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  GET READY, JESUS IS COMING
  by Carter Conlon
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the urgency of being prepared for the
return of Jesus Christ, drawing parallels to the days of Noah and the
need for a biblical worldview. It highlights the importance of
surrendering to God, seeking forgiveness, and being ready for the
unexpected hour of Christ's coming.

Duration: 49:09 Topics: "Preparation for Christ's Return", "Surrender and Forgiveness"
Scripture References: Matthew 24:36, Matthew 24:37, 2 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 6:10, Hebrews 3:15, Romans 10:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Revelation 3:20

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the urgency of being prepared for the return of
Jesus Christ, drawing parallels to the days of Noah and the need for a
biblical worldview. It highlights the importance of surrendering to God,
seeking forgiveness, and being ready for the unexpected hour of Christ's
coming.

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CONTENT
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The message I have for you today is simple. Get ready. Jesus is coming.

Matthew chapter 24. If you want to turn in your Bibles here, we're going
to start there in just a moment. Father, I thank you for your word,
which is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that when your word has found a lodging
place in our minds and in our hearts and in the very fabric, inner core
of who we are as a people, we become stronger than we could ever hope to
be in any amount of natural strength. Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that
your word brings light and life. Your word gives us hope, leads us to a
place of supernatural power in God.

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you won't leave us blinded by the
sight of the road or calling out in terror or fear as so many do who
don't live in your word. Thank you, God, for the hope and the joy that
knowing you and knowing your word gives to us. Thank you for Pastor Tim
Delina, God, for bringing to the church world again a biblical
worldview.

Thank you, God, when so many are straying from biblical truth and even
in the house of God are beginning to lead by what seems right. But your
word tells us that there's a way unto man that seems right, but the ends
thereof are the ways of death. So, God, we don't want to be led by what
seems right.

We want to be led by what is right. So, God, teach us. Give us open
ears.

Give us open hearts. God, give me an open heaven today. I pray for the
grace to be able to speak simply that everyone here can understand.

Help me, O God. I never want to ever stand in a pulpit anywhere and lean
on past victories or present strengths. Lord, I recognize that without
the anointing of your Holy Spirit, your kingdom can't be built, and our
labor is then in vain.

And so, God, come and build a love for your word into each heart. God,
let your word find a lodging place in us. Let it be the desire of our
hearts.

As it's written in the scriptures, thy word I have hidden in my heart
that I might not sin against you. Let that be our cry today. O God,
speak to me.

Let me hide the truth that I hear in my heart. And let me always be a
student and somebody who honors you through your word. In Jesus' name,
amen.

Now, Matthew chapter 24 and 25, which I've encouraged you to read when
you do get home, because these are the chapters where the disciples came
to Jesus, and they had just brought to his attention the stones of the
temple. And if you've been to Israel and you've seen these stones,
they're mammoth stones. It's even marvelous as to how they could
actually move these without the modern machinery that we have today.

But they did move them, and they laid the foundation of an incredible
temple, a place that was once built for the glory of God. And they had a
sense of permanence just looking at what they had accomplished, in a
sense, with their hands. And they remarked on it.

Look at the temple. Look at the magnificence of all of the things that
we have created. And Jesus said, Do you not see these things? Assuredly,
I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall
not be thrown down.

So in spite of the sense of permanence that they saw, there was a day
coming when everything that could be shaken would be shaken. And if
you've been to Israel, you've seen these stones scattered as it is, not
left one upon another. Of course, he foresaw it.

He foresaw a time of shaking coming to the nation of Israel at that
time. But also, Jesus Christ speaks in his word of a time of shaking
coming to this whole world. As a matter of fact, in the book of Hebrews,
the writer talks about a season where everything that can be shaken is
going to be shaken.

And if your confidence in Christ can be shaken, it will be shaken. But
there's a confidence that God builds into the heart when we are built on
the foundation of the truth of God's word. Remember, Jesus said, Whoever
hears my sayings and does them, I will liken him to a man who built his
house upon a rock.

And when the rains came and when the floods came and when the winds beat
against that house, it did not fall, for it was founded upon a rock. The
cry of your heart and mine today has got to be, Oh God, establish my
life on this rock. Establish my mind on this rock of truth.

