Peace or Panic? | Matthew 25:1-13

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Great, great song service, and uh great to have visitors with us. Great to see everybody out. And again, it's great to be back. Uh I just titled this message Paniker Peace. Paniker Peace. If you would turn to Matthew chapter 25. Jesus telling about the kingdom of heaven, this part of the Olivet discourse. He's uh about to be betrayed, he's about to go to the cross, and he's telling the church what to expect and what's going to happen. And uh really interesting parable that Jesus talks in Matthew 25, he teaches in Matthew 25. We're going to read this parable 1 through 13. It says in verse 1 in Matthew 25, Jesus again speaking to his disciples, so then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And the five of them were wise, and the five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took the oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish said unto the wise, Give me give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there not be enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. And then verse 13, Jesus says, Watch therefore, for you know not neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. Let's go, Lord, in word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we assign the Bible before you. Again, Lord, thank you for a beautiful day and for the opportunity to come to this place to worship you in spirit and in truth. And I pray, Lord, our hearts and minds are focused upon you and your will for our lives, and that we belong to you, that we're in a marriage relationship with you, that we we belong to you, and you belong to us, and Lord, that we live a life to glorify you. And I pray, Lord, we're ready, ready for the rapture and be part of your return. And I pray, Lord, for the lost among us, that they would see the need, see the urgency, uh, see the love of the cross, that you paid their sin debt, and that we call upon you today and be saved and be part of the bride. And again, Lord, we just thank you so much for your word and for your Holy Spirit to teach us your word and to continue to comfort us, guide us, correct us, and lead us, Lord. And I pray we'll always be yielding to Him. And I just pray again, Lord, for your will to be done and your message, Lord, just brings you honor and glory and praise. We love and we praise you. We ask forgiveness of sins and we ask it's all in Jesus' name. Amen. So as we, it's a very interesting parable that Jesus teaches about the uh about the ten virgins, it's talking about his return. And uh, we really see in this story, while the title is, There's Panic and There's Peace. And I was thinking about, you know, things in our lives. Uh I remember 9-11 getting off work and all the things going on with the Twin Towers and how the people were just, so many people, the gas pumps, I was driving from Newport, and I'm like, man, what's really going on? I mean, it was in New York. I know it's a terrible, terrible thing, but gas pumps were empty, food was shelves were bare within a few hours. I'm like, golly, so I thought, man, this kind of unnerved me a little bit. Well, maybe I need to get gas, look at my gas gauge. I had a little half a tank. I can make it home, no problem. I'm just gonna go to the house. And I didn't go to the store. Well, we got food at home. But we see what happens when a thing is not announced. It's gonna have things happen unexpectedly. How do we react? How do we react to things? Well, Jesus is teaching us it's gonna happen. He is gonna come back. And we are such a lesson here about how we're gonna, how are we gonna be, how are people gonna be on this earth when he returns? And uh, will there be panic or will there be peace? Well, it all depends on one word. That's prepared. For those that are prepared, they'll be anxiously looking for the day. And for those that are unprepared, we'll be like these wise uh the foolish, looking for a way to get to Christ, which will be eternally too late. And uh, we're gonna see the mistakes the foolish women made and see the wisdom of the other five, and look at how they were prepared, not for Jesus' return, but really for us today for the rapture. We're gonna see this. This is really about the millennial kingdom in Christ's second coming, where we as believers, as bot, as the bride of Christ, this is for us to be ready for what? The rapture. The rapture in the second coming must understand that's two separate events. So many people think it's one event, it's two separate events. God is going to, Christ is going to rapture the church out. The church age will come to an end. I use this illustration all the time. Just as the time of the Passover, from the time of Moses in the book of Exodus to when Jesus Christ instituted the Lord's Supper the night before he was betrayed, or the night he was betrayed and was to be crucified that morning, or that afternoon, that was going to end. There was no more need for another Passover. Just like we come together here to worship God in spirit and truth in a church age, guess what? The church age will end at the rapture of the church, of the bride. But we see here Jesus is teaching that to be wise or to be foolish and understanding what we are to do. As we look in verses 1 and 2, it says, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like unto the ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And the five of them were wise, and the five were foolish. Jesus tells us the facts of the ten. We don't have to guess who they are or what they are. We understand they were five foolish and there were five wise. We will see why they were foolish in the next verse. He says, And they