“The Parable of the Talents” – Matthew 25:14-30

Well, I have good news and bad news this morning. Let me give you the bad news first. A gentleman in our community has died. None of us knew him but he evidently knew us because the good news is that he had put in his will that Christ Fellowship is the sole inheritor of his vast estate and we have been given… one kazillion dollars!

That’s right. It is in the church bank account right now. Our money troubles are over. One kazillion dollars. That’s a lot of zeroes. Aren’t you happy? Now, the question is, what do you want to do with all that money? We can pay off the national debt. We can all become billionaires. We can throw a big party or build a new building, maybe put a big fountain out front. I know people love a nice fountain. I’m pretty sure that’s why so many go to FBC Dallas.

No, seriously, if money was not an issue, what would you like to see happen at Christ Fellowship? We could have enough money for anybody that wanted to go on a mission trip somewhere. We could expand our food pantry. Put in recliners to replace the pews. Give Ben back his microphone. What do you think?

Now, the question is, with all that done, what is going to be your responsibility in all this? Are you going to be the one to work in the food pantry? Are you going to serve meals, wipe down the recliners, clean up at the Bo and Sara Memorial Dog Park next door? What is your responsibility going to be?

Maybe a better question for right now is, what is your responsibility right now? What are you doing, not just for Christ Fellowship, but for the Kingdom of God right now? Maybe you think you don’t have enough of whatever it takes to do what God has called you to do. Maybe you think you don’t have enough time or talent or money to do what you are supposed to do. Did you know that God gives you just what you need to do just what He has called you to do?

As Christians, we all have gifts. We all have talents and abilities and opportunities to use those gifts.  We don’t all have the same time, talents or treasure but we are not all called to do the same things. God has given us all different talents and abilities and has called us to do different things. We know that God has called our church to minister specifically to the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated, but in that calling are many different needs that require many different types of people.

One of the worst things you can do, especially in a church setting, is to compare yourself to somebody else and to think you don’t matter as much as old so-and-so over there because their talents are different or maybe more obvious. Paul said in Romans 12:3-8, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, (and Todd would add, any less than you ought) but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Those are just some of the gifts of the Spirit. We all have different gifts, different talents and different responsibilities and I want you to keep that in mind as we read a passage in Matthew this morning. It is a parable that Jesus used to prepare His disciples – and us - for the end times. We are continuing our look at what we need to do to prepare for the Rapture and for the end times because you can’t help but realize, if you are aware of what’s going on in the world, that the return of Jesus is imminent and we want to be prepared when He comes.

Jesus wanted us to be prepared and so He told this parable of the talents. In some versions it might be called the parable of the loaned money or the bags of money or of the faithful servants. What I need you to understand is that in this parable, a talent is a measure of money. It’s not a talent as we know it. Commentators say a talent of money was anywhere from one to twenty year’s wages for an average worker back in the day. So, when Jesus says in this parable that the master gave a talent, it was money.

Now, here’s the twist. What Jesus was wanting to encourage was for us to use our talents, our gifts and our responsibilities in the same way two of these servants used their money talents. Does that make sense? I think it will as we go along. Let’s read Matthew 25:14-30.

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

When I was in middle school, I played on the school basketball team. Back then everybody was about the same height so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was I just wasn’t any good at it. I remember our coach telling us something like, “You can’t make the shots you don’t take.” So, I took that to heart.  I shouldn’t have. I couldn’t make a close-up shot but since he said you can’t make a shot you don’t take, I started chunking ‘em from all over the place. Needless to say, my basketball career was as short as I was.

I took the opportunity to shoot but that was not my talent. That’s not what God put me on earth to do, that’s for sure. Today, so many of us waste our opportunities to use our talents. We miss opportunities to minister to people, witness to people, listen to people, or in some way, just be a blessing to somebody else. We find ourselves too busy or we don’t have what we think we need. We think we have to have all the answers but sometimes people just need you to be there.

Sometimes we just aren’t sensitive to what other people need or we overlook the opportunity that we have. I’ll never forget the story about the shoe salesman that went to Africa. He was there two weeks and he wrote his company back a letter saying, “Please bring me home, nobody wears shoes over here.”

They sent another salesman in his place and in a couple of weeks, he sent a letter back to the company saying, “Please send all the shoes you can, because nobody wears shoes here!” When you live with a proper perspective on who you are in light of God’s Kingdom and what your responsibilities are to it, then you start to live the full and abundant life that God wants you to live like in says in John 10:10. (Repeat)

Also, when you live with a proper perspective on who you are in light of God’s Kingdom and what your responsibilities are to it, then you will start to be prepared for His coming again. That’s the point of these sermons lately, to help us all be prepared for the Rapture, when Jesus comes back to get us and snatches us out of this nasty old world to go and live with Him forever. Now, keeping in mind that the Rapture could happen at any minute, I have three brief things I want us to see in this passage.

First off, this is a parable and not an allegory. One of the differences is that in an allegory, every detail is pertinent to the message the author is wanting to tell. In a parable like this, it’s just the main theme that is important. Don’t get bogged down in the details. Every commentary I read would mention this and then so many would spend five pages detailing how many pieces of gold or silver was in a talent and how big the hole would have had to have been to bury it and what they stored it in and…just stop. That’s not the point.

