SALVATION FOR TOMORROW: HIS TOMORROW NEVER CAME! IF ONLY FELIX KNEW…! THAT… • HIS COULD HAVE… • AND SHOULD HAVE… • AND WOULD HAVE…WOULD NOT SUFFICE HIM AFTER THE FACT… SEPT. 11, 2001 COULD HAVE BEEN A CONVENIENT DAY FOR THE STOCK BROKERS HOUSED IN NEW YORK’S TWIN TOWERS. THEIR TOMORROW WAS SHORT- LIVED! WHAT ABOUT YOUR TOMORROW?
WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW
NEVER COMES? JAMES 4:13, 14 1. YOU HAVE NOW …NOT TOMORROW
• DO YOU HAVE A LIFE TO LIVE?
• DO YOU HAVE A SONG TO SING? • DO YOU HAVE A GIFT TO GIVE? • DO YOU HAVE A PRAYER TO PRAY? • DO YOU HAVE A SERMON TO PREACH? • DO YOU HAVE TO VISIT THE SICK?
WHY? WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW NEVER
COMES! 2. YOUR TOMORROW IS MERCURIC MOUNT OF BLESSINGS, p.101 ONE DAY ALONE IS OURS, AND DURING THIS DAY WE AE TO LIVE FOR GOD.
• ANNA-NICOLE SMITH’S TOMORROW
WAS FULL WITH APPOINTSMENTS, DATES, VENUES, AND PARTIES. HER TOMORROW NEVER CAME! IN NOAH’S WORLD…
THE ANTEDILUVIAN PEOPLE
IN HIS TIME…DID THEY LIVE FOR GOD? HEBREWS 12:27, 28 WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR TOMORROW? • YOU HAVE A BUSINESS TO TEND TO? • YOU HAVE A DESTINATION TO FLY TO? • YOU HAVE STUFF TO COMB THROUGH? • YOU HAVE A BOOK TO READ THROUGH? • YOU HAVE A SPEECH TO LISTEN TO? • YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TO GO TO? • YOU HAVE A VACATION TO ESCAPE TO? • YOU ARE LIVING IN A BUBBLE! MY FRIENDS, ALL THESE ARE PIPE DREAMS! LEARN TOMORROW’S LESSONS TODAY…FROM THE RICH FOOL! LUKE 12:17-21 THE RICH FOOL HAD PLANS TO: • BUILD BIGGER—AND BETTER—AND HIGHER—AND STRONGER –TO LAST LONGER
THE RICH FOOL HAD PLANS OF:
• EXPANDING—STORING—RELAXING— ENJOYING—FEASTING [EATING – DRINKING & CELEBRATING] WATCH GOD’S RESPONSE IN LUKE 12:17-19 WHAT’S THE MESSAGE? THE RICH FOOL CARED MORE ABOUT: • STORING UP STUFF RATHER THAN SAVING HIS SOUL THE RICH FOOL CARED MORE ABOUT: • HAVING A TITLE RATHER THAN SHARING HIS TESTIMONY
N:B: UNFORTUNATELY, HIS TOMORROW
ENDED THAT SAME NIGHT! (VS.20) WHAT ABOUT YOUR TOMORROW? LUKE 12: 21 SO IS HE THAT LAYETH UP TREASURE FOR HIMSELF, AND IS NOT RICH TOWARD GOD. IS GOD CALLING ME A FOOL?
•NOT IF HE’S THE C.F.O OF
YOUR WALLET! •IS HE? 3. YOUR TOMORROW DEPENDS ON GOD’S WILL TODAY DO YOU KNOW THAT GOD HAS TWO WILLS?
1. GOD: PERFECT WILL—JOHN 3:16
• IT’S UNCHANGEABLE 2. GOD: PERMISSIVE WILL— • HE ALLOWS ROMANS 8:28 & JAMES 1:2, 3 1. LETS EXAMINE GOD’S PERFECT WILL THREE THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW 1. GOD WANTS TO REASON WITH US —ISAIAH 1:18 2. GOD CARES ABOUT OUR SALVATION—ROMANS 13:11 3. GOD SAYS: NOW IS THE TIME TO SURRENDER….NOT TOMORROW 2 CORINTHIANS 6:2 HEROD BEGAN HIS SPEECH--- BUT DID NOT FINISH IT!
ACTS 12:21-23 & LUKE 9:62
2. LET’S EXAMINE GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL GENESIS 19: LOT & FAMILY IN SODOM • VS.15 ANGELS SAID: ARISE & TAKE… • VS.16 AND WHILE HE LINGERED, THE MEN… • LOT WAS A JEW…AND HIS FAMILY WAS A MICROCOSM OF THE 21ST CENTURY CHURCH BACK IN HIS WORLD.