Establish my ways upon this rock. And oh God, give me that sense of
stability that we're all going to need, not only to survive, as
wonderful as that is, but to make a difference in an ever-darkening and
ever-confused world around us. As things are beginning to unravel quite
quickly all around us, society is turning very dark.

Paul the Apostle talked about a lawlessness breaking out in the last
days and increasing in intensity until the Antichrist, the man of law,
is actually revealed. We see lawlessness now everywhere. Lawlessness in
our streets.

Lawlessness, unfortunately, is attacking our schools. Lawlessness in our
homes. Lawlessness in people's voices and structures all through
society.

And suddenly nobody wants to obey any rules. Everybody wants to create
all their own. Nobody wants there to be truth anymore.

Everything has got to be relative. And what I think truth is, the guy
that shouts the loudest gets to be the one who holds the truth of the
moment, until somebody louder comes along and shouts another truth.
Really a confusing time, difficult time that we're now living in.

Jesus was sitting then on the Mount of Olives, and the disciples came
and said, What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the
age? Suddenly they're fast-forwarding, in a sense, from the stones that
were their focus of the temple right to the end. When are you coming
again? When are you going to return? You're talking about going
somewhere, and as Thomas Wood said, we don't even know where you're
going. How can we follow you? But you have said you're going somewhere,
and you are telling us you're going to come back again.

So when will you be coming back? And what are the signs we should be
looking for when this whole world, as we know it, the age of it has come
to an end? Now in response to that, you have both chapter 24 and 25, but
I want to focus on verses 36 to 44 in Matthew chapter 24. Now he's
talking about essentially the social condition. That's what I'd like to
focus on today, of the day.

Let's not get caught in all the minutiae of these chapters. A lot of
people just get so caught in the arguments of, is he coming pre-
tribulation? Is he coming mid-tribulation? Is he coming post-
tribulation? If you're not familiar with those, you'll eventually hear
about these things, and I liken it to people going to a football game or
a baseball game and arguing about who's going to be the referee or the
umpire and actually missing the game. So you can get so stuck in the
smaller details.

Trust me, when he comes, we're all going at the same time. So don't
worry about it, okay? It's all going to happen. I remember Brother Dave
used to say he was a pan-tribulationist, believing it'll all pan out in
the end.

So let's just let's just stick to the text of Scripture and not worry
about the smaller details. Of that day and hour, chapter 24 verse 36, no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. In other
words, so if anybody tells you that Christ is coming October the 6th at
2 12 in the afternoon, you can just write them off right away, and many
have done that.

Many have tried that. I remember we had a group. How many here remember
the group that came to New York City with signs? They'd be outside the
church, and Jesus is coming.

I think it was like September 21st at 4 in the afternoon kind of thing.
Get ready, and there was a lot of them. They came, and they were part of
this church that believed that.

I met a guy in the street and invited him for lunch on September 22nd. I
said, you're going to be needing a friend the day after he doesn't come.
No one knows, not even the angels, but only my Father knows that day.

But he says in verse 37, but as the days of Noah were, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be. And so he's immediately moving from
focusing on a time and a date and such like that to the season and the
social climate that will be prevalent, may I say, in that season. For as
in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying,
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.

Now, eating and drinking is not wrong. Neither is marrying and giving in
marriage. The context, what he's speaking about is the people will be
unaware of the season that they're living in.

They'll just be carrying on as if everything is going to go on the same
as it's always been. That's exactly what happened in the days of Noah.
And they did not know, verse 39, until the flood came and took them all
away.

So also will the coming of the Son of Man be. So generally speaking, the
society as we know it all around us will not be aware of the hour. But
the Bible says that you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief.

We're children of light. We're children of the day. We should be aware
of the season we're living in.

I honestly feel that I might be alive when Christ returns for his
church. Somebody said to me after this morning service, they said, that
must be soon then. You're probably right.

I might be alive. I've had that sense in my heart for years. I might
live to see this event called the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ.

We'll get into that in a moment where Christ comes. There's a moment
coming in history, folks, where God the Father leans over to the Son and
says, Son, go get your church. And suddenly Jesus says, Gabriel, get the
trumpeters, get the horns.