I believe that for us today, we need to see that the first thing the trustworthy servants did was go immediately to work with what they had.  Do you see that in verse 16? 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work. It was the same for the servant with two bags. The emphasis is not on how much they had but on what they did with how much they had. They got busy. They went to work.

Now, let me ask a question. What was the original job of those servants? They were servants. They had full-time jobs just doing what needed to be done around the house and the property. But now the master tells them he has another, more important job for them and gives them what he knows they can be trusted with.

They still had to do the other stuff they were assigned to do originally but now they have greater responsibility. As disciples of Jesus, what is our main job? What is the one main thing we are charged with doing while we wait for Jesus to come again? In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells His disciples the answer. He is about to ascend back to Heaven and the last thing He tells them to do…”Go and make disciples…”

Now, I know most of you have jobs. Some of you are retired but none of us are free of the responsibility to do just what Jesus said to do. Do you realize that God is not near as concerned with your job as a welder or electrician or bookkeeper or teacher or cowboy or whatever you do to make a living as He is your job to make disciples?

God is not going to welcome us into Heaven with, “Well done, good and faithful servant. I am so proud of the way you got that contract and brought in that job under budget and under time.” He cares about our jobs and so should we. We should be the best employees or bosses the world has ever seen but that is not what ultimately matters.

What matters is, are you doing what you are supposed to do to make disciples with the time, talent and treasure that God has given you? Did you know that God allows or even causes us to go through whatever we are going through to set us up to make disciples right where we are with the resources we have been given?

Think about Esther. Oh, I love me some Esther. It’s the funniest, most comical book in the Bible. If you haven’t read it lately, go back and do it. Ladies especially love this little book. Esther is in position to speak to the king and save her people but what she was called to do was basically illegal and could result in her immediate death. But it was her responsibility and nobody else could do it.

When she said she couldn’t do it, her uncle Mordecai told her, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)

As I have said before, God’s will is GOING to be done. The question is, do you want to be in on it and be blessed or do you want to face the consequences of not doing it as you sit back and let somebody else do it and watch them get the blessing?

Now, I hear what you are saying. You have a hard time telling people about Jesus. You just aren’t wired that way. It’s not natural for you and you are uncomfortable. Well, I’ll be honest. My first thought is, “You poor, precious little snowflake. Bless your heart. Let me get you a blankie so you are comfy since it’s all about you.”

But I’m not going to say that. I’m not. What I will say is that as disciples, at some point, you have to speak the words. I understand that we all have different gifts and that we are all called to do different jobs. I understand that you can’t preach it if you aren’t living it. But that’s why we talk a lot around here about being able to give your testimony and give it quickly. We always want to be ready, in season and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2) to at least say what God has done for us.

God has given us all different gifts and has put us each in different positions in life so that the whole world will hear and, who knows, maybe you are in the position you are in for just such a time as this. Maybe you are the only one that can reach your neighbor or your friend or co-worker or even your doctor. If so, what are you going to say? Are you ready? Are you using the talents God has assigned you?

Okay, I have to move on quickly now. Look again at verse 19. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” I think 2000-plus years qualifies as a “long time”, don’t you? Did you know that scientists are warning vacationers to Yellowstone National Park to be careful because the big volcano there could blow at any time? Yep. They say it will be a global event and could happen at any time. Evidently, they know that it happens about every 650,000 years and it happened last about 640,000 years ago so if you plan to go to Yellowstone in the next 10,000 years or so, be careful.

We tend to think of the return of Jesus in the same way sometimes, don’t we? “Oh, sure. Jesus is coming back any minute now.” *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* All the while we don’t live like we really expect it to happen. Well, you talk about a global event. Yellowstone has nothing on the rapture of God’s people. At the twinkling of an eye, Jesus says in Matthew 24 that, “This is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your LORD will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Can you imagine how the world is going to react to that? Are you ready? Are you using your time, talents and treasure that God has entrusted to you? There is nothing in prophecy that has to happen before the rapture. It could happen at any time. It says in Hebrews 1:3 that when Jesus went back to Heaven, He sat down at the right hand of God the Father. But after watching all the pieces fall into place in the last few years and months and even days, I believe that Jesus has moved out to the edge of His seat and He is looking expectantly at the Father. He is just waiting for Him to say, “Son, go get your bride, the church, your disciples; those that I have promised you that will share in your glory!”

Now, look at one last thing really quick. Look at verse 21. “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ For those two servants who were faithful and used their talents as the master wanted, this probably meant a welcome home party with a big feast. The master was glad to be back and wanted to celebrate and wanted his good servants to join him.

Jesus said in Revelation 22:12-13, “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” So, in other words, He’s kind of a big deal. And when Jesus throws a party, I want to be there. When Jesus gives out rewards, I want mine. Don’t you?

I’m going to close with this. I know you have jobs. You have family. You have bills to pay and kids to raise and laundry to do and doctor’s visits without end. You are busy people. But listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. “If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. 14If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved-even though only as one escaping through the flames.”

What he is saying is that when we see Jesus, all our work will be tested and if it was done for the sake of eternity; if we used our time, talent and treasure – no matter how much or how little – for the building up of the Kingdom, then we will be rewarded. But it doesn’t matter how nice your house was or what kind of car you drove. It won’t matter how high up the corporate ladder you climbed or how hard you worked at your job. That will be burned up and you will be disappointed. You will be in Heaven and that will be great. Thank you, Lord. But it says you will suffer loss because your work was done only for the present.