that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. They were relying really on their own understanding, their own goodness, their own works, their own abilities, and they weren't truly, they didn't truly belong to God. And so many people that were trusting in their baptism, trusting in their church membership, trusting in being a good person. And that's what I rely to kind of compare it to today, to people, you know, not having a true relationship with God, belonging to God. And uh because we see at the end, he doesn't know them. And it reminds me of what Proverbs 14, 2 and 16, 25 says, there's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. It's thinking that, well, they have religion, they have all these different things, uh, but they don't have Christ. They don't have the Holy Spirit, which is the oil that represents the Holy Spirit. It's on the outside, but it's not on the inside. Jesus says he will be inside of us, all that belong to God. We have the Holy Spirit inside of us. We see another thing about the foolish, they are associated with the wise, but they're not doing exactly what they were doing. You know, people today, they'll come to church, they'll go to church, but not to worship or to grow, they'll come for themselves. So many people will say, Well, I got through church service today, and now I got the rest of the day for myself. Well, it's the Lord's day. We come to worship God in spirit and in truth. It's his day. We come to worship him. But so many people will say, What can the church give me? I said, What can I give it? And it's so uh such an understanding. We we belong to him and he belongs to us. Our good works will only make us last, we'll only be so good for so long. How long is that? Well, the moment you have a good work, and you're like, Well, I've done good. Well, that's as far as it's going to go. The pat on your back that you receive from somebody, that's it. When Jesus says, if it's not for him, it's not for his honor, his glory, if you're doing it for yourself. And I truly believe so many people do things for themselves, thinking, well, that's good enough that God's got a scale or a system that I've done more good than evil, then God's gonna let me in. That's that's foolish. It's foolishness. The Bible teaches that none are good. We're all sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God. We must be born again, as Jesus says. But then we see uh the small but most important thing the wise had, the foolish didn't. And what is that in verse 4? But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps because they knew what? Well, didn't know exactly the time. And guess what? A little uh kerosene lamp only burns so long. Like you go to a storm cellar. Man, I used to hate going to a storm cellar when I was little. Man, my grandma, she scared a storm. We've been there all night long, and the worst, the worst times when you've been there all night, and it make you go to school the next day. I'm like, Golly, I've been in a cellar all night. But guess what? My grandma had all kinds of candles and all kinds of kerosene, and she had everything prepared and she was ready to be in there all night. I'm like, oh no. But what they the wise understood. It may go out, so I better take another, I'll just say a bottle of oil with me, kerosene, to keep the candle burning, to keep the lamp burning. They were wise. Then it says in verse 5, they understand. They had the, in verse 4, it says they had they had the uh in their vessels with their lamps. And uh again, wise followers of Christ know they could never, we we know that we can never follow Jesus in our own strength. It's not in our own strength. It's understanding the Holy Spirit inside of us that guides us, protects us, comforts us, and it prepares us for waiting on the Lord to act. We must have the Holy Spirit. And we see the next verse, they all had the same situation. They were all waiting. And it says in verse 5, while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Well, yeah, it's going to be uh it's gonna happen. I mean, fatigue happens, the body gets tired. I mean, everything going on this weekend, traveling and staying up for this, that, and the other. Guess what? Monday might be rough if you don't get some rest tonight because the body gets tired. It gets tired. And so the time passed. And again, it helps us understand. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Remember what Jesus told his disciples? He's in the garden tonight, he would be betrayed? Look at Matthew 26. Turn over a few pages. Matthew 26, he's in the garden of Gethsemane, he's in anguish, he knows what's about to happen. And he tells his disciples to watch with him. In Matthew 26 and verse 40, he cometh to his disciples and find them asleep, and say unto Peter, What? Could you not watch with me one hour? And he says, Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. And look what Jesus says. This is for all of us today. We try to live for God. He says, The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. It's weak. Anything we try to do in our own physical strength will be a failure. It will be short-lived because our physical bodies cannot control, cannot maintain the things that God would have us to do. So, what do we have to have? We have to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit that gives us the strength to do the things He wants us to do. And, you know, being here this morning, spirit-led. I pray it's spirit-led because your body, what? You went to bed late last night, watched fireworks show, you had parties, different things going on, you're like exhausted. The body wants to do what? Man, just a couple extra hours of sleep would be nice. But the Holy Spirit