Let's blow the trumpet blast. There's going to be a great shout from
heaven. And the Bible says the dead in Christ will be raised first.

And then we who are alive and remain shall be gathered together with
them in the clouds. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Folks, that's
in the Bible.

That's biblical truth. There is going to be a gathering from the earth
of the church. But I'm going to show you what that might look like based
on the days of Noah.

It's amazing when you start looking at it. Now, a man named Noah was
building a place of safety for his family, which would lift all of them
above and out of the flood that was soon coming upon the ungodly. He was
building a boat, an ark of safety.

He heard the words of God. And their whole society at that time is not
hearing the words of God, but there was one man called Noah that
actually heard what God was speaking. And Noah began to build based on
the Word of God, which is why a biblical worldview is so important right
now.

We can't just build our lives on emotion, or songs, or just going to
church. And all of those things are good. We have to have those things.

But our lives have got to be built, our pursuits have to be built on the
Word of God. There has to be this biblical worldview. And obviously Noah
had a biblical worldview in his time.

The biblical worldview is that the world is about to be judged by God
because of the weight of its sin. But God has prepared a place of safety
for those who can hear what He's speaking to His people. And for you and
I today, that place of safety is in the cross of Jesus Christ.

It's in the shed blood of the Son of God. It's in the promise of the Son
of God. I will never leave you or forsake you.

I've not come to judge the world, but I came that the world might be
saved. When you came to Christ and gave Him your life as your Lord and
Savior, you entered into the ark of safety that's been provided for this
generation. 2 Peter 2 and verse 5 talks about Noah not just building the
ark at this time, but he was a preacher of righteousness, a voice that's
saying essentially to the people, judgment is coming, folks.

The weight of sin has become intolerable to God in this world. There are
lines you can't cross with God, and when those lines are crossed, God
says, I'm sorry, I would like to extend time, but I can't. There's
something in the heart of God.

There's something about the nature of God and the holiness of God, and
looking down on the creation when He has created humankind in His image,
and we have allowed debauchery to get a hold of us to the point where
we're in a sense not able to even hear anymore the cautions of the Word
of God, and He looks down and says it can't go on anymore. And folks, I
feel in my heart we're so close to that line now. As in the days in
Sodom when the Sodomites were trying to find the door and break down the
door to force the innocents as it was to be partakers of their sin.

They had crossed the line that cannot be crossed in the kingdom of God.
It was at that point that the angels took the hands of Lot and his wife
and his daughters and took them out. It's a foreshadowing of what's
going to happen in our generation as it's happened in generations before
us.

And can you imagine the mockery which he had to endure while building a
boat in a place where some had said it never rained? Can you imagine?
You're building this boat and everybody's walking by and it's look at
that stupid old man. You know it's like some people if they hear this
message online say look at that stupid old preacher in New York City
talking about the judgment of God coming. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verses 3
to 10.

This is what Peter says about our day. Knowing this first that scoffers
will come in the last days walking according to their own lusts and
saying where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell
asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
So in the last days scoffers will rise and folks these are people in the
church.

You understand these many of these scoffers are going to be behind
pulpits. Jesus himself said there's going to be great religious
deception in the last days. Many are going to be deceived and the
deception will increase as the days get darker.

The false prophets will be there all the way through and they will
literally start abounding if they're not already here in the house of
God. And the scoffers arise because other voices are rising up and
saying get right with God because Jesus is coming. And they will people
will maybe take a copy of the message and give it to them and they will
say oh don't listen to that.

All those old guys are always talking about gloom and doom. Listen this
world still got lots to offer us. Live your best days.

Be your best you now. There's so much ahead of us. Stock market is going
to bounce back.

You're going to be able to get that job in that house and the whole
focus is not on eternal things but on the things of this world. And they
say don't listen to these guys because since the fathers fell asleep all
things continue from the beginning of creation. Listen Paul believed
this and and he died and Jesus didn't come.

Peter believed that he died Jesus didn't come. So and so said it he died
Jesus didn't come. So why would you listen to this guy or these guys now
because all things are carrying on just as they have from the beginning
of creation.