N:B: LOT’S WIFE HAD GOTTEN OUT OF
SODOM; YET , SODOM HAD NOT GOTTEN OUT OF HER! SELECTED MESSAGES, VOL 2, p. 354 LOT HAD TOO MUCH OF A LINGERING SPIRIT. LET EVERY MAN BE WIDE AWAKE FOR HIMSELF, AND TRY TO SAVE HIS FAMILY.
• VS 17 …WHEN THEY HAD BROUGHT
THEM…HE SAID…ESCAPE FOR THY LIFE A. ANGELS: PLURAL IN VS.15 B. MEN: PLURAL IN VS.16 C. HE: SINGULAR PRONOUN IN VS.17 D. HE: SINGULAR PRONOUN IN VS.21 SO WHAT’S THE MESSAGE? OUR PRAYERS GIVE GOD OUR EXPRESSED PERMISSION TO SEND ANGELS TO OUR AID, OR TO SHOW UP HIMSELF. JOHN 1:14 N:B: HOWEVER, DISOBEYING GOD’S ORDERS CAN RESULT IN FATALITY OR EVEN DEATH. READ GENESIS 19:26 TOMORROW = A THERMOMETER TODAY = A THERMOSTAT HOW SO? • A THERMOMETER: A DEVICE WHICH ADJUSTS TO THE TEMPERATURE AROUND ITS ENVIRON.
• A THERMOSTAT: THE NOB THAT TURNS
ON THE HEAT. QUESTION: ARE WE ADJUSTING TO THE TEMPERATURE OF CRIME, VIOLENCE, CORRUPTION, AND EVIL IMAGINATION, OR ARE WE TURNING ON THE HEAT? READ PSALMS 119:71
PATRIARCHS & PROPHETS, p. 101
THE SINS THAT CALLED FOR VENGEANCE UPON THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD EXIST TODAY. THE FEAR OF GOD IS BANISHED FROM THE HEARTS OF MEN, AND HIS LAW IS TREATED WITH INDIFFERENCE AND CONTEMPT. 4. TOMORROW’S SINS ARE PREVALENT TODAY EDWARD GIBBONS [HISTORIAN] MENTIONS SIX REASONS FOR ROME’S DOWNFALL
1. RAPID INCREASE IN DIVORCE.
2. BELITTLING OF SANCTITY OF THE HOME. 3. HIGHER AND HIGHER TAXES WITH PUBLIC MONEY BEING WASTED. 4. THE MAD CRAZE FOR PLEASURE THAT BECOME EXCITING. 5. GIGANTIC ARMAMENTS FOR WAR WHILE NATIONS ARE DECAYING INTERNALLY. 6. DECLINE OF FAITH IN GOD THAT HAS BECOME A MERE FORM OF CEREMONY. GREAT CONTROVERSY, p. 500 REPROOF OF SIN STILL AROUSES THE SPIRIT OF HATRED AND RESISTANCE. WHEN GOD’S MESSAGES OF WARNING ARE BROUGHT HOME TO THE CONSCIENCE, SATAN LEADS MEN TO JUSTIFY THEMSELVES AND TO SEEK THE SYMPATHY OF OTHERS IN THEIR COURSE OF SIN. INSTEAD OF CORRECTING THEIR ERRORS, THEY EXCITE INDIGNATION AGAINST THE REPROVER, AS IF HE WERE THE SOLE CAUSE OF DIFFICULTY. NOW IS THE FINAL BOARDING! IF JESUS WAS TO COME NOW, WOULD YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BE READY? • GOD IS LOOKING FOR CONVERTS NOT CONVICTS!
LAST DAY EVENTS, p. 230
WHEN PROBATION ENDS, IT WILL COME SUDDENLY, UNEXPECTEDLY,--AT A TIME WHEN WE ARE LEAST EXPECTING IT. BUT WE CAN HAVE A CLEAN RECORD IN HEAVEN TODAY, AND KNOW THAT GOD ACCEPTS US. A POEM: GLORIA PITZER QUOTED BY LLOYD CORY
PROCRASTINATION IS MY SIN; IT BRINGS ME NAUGHT BUT SORROW. I KNOW THAT I SHOULD STOP IT, IN FACT, I WILL TOMORROW.
• ARE YOU SURE OF TOMORROW?
• WHAT IF GOD PULLS YOUR PLUG TODAY? TOMORROW’S EVENTUALITY COULD BECOME TODAY’S TRAGEDY MICHAEL JACKSON’S “THIS IS IT” TOUR WAS SCHEDULED FOR JULY 13, 2009.
HE DIED ON JUNE 25, 2009.
– WHAT ABOUT YOUR TOMORROW? WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW NEVER COMES?