it tells us that there was a cry in Matthew 25. The Lord cometh. Behold, the Lord cometh. The bridegroom, he's coming. Well, what is that cry? Well, let's look at it right quick. Matthew 25. Matthew 25 verse one, then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Okay, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the fact that the Lord is fixing to come. Well, why would you go out to meet him if you didn't know that he's coming? And how can we know that he's coming? Well, this was the disciples' question. How are we gonna know you're coming back? What are the signs that you're gonna be coming back? And so he told them. And essentially, he explained it in all four of the Gospels, but especially three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But in verse 25, I mean, chapter 25 of Matthew in verse Three, excuse me, verse two it says, and five of them were wise and five were foolish. What that means is that half of the fundamentalists are lost. Half of the people that champion the King James Version of the Bible Half of the people that carry a Bible under their arm, they got a lamp, they got their lamp, sure do. They have every outward appearance of being virgins. There's 10 virgins, morally clean, but five of them, are foolish. Verse three, they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. We see you cannot understand the lamp, you can't understand the word of God without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, illumining the words in your mind and heart. You cannot understand it. That's a first Corinthians chapter two. Says it very plainly. You cannot understand it apart from the Holy Spirit. Verse five, while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight, a very dark time, there was a cry made, behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet him. Folks, here we are at Calvary Memorial Church, and I don't know of a darker hour in my lifetime than we have right now. I have never seen such a cloud of darkness hovering over a nation as I have seen lately. Everywhere you go, people are scared to death. They're wondering what's going to happen next. Our government is corrupt to the point that you cannot believe anything anymore. Hardly at all. It's fake news. Everything that you hear. Corruption. Right now, even with Donald Trump having the multitudes of people that follow him everywhere he goes. They're telling you that the race is basically even and that it's very likely that Kamala Harris and that crowd of Democrats are going to win this thing. I have never seen a darker hour in the whole world than we see right now. Europe is in shambles. Riots are going on everywhere. Wars and rumors of wars all over everywhere. And I'm telling you, despair has settled over this nation and over the world. Sure has. If you watch the news enough and you do not read this book, you will be overwhelmed. You sure will. You'll be overwhelmed. Stop looking at the news and read the book. Because it's the only source available to you and to me that can provide hope and relief. And it's the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, I want to mention something else Well, let me just say this before I forget it. In Revelation chapter 22, and the latter part of Revelation chapter 22, it tells us, I'm gonna just turn to it. It's the 17th verse of Revelation 22. It says this, and the spirit and the bride say come. and let him that heareth say come. Now I'm up here talking about Jesus Christ coming and the question is are we hearing it? Are we hearing it? And are you saying come? Is the Holy Spirit in you right now saying come? Please come. and let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. Why does the Lord say that as almost his final message to the whole world before he closed the volume of the book? To give no further prophecy forever. This is it. These are the last thoughts on his mind. I want you to think about how precious this is to the Lord. These words that he's choosing to say to you and me today, these are precious. In the mind of God, these words are precious. And in the mind of the genuine believer, they're precious too. Because the spirit and the bride say, come. Why does it say that? because we are those that not only understand the cross of Calvary where Christ paid our sin debt, we now understand Pentecost and how that just knowing that Christ died for our sins is not enough to take you to heaven because it's not. And a careful study of the Bible will show you this. There's only one thing that prepares you. Well, these two things, but you cannot separate them in such a way that one of these things takes care of the whole message of what is needed. No. The only way that you could go to heaven and not be an offense to God is to be just like him. You'd have to have his mind and you'd have to have his life. That's what Pentecost is all about. Pentecost was the giving of his Holy Spirit to live in you. And that would be your life. And that would be your holiness. That would be your unblameableness and your unprovable-ness in his sight. That's what Paul meant when he said in Galatians 2.20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. This was Paul's life, was Christ. No one is going to heaven without the Holy Spirit being in them. That's what this verse in Revelation 22 is talking about. The spirit and the bride say come. I'm telling you that the genuine believer is the person that has the Holy Spirit in their heart and they're looking for him to come because they can't think of anything. anything that would make them happier. So if I stand up here and I talk about Jesus Christ may be coming, can I say this year? Why would that be offensive to anybody? Why would somebody say, well, I don't think he should say that? Because the Bible says day and hour. Listen, I'm gonna prove to you that the thing that the Lord gave the church, the thing that he gave to the disciples was an answer to the question, when are you coming back? And he said, the times and the seasons. is what you need to pay attention to. Because the difference between times and seasons and harvest is just three or four months. Well, what month is it? Well, this is August. This is August. September, October, November. Three or four months. three or four months. You think that we might be on