What gifts has God given you? Can you speak? Can you pray? Can you sing? Maybe the best thing you can do is just give money. Maybe God has called you to be a missionary in the darkest jungle of Africa. Maybe. But maybe He has called you to be a missionary to your neighbor across the street or to tell your kids or grandkids about what Jesus has done in your life.

I’m glad you have a job. You should thank God you are able to make money and support yourself. But that’s not what you are called to do. It may be where you are called to be but it’s not what you are called to do. Go and make disciples. We are not guaranteed another breath.

If you are not a believer and disciple of Jesus Christ, then repent of your sins today. Turn away from that lifestyle and ask God for forgiveness and believe in Him completely for your salvation to Heaven and from Hell. Allow Him to change your life today. We may not have tomorrow.

The Rapture - 1 Thessalonians 4

Somebody tell me about something that is coming up that you are looking forward to.  Are you going on vacation?  Is there a holiday coming up you are looking forward to?  You can’t wait for me to be quiet?  What is it? 

Now tell me how you are preparing for this big event?  What are you doing to prepare yourself physically, mentally, financially, spiritually, etc? 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith had just reached the airport in the nick of time to catch the plane for their two-week's vacation in Hawaii. "I wish we'd brought the piano with us," said Mrs. Smith. "What on earth for?" asked her husband.
"I've left the tickets on it."

We all know that preparation is important but did you ever think how important it was to be ready for Jesus to come back?  I’m not sure who wrote it but I like this poem.

There's a man in yonder glory I have loved for many years,

He has cleared my guilty conscience and has banished all my fears.

He is coming in a moment in the twinkling of an eye,

And no time will be allotted for you to utter one good-bye.

No time to kiss the husband or embrace the loving wife,

If they are but united in the bonds of holy life.

Are you ready, Christian, ready, for shout and trump and voice?

Will His coming make you tremble or cause you to rejoice?

Are you walking, talking with Him daily, taking Him your care,

Do you live so close to heaven that a breath would waft you there? 

Quoted in Fairest of All, Herbert Lockyer, Eerdmans, 1936, p. 71.

What preparations are you making for one of the greatest events in the history of the world?  I read about a little girl who was asking her mama questions.  "Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?" "Yes." "Today?" "Yes." "In a few minutes?" "Yes, dear."

"Mommy…would you comb my hair?"  Don Hussong.

I’m afraid that is probably more preparation than most of us have made.  And while we need to be prepared for it, it is also one of the most comforting things to know and understand more about the rapture of the church.  I say it is comforting because that is exactly why Paul writes the church in Thessalonica.  He wanted to comfort them with the truth of God’s Word about what happens when we die and how this whole rapture thing is going to happen.

Just like there is today, there was some confusion back then about what was going to happen in the end.  Do you ever think about it?  Do you ever think about how it is going to end?  Well, since some people may not believe in the rapture or “snatching away” of the church before the Tribulation, I think you will see why it is important to be prepared for it and how it should affect your life today.

Let’s turn to the book of 1 Thessalonians and chapter 4:13-18.  Thessalonians is back in the back of the Bible just past Colossians and before the other “t” books, Timothy and Titus.  And like I said, Paul is writing to comfort them about some questions they had about their loved ones who had died.  And even today this passage is used to comfort family members at funerals or anytime somebody needs encouragement because there is nothing but good news here.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Wow!  There is a lot going on in those verses and a lot to see.  And I told you that there was nothing but good news here and that’s true.  But as for my sermon, I have good news and bad news.  Now, I know as well as any preacher that every good sermon has 3 points and a poem, right?  Pretty sure that’s what Peter did and 3000 people were added that day.  So my good news is that I already have the poem out of the way.  The bad news is that I have 5 points.  But I promise they will be as brief as possible.

I want to say before we get to the points one thing real quickly about a phrase Paul uses in verse 13.  When he says “those who fall asleep” we all know that he means “to die”.  It’s like saying someone has passed away.  It’s just a little more delicate to say it that way and in no way should it be taken to mean that our souls sleep.  There is no soul sleep.  He is only talking about our physical bodies.

Now, as to the points I want to make, I give credit to commentator W.W. Wiersbe for making them all start with the same letter so they are easy to remember.  We will see the revelation, the return, the resurrection, the rapture and the reunion.  Maybe making them all start with the same letter will make up for having so many of them.  First let’s look at the revelation that inspired this passage.  Look at verse 15.

Paul gives credit to Jesus Himself for giving him this revelation.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul is telling the church at Corinth about this same subject, the resurrection, and he tells them how he got this information in chapter 15:3-8.   “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

So, Paul is starting off here assuring us that what he is writing is absolutely true because he got it from the mouth of Jesus Himself.  Then he goes on to talk about the return of Christ.  It is my understanding that President John F. Kennedy once asked Billy Graham if he really believed that Jesus Christ was going to return one day.
“Yes, sir, Mr. President.  I certainly do” said Billy Graham. Kennedy then asked, “Then why do I hear so little about it?”

