HEB. 9:27 “YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT”
A) God has made some appointments with every person in this world!
* In fact, there are four appointments that God has made with everybody that I want to preach on
this morning. * Two of theses appointments you can keep ... Two of them you will keep!
* Let’s consider these appointments today .......
(1) CONVERSION! * Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may ...”
* John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:”
* John 6:65 “... no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.”
* Young truck driver killed ... Old man in Ozark Mountains in Arkansas .......
* Prov. 29:1 “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, ...”
A) What is a conversion? * Not reformation ... Not joining a church ... Not baptism ...
* It is a turning about ... It’s a change ... It means to repent and turn – Isa. 55:7 .......
* “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto
the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
B) What is man’s part in this? * Conditional ... Rom. 10:9-10; 13 “That if thou shalt ...”
* What will be the results? * Salvation and power ... A changed life!
C) What if I put it off and wait ... Or what if I cancel this appointment?
* If you do, you may lose all hope of ever being converted!
* Prov. 1:23-31 “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make
known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as
desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon
you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall
not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.”
* Isa. 55:6 “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:”
(2) THE LORD’S DAY! * Psa. 122:1 “I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into .......”
A) People are proving every day that they don’t have to keep this appointment!
* “Preacher, what’s so important about the Lord’s Day?”
B) Well, first of all, you have an appointment to worship God on the Lord’s Day!
* John 4:23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
C) Second: You have an appointment to be spiritually fed!
* In 1 Cor. 3:1-2, Paul speaks of being fed with milk and meat of the Word of God!
* Acts 20:7 “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until ...”
* These things help us to grow in Christ!
D) Now you can cancel this appointment too, if you want to!
* These 2 you can keep if you want to ... The next 2 you will keep ... God will hold you to them!
(3) DEATH! * All will keep this appointment ... No one is excluded!
A) The emphasis in this verse is the word “once!” * Men die but one time!
* They do not die and then come back to earth to live and die a second time!
* If you can only do this once, then you had better do it right!
* Ecc. 3:1-2 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;”
B) Death is a reality ... It is a terrible truth ... A horrible certainty!
* I hate death, but I have sense enough not to deny the reality of it! * You have seen death .......
* You may hate death ... Shun death ... Not talk about it ... You may even deny it, but you cannot
escape it ... You must face the fact ... As sure as you live, you shall die!
C) If Jesus doesn’t come soon to take us all in the rapture, you are gonna die!
* I’m not talking about mom or dad or your brothers and sisters now that you have seen face death.
* This is not wife and children, nor friends, dying.
* It will be your body left cold in death ... Your toes turned up ... Your face pale!
* It will be your funeral that others are attending ... Your children will be weeping!
* It’s appointed unto YOU once to die! * It’s appointed unto ME once to die. (My funeral ...)
D) Everybody enjoys living! * If you don’t enjoy it, then kill yourself .......
* But while enjoying life, we tend to forget about another important event ... Death!
* Why is it so important? * Because it seals our destiny for eternity!
E) Where is death? * He’s on the move – Rev. 6:8 “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and
his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”
* Notice the personal pronouns in that verse ... DEATH IS A PERSON!
* Exo. 12 calls him “the destroyer.” * 1 Cor. 15:26 calls him “the last enemy.”
* Prov. 8:36 “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love
death” * Do you love death? * If you don’t love Jesus, you love death!
* James 1:15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is ...”
F) Sinner, you are inviting death to come and pay you a visit!
* Jer. 9:21 “For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the
children from without, and the young men from the streets.”
G) Death is watching you ... (Illustrate)!
* Death will get you and take you to the gates of hell ... You’ll fight, but won’t do any good!
* Ecc. 8:8 “There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he
power in the day of death:”
H) Christ offers deliverance from death! * 1 Cor. 15:55 “O death, where is thy .......”
* Phil. 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
* Psa. 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”
* Rev. 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more ...”
* Get prepared ... You can’t cancel this appointment!
(4) JUDGMENT! * Death doesn’t end it all ... Judgment is coming. * 2 judgment seats .......
A) God will bring all men into judgment!
* Even if you are a Christian, you must meet Christ at the judgment seat of Christ, and give an
account of your faithfulness or unfaithfulness!
* Rom. 14:10 “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?
for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
* 2 Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
B) No child of God will miss this accounting day! * This is not a judgment of being saved or lost!
* These are saved people ... They will not go to hell ... They will go to heaven!
* But they shall be rewarded, or suffer loss as the case may be, according to their faithfulness!
* Look with me at 1 Cor. 3:8-15 .......
C) These are not drunkards, harlots, and degenerates!
* These are saved people who have lived for the wrong purpose and built their lives out of
worthless materials.
* Don’t tithe ... You’ll give account for every dime of your money and how it was spent.
* Don’t witness ... With bloody hands you’ll meet Christ and account for it.
* Don’t pray and read your Bible ... You must account for that!
* Every minute of your time and how you used it will be accounted for.
D) Yes Christian, at the judgment seat of Christ, you shall be called to account!
* Now may I ask you ... Are you prepared for this? * If you’re not, start preparing today!
* Pray, work, witness, give, sacrifice, labor earnestly ... Because when your life is ended, it must
be accounted for before Christ!
E) For the soul that is lost, it is a different judgment altogether!
* The long arm of God’s justice shall snatch you into the eternal court as a condemned criminal!
* The penalty for your transgressions is death ... Spiritual death ... Eternal death ...
* Separation from God forever and ever!
F) You will meet God at the great white throne judgment!
* There, you will be judged and then cast into the lake of fire.
* From this tragic eternal doom there shall be no escape! * Look at Rev. 20:11-15 .......
G) Let me press the question now ... Are you prepared for this day of judgment?
* “Preacher, how may I make preparation for this time?”
* There is only one way ... Trust Jesus Christ to stand between you and God, as your advocate!
* Accept His death on the cross, repent of your sins and receive Christ as your Savior, and have
God put that on your account to pay the penalty for your sins!
H) In closing: You will stand in one of these two groups .......
* Which will it be for you ... The judgment seat of Christ ... Or the great white throne judgment?
* Every born again believer will be at the judgment seat of Christ.
* Every lost sinner will be at the great white throne judgment.