But Peter goes on in verse 5 and says for this they willfully forget.
Not it's not negligence it's willful. They put it away that by the word
of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water
by which the world that then existed Paris being flooded with water.

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word
are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men. Beloved do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise as some count slackness but is long
suffering towards us and not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.

In other words Peter is saying the only reason the world hasn't been
judged now is because of the kindness of our God. He waits there's if
there's still a heart that's looking for him if there's still somewhere
somebody sighing in the night and saying oh God are you real are you
really there can you really help me for the sake of somebody that can
still hear. He will be kind and he will withhold his hand of justice but
again verse 10 the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in
which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements
will melt with fervent heat both the earth and the works that are in it
will be burned up.

Therefore since all these things will be dissolved what manner of
persons ought you to be in holy conduct and all godliness. I want you to
think this through for a moment. Karl Oppenheimer who invented the the
nuclear the atom bomb actually in World War II was a nuclear scientist
and when they detonated the atom bomb for the first time he knew
something that I think a lot of people are willfully ignorant of today
they just don't want to think about it but he knew something he knew
this device had the capability of actually igniting the atmosphere
around the earth.

Think it through for a moment and what he had developed back then we
have weapons that are so much more powerful now and they're in the hands
of unstable people all over the world now. Our time might be shorter
than than we'd like to think it is and if there is a nuclear war here's
a quiz for you. Guess what the prime target is in in North America? New
York City.

That's the one thing everybody talks about so if you're going to get
right with God might be a good time to think about that. You know as I
often say one nuclear bomb can change your whole day. In the time of
judgment Jesus talked about in Matthew chapter 24 he likened it to the
season of Noah in Genesis chapter 7. It talks about the people entered
into the ark Noah and his family entered in male and female of all flesh
went in as God had commanded him and the Lord shut him in and now the
flood was on the earth 40 days the waters increased and lifted up the
ark and it rose high above the earth.

God shut the door. There is a season there is a time where mercy ends.
There's a time when the door is shut.

You know in the scriptures it says because they receive not the love of
the truth God gave them over to delusion that they should believe a lie.
There's a moment can you imagine I shared this morning I said hell is
bad enough as it is and we don't understand what being in a place for
eternity where God is not is like. Even the worst of sinners God's still
omnipresent in this world.

Even when you're in a bar and you're doing stuff you shouldn't be doing
the Holy Spirit is still pursuing you still whispering. There's still an
evidence of God. His mercy is still available but we don't understand
what it would be like one day to be in a place where God is not.

The Bible describes it in different ways and whether they're literal or
whether they're just metaphorical I don't know but I know that there's a
darkness there so thick it doesn't carry the sound of your voice so you
can scream all you want in hell and nobody will ever hear you for all of
eternity. There's there's no connection with anything when you imagine
just spending eternity in a place like that and the Bible says it's a
place where the worm never dies the conscience never stops turning. Can
you imagine if you don't make it to heaven if you don't receive Christ
as your savior if you choose to ignore the words you're hearing today if
you put it away this this day of God's retribution on the earth you put
it far from you can imagine one day you end up in a place where God is
not forever but you will remember being here this day you will remember
my voice you will remember this this this message that was preached you
will recall the opportunity you were given to receive Christ as your
savior.