And that’s a great question.  It ought to be on our minds all the time.  It ought to be that one great thing that we look forward to and enjoy talking about.  The Bible talks a lot about it.  And here Paul gives us some details about how it is actually going to happen.
In verse 15, he describes it as the “coming of the Lord”.  That word “coming” is the Greek word “parousia” which is also used to describe the Second Coming of Christ but this does not mean that they are the same event.  Not at all.  We will talk about some of the differences as we go but the first difference is that at the rapture, Jesus will appear to His followers, not on earth, but “in the air” as he says in verse 17. At the rapture, Christ appears in the air without setting foot on the earth.  At the Second Coming, Zechariah 14:4 tells us that “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.”  (Dr. Jeffress, Perfect Ending, pg. 75)

Now, let’s look at what Paul says about the resurrection.  Some people are confused about this but Paul makes it very understandable.  He says, “we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep… For the Lord himself will come down from heaven… and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

First, I love how Paul uses the pronoun “we” to suggest that he expected he would still be alive when Christ came.  Theologians call this the doctrine of Imminent Return, meaning that we believe this could all happen at any moment.  And when it does happen, Paul says that the dead in Christ shall rise first and then the believers who are still alive.  But how can that happen if we know that when we die that being away from the body is at home with the Lord as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:8?

Well, when we die, our spirit goes immediately into the presence of the Lord but our body is left behind just like the body of Christ was left behind until that first Easter morning.  So, Paul is saying that the bodies of the dead will be resurrected first and then those who are still alive will join them in the air with Jesus.  Well, that brings up the question of how the bodies of the dead will be resurrected especially if they have decomposed or maybe not all there.  What about those who have been cremated or lost at sea or blown apart by a bomb?

Well, Paul is talking about resurrection, not reconstruction.  In 1 Corinthians 15, starting at about verse 35, he points out that the resurrection of the human body is like the growing of a plant from a seed.  The flower is not the identical seed that was planted yet there is continuity from the seed to the plant.  Christians shall receive glorified bodies, like the glorified body of Christ.  The dead body is the seed that is planted in the ground.  The resurrection body is the flower that comes from that seed.  (Wiersbe, pg 180)

Now let’s look at verse 17 to see the actual rapture.  “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”  If you will notice, the word “rapture” is not used here.  In fact, the word “rapture” itself is used nowhere in the Bible.  But the Latin translation of the phrase “caught up” is “rapturo” from which we get the word “rapture”. 

To be caught up literally means to be snatched quickly from one place and moved to another.  It is the word used to describe what happened to Philip after he baptized the eunuch in Acts 8.  He was snatched up, caught up, raptured, if you will.  And here Paul says we are going to hear 3 things at the rapture.  We are going to hear God give a command with a loud voice.  We will hear the archangel.  And we will hear the trumpet call of God.

And all of this is going to happen in the twinkling of an eye, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:52.  We will hear Jesus call out just like He did in front of the tomb of Lazarus.  You have heard it said that if Jesus had not used the name of Lazarus when He cried out “Lazarus, come out!” that every grave would have opened.  Well, He is not going to use our names and every believer will come out and be raised up to Heaven with Jesus.

I don’t know what the archangel is going to say and I can’t imagine what the trumpet of God is going to sound like but it will be obvious.  It will be unavoidable.  It will be glorious.  And it will lead to the reunion of all believers, the bride of Christ, being united with the Bridegroom.  We will be resurrected and transformed into the type of body Jesus had after His resurrection.  And it will be a body free of the pain and suffering and tears that come with these bodies we have here. Let’s look closer at the reunion.  In verse 17, where Paul says we will “meet the Lord in the air” that Greek word translated “meet” carries the idea of meeting a royal person or an important person.  (Wiersbe, pg 181) How cool is that?

In our family, like in yours as well, I imagine, we have had death. I have had to go to funerals of people that I am related to and that I love and I still miss and always will. Everybody goes through this, but in our family, and I hope it is in yours, these funerals can turn into a party. It’s a family reunion and it’s so good to see folks I haven’t see in so long and stories are told and there is a lot of laughing and hugging and carrying on. Most of the time, our family knows how to “put the fun back in funeral.”  

Do you know how we can have such a good time at the funeral of a loved one? It’s not because we don’t love that person. We still miss those that have gone on ahead. It’s just that we know that they have gone on ahead and we will see them again in resurrected bodies on streets of gold and in the presence of our Savior, Jesus! I love my family. I miss my uncles and aunts and grandparents that are gone and I can’t wait to see them again but I want to see Jesus first in Heaven.

When I think of everything He has done for me; that He has forgiven me when I didn’t deserve it; that He has given me peace and joy and an abundant life here on earth just like He promised; when I think of how He has made good come from bad even when it was bad choices I have made; when I think of how He loved me before I loved Him and He loved me enough to die for me, then I can’t wait to see Him.

Yes, I have a lot of questions for Him.  And I don’t know if I will still have all of those questions when I get there or not but I have an idea that it will be enough just to be in His presence.  I will have all of eternity to visit with my family and to pepper David and Paul and Elijah with questions.  I will have all of eternity to visit with Rahab, sing with Mary, and laugh with my family.

Since I have already blown the “3 points and a poem” ideal for a sermon, let me give you one more quick poem by Richard Baxter:

My knowledge of that life is small,

The eye of faith is dim,

But it's enough that Christ knows all,

And I shall be with him.

