We are going to be back in Joel Chapter 2 today. A teacher asked the children in her Sunday School class, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and give all the money to the church, would I get into heaven?” “No!” The children all answered. “If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I then get into heaven?” Again, the answer was “NO!” “Well,” she continued, “then how can I get into heaven? In the back of the room, a five-year-old boy shouted, “You got to be dead!”
If you look on the screen behind me, you will see that the title of my message today is “2 Minute Drill.” Before you get too excited, no my sermon today will be 2 minutes long. Last week when we looked at the book of Joel, we talked about how both we as individuals and we the church need to repent and return to God. This week, we will look at why we need to do both of those things.
Before we get into the scripture and the rest of the sermon, I would like to explain what a 2 minute drill is. They are normally seen towards the end of the 4th quarter by a team that needs points to either tie the game to take it into overtime or, by a team looking for a late score to win the game.
As a coach and as a former football player, I can tell you that this is one of the most stressful things in life. So, we are at the end of the fourth quarter. The end of the game is in sight, and it is now or never. Keep this in mind for later. Look at Joel Chapter 2 starting in verse 1.
READ JOEL 2:1
All throughout scripture, the Lord says that His return is near. Folks, we are closer to the return of Christ today than we have ever been before. Jesus Himself says in Revelation Chapter 22 that He is coming soon. That was nearly 2,000 years ago. We see the signs of the return being near everywhere.
Revelation Chapter 9 mentions there being a 200-million-man army
Russia and China recently announced a military coalition. This combines the largest and 5th largest militaries in the world and we can expect other countries to join as well.
Daniel Chapter 9 mentions a peace treaty between Israel and the surrounding nations
The United States and Suadi Arabia have begun to work out a peace treaty with Israel
Revelation Chapter 16 mentions the Euphrates River drying up
Today, the river is almost completely gone
Joel Chapter 2 says that God will pour out His spirit and sons and daughters will prophesy, and the old men will have dreams and the young men will have visions
Last week I told y`all that social media was a great way to reach a lot of people with the Gospel. For a few months now, most of the videos that I have seen are of people talking about the dreams they have about the upcoming rapture.
Isaiah 41 says that God will make the wilderness a pool of water and He will make the dry lands a spring of water
In the Middle East and in Africa, rivers are appearing out of nowhere in the deserts.
And the list goes on and on. The Lord will soon be returning. Matthew 24: 36-37 says this:
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
We do not know exactly when He will come back, but Luke Chapter 21 tells us that there will be signs that the time is near and folks, there are signs showing everywhere. We just looked at a few of those signs. I believe that we are in the 4th quarter. I believe we are at the end of the 4th quarter and the end is in sight. This requires us as Christians to go into our 2-minute drill. So, the question is what is the 2-minute drill that we as Christians must run. During our 2-minute drill, we must prepare for the rapture, prepare our families for the rapture, and tell as many people as possible about Jesus. This 2-minute drill is important for you, your family, and everyone that you know. Here are 5 things that are required during a 2-minute drill.
1. It Requires Us to Go on the Offensive
Earlier, we set the scene for what a 2-minute drill looks like for an offense. You are down by one score, and you need either a field goal or a touchdown to either tie the game or, take it to overtime. In order to do this, you must go on the offensive and you must be aggressive. For us as Christians, we must also go on the offensive and be aggressive. 2nd Corinthians 10: 3-5 says this:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
Here, Paul makes it clear that we are at war. He said that this is not a war against the flesh meaning, this is not a war against the world, but it is a spiritual war. This means that it is not a war that we can fight with guns, tanks, bombs, ships, or planes. Paul said:
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Paul lays out our armor and our weapons in Ephesians 6.
Helmet of Salvation
Breastplate of Righteousness
Belt of Truth
Shoes of Readiness
Shield of Faith
Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
Of the 6 things there, 5 are meant to protect you and 1 is meant for you to take the fight to the devil. Salvation, righteousness, truth, readiness, and your faith are all meant to protect you. The Word of God is a weapon. Your Bible is a weapon. In this war and in this 2-minute drill, you must know and use the Bible. We tell our football players all the time that if they do not know the playbook, they cannot play. Likewise, how can you fight off the devil and take the fight to him if you do not know what the Bible, our playbook, says? In order for us to go on the offensive, we must know what the Bible says. During this period that we are calling the 2-minute drill, we must be on the offensive and we must be aggressive.
2. It Requires Us to be One Team
In order for any offense to be successful in their 2-minute drill, the entire offense must be on the same page. All 11 people on the offense must come together as one if they have any hope of scoring. An offense that is focused on their problems with their teammates is an offense that will go nowhere. The same thing can be said for our 2-minute drill. In order for our 2-minute drill to be successful, we must come together as one. Ephesians 4:11-16 says this:
“And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”
By now, I am sure that most of y`all are tired of me preaching about unity. When I first started preaching 5 years ago, one of the first things I was told was to preach on the church's needs. One of the biggest things that this church needs today is for us to come together. For us to come together, we must have one purpose. Colossians 3:16 says this:
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
We must have one purpose. One purpose as to why we are meeting together at 1611 2nd Avenue Opelika, Alabama. One purpose as to why we as Central Baptist Church meet. Colossians 3:16 should be the purpose to why we gather. Colossians 3:16 says that we should:
Study the word
Teach one another
Admonish one another (warn/correct)
Praise the King
Thanksgiving / Prayer
That should be our purpose. That should be the purpose of Central Baptist Church. If we are meeting here and meeting together for any other reason for that, then we are doing everything wrong. An offense running a 2-minute drill has one purpose... to score. They do not have some other secret agenda. It is not split between some wanting to score and some wanting to do something else. They are all united with the same purpose of scoring. We too must unite with the same purpose mentioned in Colossians 3:16.