to something here in studying what God has to say in his word? I think we might be. Now, there's something else I want to bring out that has to do with our studies of Ezekiel 37 through 39. And it's something that we talked about in Cottage Prayer Meeting this past Friday night. I was explaining the relationship between words and reality. I don't want this to sound complicated. I just want you to think about it. Words. How do words actually take on meaning? Well, they only take on meaning when they have a realistic counterpart. In other words, if I say water, there ought to be a real example of that word, and here it is, water. If I say book, for the word book to mean anything, it has to have an object, in reality, a physical reality. It is impossible to have any kind of thought of any word without a corresponding physical correspondence or reality. Words are invisible, but what it points to is visible. In other words, it's real. If you conceive of a word that does not have a real correspondence in the real world, then It's false. It's, it's meaningless. It's, uh, an invention that has nothing to do with reality. Purple people eaters. What is a purple people eater? Well, they don't exist. And no such thing as a purple people eater. Um, well, I want to give you some passages. I'm going to read these quickly because I'd like to get into Ezekiel and some particulars, but I'm telling you to get into Ezekiel and really appreciate what we're going to find there. There are some preliminary things that need to be understood. And one of them is taken in Deuteronomy chapter 13. verses 1 through 5 because these passages verify what I just told you that any time you have a word and we might include prophecy if there's not a real world outworking of that word or that prophecy then it's not true. And as a matter of fact, if a prophet prophesied something that did not come true, did not come to pass rather, he was to be stoned to death. That's how serious it was. And so the prophet that represented God in the world, if he prophesied something that was not true, he wouldn't do it but one time. and the congregation was to take him out and stone him to death. And so think about the pressure that was on Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel and these others that are prophets. I'm telling you, if God says it, and you're teaching what he said, then there's going to be an outworking of what he said in the real world. That is what Bible prophecy is. He tells the future before the future comes. But when the time comes, it's going to happen. It's gonna happen. So, Deuteronomy chapter 13, verses one through five, if there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him and cleave unto him and that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in, so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. So you want an application of what this means? It means if anybody attempts to tell the future apart from what God said concerning the future. Don't listen to them. To the law, to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's because there's no light in them. That's what it means. I'm telling you folks, the genuine believer needs to be in this book. There's no other source for knowing what's coming. Now, Deuteronomy 18, verses 20 through 22, listen to this. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? That's a question, how are we gonna know what the Lord has not said? Verse 22, when a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. But the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him. So what does that mean. I'll tell you what it means. There's only one in the universe that knows the future. And it's the creator God. It's the ultimate proof that God wrote this book. The reason is because if he said it, it's going to happen. Words have to have a real world out working. If it doesn't happen, it's not true. If it does happen, then you know that God said it and it will happen. This is why the Lord warn from beginning. Of scripture to the end of scripture revelation chapter 22. If you add to or take away from the words of the prophecy prophecy of this book. I will take your name out of the lambs book of life. That's what he said. Now do we believe that. And yet Christians. are going to church all over America today and around about the world, and they've got a lamp under their arm. And if you ask them, could you tell me in truth, do you ever study this book? And sad to say, most of them will say no. I go to church, I listen to the preacher. Listen, the preacher is not gonna be standing beside of you in November. You're gonna be standing right by yourself. And you do not want to be a gambler over whether you're really saved or not. You want to know. And there is but one way you can. And that's believe God. and believe what he has to say about you. And that is apart from his gift of righteousness. You'll lose your soul forever. Burn in hell forever. You say, Mr. Creech, I'll tell you what, you're hard. If you do not believe that the message of this book is hard, it's because you haven't read it. The righteous are scarcely saved, according to this book. The vast majority of the people on the face of the earth, according to the Savior himself, said, those that profess to be saved are not saved at all. He said many. in that day will say unto me, Lord, Lord. And he'll say, depart from me, I never knew you. It is Jesus Christ who said that there's two ways. There's a narrow way and a broad way. He said wide is the gate, broad is the way that leads to death and destruction, and many there be that go in there, but straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it. I'm telling you, we've got teenagers in this church. We've got kids coming to Calvary Christian school this year that are not saved. And the evidence of salvation is not there. It's not in them. There ought to be a passion to come to these meetings, a passion. There ought to be an eagerness to get here. There ought to be an eagerness to get others to come. Because folks, we're on the threshold of the coming of Jesus Christ. And we're more concerned about watching Fox News than we are studying the Bible. That's crazy. That's absolutely crazy. If a person wants to know that they're saved, they're going to have to go to the Savior