So, what are you doing to prepare for the rapture?  Are you ready spiritually?  Does it motivate you to live a more Christ-like life?  What do you want to be doing when He comes?  Maybe a better question is what do you not want to be doing when He comes?

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes and, as the music plays, let me ask you if you know for sure that you will be there when you die. Some people don’t like to think about that but, at some point, you need to think about it and that point is right now since we are never guaranteed another breath.

Ask God for forgiveness and turn away from your sins and accept His free gift of eternal life in Heaven with Him. It is only by His grace and your faith that it happens and it can happen for you today.

“The Ten Virgins” – Matthew 25:1-13

The song, “I’m Trading My Sorrows” says,

“I'm trading my sorrows
I'm trading my shame
I'm laying it down
For the joy of the Lord

I'm trading my sickness
I'm trading my pain
I'm laying it down
For the joy of the Lord”

Is that true of you? When you have sorrow, shame, sickness or pain, can you just lay it the feet of Jesus and take up His joy? In Nehemiah 8:10 it says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Is that true of you? Is that true all the time for you? Part of the time? Hardly ever?  Why not?

If that’s not true of you, how much would you give for it? How much money would you give to trade in your sickness and your pain and walk off with joy? Think of it like buying a car… Just come on down to Honest Todd’s Joy Dealership and I will make you a deal! Push, pull or drag that old Sorrow on down here and drive a brand new Joy off the lot. This Joy is loaded with all the options. It has automatic transmission to shift from Shame to Peace at any time. It is powered by Grace, runs on Mercy and has an unlimited mileage warranty. Now, how much would you give?

Joy is a precious commodity, isn’t it? What exactly is joy? Is it the same as happiness? How are they different? How do I get joy? Those are some of the most important questions we can ask in this life because, for some of us, the kind of joy that song talks about is, at best, fleeting. We talked last week about how so many of God’s wonderful promises are hard to get and hold on to; things like joy and peace, a full and abundant life and not worrying about anything.

I hope that we are all getting better at that even though we probably all struggle with those things at times. But, if you are getting better with it, it is because you have learned the secret. The secret to having all those things is simply knowing God. And the more you know God, the more joy and peace you will have. The more you know God and start to learn His character, the easier it is to consider it all pure joy (James 1); the easier it is to be anxious for nothing (Phil. 4); the easier it is to be still and know Him even better (Ps. 46).

The good news in this is that this life is just a wisp of smoke (James 4) and only lasts a short time. While we sometimes have victory and sometimes we struggle with these issues, the ultimate victory over sin, shame, sickness, guilt, sorrow and pain will be in Heaven and for those of us who know God, that is our blessed hope (Titus 2); our blessed assurance, our inheritance from our loving heavenly Father as co-heirs with Jesus. That’s something to look forward to.

The bad news is that not everybody that calls themselves Christians will have that inheritance. Did you know that? Yes, Jesus is going to come back to earth to get those who truly believe in Him; for those who truly know Him and there are going to be quite a few people that are left behind because while they claimed the name “Christian” they didn’t truly know Christ. There are going to be church members and, I dare say, pastors who look like Christians, talk like Christians, at least sometimes, and believe themselves to be Christians who have fooled themselves and others around them but never truly believed and they will be left behind.

Toward the end of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is in the temple teaching and He is surrounded by the most religious men on the planet. They are professional teachers and preachers and are very proud of who they are and what they know. But they don’t know Jesus and they don’t know His Father and Jesus just rips into them. In chapter 23, Jesus says, “13 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

He continues by calling them blind guides, blind men, blind fools, blind Pharisees, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, snakes, broods of vipers and ends with, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (v. 33) No wonder they wanted to kill Him! These were very religious men. And all of that was in chapter 23.

Now, have you ever seen the cool movie star in a movie blow something up and just walk calmly away without looking back at the explosion. That’s the cool move that the superhero does in a movie, right? Well, that’s just what Jesus does here. Not literally, but just as effectively, He blew that place smooth up and it says in the beginning of chapter 24, “Jesus left the temple and was walking away.”

I’m getting to the text for this morning. Just be patient. I’m almost there. But it is important to know in what context Jesus was speaking. So, Jesus leaves the temple with His disciples and goes over to the nearby Mount of Olives where He gives them what is called the Olivet Discourse and in this discourse He tells them several parables to prepare them – and us – for the end times. He wants to make sure we are ready for His return and while the disciples had a hard time understanding what He meant, things are playing out in our day that help us to understand that the rapture could happen at any minute. Let’s look at one of those parables today in Matthew 25:1-13.

The parable of the Ten Virgins or Ten Bridesmaids was a story that Jesus’ audience could well relate to. Weddings today are a big deal but they only last a few hours at the most. In the days of Jesus, a wedding might easily last a week or even two. The whole town or community would be invited and lots of people had parts to play in the whole process. It was the most joyous occasion of the year and it was a great honor to be a part of it.

It would start at the groom’s house, which was usually his parent’s house as well. The groom and all his buddies would start there and play and dance and sing and this might last 2-3 days if they wanted. Then they would go to the bride’s house and do the same thing with the bride and all her friends. Again, this would last as long as they wanted it to and then the bride and groom would go back to the groom’s house to live.

In this parable that Jesus tells, this is something that could very easily happen. This was no wild tale they couldn’t relate to. They knew exactly what was going on and they knew the shame that the bridesmaids would have if it did happen. Let’s read it in Matthew 25:1-13.