Am I trying to scare you? Absolutely you better believe I'm trying to
scare you because there's reason to be scared we don't play games with
the holy God. Listen eternity is a long time to be wrong. God sent his
son on a cross and it wasn't just for some vain display of religion he
sent his son so that every person is now without excuse whoever hears
this message there's nowhere else to go there's no other truth Jesus
Christ himself said I am the way the truth and the life and you can't
come to the father except through me there's no other way through
religion not through works not through singing songs not through being a
nice person you can help everybody across the street with the groceries
from now till the day you die that won't get you into heaven only
confidence in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for your sin will give you
a guarantee of eternal life this is a serious message you think of all
the people that have ignored it for all the centuries since Christ
imagine if if we could just have a window into hell this very moment if
we could just open the gate you imagine the screams down there could you
imagine the the intercession that's going on not for themselves they
know there's no no no chance but as Jesus said in the scriptures this
this man who was in hell cried out father Abraham send somebody to my
family send somebody to those who are still alive on the earth and warn
them about this place hell is a real place just as heaven is a real
place but in the day of God's judgment on the earth the scripture says
those who took seriously the provision of God the the ark of the ark
that was built in Noah's day was a type of salvation in Jesus Christ and
those who took seriously the provision of God went inside the ark and
then God closed the door and the as the judgment came down on the earth
the ark was lifted up above it that's the promise of God for his church
in this last day as the judgment of God comes upon this world with
famines and wars and pestilences and and unbelievable conflict and
hardship and difficulty even the stars of heaven being shaken the
scripture says the people of God as in the days of Noah are going to be
lifted up out of this world by the power by the presence and by the
mercy of God and so shall we ever be with the Lord the trumpet of God is
going to sound the dead in Christ will be raised first then we who are
alive and remain will be gathered together with them and so shall we
ever be in the presence of the Lord I've often thought I said oh God let
the rapture of the church happen while we're in church singing while
we're preaching the gospel while people are coming forward and receiving
Christ as a savior let the trumpet sound and let us go into the heavens
what a shout that's going to be what a day that's going to be what a
glorious moment that's going to be when we realize God it was worth the
ridicule it was it was worth the struggle it was it was worth standing
when everyone else was falling it it was worth holding the truth when
everyone else was letting it fall through their fingers oh God it was
worth it oh God thank you for saving my family thank you Lord for
answering my prayers and not letting my children or my grandchildren or
my cousins or my brothers or my sisters or my aunts and uncles die in
their sin God thank you for moving heaven and earth to answer my prayer
thank you Lord for giving us the courage to stand and preach the gospel
in an unpopular time thank you for giving us the backbone not to cave
under this barn of man would have been so easy for Noah just to say oh
boys hang up your tools this is nuts we're building this thing for years
every but all they do is mock nobody listens to my I preach to them
every morning and I tell them about the judgments coming on the world
and they just laugh and they wave their hands and he's a crazy old man
in his boat why don't we just pack it in sons thank God he didn't do
that thank God he stood thank God he was faithful because his family
would have been very very thankful when this was all over you can be
sure of it now in the context of the ark of Noah being lifted up from
the earth and the rapture of the church now we go back to Matthew
chapter 24 verse 39 let's go back to verse 38 in the days before the
flood they were eating and drinking marrying giving in marriage until
the day that Noah entered the ark so I said it before unaware unaware of
how close they were to the return of Christ to the end of things as we
know them they did not know until the flood came and took them all away
so also will the coming of the son of man be they didn't know God help
us not to hold the truth to ourselves God help us imagine getting to the
throne of God and people you worked with people you live beside walk up
and look at you and say you knew this you knew this day was coming why
didn't you tell me I might have mocked you but at least you could have
warned me at least I would have known then two men will be in the field
one taken and the other left that talks about the rapture of the church
of Jesus Christ one two in the field two two guys are at work where they
work at city bank or they work in a janitor's place or they work in a
restaurant maybe in a kitchen cooking together one man's telling the
other one about Christ oh since I came to Jesus it's so changed my life
it's it's I feel so free I feel like my sin is forgiven I feel like I
have the promise of a new life that's come into my heart oh Bob won't
you consider giving your life to Christ then suddenly gone the spatula
hits the grill the cook's hat falls on the ground gone two men will be
in the field one is taken the other left two women grinding at the mill
one is taken and the other left watch therefore for you do not know what
hour your lord is coming but know this if the master of the house had
known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not
allowed his house to be broken into therefore be also ready for the son
of man is coming at an hour you do not expect you see Jesus is saying
don't let your house be broken into now we are the dwelling place of God