3. It Requires All Hands on Deck
A 2-minute drill requires all hands on deck. That means it requires everyone on the team to be ready to go. It does not matter what position you play; you must be ready, and you must give it everything you have. Our 2-minute frill also requires all hands-on deck. We need everyone. Your age does not matter. Your gender does not matter, we need everyone. Matthew 28:16-20 says this:
“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The purpose of this church is to study the word, praise the Father, teach, encourage, and warn one another and to pray to the Father, but the goal of the church should be to reach all people of all races of all nationalities with the Gospel. That should be the goal of Central Baptist Church. Notice how I said that should be our goal... but is that really our goal? Our number one goal here at Central should be to reach the lost and the hurting. It should be to see those who are bound in chains from their sins set free. It should be to see the dead come to life. It should be to see the parodical sons and daughters come home. That should be our goal here at Central, but for many here today the goal is to be comfortable. If our goal is anything else, then we are doing everything wrong. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 9:1-3
“I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
Paul is saying that his burden for the lost around him is so great that he wished he could die and go to hell if it meant that they would be saved and come into the light of Christ. That is true love. Paul had such a burden for the lost that he was willing to do whatever it took for them to be saved. For them to hear the Gospel. That is the longing he had.
Paul had a longing to reach the lost, but for many of us today, the only longing we have is for lunch. Do you realize that everyone you know, and meet will spend an eternity somewhere? Do you have a longing to reach them with the Gospel? An offense has one goal during a 2-minute drill and that is to score so they can win the game. We must have one goal.
4. It Requires Perseverance
A 2-minute drill requires an offense to persevere. During the 2-minute drill, the defense is going to give the offense everything it has. The defense will have its best players on the field to try to keep the offense from scoring. We as Christians and we as the church must also persevere. During this time as we run our 2-minute drill and prepare for the soon coming of the Lord, our enemy, the devil, is going to give us everything we have. He is going to have his best people at work to try to prevent us from reaching our purpose and from reaching our goal. He does not want us to praise, worship, and focus on God so, he is going to do everything he can to prevent us from doing it. He does not want us to go out and reach the lost so, he will it his mission to try to stop us. 2nd Chronicles 15:7 says this:
“But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
Our work will be rewarded one day in Heaven.
It is worth every hardship we face here. Our end goal, being Heaven, is worth more than anything we may face here. If an offense can score, it is worth every hardship and every bit of pain they faced during the drill because they got what they were aiming for. If our 2-minute drill is successful, it would make every hardship and every bit of pain worth it. Hebrews 12:1 says this:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”
Let go of the things that are weighing you down and run your race. Look past the things that the devil is throwing your way to keep you down and place your eyes to Christ and run your race. Run your 2-minute drill. Persevere until the end.
5. It Requires a Sense of Urgency
This is something that we stress all the time at practice. In a 2-minute drill, the offense must have a sense of urgency. Time is running out on the clock, and it is now or never. The game is about to end so the offense does not have time to drag around. They must treat the situation urgently. We as Christians must do the same thing. In our 2-minute drill, we must have a sense of urgency. Time is running out and it is now or ever. Romans 13:11-12 says this:
“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”
As Paul said, the day is at hand. We may not know the day or the hour, but as we looked at earlier, God will give us signs that the end is near. Signs are everywhere. It is evident that the end is near. Whether the Lord calls you home first or, the rapture happens first, either way the end is near, and the day is at hand. Like an offense that does not have time to drag around, neither do we. We must have a sense of urgency to start our 2-minute drill today. We cannot afford to wait until tomorrow to make sure that we are truly saved. We cannot afford to wait until tomorrow to share the Gospel with family members and make sure that they are saved. We cannot afford to wait until tomorrow to share the Gospel with other people that we know that desperately need to come to Christ. We cannot afford to wait because we are not promised tomorrow. Proverbs 27:1 says this:
“Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.”
We do not know what tomorrow may bring. We do not even know if we will see tomorrow. That is why we must start today. This past week someone asked me:
“What is worse than going to hell?”
I thought about the question for a little bit. I thought about how the Bible describes hell and how awful hell truly is. Then I looked at them and said:
“The only thing worse than hell would be for me to be in Heaven and look out and see someone that I know and love in hell as they look at me and ask why I never told or warned them.”
Tell them about Christ while you still have a chance. Have a sense of urgency about it. It is imperative that as the end draws near, we run our 2-minute drill. It is important for us, our families, and everyone that we know. It is important that we:
Go On the Offensive
Be One Team
All Get to Work
Persevere and
Have a Sense of Urgency
We just looked at Romans 13. It is time for us to wake up for the day is at hand. It is time for us to run the 2-minute drill. At the end of a football game, a buzzer goes off that indicates that the game is over. When that buzzer goes off, it is too late. There is nothing more that either team can do. Nothing they can do at this point will change the outcome of the game. When that buzzer of life goes off, it will be too late. Your eternity is already set in either heaven or hell and at that point, there will be nothing that you can do to stop it or change the outcome. Are you prepared for it? If that buzzer went off right now, are you certain that you would spend an eternity in Heaven? If not, we are about to have an invitation time. I would love to talk to you about it. Come punch your ticket home today. For those of you who are certain that you would go to Heaven for an eternity, it is time for you gear up, hit the field, and start running the 2-minute drill. The day is at hand.
Today could be your last day here on Earth. Use the time you have to tell others about Jesus. Let us pray.