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Now, what has happened here is that the groom and all his buddies stayed late at his house partying it up and by the time they left to go to the bride’s house, it was late. Typical boys, right? But the custom was for the bridesmaids to ceremonially welcome into the house the groom and his buddies with their lamps. It was a great honor to be included in the wedding party and to not do what you were supposed to do would bring great shame.

Imagine if you were asked to provide the food for the wedding reception and your whole family was there and all your friends and you brought a package of powdered donuts and a bottle of YooHoo. That’s the kind of etiquette breach we are talking about here. It was disrespectful. It was lazy and it was unpardonable.

Now, if you go back to verses one and two, Jesus said there were ten virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. And how do you tell the difference? Well, He tells us in the next verse that some had extra oil and some didn’t. Otherwise, they looked exactly the same. Don’t you know they all had on their best clothes? They all had their hair done and their makeup on and all their jewelry was sparkling. You can be pretty sure that if a woman is at a wedding, whether it is now or back then, she is going to look her best. There is just something about a wedding.

So, it’s not because any of the bridesmaids were not dressed nice enough to get into the party. They all looked nice. They were all invited. They had all waited. They all had lamps. None of those were reasons that the five girls couldn’t come in. It was that they weren’t prepared.

Jesus, who represents the groom in this story, is coming back to get His bride, the church, any day now. I was joking with somebody about preparing a message about the rapture and said I wasn’t even going to start preparing this message until Saturday night because I didn’t want to waste my time since I expected Him to come back this week sometime. But if He waits a little longer, it is just to give you time to be prepared.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Oh, I’m prepared. I go to church every Sunday. I give money to the church. I pray. I was even baptized. Well, all those are good. You should do those things as part of being a Christian but those are outward signs and none of that gets you to Heaven. There is going to be a big party in Heaven and God wants you to be there, but you have to be prepared ahead of time. If you wait until the rapture, it will be too late. If you only have the outward signs, it’s not enough. You can’t tell by looking at the outside.

Now, go back and look at verses 6-9. It says, “6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you.”

When Jesus comes back again, you won’t be able to borrow somebody else’s salvation. I saw a survey by the Pew Research Center that showed about 70% of Americans today call themselves Christian. That number goes down every year, too, unfortunately, but do you think all 70% of those people are true, Bible-believing, Jesus-following, God-fearing, Spirit-filled Christians? I doubt it. I doubt it because of what Jesus is saying here.

Just because we live in a Christian nation doesn’t make a person a Christian. Just because your daddy taught Sunday School and your mama was on the such-and-such committee doesn’t mean you are a Christian. Let’s just get right to the heart of things. What DOES it mean to be a Christian? What DO you have to do? Well, here it is. This is the Gospel; the Good News. When asked what they had to do to be saved, Jesus told people and the disciples all told people to just believe. That’s all you have to do.

Believe in Jesus, not just that He lived but that He also died on a cross to pay the debt of sin that you owed to God. He paid the price and rose again three days later and ascended back to Heaven and lives today and is coming back soon. Now, if you truly believe that to be true, several things will happen. Your life will be changed. It will be changed the day of your conversion and it will continue to change every day for the rest of your life.

You will start to make decisions, led by the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you, that will reflect the decisions God wants you to make. You will learn more about Jesus and will become more like Him in every way. He will affect your job, your marriage, your conversations, your free time, your hobbies and your thoughts.

Sin will start to bother you more and more. It’s not that you are perfect, but it will pain you when you displease God and you will start to ask His forgiveness sooner and sooner. God will start to convict you of sin that you didn’t know was sin and you will agree with Him about those things. You might not like it but you will agree.

You will also want other people to know about Jesus. We learned a while back that to be a disciple of Jesus simply means that you learn something from Him and then tell somebody else. That’s what will happen to you if you are a true believer. You will have a great desire to tell other people what you know, whether it’s a little or a lot.

Also, don’t tell me you are a Christian if church is not an obvious priority in your life. I don’t believe it, don’t believe it, don’t believe it. You can’t love Jesus and ignore His bride. It Won’t Happen! We’ve talked about this a lot of times so I’m not going to dwell on it but a true believer will have a passion for the church.

Lastly, your life will start to have more peace and joy. It doesn’t mean that your circumstances will get better. They may even get worse. But you will start to see how to have joy and peace in the midst of those bad times because you understand that God is in control and He loves you and you can’t be convinced otherwise.

Now, if that is true of you then do not let Satan ever make you think otherwise. He loves to make believers doubt their salvation. If you can remember a time in your life when you submitted to God and prayed for His forgiveness and you now see these things happening in your life then don’t let Satan steal your joy. But He also, because he is the father of lies, likes to make unbelievers think they are believers. He likes to make the bridesmaids think they are prepared or that because you come from a religious family or country that you now are prepared for the rapture. You can’t beg, borrow or steal your salvation from someone else. You have to receive it yourself as a gift from God.

That’s the Gospel; the Good News. All you have to do is believe but that belief will manifest itself in a changed life, inside and out. Now, here’s the bad news. There is going to come a time when it is too late.