my house my name is Carter Conlon by the way and I have a house and this
is my house here it is you see I'm an eternal being this is just a
container that's carrying me right now when this container dies Carter
Conlon is going to live forever this is my house and Joe this and Jesus
said if you would have known when when this day was going to happen when
the thief was going to come you would have not let your house be broken
into you wouldn't let the thinking of this world get a hold of your mind
you would have taken seriously the things of God you would embrace the
truth of God as the psalmist once said it's oh God put your word in my
heart that I might not sin against you even though I have to endure
mockery and indifference to what I'm I believe and what what the truth
is to my heart and mind God don't let my house be broken into you see
that's what happens Jesus said false prophets will arise well these are
thieves they're going to break into the house they're going to break
into your mind they're going to break into your heart they're going to
break into the inward parts of your life they're going to lead you in a
path you shouldn't be going on infused thoughts that are not from God
they're going to break into your house but if the good man had known in
what hour Christ was going to come he would not have let his house be
broken into guard your heart guard your mind Paul the apostle says in
Ephesians 6 everything in Ephesians 6 about put on the whole armor of
God is all about the word of God it's all about a biblical worldview
folks put on the helmet of salvation let this mind be in you which was
in Christ Jesus Paul says whatever is good whatever is pure whatever is
of virtue whatever is of good report whatever is praiseworthy think on
these things and the God of peace will crush satan under your feet
shortly put that helmet on your head the helmet of God's word don't
believe everything that everybody says check it yourself in the word of
God don't even believe what I'm telling you check it in the word of God
for yourself make sure your house make sure secure the windows secure
the doors make sure the thief can't get into your house put on the
breastplate of righteousness in other words the things in your mind from
the word of God have got to go deeper and into your heart you have to
love the word of God oh how I love thy word the psalmist says oh God
it's so sweet to my taste even the things that are bitter are sweet to
my taste I don't try to just eat the things I like and put the rest of
it away but oh God I love your word let it go from your head and get
into your heart put on that breastplate of righteousness put on the
shoes and put it let your loins be about with truth your loin speaks of
the totality of your being if anyone be in Christ he's a new creation
the old things are passed away and all things are become new say God not
just my head not just my heart but the totality of my being let your
word oh God change me God make me into the person you want me to be
don't let me be led astray from what you have for my life let your plan
be my plan let your journey be my journey let your words be my words God
everything that you are and you have for me let it be who I've become
let there be a yearning in your inward part so God I want the life that
you have for me and I don't care who laughs I don't care who mocks what
I'm building let them mock and let them laugh because I'm going into
eternity with God and eternity is a long long long long long long long
time hallelujah hallelujah take the sword of the spirit that's the word
of God again in your hand and be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asked you for a reason for the hope that you have in you in this
last hour of time have your shoes of sharing the gospel upon your feet
it's again the word of God it's a biblical worldview that's why what
pastor Tim teach is teaching in this church is so important right now to
all of us praying with all prayer and supplication for all the saints
when you know the word of God your prayer life comes alive because now
you know the heart of God the mind of God what you should be praying for
in God you've suddenly touch and tap into the power of God that's
available in prayer hallelujah to the lamb of God hallelujah I'm going
to be 70 in September and I'm more alive than I've ever been in my life
thank God for his presence thank God thank God thank God for the power
of the Holy Spirit thank God for his word which is a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path thank God that he's put in my heart a new song
and many shall see it and fear and trust in God thank God for every door
he's opening thank God I don't care who laughs anymore let them laugh
let them mock I'm building an ark of safety in Christ Jesus and
whosoever will is invited in to know that they're safe and secure in the
future therefore be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do
not expect he's not talking to the unsaved now talking to the church his
disciples I'm coming at a time when you do not expect it I think of this
a lot lately when I'm putting on my shoes in the morning when I'm
brushing my teeth when I'm having my first coffee God it could be today
it could be now you're coming at a time when I do not expect it I'm just
going through my day and I'm just doing the stuff I have to do and I
have a list of things that need to be done and suddenly oh suddenly I
had a dream one time and I was out in the field with Pastor Teresa and
another friend of ours and we were just working in the field in the
dream even though we didn't do that but we're we had I had a hole and
somebody else had a rake and we're working in the field and suddenly we
began to lift off the earth and Pastor Teresa she's in the air she's
going oh hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah and the other lady there is
going it's the rapture it's the rapture it's the rapture and I got my
hole in my hand we're now 200 feet in the air and I thought well this
better be the rapture or we're in big trouble are you ready are you
ready are you ready there's only one guarantee of eternal life and
