• If you know history you know it was General Douglas MacArthur who went down in American History as one of the greatest Generals this country has ever had.
• When President Roosevelt ordered him to leave the Philippines and go to Australia, he spoke these words that went down in the history books, “I shall return.”
• In 1945 President Roosevelt sent him back. A year later, the Japanese surrendered to him and ended the war.
But MacArthur is not the first to utter these words, “I shall return!” The Lord Jesus uttered almost these identical words hundreds of years before.
He said it this way in John 14:2-3, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
The Lord Jesus has promised to return to gather His church.
Knowing that He is going to return for His church any moment now, HOW SHOULD WE AS CHRISTIANS LIVE OUR LIVES?
In the parable of the distribution of pounds, in Luke 19:13, Jesus tells us how Christians should live until He returns. He said, “Occupy till I come.”
We get our word “occupation” from the word “Occupy”.
So the Lord is saying, until he RETURNS for the church we should all find the job we can do, and BE BUSY WORKING FOR THE LORD.
Illus: Your boss man gives you a job and hour later he returns and he finds you sitting down. How embarrassing that would be!!!
Can you imagine what it is going to be like when the Lord returns for His church and he finds many Christians sitting down on the job.
God has left all of us here for a purpose and it is not just sit on a church pew.
If He were to return today, how should He find us?
He tells us:
I. BE SOBER
Illus: In 1929 a German scientist by that name of Hans Berger proved there was electrical activity in the brain.
Humor: He proved that some of us run on 220 volts while other are running on about 110. Just kidding!
His discovery led to the development of a device that enabled him to measure and record the electrical activity of the brain known as an EEG.
For the first time in history man was able to take a look at what was going on inside the brain.
We now have many modern devices which allow even a closer look at the brain such as CAT scans and Brain scans, all of which are very helpful to doctors.
While we can see the function of the brain we cannot know the thoughts that are inside. This is good as you can imagine this would not be good if we knew what each others thoughts were. If we could this would fill the divorce courts and the jails probably!!!
Illus: Remember that program called Gilliagan’s island. In one of the episodes they found berries on the island that let them read each other thoughts which made a very funny episode.
But let us say that it was possible for them to open up your mind and see what was in there.
What would they find?
I would say that if they could they would probably find some:
• Good stuff,
• But probably also some bad stuff that would bring to us much embarrassment and shame.
But the scripture is talking about a SOUND MIND.
Look at 1 Peter 4:7, we read, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore SOBER, and WATCH unto prayer.”
Look at the words SOBER and WATCH.
These two words bring a double emphasis.
• BE SOBER - to be of sound mind
• WATCH - to be sober (sound mind) and watching for His return.
In other words, as we are looking for the return of Christ, we need to make sure that we do not have the SAME MINDSET the lost world has.
WHY?
Because it is obvious that the lost world is not looking for Christ to return.
The reason we know that, is because if they thought He would return soon, they would not be living in sin.
God wants Christians to live each day with a SOUND MIND AND BE LOOKING FOR THE RETURN OF CHRIST EVERY DAY.
One of the biggest traps that Christians can fall into each day is to conform to the way the lost world thinks and live.
HOW DO THEY THINK?
They don’t! They allow others to do their thinking for them.
They do not believe in thinking things through, they simply follow others, and allow them to do their thinking for them.
Illus: They remind us of these journalists on television when the president addresses the nation. Evidently they do not think we are capable of thinking for ourselves because as soon as he completes his address, these journalists appear on television telling us what we just heard him say, twisting it to what they want us to think he said.
We live in an age when very few people think for themselves. They are being shaped and molded by the lost world in which they live.
Illus: It is difficult these days to find people like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who will say, “No we will not bow to the gods of this earth. We refuse to be to be cut from the same mold that everyone else is cut from.”
We live in a society today that has been molded and shaped into what the lost world wants them to be.
Romans 12:2 states, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
There are all kinds of people who are trying to get into our minds.
