There are many, many people who know, who
believe that Jesus Christ is coming back in this day and
generation. It is wonderful to know that Jesus is coming back soon
but that knowledge will be of no value if you are not ready when
He comes.What a mighty day it is in the scriptures.
We read something of it in
Amos 5:18. "Woe unto you that desire the day of the
Lord. To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. As if a man
did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into a house,
and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not
the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? Even very dark,
and no brightness in it?"
To the man who isn’t ready for the day of the
Lord, it is as if a lion coming from one direction to met him, and
a bear coming from another, and finally a serpent bit him.
Destruction is absolutely everywhere; a lion without and a serpent
within - destruction on every side.
It is Not Enough to Know
About Him
So you see it is necessary to do more than
tell you that Jesus is coming back; we need to help you to be
ready when He comes. Yes, it is not enough to know that He is
coming but what we want to do is to be ready when He comes.
In the days of Jesus Christ there were those
who were expecting Him to be born in their day. The Jews could tell the very place where He
was to be born. They knew the whole story and yet most of them
went into Christless graves. You see it isn’t enough to know the
prophecy of Jesus Christ the Son of God. It isn't enough to know
about His divinity. You must take your stand firmly with Him if
you expect to be translated with Him in that glorious day.
After Jesus Christ came and stood before the
Jews in His own day, after preaching those mighty sermons, He held
out His hands of love and said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Why the
Jews Rejected Christ
The men of His day looked into His face and
they rejected Him. They crucified Him, nailing Him to the cruel
cross after having looked into those eyes and knowing who He was.
You say "I just don't understand why they did
it? Why, after studying the scrolls, and seeing that they said
Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem after seeing the seventy weeks
explained, and that the Messiah came at the proper time and
fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Him; why in the entire world didn’t everybody run
unto Jesus and accept Him right on the spot.
Consequences for
Jews
Accepting Christianity
I will tell you why! Because a great deal was involved in being a
Christian when Jesus was here. When a man proclaimed himself to be
a Christian, one of the first things the Jews did was to turn him
out of the Synagogue. Yes, if a man dared to take his stand for
Christ, he was turned out of the Synagogue. And you know what it
meant for a member to be turned out of the Synagogue of the Jews.
When a man professed the religion of Jesus Christ his family
would, figuratively speaking dig that man's grave, hold his funeral
and bury him forever. He was put out of their house and home never
to be thought of again. Yes, when that man became a Christian, they
buried him forever, just the same as if they had put him under the
ground.
And friends it is true today. Just the other
day I was speaking to an old Jewish man. He told me a very sad
story of his only daughter. Today this Saturday, this Sabbath day,
she is to marry a Roman Catholic in the Catholic Church right here
in Perth. He told me of how he had pleaded, how he had wept with
his daughter, trying to persuade her to change her mind. But today
right here in Perth, an only daughter will be as though she were
dead to her family, her friends, her relatives.
Did you know this? The Jews had one common
fund in which all the members of the family shared. They put all
their earnings into this fund. When a person accepted Christ, that
individual lost all he had invested in the home, in the business.
That person lost all the inheritance and was turned out of the home
without a penny.
Consequences for Jews Accepting Christ
And that was the way it was in the days of
the Lord Jesus Christ when a man proclaimed himself to be a
Christian, a follower of the master. They turned him out of the
Synagogue, which meant the same as starving to death. Any man who
was turned out of the Synagogue could not think of getting
employment. When the rabbi said, "This man is a heretic, has been
cast out of the Synagogue; don't give him a job, nobody would give
him a job, nobody. So you see he was destined to a hard time when
he stood for Jesus Christ. So you see that is the reason why that
they stood back and said, "We would like to follow Him, but we
cannot make that sacrifice."
They
are Unable
to Make the Sacrifice
There are men and women in this town today
who are saying the same thing. You see men today are no different
after all. They fall back on the same argument that the people
used in Christ’s day. When the truth comes to them with such
mighty power that they cannot resist it they fall back on that old
argument "we would like to follow Him, but we cannot make the
sacrifice.”