safety and it's Jesus Christ the son of God who came to a cross 2,000
years ago and paid the price on that cross for your sin and for my sin
so that the penalty and power of sin could be broken so that we can have
an assurance he is the ark of God Jesus Christ is the ark everything in
the Bible points to him everything in the Bible is just a type of him
the ultimate redemption of humankind the door of God's heart is wide
open through his son Jesus Christ there is no reason not to enter in
there's no legitimate or sensible reason not to enter in especially now
as we see this world degenerating all around us in the fashion that it
is the time to enter into the ark of safety that God's provided through
his son is now by the grace of almighty God because folks realistically
we don't know that we have a tomorrow I shared that one Tuesday night I
was preaching here years ago and I felt something in my heart I was my
heart got heavy at the end and and I kept even though there was a lot of
people responded I said there's somebody here this might be your last
day I just couldn't get over it and said you don't see life that way but
you don't know what the future holds would you consider giving your life
to Christ and and I waited and waited and nobody came not that that I
could foresee or that I thought was the person that the Lord was
speaking to we left the church we went to a restaurant down on 8th or
somewhere like that and we were just just sat down and they gave us a
table at the window pastor Teresa and I for dinner and a man walking by
there's the crowd is leaving they're still coming out of the church and
the man walking by just falls right where we were at our table on the
sidewalk dead died of a heart attack I ran out of the restaurant to see
if he could be revived but he was he's dead he's only about 40 42 years
old and I looked to see if he had a bible in his hand I said God is this
the man that you cried out for tonight is this the man that believed he
had a thousand tomorrows that today wasn't the day that he would stand
before holy God could this be the one I wasn't sure I still don't know
it's possible they were coming in that direction and from this direction
the question in my heart is are you ready are you ready to meet God are
you ready are you ready you see when Noah and his family got into the
ark God shut the door and when God shuts the door no one can open that's
in the bible he said to the church of Philadelphia I set before you an
open door that no man can close but the reverse is true when God opens
the door no one can shut it but when God shuts the door no one can open
it and the moment of grace is available now the moment of forgiveness is
here now the moment of finding the security in God is here now the
moment to to to be trained in the ways of God to to find his thought
life to find his the new heart the new mind the new spirit to find the
courage that you'll need to stand and the assurance of when life is over
heaven is your eternal home is now don't wait for the rain to start you
know so many people come to church to say well when all hell breaks out
I know where to go they knew where to go too can you imagine the
hundreds of people banging on the side of that ark and there's nothing
Moses could do because God closed the door you know you say pastor
you're trying to scare us yes yeah I am because sometimes that's what it
takes that we just deal with reality this is coming Jesus is coming are
you ready are you ready for him when he comes and so father I thank you
this afternoon Lord for the the courage and the opportunity and the
privilege of declaring your heart but oh God how it must break your
heart when even one person sitting here has heard this and doesn't turn
to the truth puts it off for another day oh Lord Jesus how many times
has that happened throughout history father God in your precious name I
plead with you Lord today I plead God for every soul in this in this
sanctuary and every soul listening online I plead for them God I I don't
know what else I can do but I come to your throne because your word
tells us that if the Holy Spirit doesn't draw a person they can't come
to you for salvation so Holy Spirit would you draw right now would you
draw would you draw would you would you give courage to the people who
live outside of forgiveness or those who are living in a valley of
decision they don't know which way to go those that are cowering under
the threats of this present generation God would you give them the
courage to step up and step out and to say I'm going with God no matter
what happens I'm going with God oh God please God please have mercy
today have mercy have mercy on every soul I thank you for it father I
thank you Lord for those that are here today and those that are online
who could just honestly say pastor wow just it's gone right through my
heart and I I feel like I'm the only one in the room that God's been
speaking to and I recognize that he's when you have that feeling in your
heart that you're the only one that's being spoken to it's because God
is speaking directly to you by the Holy Spirit and pulling you towards
himself drawing you the book of Hebrews it says if you can hear his
voice don't resist it don't harden your heart against the voice of God
do what I did 40 something years ago and I just got out of my seat and I
felt like the least usable person in the entire kingdom of God but I
said God if you're calling me I'm coming I'm coming to you I'm bringing
all my baggage and all my stuff you're gonna have to just take me as I
am and the Lord says done it's a deal you give me all your failure you
give me your struggle you give me your confusion give me your anger you
give me your trials and you give me your addictions I give you my son I
give you forgiveness I give you a new mind I give you a new heart I give
you a new spirit I give you a new future I give you a new calling I give
you new giftings you don't have I give you a whole I give you an
eternity what a trade what an exchange that is So if you can hear I'm
calling you today, please, please, if you can hear I'm calling you,
we're gonna stand up.

