Can I see the hands of the children this evening? Oh, yes, I'm glad. For every child that is here tonight, thank you for coming. Throughout the week, you've been a highlight. I've loved to see you here, your presence, and I'm just so tickled to see you here again this evening. Some of them have been asking me what's going to happen, and yeah, that's We're going to tell you what's going to happen. Last evening we left you with, they were at the edge of the forest or in the forest and a storm overtook them and the only place for them to go was a dangerous place that was noted to being robbed occasionally by robbers. So they stayed there for the night and it was around midnight, Basically, the only one that was awake yet was Menred, who had his candle lit, and he was reading. Late in the night, the rest of the house was all empty, when suddenly there were beginning, there was those who were knocking on the door, and they were calling, let us come in, and then there was knocks on the shutters, and they were wanting to come in, and the inside people woke up with a start. And of course, Margaret was, oh no, she cried, the robbers are here. And she was like, they're coming back, they're going to get Henry back. Meanwhile, the persistent knocking at the door was getting intense and threatening to break down the door. And Menred went downstairs and the proprietor of the organization there was like, what do we do? Menred said, there is no point. in not opening the door, open the door. Only God can be our protection at this time. They opened the door and in popped four heavily armed men with a torch of sorts of fire that had stick of pitch that was lighting their way through the night. And they said, everything here inside here is in our control. We are here to Leave the way, our master is coming and going to have control of this place. Who is your master? Our master is Frederick von Eisenfeld, the father of Henry. His need at the front for the nation, for the government had ceased, and he was on his way home. And as they were on their way home, the soldiers in the front, those in the front were looking for a place where they could stay for the night. They were not able to find anything except they caught a glimpse through the storm of Menred's Candle, which was basically the only light that was lit in the place. And that gleam of that little light is what brought them to the door of that place. Shortly afterwards, Frederick arrived. He was a large, big, imposing man. When he got there, there was something of a sadness about him, despite his regal bearing. And everyone was in joy because the conflict was over and they were on their way home. But Frederick, as he came in and he spotted Menred immediately, knew who he was. and invited Mendred to come to his personal room. So Mendred came to his personal room and Frederick told him this. My men are high spirits, as you can see, because the conflict is over and they're returning to their homes and they're all excited about it. But he said, I have a heavy heart. For weeks, I've been hearing from my wife and she writes of things But strangely, she's not telling me much about the child, except in her last letter, she said, I would never see my son again. He said, Menred, can you tell me anything? You're a man that has traveled far and wide. You're a man that knows a lot about what is going on. Can you tell me anything at all about what has happened in my household? Mindred said, indeed, I can. And he began to tell him what he knew, what had befallen to Henry in the time that Frederick had been gone. Frederick listened intently. And then he said, but where is the child now? Mindred said, the child is in this house right now. Frederick jumped up so fast that his chair rolled over. He said, well, why didn't you tell me? Take me to him. Henry was the only one in the house that had slept through all the noise. They went to the room where Henry was sleeping, and there he was, basically subconscious. He was just knocked out in peaceful sleep. And Frederick knelt down and looked into the eyes of his own son, and he wept as he remembered This boy was but a child. Now he's growing like this. How can it be? And Henry, he got the hand of Henry and Henry and said, Henry, come, I am your father. And Henry awoke and was trying to come to full consciousness. Oh, there was a tremendous reunion there that night. And Henry began to talk, and his father was asking him what happened to him. And Henry was telling his experiences, and they were just having a great time. But time was going on. And Mendred reminded everybody that if we're going to have a good day of travel tomorrow, we need to get a little rest. And so they retired. Early the next morning, they left and began to go toward the castle of Eisenfeld. However, Adele was not having a good time. She knew nothing that Henry had been found. She was walking and pacing through the castle, knowing that Frederick would be arriving because she'd heard that the conflict had ended and that they would be coming. But she was pacing the castle. She could find no rest. Everywhere she went, she was just restless. Finally, she went out into the garden. to have a time of prayer and to know what to do and how to face Frederick when he would come home. While she was out there, she heard some footsteps. She looked up and on the pathway, she saw Margaret. When Margaret came to her, she began to explain to her that her son was found. And about that time, Mendred also arrived and confirmed that her son had been found and that she would see him. And her thought was, oh, in a few days, my husband will be home and my son will be home and we will be together as a family again. Not aware that right then, Frederick was coming. And he walked in, the door opened, and it opened up, and Frederick and Henry came. There was a glorious reunion of that family. God had brought the family back together again. Frederick, meanwhile, being a man of authority, had sent some of his most faithful and trusted men out into the mountains to find that den of robbers, and they found them. When they got there, they were all