for that assurance. Those of us that are parents, we have children. What kind of life are we living in front of them? What are we doing? How are we investing our time? Are we being faithful to the church? Are we being that example to our children? Are we taking command of the situation and realizing the responsibility of an adult as compared to the view of children? We're not to allow the children to bring us down to their level. Good parenting is bringing children up to their level. But what level? They need to be hearing our conversation about these things. We need to be talking to people in the community and people in the church about being faithful to this ministry. I'm telling you that the devil is trying to stir up people, even in this church, to get people to leave and to get away from this message. And listen, what's important is not all these little things that are happening in life. What's important is Jesus Christ is coming. He's coming. He sure is, he's coming. And so many are not saved. That's a tragedy. First Thessalonians chapter five, verses one through five says this, but of the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. Now think about it, he's saying that the times and seasons, there's no need for me to even write to you about it. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. We're talking about a dark period. And I'm telling you, the dark period is here. It's here. For when they shall say, verse three, when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye brethren, now notice this, but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Why does God say that? Why does he inspire the apostle Paul to say this to the Thessalonians? We are not in darkness concerning when he's coming back, why? Because the Lord said, There are times and seasons, and I want you to be studying that, times and seasons, because the time of harvest is not very far away. We're looking at three or four months. Three or four months. Why should I not say that? Can you think of a reason why I should not say that? Can you think of anything that would be damaging for a person to be looking for the Lord to be coming in three or four months even if he doesn't come? I don't know the day and hour. But I'll tell you one thing I do every day I study this book. And I'm telling you, I have never in my entire life of almost 80 years been so certain about something as I am that we are on the threshold of Jesus Christ coming. And this Bible tells us that we can know something about that threshold. Sure can. Now listen to me, Acts chapter one verses six and eight is one of the most important passages. I did not really understand this passage until about two years ago. And I was studying it and something about it got my attention and I could not get away from it for several weeks as I was thinking about it. And all of a sudden one day, It was just clear as a bell what it was saying, and so you'll have to read it with me and see if you agree. I don't want to convince you of something that the Bible doesn't say. I want you to think about it. Acts chapter one, verses six through eight. When they therefore will come together, they ask him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Now think about it. The Lord had been resurrected from the dead. He had been walking around in Israel for 40 days after his crucifixion. He was resurrected from the dead for 40 days. He showed himself alive by many infallible proofs. That's what it says in the third verse of Acts chapter 1. He showed himself alive by many infallible proofs. And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the father hath put in his own power. Most Christians stop reading right there. And they say, Creech, Creech, he's up there talking about the Lord coming back and telling us when he's coming back. And the Bible specifically says it right here in Acts, for it's not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power. And you know something, that's as far as I had read. For years. Without reading what comes next. Well, let's read what comes next. But ye shall receive power After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you. What kind of power? Power to know the times and the seasons. I mean, folks, we're not in a kindergarten. We're supposed to be basically educated people that can read and understand the meaning of words. Well, what did we just say? What did we just read, rather? Okay, we read that no one can know the times and seasons that God has placed in his own power. But the Lord Jesus Christ tells the disciples, but ye shall receive the power, what kind of power? The power to know the times and seasons. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. And at Pentecost, the Holy Ghost came upon them. The Holy Ghost came upon them. And for the first time, they had the power to know the times and seasons. They had the power. Because it's in the Holy Spirit. The Pentecost took place in chapter two. Acts chapter two. Pentecost came. The Holy Spirit came. And the Lord sent him out as witnesses all over the whole world. Sure did. I don't know how long we're gonna spend on these subjects. I keep trying to get to Ezekiel 38 and 39, but I feel like that if we do not really understand these things, studying Ezekiel 38 and 39 is going to waste our time. Because all we're going to be getting is Bible knowledge, how to read those chapters and sort of understand what's being said, and we do not really understand why all this is even important. It's because you and I are very shortly gonna be looking into the face of the one who died for us almost 2,000 years ago. He's coming back. He sure is. And he told us when he was coming. Sure did, right here in this book. And so here at Calvary Memorial Church, we're trying to get a handle on that. Mark Walker, how about dismissing us, brother? Our time is gone. Dear Lord, we thank you for another time to come to your house and hear your word, brother. We know that you pay the ultimate penalty for our sins, Lord. You paid that price. We just keep committing them, Lord. God, I come to keep coming to You to ask for forgiveness and help us to defeat that sin nature that's still there. Thank You, Lord, for the message we just heard and one we're about to receive from our next speaker. Pray in Jesus' name. you