said, No. You belong to the Lord. You go and worship God today, and He'll renew that energy, renew that strength. And that's what God has up for us that wants us to do for Him, to be prepared. And again, they did not understand what's about to happen. They thought, well, He's going to show up, I'll be ready. It's all in His timing. It's all in His timing. Uh they didn't understand what the world today has no idea what's going to happen when the Lord comes back. It's a foolishness. There's such foolishness. Hebrews 10, 31 says, a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We're going to see the promises that Jesus come true in the next few verses as he tells what happened to the ten virgins after they wake up. Look in verse 6. Turn back to Matthew 25. Look at verse 6. And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold, the bridegroom cometh. Go you out to meet him. They finally got here. They've been asleep. I said, Wake up, he's here. They woke up, and we see the panic of the peace. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. I don't know about you, but you wake up in the middle of a storm, you can't find the lights, electricity's out. What happens? You're like, bang off the walls, this, that, and the other. You don't have a peace. You're like, what's going on? And they didn't have peace. They wanted, they were seeing the light because those were there with light. So they go to the light and say, Hey, give us some of your oil. Give us some of your oil. Then what happens? They all trim their lamps and the foolish unto the wise. Verse 8, give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so, this will not be enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they were went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready, that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. And afterward came also the other versions, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. Then look at verse 12. But he, that's Christ, answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. When we read that, you think, man, that's harsh. Why wouldn't Jesus open the door? Well, they weren't ready. Because look at verse 10. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready or prepared went with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. They weren't prepared. They weren't ready. So many people today are not ready for the rapture of the church. They're not ready before the rapture if God was to call them home today. I mean, we see the tragedy of this past week. The accidents and all the different things you hear about on the news. It's just this tragedy strikes every single day. Every single day. We're not promised another moment. I remember being at Oakdale right off 157. We were just talking and everybody was just talking about, we just left like everybody does, preached the message, went out. Everybody's there. All of a sudden somebody comes flying back and said, Sister Vicky's been a bad rick. I mean, hat I mean, hit head on. Ran off the road. I mean, she went as far as she could go and hit head on. Her and her daughter survived by the grace of God. But they had just left the church house. It wasn't five minutes. Had a deserted to go eat. And someone's right there across the center line and just, I mean, just I mean, just destroyed both vehicles was again by the grace of God. So we never know. You might think you have all these plans today. Go do this, go do that. Guess what? We're not promised. Another moment. But we are to be prepared. Be prepared. Because we think about this being harsh, but they didn't have faith. They didn't have real faith. They didn't have the Holy Spirit inside them. They're going to, again, use their own strength. Well, I'll take from this person, they'll give me what I need. No. You've got to have Christ. He's the only one that gives us life. He's the only one that gives us the Holy Spirit. We must be born again to Him. And it reminds me of what Jesus told the Pharisees. Turn if you would to Matthew 15. He was teaching all these lessons up until this point. And the Jews and religious people would not believe. Just like today, people will not believe in Christ. They'll chase after everything else, but they won't go come to Christ because they're being so deceived by their own pride and own foolishness. Look what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 15, in verse 8. He said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. So what's it all about? It's about our hearts. And guess what? I can't see your heart and you can't see mine, but I'm here to tell you, God sees our hearts. He sees the heart. He says, but in vain or in emptiness. They do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Jesus said this. And he says, and he called the multitude and said to them, Hear and understand. Not that which goetto the mouth defileth the man, but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man. Jesus had just taught. The Pharisees and the scribes, the religious people said they've seen Jesus' disciples eat him without washing their hands, basically. They're like, man, they defile themselves. They're sinners, they're wicked, they're, you know, they're this. And Jesus says, It's not eating with dirty hands that defiles you. It might kind of gross you out a little bit, but it doesn't defile you. Jesus says, What's in the heart? And Jesus was teaching this. And look what happens. Then came his disciples and said to him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this saying? Just like today, for me to stand up and preach John 14, 1 through 6, when Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. There's no other way. There is no other way to come