WEBVTT 00:00:01.168 --> 00:00:07.168 I know your works. 00:00:07.168 --> 00:00:13.297 You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 00:00:13.297 --> 00:00:16.383 Literally, this reads: 00:00:16.383 --> 00:00:18.562 You have a name 00:00:18.562 --> 00:00:20.967 that you are alive. 00:00:20.967 --> 00:00:23.184 You have a name. 00:00:23.184 --> 00:00:26.212 But the name you have isn't accurate. 00:00:26.212 --> 00:00:28.064 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:00:28.064 --> 00:00:29.479 You have a name. 00:00:29.479 --> 00:00:30.900 You have a reputation. 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:35.271 But what is true does not square with that reputation. 00:00:35.271 --> 00:00:37.679 Now brethren, I want you to just 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:39.836 feel the impact of this. 00:00:39.836 --> 00:00:44.059 These people have souls. 00:00:44.059 --> 00:00:46.920 You have a soul. 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:51.727 Isn't it amazing how flippant and trivial people are? 00:00:51.727 --> 00:00:53.723 Isn't it amazing that when you come to people 00:00:53.723 --> 00:00:55.659 with the Word of God, and you say, 00:00:55.659 --> 00:00:58.847 "Sir, m'am, your life does not line up 00:00:58.847 --> 00:01:01.085 with the Word of God." 00:01:01.085 --> 00:01:04.563 How trivializing people are with regard to their soul. 00:01:04.563 --> 00:01:06.630 "Oh, well, I think this." 00:01:06.630 --> 00:01:09.052 "Yes, but God's Word says this." 00:01:09.052 --> 00:01:11.659 "Yeah, but I don't believe that." 00:01:11.659 --> 00:01:13.198 Isn't it amazing! 00:01:13.198 --> 00:01:15.045 I mean people will look straight in the face 00:01:15.045 --> 00:01:17.250 of God's Word, and their lives don't line up with it, 00:01:17.250 --> 00:01:21.191 and oh well, I just take another name on myself. 00:01:21.191 --> 00:01:22.878 I call myself a Christian. 00:01:22.878 --> 00:01:24.176 Yeah, you don't call me one; 00:01:24.176 --> 00:01:25.971 you say that the Bible doesn't say that I'm one, 00:01:25.971 --> 00:01:28.438 but I call myself one and I think I'm ok. 00:01:28.438 --> 00:01:31.574 And they just skip down the street. 00:01:31.574 --> 00:01:33.512 And it's like, 00:01:33.512 --> 00:01:36.242 do you not realize what you're doing here? 00:01:36.242 --> 00:01:37.693 This is your soul! 00:01:37.693 --> 00:01:40.524 Jesus came along, and He tries to convince men, 00:01:40.524 --> 00:01:43.843 do you not realize that if you once lose your soul... 00:01:43.843 --> 00:01:45.536 I mean, what would a man in hell give 00:01:45.536 --> 00:01:48.166 in exchange for his soul? 00:01:48.166 --> 00:01:49.997 Everything. 00:01:49.997 --> 00:01:51.906 Everything. 00:01:51.906 --> 00:01:54.141 Brethren, these are souls on the line. 00:01:54.141 --> 00:01:56.307 Even if you gain the whole world, what is that, 00:01:56.307 --> 00:01:57.998 compared to the value of your soul? 00:01:57.998 --> 00:01:59.824 Jesus is threatening to come against 00:01:59.824 --> 00:02:02.657 this church at Sardis, because they're living 00:02:02.657 --> 00:02:05.266 behind a name that isn't real. 00:02:05.266 --> 00:02:07.280 And is that true of anyone here? 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.743 Brethren, it is so easy for us to give ourselves names. 00:02:11.743 --> 00:02:14.834 People in this world do it all the time. 00:02:14.834 --> 00:02:16.217 They give themselves a name, 00:02:16.217 --> 00:02:19.317 and then they think that that name is going to somehow protect them. 00:02:19.317 --> 00:02:21.256 They think because they call themselves by 00:02:21.256 --> 00:02:25.435 a certain title, by a certain description, by a certain name, 00:02:25.435 --> 00:02:28.534 it therefore makes it true. 00:02:28.534 --> 00:02:35.186 And people's souls, eternal souls, hinge on this. 00:02:35.186 --> 00:02:39.758 It's like, well, that's what I think... 