home. And they brought them all back to the home of Frederick on wagons where they were judged. The young boy that had been kind to Henry was given the benefit of the doubt because he had never been involved in hurting anyone, et cetera, et cetera. And so his sentence was commuted to life in prison unless He could prove himself faithful, then he could have an early release, which he proved to be faithful for. The moral of the story, of that part of the story is, there's going to be reaping for what we sow. There are so many lessons that can be drawn from this story, and someone has asked me, is it true? As far as I know, yes, it is. that's the way I'm telling it as a true story. Though the end comes together almost like a fairy tale because it seems to be almost too good to be true. But God is able to do such things. And in this case, it appeals to me like God indeed did do wondrous things in a way that could be appreciated by all who hear. And I trust the morals of this story will go with us not just for this week, but in days to come, for all of us, a challenge and a blessing. God bless you. Let's have a song. Let's sing one verse of the song Breathe on Me, Breath of God. Breathe on me breath of God. Fill me with life anew that I may love you. Second Peter chapter 3 tonight. While you're turning to that, I do have some words for you as a congregation and as a community. My wife and I have really enjoyed our visit here, our time here. We're grateful that it's not Monday evening. We were, at the beginning of the week, the week looked long. From this vantage point, the week looks short. We're very grateful for your hospitality and your friendship that we have experienced this week, again, anew and fresh, and it's just been a blessing. Like I have said, it was like coming back to my roots, and it has indeed. felt like that in many ways. I just very much enjoyed being here. My hat's off to your cooks here. I had hoped maybe I could lose a few pounds here. That didn't work. I only regret that the energy or the good stuff we ate doesn't all turn to muscle. It just somehow or another doesn't seem to work that way. We just do appreciate your hospitality and it's been great to get into your homes and to visit with some of you after church and various times when we had the opportunity, that exposure. That's been a blessing. We go back home with fond memories and we covet your prayers as we journey on in the work there at home, at Faith Mission Home. My subject for this evening is the day of the Lord. the day of the Lord. And there would be many directions that we could take when we look at this issue of the day of the Lord, or the subject of the day of the Lord. But I want to stick real close to Scripture tonight, because the Scripture is our authority. And when we look into the future and think about the day of the Lord, there are so many things that we do not know what they will be like and how it's going to be like. There's a controversy a lot of times about what the future holds and how it's all going to be. That's not a big deal to me. There are some truths, however, that are very important for us to hang on to and to know and to be clear on. And those are the things we want to speak about tonight. The clarity of the Word cannot be denied, and so tonight we want to look at that in chapter 3, verse 10. But the day of the Lord will come. The day of the Lord will come. And Peter speaks on here, brother, there are scoffers saying, when is he coming? And we're gonna come back to this scripture later on, but I'm gonna leave that for now. But it says the day of the Lord will come. And then he says something there that I think we ought to heed. As a thief in the night. as a thief in the night. Have you ever had a break-in in the middle of the night? Have you ever had someone visiting your home or around the outside? You know there's prowlers there and they're not there for the right purpose. I have. There's something funny that begins to happen with that. Now when we moved to Kenya, we were very aware that this kind of thing could happen. And so we had taken some provisions. We had actually, I'd bought some whistles, one for each of the boys and one for me, that could be heard a long ways off. So our intention, I thought, was, well, if someone comes, we're going to whistle. We're going to blow the whistle. And they're going to run. Well, I don't know what happens to your good, well-laid plans at those moments when those things happen. I only know that what you intend to do may not happen. It didn't happen that way for us. I heard we had a dog by the name of Boots on the outside of the house and he could be trusted to raise a ruckus if somebody would be coming. And all of a sudden on that night, my sleep was very light any time while I lived in Kenya as long as Boots was around because I was tied in with what Boots would tell me. And that night, there was no question, something was up outside. But the thing that really seems strange to me is that Boots stayed on the carport. Normally, that's not where he was. He'd be out prowling around and he would make his circuits and he was not bashful. But this was interesting. He was on the carport just beyond, as I got up and I went out into the kitchen and I could look out this way and this way, but Boots was right in here where I couldn't see him. And I was like, what is going on? Something is strange. And then I saw, out through the back from the kitchen, we had a little pathway going out to what we call the servants quarters. We didn't have any servants, of course, but there was a little guest quarters out there. And there was a block wall about eight foot tall there. And as I looked out through that corridor, there was a little storage building at the end where we had some little knickknacks in, but nothing valuable really that valuable in there, but a little storage area. As I looked out there, I saw this man coming into focus at the end of the walkway. And he was throwing things over the wall. He must have had an accomplice on the outside of the wall. And I was like, this was default, it was not planned. I just used my