• THE POLITICAL LEADERS WANT TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
• THE FASHION INDUSTRY WANTS TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
• THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WANTS TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
• THE JOURNALISTS WANT TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
• THE RADIO TALK SHOW HOSTS WANT TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
• HOLLYWOOD WANTS TO SHAPE YOUR WAY OF THINKING
Everywhere we turn these days, we have people who are battling to see who can get control of our minds.
But listen, as Christians we CANNOT and we MUST NOT and we WILL NOT allow them to mold us and shape our minds.
This is why God’s Word says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world…” that is not looking for the return of Christ anytime soon.
Look at the word, “conformed”, this is the Greek word suschematizo, (Pronounced as soos-khay-mat-id'-zo) which means to fashion alike, to conform to the same pattern.
God’s Word says, “Be not conformed”.
Why?
• BECAUSE THE WAY THEY THINK IS WRONG
• BECAUSE THE WAY THEY LIVE IS WRONG
What they want us to be is the opposite of what God wants us to be.
As we wait for the Lord to come back for His church, we need to make sure that we are of SOUND MIND so we can make SOUND DECISIONS.
We need to make all of our decisions in the light of God’s Word.
The Word of God says we are to be SOBER.
Illus: Have you ever heard a drunk person talk? Their mind is so messed up that they say all kinds of ridiculous things.
WHY DO THEY TALK LIKE THIS?
Because physically they are not sober.
Paul picks up on this idea about being sober, but uses it in the spiritual realm of our life. In 1 Thess. he says we are to “…BE SOBER.”
Every day, we are able to make GOOD DECISIONS because we have a SOUND MIND that is not affected by the lost world in which we live.
A sound mind is very essential and important in living the Christian life. Right thinking leads to correct Living.
Having a sound mind is very important because we move, make decisions and act according to the perception and comprehension of the mind.
Satan, our adversary has blinded and corrupted the minds of the world, and he wants the believers to have confused minds.
Let us then humbly and diligently ask the Lord to sustain us by His grace and give us a sound mind.
Also, we who are looking for Christ to return we need to –
II. BE WATCHFUL
Look again at 1 Peter 4:7, we read, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore SOBER, and WATCH unto prayer.”
WHAT ARE WE TO PRAYERFULLY WATCH FOR?
We are to PRAYERFULLY WATCH for those people the devil has placed before us, who want to do our thinking for us.
A. BE WATCHFUL FOR SIN
Perhaps someone is saying, “Preacher, we do not need to watch out for sin, everyone knows what sin is!”
I am here to tell you that is not the case. The devil has so cleverly CAMOUFLAGED SIN today that it has become unrecognizable.
Illus: Have you ever seen any of these television shows where they had transgender men appear on their programs as women? These men fix themselves up, and they can walk down the street and people will never know they are men.
This is what Satan has done. He has dressed sin up in so many ways, that today we live in a society where we can no longer recognize sin, even when we are surrounded by sin.
Illus: Sin is like a chameleon, in that it can change it’s color so that you and I cannot see it.
WHY HAS SATAN CAMOUFLAGED SIN?
For two reasons:
(1) SO PEOPLE MAY BE DECEIVED BY SIN
He knows he cannot get people to sin unless he deceives them about sin.
Illus: Consider the beer commercials on television where they have some young, healthy, nice looking couple standing with glasses of Budweiser in their hands, and saying, “This Bud is for you.”
They give the impression that beer has brought nothing but joy and happiness to their lives.
But if the true story was told, and they showed you:
• ALL THE HOMES THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL
• ALL THE CHILDREN HAVING TO GROW UP WITH A SINGLE PARENT
• ALL THE MONEY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPENT ON THE CHILDREN CLOTHES SPENT ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.
• ALL THE LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL
• ALL THE CAREERS THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL
• ALL THE HEALTHY PEOPLE HEALTH THAT HAS BEEN DESTROYED BY ALCAHOL
• ALL THE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY ALCOHOL
No one would buy their product.
Proverbs 20:1 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Illus: Perhaps someone is saying MY DOCTOR TOLD ME IT WAS ALRIGHT TO DRINK ALCOHOL BEVERAGES.