In verses 10-12 of our parable, Jesus makes that clear. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

I heard the story of a famous opera singer who was asked to sing for a wealthy man’s wedding. The woman showed up with her husband and she performed a beautiful song at just the right time in just the right way and everyone was so impressed. She just nailed it. After the wedding, the host announced that the reception would be held in the great hall next door and for those that were invited, they just needed to show their invitation and they would be seated and would enjoy a lavish buffet with all the trappings.

So, the opera singer and her husband got in line and when asked for her invitation, the opera singer realized she had left it at home. So, she just leaned forward and told the attendant who she was. The young man said again that she needed an invitation. The singer got agitated and proceeded to inform the young man just who she was and who she knew and what was going to happen if he didn’t let them in. And what do you think happened?

The woman later said that as security was escorting them from the property and away from the buffet with lavish ice sculptures and every kind of delicious food and delicacy imaginable set on beautifully prepared tables that her only thought in her great embarrassment was wondering why she hadn’t been prepared. She had been invited. She had dressed the part and played the part and expected to be treated as one of the party. It was too late to go back home and get the invitation and so she was locked out and it was only her fault.

In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

As your pastor but more as your friend, I beg of you to search your heart right now. You don’t have to understand everything. You never will. That’s what faith is for. But today, if you don’t know or you are unsure if you are truly prepared then I need to talk with you and pray with you right now. Come to the front right now as the music plays.

“Looking Forward to Home” – Hebrews 11:8-10

Have you heard the story about the old, faithful missionary returning to the United States to retire? He and his wife had spent over 40 years serving in Africa. But now he was alone. His wife and two children had long since found their final resting place in the dirt of Africa. As he got off the plane he saw a great crowd of people waiting at the gate. Some were holding signs, others were waving banners. He could even hear sounds of music above the shouting voices. For a few seconds he thought, "Can it be? After more than 40 years of service, all of these people have actually come out to welcome me home?"

But no, that was not the case. On his plane was a politician returning from a visit to Africa. During his visit he had been catered to and waited on and all his needs had been met in first class. And now he was being welcomed back with all the ceremony his admirers could provide.

As the old servant of God waited and waited at the airport, the contrast was almost more than the old missionary could bear. For a moment he began feeling sorry for himself. He started to pray. "Father in Heaven, why? I’ve served You faithfully for so long, and yet, look. I don’t expect much. But is it wrong to desire that there be some kind of a welcome home?" Then, almost as if God had spoken out loud, the old missionary said he heard Him say, "But my son, you’re not home yet."

You’re not home yet. It’s easy for even the most mature and wise Christian and servant of God to forget that. Because this life is all we know. This is all we can see. It’s all we can touch and feel and smell and taste and so sometimes it feels like this life is all there is. It seems like this life goes on and on and the pain and the troubles just never end. In fact, they are just getting worse and Satan seems to be attacking more and more and the world is getting nastier and more depraved and it’s almost too much to bear.

Do you ever feel that way? Maybe you need some encouragement. Let me do that right now with a passage that is supposed to be used for just that reason. Paul said to encourage each other with these words and as a mature believer, I’m sure you have read them or heard them many times but that’s okay. I will encourage you again from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. This is not our text for this morning. I want you just to listen and imagine for a second. You ready?

“For the LORD himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And so we will be with the LORD forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

And so we will be with the LORD forever! A lot of folks would say “Amen” right there. That’s good news! That’s something to look forward to. He is talking about going home. Now that passage is specifically talking about the rapture and we will talk more about that next week, Lord willing and the rapture doesn’t take place before then. But we ought to look forward to our heavenly home, our permanent dwelling.

Do we have anybody here today that is getting older? Anybody here that gets out of bed in the morning wondering which body parts are going to play nice and which ones are going to be trouble? Or maybe your mind is not as sharp as it used to be. I heard somebody say the other day, “My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.  Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.”

Two elderly ladies had been friends since their 30s. Now in their 80s, they still got together a couple of times a week to play cards. One day they were playing gin rummy and one of them said, "You know, we’ve been friends for many years and, please don't get mad, but for the life of me, I can't remember your name. Please tell me what it is."

Her friend glared at her. She continued to stare at her for several minutes. Finally, she said, "How soon do you need to know?"

Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe you can’t remember if you can relate or not. But all of us are getting older and some of us are getting old and the older we get, the more difficult everything becomes. I believe God planned us that way so that, along with the problems and heartaches of this world, it will cause us to look forward to our permanent home. And it has always been that way.

Also, ever since Jesus returned to Heaven, people have expected Him to return to earth and they should. Even the Apostle Paul thought he would see the rapture. Did you catch that in the passage I read a minute ago? Paul said, “17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together.”  Paul was expecting Jesus to come back in his lifetime and every good Christian since then has expected the same. We expect it because Jesus told us to expect it.

In Matthew 24 he said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.” Keep watch. That’s what we are supposed to do and what people have been doing since He left and all of us are expecting Him to come at any time. The problem is that for over 2,000 years, He still hasn’t come. He is obviously running way late. Obviously, He hasn’t watched the news and He doesn’t know what kind of shape this world is in. How could He miss the new abortion laws in New York and Virginia? It’s all over Facebook!

Has He not seen the desperate situation of Christians in the Middle East and in Asia? What is taking Him so long? How much more suffering has to occur? Well, to answer some of those questions the best that we can, I’m starting a short sermon series on the end times. This is not an exhaustive study of eschatology. We’re not going through Revelation verse by verse. I just keep seeing signs that point to the imminent arrival of Jesus to come and get His bride, the church, and I want us to be ready.