best preacher's voice and said, get out of here! The man, nearly, I never saw a man, he went straight up. Right over the wall, and he was out. And I kept right on shouting, I just kept going. I wasn't a very good man, and I should have invited him for supper or something. But as a thief in the night, when that happens, somehow or another you feel violated. There's something that goes with that. You just know. That man took us by surprise. He was a thief in the night. Indeed he was. But I want to say something. Do you realize that the Bible says Second return of Christ is going to be like a thief of the night If you will, please turn with me to second Thessalonians chapter 5 because it also speaks about The second coming being as a thief on the night here in this passage, but it tells us something that is very very important for us to remember beginning to read in verse 1 But of the times and seasons brethren you have no need that I write unto you For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For 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 are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Friends, tonight, while it promises that he is coming as a thief, it also tells us that if you are not in darkness, you're not walking in darkness, then that day is not going to come upon you like a thief in the night. That means that if you are ready and watching and you're faithful in your life, following Jesus as you need to be and as you're called to be, that day will not come upon you as a thief in the night. And to me, that is a tremendous blessing and affirmation, that I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I want to be one that is faithful, so that when He returns, it's not like looking for a thief. I won't have to be worried about Him coming as a thief for me, and that He's going to take me by surprise. What do we need to do if he's not going to come and take us by surprise? We're going to find that out this evening because I think the scriptures are clear. Verse 4-5, Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Watch and be sober. Literally, the word sober in this passage means to not be drunk. They that are drunk are drunken in the night. It says there in the next verse, for they that sleep, sleep in the night, they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith, love, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. My friends, you can be awake. You can be a person of light. You can be a person of faith. He's calling us to faith. And if you are a person of faith, and a person of love, and a person of hope, That day will not come upon you as a thief in the night. Praise the Lord tonight. You and I do not need to be afraid of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the day of the Lord. You and I can be prepared. We can be looking for his return. We're going to look at more of that in another scripture here tonight. But let's read on. God has not appointed us to wrath. but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. And if you and I tonight have accepted and allowed the salvation of Jesus Christ that he holds up to us. We looked on Tuesday evening at the God of redemption. We looked at Jesus Christ as a lamb for the world. And my friends, tonight, that lamb for the world is available to every individual, every person tonight under the sound of my voice and outside the sound of my voice. Any person tonight can avail themselves to that salvation. But that salvation is only good if you and I receive it. We look at Jesus Christ, and we see him as the thief on the cross did, and we say, Lord, remember me when you come to your kingdom. You are suffering and we are suffering unjustly, but you are suffering because you have done no wrong, though you have done no wrong. You are the spotless, sinless lamb of God. And if you and I appropriate that salvation for ourselves personally, there is absolutely no reason why you and I need to fear, because we can send our sins aforehand unto judgment, as the Bible tells us. And we can be free, and therefore, we're not looking for Him to come as a thief in the night, but we're looking for His return with gladness and with anticipation. We're for comfort one another. Who died for us, that whether we walk, wake, or sleep, that means that whether we're still living when Jesus comes, or whether we're sleeping the sleep of death, we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also you did." The word that Jesus is coming back can be a comfort to us. Tonight, as I look at what is happening in the world and the deterioration of morals in society, and how the world seems to be just going to pots, and is wrecking itself, and I say tonight will be a grand time when that evil is all done. My prayer basically every day is that the forces, those that would perpetuate wrong would suffer loss. But that those that would be perpetuating right and the light would penetrate the darkness and that their church could grow, there could be a movie ahead of truth and right. And that can happen in our nation and you and I need to be a part of that movement toward right and light. It's not going to be through politics either. Acts chapter two. Acts chapter two. Verse 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall see dream, dream dreams. My friends, tonight I dream dreams, so I guess I'm an old man. And on my servants and on my handmaids I will pour out on those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Two signs, my friends, of the second return of Christ. One is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not only on the Jew, but upon the Gentile. You and I are fully aware that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came in the book of Acts here. And therefore, that sign of His second turn coming is already with us. And there is a second one, that whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the second time, second sign of His appearing, my friends. He can come, there is nothing that holds him in that regards, because the Spirit has come. Salvation is available for the Jew and the Gentile. The salvation is available for anybody in any nation, no matter where we are. We're at the world. We have a lamb for the world tonight. And salvation is available. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, my friends, tonight. There is nothing, as far as I can see, that is holding back my God from coming back again the second time. Let's look at more of the signs. Let's go to another scripture, Matthew chapter 24. Now this scripture is a lot of, there's a lot of confusion about this scripture and I've looked at it very closely and I'm not sure that I totally have deciphered what part of this speaks about the second coming of Christ and which part of it speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem. It tells us here In verse 3 of this chapter, the disciples came, and he sat on the Mount of Olives, and the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And as you look down through this passage, and you begin to read through, you have this and that coming up, and you begin to wonder, well, what's the part of the second coming of Christ, and what's the part of the destruction of Jerusalem? I have studied the destruction of Jerusalem, and I think I pretty much understand what he's saying here. But I so I'm going to point out to you what I think this is saying and you may disagree. That's okay But I encourage you to read and study this passage because it gives us the keys of the return of jesus christ the day of the lord Tells us very clearly about some of those things drop down then into verse 27 I believe, as I look at it, that up through verse 20, up through this time, up to verse 27, most of what he's saying there would be the destruction of Jerusalem. And then, beginning in verse 27, we have sort of a mix. There is some of the destruction of Jerusalem, and then there is the return of Jesus Christ that is mixed into it also. But he clarifies some of it, and let's just read it. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Very clearly, he's talking about the second return of Christ. It's going to be like the lightning. And this is not the lightning that goes like this. It's the lightning that's sheet across. The sheet lightning that you've seen. I'm sure you've seen it. Flickering. Lights the east to the west. The whole thing is lightning. You could read your book by it if it stuck around long enough. But it doesn't. It's lightning. It comes and it goes. And it says, as the lightning cometh, so is the return of Christ. The coming of the Son of Man. That means it's going to be quickly. It doesn't say soon. It says quickly. Behold, I come quickly. I'm not aware that anywhere in the scriptures that he says he's going to come soon. Therefore, you and I cannot depict, we cannot decide when he's going to come. His timetable is not like ours. One day is worth a thousand years in God's sight. We don't look at time like he does. He doesn't look at time like we do. But there is a time coming when there will be time no longer. We do everything today by time. We met tonight at 6.30 for prayer meeting. We met here to 7 o'clock for church. We're glued to time. We're guided by time. If you have lived in a third world country where they sometimes don't even have clocks available to them, you soon discover that there is a people around that do not so much live by time as they live by events. So if there's a wedding on a certain day and it's that day, They've got the whole day blocked for the wedding. And anticipation, you get there when you think they should get there. You might wait, and you might wait, and you might wait. One of the things that in many of the weddings that we were over there, I told them finally, I said, there's one thing guaranteed. We're not going to have the wedding until the husband and the wife get here. That's about the only thing you could really be sure about. And so we would wait until they would come. And so it is. Believe the event of the return of Jesus Christ. He's not telling us what time he's going to come but he is going to come and When he comes it will be quickly the Bible says as the lightning that fly goes from the east to the west So he's going to return So he's going to return we could read some more here, but one of I'm going to skip some and go down to verse 30, because I think the verses in between do not apply to the second coming of Christ. Now it says here, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth born, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send the angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the one end of the heaven to the other. Listen to that it says it very clearly He's going to another word another place. He says that's going to be the sound of the trumpet as he comes He's going to come in the cloud When the disciples were out there on the outside of jerusalem and jesus was there and he ascended into heaven and they were looking Up into heaven and the messenger stood by them the angel stood by them and said why stand you here gazing up into heaven This same Jesus will come again as you have seen him go. And I'm supposing they were watching for the last glimpse, and they were standing there nearly falling over, trying to figure... And I could almost see the clouds coming together and just... And then, oh, this man standing here is wisely gazing into heaven. He's going to return again. He's coming in the clouds, the Bible says. Wow. I love clouds. I like to see clouds. I like to see the clouds when the sun is shining behind them and the silver lining. I like to see when there's a sunset and there's all that color and when there's a cloud. There's the clouds in that, it just makes a gorgeous scene. I believe that almost every evening, the artist, the eternal artist, gives us the signature of his presence through the sunset. And we do well to pause in the evening and take a look at the sunset, because God shows himself through the sunset in the clouds. Trumpets gonna sound, they shall gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. And then we have verse 32, and on we're on to verse 34, which I believe again is speaking about Israel. and the destruction of