The Jews had a wonderful evidence of the
divinity of Jesus Christ by His healing of the blind, the
cleansing the leper, and bringing life to the dead. They had
evidence so overwhelming so convincing, it would seem as if they
could not go back on the truth of Christ.
They stood back and said, "we would like to follow Him, but we cannot
make the sacrifice.” Then they excused themselves by saying, "Our grandfathers expected to go home to
heaven through Moses; our fathers were saved believing
in Moses; and what was good enough for fathers is good enough for
us."
What is Good Enough for the Fathers...
Yes, that is the way that they argued in the
days of Christ. Did you know that was the way they argued in that
day? I am going to read it to you. I want you to see it for
yourselves.
John 9:29
says, "We know that God spake unto Moses:
as for this fellow, (Christ) we know not from whence He is."
You see they were saying Moses was good
enough for our fathers; he is good enough for us.
Now I want to ask you, do you think that those
people who rejected Christ and clung to Moses will be saved? Do
you expect to meet them in Heaven? Well if that argument would not do in the
days of Christ, why is it good today?
The man who says that what was good enough
for his father is good enough for him, is as great a sinner today
as were those who said it in Christ’s day. They rejected Jesus
Christ and they crucified Him; therefore they were lost, without
Christ and without hope in the world.
Failing to Follow the Light
Failing to follow the light: When a man comes face to face with the great
message that God has for today and that man knows that he has
heard the truth and yet rejects the message he invariably falls
back upon the same old argument that men used in the days of
Christ.
You say "What is that?" My father has gone to heaven as a Methodist
and I guess that I will get to heaven believing in that religion
too. He kept Sunday, and he will get to heaven, so will I.”
"Our fathers believed in Moses; they are
going to get to heaven. So will I," said the Jews. You see it isn't what was good enough for
grandfather that will take me home.
For I read that I am going to be saved by the
light that God has shown me and by what I know is in the book.
According to the light that God has given me, according to the
light I have and reject; or according to the light that God has
given me and I accept. On that basis will I get to Heaven if I
accept the light or be rejected by Christ if I reject the light.
And just as surely as God rejected the Jews
so surely will He reject the man who refuses to walk in the light
today. The Bible tells it so clearly that nobody can
be mistaken about it. The Scripture says the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord, and you know that the seventh-day is Saturday
not Sunday. The Bible furthermore says, "Sin is the
transgression of the Law,” and so as you have light upon this fact
that the Sabbath is one of the commandments.
You read this statement by St Paul "the wages
of sin is death." "Well says one man, "if father got through, I
am going to take a chance. If grandfather was saved keeping
Sunday, I am going to take a chance. If mother got through, I am
going to take a chance with mother."
I want to tell you that a man is not taking a
chance at all when he goes against the light. He is just as sure
to reach hell as the fact that he was born. There is no chance
about it.
A man who takes hold of a wire of ten
thousand volts isn't taking a chance, is he? It is sure death!
Who's Going to Heaven?
Some people are troubled as to whom are going
to be taken to Heaven when Jesus Christ comes back. It is very
clearly indicated in the Bible who they are; there is no question
about it. You will find them described in
Revelation 12:17, they
must meet the qualification of this verse. "The dragon was wroth with the women and went
to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Now you cannot call this the Jewish church.
No. This is a church that has the testimony of Jesus Christ and
yet at the same time keeps the commandments of God.
I will read to you in another place,
Revelation 14:12. "Here is the patience of
the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and
the faith of Jesus."
You see how clear it is! John the Revelator
looked up and he saw the Saviour with a crown of Glory, coming in
the clouds of heaven surrounded by millions of angels. As he saw
all heaven blazing with glory he said, "As I looked, I heard a
voice saying John, here they are." He asked "Who are they?" The voice replied,
"These are those going to heaven when Jesus comes."
Let me read it to you. "Here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and have the faith of Jesus."
Verse 14: "And I looked, and behold a white
cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having
on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle."