For today, I want to encourage you to turn to the powerful book of Hebrews and turn to the faith chapter, chapter 11. Abraham was a man of faith and when we say that, the first thing we usually think of was him taking Isaac to Mount Moriah and being willing to sacrifice his own son. (Genesis 22)

But I want you to see that he was a man of faith well before Isaac was born. So, if you are a person of faith and if you are looking forward to going home and need some encouragement and inspiration, turn to Hebrews 11:8-10.

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Somebody tell me what faith is. A great definition is found in the first verse of this very chapter. It says that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. I believe Abraham would add to that definition something about immediate obedience.

In verse 8 it says that “when called to go to a place…” and that phrase should literally be translated “as he was being called…” meaning that as soon as he realized God wanted him to go, he started packing. And in Genesis 22 that talks about Isaac and Mount Moriah, it says that God spoke to Abraham and told him to take his son as a sacrifice and “early the next morning” Abraham took off.

He didn’t wait and fast and pray and get wise council or write Dear Abby for her opinion. Basically, as God was speaking, Abe starts getting up and getting ready. That is faith. When I tell my dogs, “Come on. Let’s go for a walk” they don’t hesitate. They don’t confer with each other or worry about where or how long or what the weather is. They have great faith that I know what I’m doing, which, if they were smarter, they probably shouldn’t have.

But Abraham had faith that Almighty God loved him and was in control, so he immediately obeyed. Now, look at verse 9 again. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. Let me read to you real quick the promise that God made to Abe from Genesis chapter 12. “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

So, he was promised a land but he lived there like a stranger and he lived in tents and never built a house, never started a city, much less a nation and never saw the completion of the promise.

Do you ever feel like that? Let me ask you: what has God promised you? What does He want for you? What is available to you that seems out of reach? How about a full and abundant life? John 10:10 says we can have it and God wants it for us. How about peace? We know God tells us He wants us to have peace. He wants us to have joy. He doesn’t want us to worry. He wants us to consider even the difficulties pure joy. Anybody there yet? Is there anybody here that can say, “I always have joy and peace even when Satan is attacking me with everything he has?”

Surely you can since we spent literally all of 2018 talking about how we should and yet, while hopefully we are all getting better in that area, I bet most of us are not there yet. We are living in the promised land but we are strangers here. This is not our home and until we are home, we will always struggle with worry.

I got a text just this week from a mature member of this family who was concerned about several others who were having surgery soon and she knows that scripture says to be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6) but she said she needed somebody to tell her that again.

This is not our home and until we are home, we will always struggle with considering everything pure joy. This is not our home and until we are home, we will always struggle with greed, lust, pride, lying, discipline…you know, being holy.

In our Thursday night Bible study, we just got through going through the little book of Titus and in it Paul encourages his young preacher boy, Titus, with these words (from Titus 2:11-13), “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12It (grace) teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hope-the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

How did Abraham live day after day and year after year in the land promised to him by God but living in a tent? I can’t imagine. I can’t sleep one night in a tent or my back will be killing me. But he did it, even as an old man, day after day because…he was waiting for the blessed hope.

If we knew that Jesus was going to return on March 1^st, I bet we would all change our ways. We would spend this whole month praying and witnessing and getting closer to God and being obedient. I bet most of us could do that for a month. But how do you do it month after month after month? Verse 10 tells us that Abraham “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Are you looking forward to Heaven? What are you looking forward to the most? No more tears, no more heartache.  In fact, nothing impure will ever enter Heaven (Rev. 21:27).  No more getting tired.  No more sin.  No more greed, or deception.  No lying or sickness, no more theft.  No locks on the doors or PIN numbers for our credit cards.  I sure am looking forward to that.  I’m looking forward to seeing all my loved ones.

When I get there, I know I’ll see my grandparents and my grandmother will probably pinch my cheek like she always did and tell me she baked some cookies for me.  That’ll be great but I’ll tell her, “Grandmother, I’ll be right back for those cookies in a few minutes.”

I’ll see my Uncle DeWayne there and I know he’ll have a great joke to tell me because nobody told a joke better than he did.  I’ll tell him, “Uncle D, I’m anxious to hear that joke.  I know it’s funny but give me just a few minutes and I’ll be back.”

I’ll see King David, my friend, there and I can’t wait to hear him tell about killing Goliath but that can wait a little while.  We have all of eternity.  There’s no hurry for that.  David, save me spot.

I’ll see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that’ll be great.  Elijah, Paul and I will take bald-headed preacher selfies in just a little while but give me a few minutes.  I need to find Jesus.  I told Him when I first got here but I want to tell Him again how much I appreciate His sacrifice for me.  I want to spend some time just worshiping Him and walking with Him and talking with Him.

Can you imagine that?  Having one-on-one time with the Lamb of God Himself?  It reminds me of the song, “I Can Only Imagine.”  I don’t know what I’ll do or say but I can’t wait to spend eternity with Him.  How about you?  Are you sure without a doubt that you will be there?  Again, the Bible is plain about how to be sure.  Repent of your sins, trust in Him and believe. Then confess with your mouth that He is God and live a new life on this earth until it’s time for the next life.  Be sure today.