Jerusalem, but we drop down to 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. God says it in his word, my friends. There's no bending. There's no compromise. There's no changing of what God has said. It doesn't matter what man says. It doesn't matter what government says. When God says it, that's it. And the Bible says that God's word will not pass away. It is eternal. It is for now and it is for the future. It is for eternity. Has been for the past, is for the present, will be for the future. We don't bend it. We don't have a chance to change it in any way. We wouldn't want to anyway. But of the day and that hour knoweth no man, the Bible says in verse 36. No, not the angels which are in heaven, but my Father also. And then he says, but of the days of Bazaar, it was in the days of Noah. So shall it also be in the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Why did they not know that there was going to be a flood? The Bible tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. I believe he was faithful in telling them of the return or of the flood that was going to come. Why then did they not know? The Bible speaks and says that they were busy. They were busy living life. I told you on Monday evening, if the devil cannot make you bad, he will make you busy. And I believe that is what he's doing today. If he can keep you so engrossed and so busy in the things and in life and the things that are going on around you, you will forget to look for his second return. You will forget to be alert for the day of the Lord. But my friends, tonight, as a people of God, let us not be lazy in looking for the return of Jesus Christ. Because the day of the Lord will come. Yes, it will. It will come. And so tonight, look for His return. Why did they not know it? Because they were drinking, eating, drinking, marrying, getting given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Life is busy today. We have so many things to do, so many places to go. But my friends, Jesus is coming back. The day of the Lord is coming. And if he's not going to come as a thief in the night for us, then you and I need to be alert and watching and waiting for him. Then shall two be in the field, verse 40. One shall be taken, the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. One shall be taken, the other left. There's going to be a separation when Jesus returns. And then he says in verse 42, these very important words for all of God's people, watch therefore. For ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Oh, there have been those that have predicted when he would return. I don't know how many of you remember the book, a little booklet, 88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return in 1988. How many of you remember that book? Yes, there's hands all over the place. I was appalled at the impact that it made and the fear that it brought among those even in Christian circles. I was like, what in the world? Are they not apprised that the Bible says that no one knows the day and the hour, not even the angels of heaven? Can we not know when we see something like that that this is indeed a false prophet? He doesn't know what he's talking about. Why spend any time, any effort, why even reading it? But there were those who were making restitution and they were going out and they were getting ready because Jesus is going to come in 1988. And then it didn't happen. It makes me wonder what happened to those people. By the deception of that book, were they then disenchanted to the point they were left following Jesus, and in the end, it was more of a curse than a blessing. The promise to us is there is no one that knows, not even the angels. We just don't know. When he's going to come But he's given us the signs The spirit is going to be poured out There's going to be salvation to those that call upon his name Those signs have been filled by fulfilled my friends. There's nothing holding him back Oh, there were those that would feel in verse 14 that The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to unto all nations. Then shall the end come hope If you look into history, you will find that during the time of the apostles, the whole known world was apprised and informed of the coming of Jesus Christ. And there are those today that feel that Jesus cannot return because the church has not yet reached all the tribes. I say no. That's not true. If that were true, the eminence of the return of Christ would not be upon us. This, I believe, is talking about the gospel going out prior to the destruction of Jesus, the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore I believe that that is on a fulfilled scripture in regards to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem I could be wrong But that is the way I have interpreted this scripture because as I look at what Jesus says here when he's speaking about his coming He's very clear then shall return the coming then shall be the coming of the Son of Man So he's not giving us mixed signals here We go to verse 45 Therefore, verse 44, therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Who then is that faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his household. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord Gilead is coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour when he is not aware, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Again, we have a reminder here. There's the faithful servant and there's the unfaithful servant. If you are a faithful servant tonight, you don't have to worry about His coming and catching you off guard. But if you are as unfaithful servant says, my Lord is delaying his coming and begins to eat and drink with the drunken, the things of the world, and you're beginning to coming absorbed into the world, then indeed, my friends, you will not be a faithful servant in that day. And there will be judgment reconciled according to the works of a person. We will be judged by that we have done, whether it be good or evil. unless we have brought it to the judgment seat of Christ early on and brought our sins beforehand unto judgment. Turn with me to Luke chapter 21. I would like to look at a scripture here. Verse 33. Heaven and earth shall pass away. My word shall not pass away. I tend to believe this is Luke's version of what we've just read in Matthew chapter 24. But we have just a few verses on it here. It says in verse 34, Yes, verse 34. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, so that they come upon you unaware. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore and pray there always, that ye may be a counter worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. My friends, one day we will stand before the Son of Man. We need to be watching. He says, watch therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass. There are certain things that will be coming to pass by watching and waiting and being ready for His return, my friends. We do not need to be a part of that. I don't know what the definition of all of that is, where the line and the boundary is of what God's people can evade and what they cannot. But I do know that the bible says that all God's people need to be aware that we shall suffer persecution There is no guarantee tonight that we will not suffering in fact suffer In fact, if you look at the scripture, there is the baptism of suffering and I think is often overlooked Anyone that wants to serve christ? Needs to consider very carefully That to serve christ does not mean that life is only going to be peace That life will be undisturbed that there will be no more issues and no more problems But my friends, the difference is that when there are problems, you do not have to walk alone. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. And that promise comes from Jesus. My friends, today, while there will be problems, there may be issues that you and I will face even while we are Christians. The suffering saints that are in Ukraine right now, for instance. Those that are in various places where they're being persecuted for their faith. And in fact, if the church in China, as they look at their fellow believers, when they have been saved early on, they tend to not trust them until they have been in prison. He's a good man, he's on fire, but he hasn't been in prison yet. What does that do every one of us? That means that all of us probably here tonight, except Ken Miller, haven't been tested. All they that will live godly shall suffer persecution. Now there are various kinds of persecution, but I believe tonight that what we consider wanting to follow Jesus, we shouldn't be doing because it's going to be health, wealth, and happiness. We should be doing because we want to be a servant of the living God, and we're looking for someone who will walk with us, who will carry our burdens with us. And though life may be difficult and there will be issues for us to suffer, He will be with us right to the end. And that's why there were those that were martyred, who for their faith in Jesus Christ, could go singing to their deaths. The challenge is, could you and I, do that. Let's turn to 2 Peter chapter 3 where we began, and we pick up this scripture and pull out a couple more thoughts, beginning in verse 3 of this passage. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept. But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So there you have it, my friends. We have warnings here. Knowing this first, there's going to be scoffers that come saying, where is the promise of his coming? Well, after all, you know, in the days of my youth, in fact, the evening of my conversion, the evening that I remember probably the clearest, John Miller was at Maranatha and he preached I don't really know exactly what, I don't know what the title was, but he preached on end time and the judgment of Christ, as I recall. And it was the night that I gave my life to Jesus Christ. I don't know what all he said. That was years ago. That was years ago. But what I heard that night and the message of judgment and the coming of Christ has stuck with me from that day forth. Yeah, that was long ago. more than 50 years. I left this place in 1972, and now it's 1920, my, it's 2022. So that's, ah, wow, that dates me half a century. And yet he hasn't come. He hasn't come yet. And there will be those that will scoff. Ha, yeah, you talk about that. Look, I heard, My daddy talked about that while I was growing up. I heard about the preacher stunning your way about that while I was a young boy. It hasn't come. Fiddlesticks. It ain't gonna come. What a joke. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. God doesn't keep time like we do. He doesn't do it that way. He has his own timetable. We don't know. We don't know. Where is the promise of his coming since the fathers fell asleep? All things continue just as they were from the beginning of the creation. They're willingly ignorant. And he pulls back into focus the flood. That how the flood came and wiped them all away. Then he says, that same word is reserving the world unto fire and judgment. He's just being patient, my friends. He's been long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Lord is not slack concerning his coming. Let's just read, I'm sorry, I missed something here. Verse eight, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. One day with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some man counts slackness, but is longsuffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the things that are therein shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? There was a time when men said, there is no such thing as melting the elements. And then came World War II and the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima. And they discovered that yes, indeed, even the elements can melt. The intense heat of atomic explosion that melts the elements. The Bible says the elements are going to melt with fervent heat. The earth also and all that is in therein is going to be burned up. There's going to be a destruction. Everything melts under that, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved. Dissolved. You drop something into water and you watch it dissolve. When it's all done, it may change the color of the water and you can't find the original. That's what I'm seeing here, the dissolving of earth and everything in the elements of the earth. Dissolved. The elements shall melt with fervent heat. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all of holy conversation and godliness? Seeing that we have this promise, even as Noah had the promise of the coming of the flood, therefore, we need to be people that are waiting and watching for his return. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for. Looking for. and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and flameless Jesus is looking for a spotless bride We pointed out, all have sinned. None of us tonight qualifies to be a part of the spotless bride outside the blood of Jesus Christ. But the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. takes our sins away, and hides them as far as the east is from the west. My friends, tonight, that is a possibility for every one of us. You and I can rest in the belief, and in the knowledge, in the faith, in the hope, and in the love of Jesus Christ today, looking for his second return with hope, with hope. My friends, tonight, I, when I again come back to the time when my brother Ivan passed away, and as I watched that transition from earth to the next life, and I could see there was a time where there was that time there of those that were in the room and they saw he was seeing something we could not see. My friends, the paradise that is there is not for us to see. All Paul speaks about the time when he saw things that were too precious to utter, and we said, don't write them. Don't write about them. There are things that are withheld from us and God withholds that. We don't know what glory is going to be like. Oh, we can think and we can dream, but the best that you can think and dream is going to be but a fraction of what it will really be. It's going to be a lot better than we've ever dreamed and thought of. There are things that I enjoy on earth, and there are some things that I've said, but if you don't enjoy them here on earth, you won't enjoy heaven. But anyway, I believe there is going to be a change in our total, the whole way we look at life and things. One of the things that when my brother discovered, Ivan discovered, that he had cancer, and we were talking about it, and I said to Ivan, if it's got to be that way, Look, you go over, get the barbecue started, I'll come back you up. We love barbecue as Beachy Boys. We're just meat and potato guys. And we just love to put that charcoal flavor into meat and we just enjoy that kind of thing so much. And so God's going to need a chef, isn't he? That was my take. Ah, that's dumb stuff to think about because, yeah, but there's the marriage supper of the lamb. Somebody's got to cook, right? That's the way we think. We don't know how it's all going to be. We love pork, especially. What's going to happen? We're going to get the pork chops in glory because there's not going to be any pain, and the pigs got to die to get pork chops. So what's going to be there? They're going to be some kind of pork that comes walking around. The porker comes up, drops his ribs, and he walks off and grows new ones, goes back, and he doesn't die. How's it going to be? We don't know. My friends, it's going to be better than anything we ever dreamed about. Yes, it is. So dream on, my friends. I think it does us good, and I think God has humor just like we do, and I think he enjoys when we talk about some of these things. Verse 17, ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also be led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory both now and forever. Amen. My friends, tonight, what encouraging words. Turn to Revelation chapter 3, looking in verse 3. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard. Hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour will come upon thee." But my friends, repentance is a way of life. I believe it behooves the Christian to every day, at the end of the day, reflect upon what happened throughout the day. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, hold fast and repent. The progression of spiritual life, the way to sanctification and holiness, is not that there is a sinless life, but there is a spirit of subjection to Jesus Christ, that as his spirit reveals to us where we have failed in that day and in that time, in humbleness we come to him and we say, I have sinned. I've done wrong today. God, will you assist me with this? Can you again forgive me? Jesus said we should forgive our fellowmen 70 times 7. That doesn't mean that we keep track to 490 times and quit. It only means that we should never, never quit forgiving. And the Bible tells us also in the book of Matthew, I believe it's in chapter 6, where he says, as he pray, as you forgive your fellow man, so you shall be forgiven. But if you do not forgive your fellow man, you will not be forgiven. Our salvation is directly tied with our relationship with our fellow man. My friends tonight, I know what it's like to have someone that's hard to get along with, I think, and I figure they figure I'm hard to get along with. But we as people of the flesh and of the earth need to deal with those relationships issues. We need to come to the place where we are mellow. And there are some characteristics, there are some characters that have learned to live in such a way you just can't fight with them. I would pray for that kind of character. I would like to be that kind of person. Doesn't come easy and it's not natural. But let me say tonight, here he says, hold fast and repent. Repentance for the Christian is not a one-time thing, it's a way of life. It is something we carry with us in our journey all the way till we leave for glory. Let's not forget that. But at the same time, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is victory. that you and I can move ahead and push onward and upward toward the journey, toward the goal of glory that Christ has set there for those who look for him and are waiting for him. Let's bow our heads forward in prayer.