to the Father except through the Son. That's what Jesus Christ teaches. For anybody who believes in Buddhism, Islam, any of the other denominations, any other religions and things of this world, people say, that's offensive. That offends me. Well, it's the truth. It is the truth. That's what Jesus says. But he answers, every plant which my father hath not planted, he rooted up. Let them alone. Verse 14. Says, let them alone. Let them be angry. Let them be offended. They be blind leaders of the blind. And the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. And that's really what we see here. Five of those foolish versions were kind of following each other with a blind leading the blind. And they went to the light, but it was too late. And it's an amazing story that Jesus teaches. The foolish virgins were blinded by their own wisdom. Like so many today, trusting themselves to get to heaven. The rich young ruler. He asked the greatest question. He said, Jesus, what must I do to get to heaven? Have eternal life. And Jesus said, Well, keep the commandments. And he said, Well, I've done all those things. I'm perfect. He said, Oh, if you're so perfect, then sell all that you have and follow me. And he said, He had great possessions. So he wouldn't sell them. His possessions own him. Instead of him, own him as possessions. There's so many people in our world today. And it's like the Pharisee and the publican. Turn to Luke 18, real quick. Luke chapter 18. Again, Jesus said he sees the heart. It's all about the heart. In Luke 18, these two men go to the temple to pray. Because it read that's what's so amazing about God's word and his Holy Spirit. It reveals our heart. God sees our heart, and we are to see our condition of our heart. In Luke 18, verse 9, it says, And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went to a temple to pray. Very simple parable. Two men. Two people went to a temple to pray. The Pharisee, which was the religious, uppity up, as Brother A. J. And Roger would say when he was alive, the uppity-ups of the uppity-ups, the smartest of the smart. You know, he had religion, he had all the knowledge, he was just a Jew. He had power and prestige and in uh and influence. And he goes to the temple to pray, and he prayed thus with himself. There we see the first thing. Who's he praying to? Himself. He says, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this publican. He says, I fast twice in a week, I give tithes to all that possess. What was it all about? Aye, aye, aye, aye. All about him. His heart was about himself. Everything that he had done, the same thing with the five foolish virgins. It was all the things they had done to be unprepared when they thought they were prepared. But Jesus says in verse 13, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus says, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself shall be abase, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. We see that the wise virgins had humbled themselves to understand that they didn't know all things. They didn't know exactly how long he's going to be, how long he's going to have to wait. So they say, Well, you know what? We better take our lamp, we better take a little oil with us. But the other ones in their pride said, Well, I'm prepared, I'm ready, I got all that I need. They didn't have the Holy Spirit. They didn't have the Holy Spirit, they were trusting in themselves. Trusting in themselves. And again, you think about you know what a humble heart has? A humble heart has peace and not panic. Humble heart has the Holy Spirit and is prepared. And what did Jesus say in verse 13? It says, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of Man cometh. So we see so much on the news, internet, and all different things. People all the time doing what? Trying to set a date. Trying to set a date. Trying to have some kind of system. Like we know he's going to come back at this moment. The rapture is going to happen at this day. It's all foolishness. Don't believe it for a don't spend one second listening to it because Jesus plainly tells us that nobody knows the hour. But we are to be ready and to be prepared. And I really like a commentary I read on this story of the parable, the Ten Versions. We must understand, as I said again, the second coming of Christ and the rapture of the church are two separate events. It's two separate events. There's going to be a rapture. And I believe that things are kind of happening, lining up to be for the Antichrist to explain it away. And for the first time ever that I don't know of that the government has actually said they've had UFO sightings and all the different things with the AI and all the different things with technology. I believe, this is my thinking. I believe that when a rapture happens, the Antichrist is going to say, you know what? The aliens got them. Or something like that. I know it's laughable, but but people will believe anything. They will believe anything. And the Antichrist will be a smooth talker and they will say, you know what? That kind of makes sense. You know, we've heard all these different things. The government's kept all these secrets for all these years. Maybe, maybe that's what happened. That's where they're at. Then guess what they're going to do? They're going to come to church and hear. That's what I've said before. That's when this place is going to be packed. Be packed, it'll be parking lot, it'll be jammed. It'll be after the rapture. And it'll be somebody standing up here that's going to tell them a lie. Tell them about all the different things, and all that's what I believe. That's why we ought to be prepared today to know the truth, to understand the truth.