All that proves is that your doctor is a quack! Anybody knows that pouring alcohol down your throat is not healthy!
While drinking alcoholic beverages may have some medical BENEFITS the BAD FAR OUT WEIGHS THE GOOD.
Such as:
What do the health professionals say of the risks of alcohol?
1. Increase risk of cancer of the breasts, pancreas, mouth, larynx, esophagus, and liver
2. Sudden death in people with pre-existent cardiovascular disease
3. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy which damages the heart muscle and leads to heart failure
4. Stroke
5. Brain atrophy (shrinkage)
6. Cirrhosis of the liver
7. Miscarriage
8. FAS
9. Injury due to motor skill impairment
10. Suicide
The list of dangers is greater than the list of benefits
The devil disguise sin and make it look like something that is not sin. The devil knows that to get people to sin, he has to disguise it.
BUT WE HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR SIN AND MAKE SURE SATAN DOES NOT DECEIVE US.
But He disguises sin for another reason also -
(2) SO PEOPLE CAN COMMIT SIN AND NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT
He knows that if people commit sin they are going to feel guilty, and soon they will turn to Christ. So, he disguises sin in such a way that people can participate in it and not feel guilty.
HOW DOES HE DO THIS?
He does this in TWO ways:
(a) HE CHANGES THE NAME OF SIN
One of the ways society falls into wickedness is to rename their sins.
Sin used to be called sin and people actually felt bad and convicted about it, and tried to change their ways.
Today, we have so many new names for sin so that we can keep from feeling bad and convicted.
Instead of sin, we now call it an addiction, a dependency, a mental disorder, a chemical imbalance, an obsession, a phobia, a disease, a quirk, an indiscretion, a mis-spoken word, a mistake, etc.
Just notice how America, which was founded upon Christian values, have changed the names of its sins.
• If they are rich, they don’t steal, they confiscate.
• They are not greedy, it’s just business.
• If they are poor they are not thieves, they are kleptomaniacs.
• They are not called gossipers anymore, they are speedily transmitting partially factual information.
• They are not cursing anymore, but rather speaking adult language.
• They are not drunks, they are alcoholics.
• They are not called liars, but rather are creative.
• They are not whores, but rather call ladies of the night.
• They are not baby killers, they are abortionists.
• They are not fornicators, they are cohabitators.
• They are not homosexuals, they are gay.
How many times when Christians try and correct anyone who refuse to turn from their sins all called derogatory names.
• If they speak out against homosexuals and lesbians, they are called homophobes.
• If they speak out against riotous women, they are called sexists.
And of course now if you drink alcoholic beverages we are told it is not a sin, it is a disease IT IS AN UNFORTUNATE DISEASE they have contracted.
Let me give you an example. During the early 60’s, the devil got his workers promoting alcoholism as a DISEASE, NOT A SIN.
When many first heard that they laughed at this ignorance.
But today, there are intellectual people who will appear on national television, and they will make you think that you are ignorant if you say that alcoholism is not a disease.
Illus: I like what someone said, They ask the question, Is alcoholism is a disease? If it is. . . .
• It is the only disease that is contracted by an act of the will
• It is the only disease that requires a license to propagate it
• It is the only disease that is bottled and sold
• It is the only disease that requires outlets to spread it
• It is the only disease that produces a revenue for the government
• It is the only disease that provokes crime
• It is the only disease that is habit forming
• It is the only disease that is spread by advertising
• It is the only disease without a germ or virus cause
(Taken from the EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN, Toronto, Canada, June, 1962.)
The devil is very clever in getting some people to sin, by telling them that they can do it and not feel guilty because it is a DISEASE.
It is not a DISEASE IT IS A SIN!
HE CHANGES THE NAME OF SIN.
He also does something else to get people to sin so that they will not feel guilty.
That is:
(b) HE BLAMES GOD FOR THEIR SINS
That is, they can participate in some sins and not feel guilty, because they can say God made me that way.
This is what the homosexuals do.