I'm gonna ask you just to slip out of your seat and just come forward.
And we're gonna pray together, okay? Let's keep it real simple. Won't
ask you to do anything foolish.

Just come. Balcony, those in the balcony, go to either exit and make
your way down. Join these, come on in, come on in, my buddy.

God bless you, man. God bless you. My pleasure.

Good, God bless you. God bless you. Come on in.

Just slip out, come on, don't delay. Don't put it off till tomorrow. You
don't even know you have it tomorrow.

Just join these that are coming now. Just keep doing it, just keep
coming. Just slip out, slip out, slip out, slip out.

Maybe, God bless you. Even, just keep coming, come on. Even turn to the
person beside you and ask them if they're safe, go ahead.

And if they're not, just say, I'll go with you. If you wanna go, I'll go
with you. Let's do this together today.

Somebody might be just in the valley of decision right now and they're
not sure or they're afraid. You won't be asked to do anything foolish.
You don't worry about that part of it.

We're just gonna pray together. Just keep coming, come on. Keep coming,
keep coming.

There's more. There's more. Come on, don't be hanging on.

God's calling you, you know God is calling you. Praise God. Keep coming,
just keep coming.

Just keep coming. The Lord's calling you, respond. Don't resist him.

Move out of your seat and make your way here. Watch what the Lord's
gonna do in your life. Praise be to God.

It's gonna be amazing what God does in your life. Thank you. Is there
one more? Is there one more? Is there one more who come in through the
open door of God's mercy and find the strength that you need? Is there
one more? I'm waiting.

Keep coming. There you are. Praise God.

Keep coming. You will never regret this day. You will never, ever, ever,
ever, ever regret because you will never be the same again.

Last Wednesday night, I said, you know, when you come to God, he does
such a work in your life that even your dog will have a better life now.
You'll be kind to everything around you. The heart changes, the mind
changes.

Calling changes. You might be the next great evangelist of this
generation, you don't know. But God knows.

He knows what he has for you. God knows, God knows. And here we have a
mom and a baby way over here.

Isn't that awesome? Praise God. That child will be blessed because of
what you do today. Let's just pray a simple prayer all together.

And then I want to shout, okay? Is it okay if we shout after that just
for you? Are you all together? Are you, what are you, sisters? Sister,
sister-in-law? And your daughter. Praise be to God. A whole family here.

That's awesome. That is awesome. Wow, and you were the first one down
here.

What do you do for, what do you do? A baker. Praise God. No, there's a
baker in the Bible.

Wait till you see, you're going to find him. Praise God. Praise God.

That's awesome. Now you're going to be baking for Jesus, right? Yeah.
You know, every time you bake a loaf of bread, put your hands on it and
say, God, when this enters the mouth, whoever's going to eat it, put the
conviction of the Holy Spirit on it.

Turn it to me. Okay, this is the moment. This is the moment where you
get forgiven.

You know, don't make it complicated. What do I have to do? Believe.
Believe that Jesus Christ died in your place and God did it because he
loves you.

He sent his son in because he loves you. Open your heart to his
forgiveness and just start calling him your Lord and start walking with
him. Don't make it complicated.

You can't earn your salvation by works. It comes by belief. It's by
faith.

It's by faith. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me.

Thank you for coming to get me because I didn't know how to get back to
you, but I heard today that you love me and you want me to be safe and
to be forgiven. So today I open my heart to you and I ask you to come
into my life and be my Lord and my savior. I believe that you are
forgiving me right now.

You're wiping away the record of all the wrong I've done. And giving me
a new life. And the promise of heaven when I die.

No matter what happens in this world, I am now safe in the arms of God.
Thank you for loving me. Thank you for receiving me.

In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/ulmKJn_k60A.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/carter-conlon/get-ready-jesus-is-coming/
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