unknown 21:59

But

SPEAKER_00 22:00

What he's saying here is this is a this parable. If you think about the ten virgins, they're not going to be married. They're going as a wedding party. They've been invited to the wedding. There's only, look what it says in verse 1. Then shall the, Jesus says, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be alike on ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. One. Didn't say there's going to be ten men coming to pick up the ten virgins for marriage. No, it's one. They've been invited to the wedding. So who's, what's the wedding? Well, again, the bridegroom is singular, only one bridegroom, and that is Jesus. We looked at verse 1. The bridegroom, only one. Just like Jesus says in John 14, 6, what I said, he says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. What? One. And we see here, the bridegroom is one. And what really helps us understand this is knowing who the bridegroom is, and that's Christ. And we also know who the bride is, which I hope you know that that is the church. We are the church body today. There's not a universal church like so many people want to teach. There will be. There will be, but right now we are individual brides to one Christ. I hope that makes sense. But we are the church is the bride of Christ. We can also know, though, who is the best man. You ever thought about that? At the wedding? We know it's Jesus and the church, which is us, is a wedding. And guess who the best man is? Turn to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. John chapter 3, look at verse 22. Verse 22 is talking about John the Baptist, and he is a testimony of Christ. He says, after these things came Jesus and his disciples to the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them and baptized. And John also was baptized in Enon near Solomon because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized. Well, you have John's the Baptist disciples, and you have Jesus' disciples, and they were all being baptized. And John was not yet cast into prison. So it was before he was cast into prison. So it gives us all this history. And then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came into John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptized with all men came to him. People were basically saying, John, you're losing disciples. They're all going to follow Jesus. And what does John say? And John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except be given him from heaven. You yourself bear me witness. He said that I said, I am not the Christ. He said, but I am sent before him. And then he says in verse 29, look what John the Baptist says. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom which standeth and heareth them rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. Who should be the happiest man besides the groom at a wedding? The best man. Really? The happiest man at a wedding should be the best man of the groom. He's excited. He's for his because his friend is going to be married. Receiving a bride is a great, great thing. And that's what he's saying. But that's what John is saying. He says, This my joy therefore is fulfilled, because what's he see? John sees the bride being prepared for Christ. And he knows. And he says, He must increase, he said in verse 30, but I must decrease. And he says, And no man receiveth his testimony. And he that receiveth his testimony has set a seal that God is true. Now how are we sealed? We're sealed by the Holy Spirit. And he says, For whom God has sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. He says, The Father loveth the Son, and giveth all things into his hand. He believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. That's when we see when God's, when Jesus was talking about the parable, they shut the door. It was too late. They didn't belong to the they were there. They were invited, but they were gone. They weren't prepared for the time of the wedding. So we see, but who is the bride? Let's look at it. Eternal Ephesians chapter 5. The bride of Christ is the church. Ephesians chapter 5. It's funny how this how God always works things. Like the Sunday school lesson this morning was the marriage of Hosea. I mean, it's amazing how God, you know, we'll look at this today, understanding how important the marriage is to be part of the bride of Christ in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25, it says, Hove and love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should be holy and without blemish. And he says, So all to men love their wives as their own bodies, he that loveth his wife loveth himself. And he says, For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourished it and cherished it, even the Lord, the church. And he says, For we are all members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And he says, For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to the wife, his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And then what he says in verse 32. This is a great mystery, he said, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. We understand it today, and we have the completed word. We have the completed word, understanding that we are the bride of Christ. We are the bride of Christ, waiting for the bridegroom to come back, for him to rapture us out, to meet him in the air. And we'll meet him in the air, and guess what? One day we'll all come back together. Well, we see this in this parable that at the rapture, the bride, as I just mentioned, the church will be with the Lord in the air during, I believe, the great tribulation period. And during, after that great tribulation period, there'll be a wedding that will take place, and the Jews, the Jews will be part of that wedding ceremony, be part of that, because God will keep his covenant promise. Turn to Revelation 19. Turn to Revelation 19. Revelation 19. Well, the Lamb is Christ. Who's the bride? The church. And it says, and after these things, what? The vials and the bowls and all the judgments and the wrath of God has been poured out. The great tribulation has happened. He says, After these things I heard a great voice of such people in heaven saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For the true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which represents the church, and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And he says, I heard, as it were, a voice of a great multitude, and a voice of many waters, and a voice of mighty thunder, and saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God, omnipotent, reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him. And here it is. For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Isn't that an amazing picture? Think that we're going to be a part of that someday? Isn't that not amazing? And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are