They choose to involve themselves in a sin that is so despicable, that God’s Word calls it an abomination in the sight of God.
God never made homosexuals, that’s despicable! God said this sin is an abomination in His sight.
It would be unfair for God to hold homosexuals guilty if He created them that way.
But look what God says about this despicable sin in Lev. 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
Look at that word ABOMINATION?
Illus: Look back at creation. When God made Adam, he did not make Eve and a man named Steve, and say, “Adam, which do you prefer, Eve or Steve?” It was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.
Sin is not AN ILLNESS, sin is a CHOICE. That is why people will be judged for sin. It was a choice they made.
• It is not an ASTROLOGICAL PROBLEM where the stars control and determine your action
• It is not an SOCIOLOGICAL PROBLEM where the environment determines your actions
• It is not an GENETIC PROBLEM where your genes determine your actions
SIN IS A CHOICE!
This is why people are going to have to give account for the sin in their lives, on the Judgment Day. IT WAS A CHOICE AND THEY MADE A BAD CHOICE!
When it comes to sin, the devil wastes no time working in the heart of man. AND WE NEED TO PRAYERFULLY WATCH OUT FOR SIN.
Why?
Because the Word of God states, in Jer. 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
AS CHRISTIANS, WE NEED TO LEARN TO DEFINE SIN BY THE WORD OF GOD.
• What God’s Word calls sin, IS SIN!
• Sin is defined by God’s Word, not by society.
Society is ever changing, God’s Word remains the same.
Sin is defined as a transgression of the law of God.
1 Jn 3:4 Sin, no matter its name, is still sin! The wages of sin is death.
Rom 6:23 Changing the wording doesn’t change the sin. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
Isa 5:20 All who sin and refuse to repent of them and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ shall burn in an everlasting Hell.
The Bible tells us to BE SOBER and BE WATCHFUL. But we need to consider one more thing. The Lord is coming soon and we need to-
III. BE READY
Illus: Many of us can remember as a child playing the game “Hide and Seek.” There might be 10 to 15 children, and they have a home base to work from. They select one to close their eyes and count to a hundred, while everyone else runs and hides. And then when everyone had a chance to hide, he would finish his count and open his eyes and say, “Ready or not, here I come!” Then he would find those who were hiding, one by one.
The Lord Jesus is coming back, and this is your time to get ready.
HOW CAN WE GET READY?
• If you are lost, you need to come to Christ TODAY and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. You need to repent of sin and ask Him to forgive you.
• If you are a Christian, you need to live a holy life.
HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?
(1) THE WORD OF GOD WILL KEEP US FROM SIN
Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
We have to allow the Word of God to DEFINE WHAT IS SIN.
(2) WE NEED TO LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD
John 16:8 11 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us into righteousness, and He will do that for us, when our hearts are kept sensitive to sin.
Conclusion:
I. JESUS IS COMING - BE SOBER
II. JESUS IS COMING - BE WATCHFUL
III. JESUS IS COMING - BE READY
On Sept. 11, 2001 something happened that most folks are not aware of. They know about the Trade Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. being attacked by the evil terrorists.
But in the midst of this grief, something happened that many folks missed.
WHAT IS IT THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THIS CRISIS?
For the first time in history, one man (Billy Graham) spoke the Gospel to the entire world at the same time. He gave the sermon at the National Memorial Service, and it was broadcast on every major television station in the U.S. and by satellite to the world. Every country in the world received this broadcast...and because it was a Geo-Political event, every leader watched and heard it translated into his language.
Many preachers have their messages broadcast in other countries and carried around the world, but this is the first time that the entire world at one time listened to the Gospel preached. The world and all it’s leaders tuned in and heard the gospel.
WHY IS THAT SIGNIFICANT? Because God’s Word says:
• Mark 13:10 "And the Gospel must first be preached to all the nations."
• Matthew 24:14 "And this Gospel of the King shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations and the end shall come."
We need to get busy and win our loved ones and friends to Christ. The Lord is coming back for His church, and they need to be saved.