How to Know the People Who will be Ready
There will be a people standing in this world
when Jesus comes back who will be keeping the ‘Commandments of God’ and will have ‘Faith in
Jesus’. Christians having the faith of Jesus in their
hearts and the commandments of God in their lives, looking for the
saviour to come. And He will take them home to Heaven, they are
going to be there.
You know, if you go to a place and you hear a great
deal about the commandments, that is a good sign that you are
getting close to where you belong. People often say, "You people
are doing a lot of preaching about the Sabbath and the
commandments, why don't you just preach Christ and Him crucified
and let the Sabbath and the commandments go. Just preach the
gospel.
Say for instance that you are travelling in a
town and you are trying to find a certain street, you are pleased
that the council has placed signposts on the street corners so
that you can tell the way. I have been in towns where the streets
are not identified by naming signs. There are no signs anywhere.
Well if you are looking for the people of God in these last days,
for the people who are going to be ready for the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ; you can read in the Bible that the sign by
which you will know them is the fact that they "keep the
commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus."
Why Do So Few People Walk in the Light?
So when you come into a meeting place where
they are preaching about the commandments of God then you should
say, "Thank God, this is one of the signs".
Of course you might say that what I would
like to know is this: If it is right, how is it that so few people
follow it? Yes, if it is right, why don't all the preachers follow
it?
Did you ever understand why they don't? I am
going to tell you right now.
This Generation is Like the Days of Noah
The reason why so few people walk in the
light at the time when Jesus Christ is coming back, is the same
reason that was used at the time of Noah. Jesus likened our generation to that of Noah
days, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it be also
in the days of the Son of man."
Remember this, that of all the people that
lived in the days of Noah there were only eight saved in the ark.
A man who was a sceptic said, "That story about the ark, it is a
hoax, it can’t be true, what nonsense! You know that the ark wasn’t big enough for
everybody to get in. If everybody had tried to get saved, that ark
would have been swamped; and that shows there wasn’t a chance for
them all to be saved. The preacher answered him, ‘Now look here if
everybody had made up his mind to be saved there would never have
been any need for the ark.’ The Lord would have called it off and the
flood would have never come. That is the way it was with Nineveh.
Everybody repented, so the Lord said, "Let us call it off."
But say that half of them had decided to be
saved, and there was danger that they would have swamped the boat,
they no doubt had the blueprint and could have made as many arks
as they wanted to. The Bible says that the days of Noah will be
like the days of the coming of the Son of Man.
And that is exactly what we find today.
People say, ‘Surely you didn’t think that you are right and
everyone else is wrong?’ ‘Do you mean to say that this small company
of people have the truth?’ I can well imagine that Noah had the same
question fired at him. ‘Do you mean to say that this small company
of people have the truth? Do you mean to say that only those that
go into the ark by keeping God’s Commandments will be saved?’
Procrastination
Somehow Satan is able to get individuals to
put off taking their stand for Jesus Christ. It seems so easy to find some excuse, some
loophole, to keep us from taking our stand. The excuses sound so,
so good. But they will not be worth anything when we stand before
the judgment bar of God. All our excuses will be swept away. God
will say, "Here is the guidebook; did you follow it all
the way?"
Ezekiel 7:5,6; I want to read you Moffatt' s
modern translation of this text. "Evil on evil, says the Eternal, It is
coming; the hour has come. The hour is striking, and striking at
you; the hour and the end. Your doom has come."
God's Last Warning Message
Friends this is God’s last warning message.
Yes, it is necessary to do more than to tell you that Jesus is
coming again in Glory and Power; but to help you to be ready when
He comes. For it says, in that day they will look up and see the
Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven and all the nations will
mourn because of Him. It won’t be hard to confess to Jesus then,
for we are told that every man will bow down and confess that He
is the Lord; He is the King.
Romans 14:11
says; "For as it is written, as I
live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue
shall confess to God."
I don’t want to be in that group, for their
(confession will be altogether too late. God's last warning
message was given to them; they saw the light for a time, they
were given the opportunity, however for some reason they
procrastinated or failed to make their stand on the side of those
people who keep the Commandments of God and have the Faith of
Jesus.)
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