true, the true saints of God. And he says, I fell at his feet to worship him, and he said unto me, See thou do it not. I am of thy f the fellow servants and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And then he says this, And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vestry of dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were there, which were in heaven, followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Who's that? Who's in the army of the Lord? That's us. Christ is going to come back. We're part of his army. We're going to go right there with him. And it says, And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, and with it shall he smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shall tread the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vestry on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying, All the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God. It's an amazing thought. We have written for us that we'll be a part of that someday. The saved, as a being a born-again believer, bought by the blood, a member of a New Testament church, we are the bride. Ready or prepared for what? The rapture. Ready for the rapture. Turn to 2 Peter. Turn to 2 Peter. He talks about this. Teaching it. Because they had heard about the second coming and calling away the rapture. 2 Peter chapter 3. He plainly tells us why he wrote this letter. In chapter 3, verse 1, he says, this second epistle or letter, beloved, he says, I now write unto you in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. What do you want to do? Remember what Christ had taught them, remember what God's Word had taught them in the Old Testament. He says that you be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandments of us, the apostles, of the Lord and Savior. He says, knowing this first in verse 3, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust. Anybody not believe that we're in the last days? It's at a point where I've never seen it before in my life. Prideful in every sinful thing that goes on under the sun. Instead of being ashamed and embarrassed, they're proud of their sin. They're proud of their wickedness. And the scoffers, walking after their own lust, 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 the creation. Then he says in verse 5, For this they willingly are ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, whereby the world that was then being overflowed with water perishes. What are you talking about? Talking about the flood. It'd be like Jesus said, it'd be like in the days of Noah. Like in the days of Noah. Every thought and imagination of the heart's wicked. We got to be getting close to that. And he says, 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. We see the rainbow, which has been kind of hijacked. If you look at it like that, but we know what a rainbow represents. Represents God's promise that he would never flood the earth again. But what's he going to do? He's going to judge the earth with fire. He's going to judge the earth with fire. And he says this. I love what he says. In verse 8, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. And he says, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. You know one thing about God, he will keep every promise. Every promise. He says, as some men count slackness, but as long-suffering to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That's the message today. It was the message, the first message Jesus Christ preached after he was tempted, after baptism and tempted. He says, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he says this in verse 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the element shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and all the works therein shall be burned up. Then he says, Seeing that then that all these things shall be dissolved, I love what Peter says. What manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness? He's saying, How are you living your life? He just cuts right to the chase. While we're waiting, how are we living our lives? Are we walking with Christ? Can people see Jesus in the way we live our life Monday through Saturday? How are we living our life? What's he saying? Looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens shall be on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. He says, Nevertheless, we according to this promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Then he says in verse 14. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him what? In peace. In peace, without spot, and blameless. Not panic, but peace. If you have peace at the mentioning of the rapture of the bride, that the church age will end, and you have a peace, then you're prepared. But you're ready for that day. But if it panics you or causes uneasiness in you for someone to stand up like me and say, hey, if you don't know the Lord, you're going to die in your sins to go to an eternal place called hell for an eternity, separated. If that causes uneasiness in your heart, guess what? It's not me causing that uneasiness. It's the Holy Spirit convicting you, preparing you, wanting you to come to Christ, wanting you to be prepared, to be born again and be prepared for what? What's next? For death or the rapture of the second coming. Be prepared. So understand you must yield to the Holy Spirit and know that it's a sure sign you're not prepared if we have an uneasiness, that we ought to be prepared and we have a peace. So be prepared today. By repenting of your sins, call on the name of Christ and ask Him to save you and go from panic to peace. I've heard it said that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. If you would please stand, Brother Matt, Miss Michelle, would come forward. I encourage you. Leave here today in peace and in fellowship with Christ. That you're living a life like Peter says, in all holiness and godliness, living a life where people can see Christ in your life. And that begins at salvation. Jesus died on the cross so that all might be saved. He has paid all of our sin debt. And we're all saved the same way. We repent of our sins. We ask Jesus, we say, we believe in you, Lord. We believe that you died for us. We believe you died on a cross for us. Your blood paid my sin debt. Lord, I ask you to save me. And however you word that, as long as you are speaking to God in sincerity and truth from your heart, wanting to be saved, He will save you. And as after He saves you, He doesn't want you to just be glad to be saved. He wants you to rejoice to be saved, but He wants you to grow. To grow in your faith. And what's the first step in obedience after salvation is scriptural baptism, to be part of a New Testament church, to be part of the bride of Christ. So whatever it is the Lord's laid on your heart today, I pray you'll be yielding to the Holy Spirit as we sing.