00:02:39.758 --> 00:02:41.650 I'm not really interested in searching the Word of God 00:02:41.650 --> 00:02:43.821 or really finding out if this is true or not. 00:02:43.821 --> 00:02:48.008 I'm going to take my chances. 00:02:48.008 --> 00:02:51.721 On judgement day, God will just understand. 00:02:51.721 --> 00:02:53.647 I mean, brethren, do you hear people talk like that? 00:02:53.647 --> 00:02:54.997 I do! 00:02:54.997 --> 00:02:56.420 It's scary. 00:02:56.420 --> 00:02:59.943 Jesus says to this church at Sardis, 00:02:59.943 --> 00:03:02.300 "I'm going to come against you." 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:03.752 I have a reputation of being a Christian, 00:03:03.752 --> 00:03:07.156 I go to church. That's what other people call me. 00:03:07.156 --> 00:03:10.121 The thing that matters is not what you call yourself. 00:03:10.121 --> 00:03:11.779 It's what Christ calls you! 00:03:11.779 --> 00:03:15.618 Do you measure up in His eyes to bearing that name 00:03:15.618 --> 00:03:17.114 and bearing that reputation? 00:03:17.114 --> 00:03:20.525 And if you're wrong, it's going to cost you everything. 00:03:20.525 --> 00:03:22.985 This is really serious, folks. 00:03:22.985 --> 00:03:25.466 This is serious. 00:03:25.466 --> 00:03:29.749 Can you imagine men and women at Sardis? 00:03:29.749 --> 00:03:30.924 Or here? 00:03:30.924 --> 00:03:34.622 In this room, heading for this state of hopelessness. 00:03:34.622 --> 00:03:39.664 And they've propped up a reputation, a name. 00:03:39.664 --> 00:03:42.803 As I'm trying to think, what can I liken this to? 00:03:42.803 --> 00:03:45.160 It's almost like children playing in the sand, 00:03:45.160 --> 00:03:48.092 and taking some twigs and setting them up, 00:03:48.092 --> 00:03:51.186 and tanks are coming across the field, 00:03:51.186 --> 00:03:53.122 and you know, they've got their little twigs. 00:03:53.122 --> 00:03:55.736 And they hide behind it. 00:03:55.736 --> 00:04:02.083 And here comes a great big tank. 00:04:02.083 --> 00:04:06.160 It's like, ok, I'm going to be safe behind this. 00:04:06.160 --> 00:04:10.429 I imagine, here comes a storm. 00:04:10.429 --> 00:04:12.883 There's a storm out there on the horizon, 00:04:12.883 --> 00:04:16.713 and it is black with the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty, 00:04:16.713 --> 00:04:19.155 and it is coming against me for my sin, 00:04:19.155 --> 00:04:22.980 and I prop up this little barricade, 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:24.373 it's a name, 00:04:24.373 --> 00:04:25.523 and I hide behind it. 00:04:25.523 --> 00:04:27.198 Ok, I'm going to be safe behind here. 00:04:27.198 --> 00:04:31.404 I think on Wednesday, we heard about some young lady, 00:04:31.404 --> 00:04:33.280 that somebody was preaching the Gospel to, 00:04:33.280 --> 00:04:36.569 and they were talking to about hell, 00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:41.459 and she said, "well, I don't know if I believe in hell." 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:43.317 You see what she's saying? 00:04:43.317 --> 00:04:45.949 "Well, if I just basically give myself a name, 00:04:45.949 --> 00:04:48.654 that I'm a disbeliever in hell, 00:04:48.654 --> 00:04:51.113 I'm going to be ok. Right? 00:04:51.113 --> 00:04:52.931 It doesn't matter that the Word of God says 00:04:52.931 --> 00:04:54.514 that there's a hell. 00:04:54.514 --> 00:04:58.081 I don't believe there is one." 00:04:58.081 --> 00:05:01.856 You think that's a safe place to hide? 00:05:01.856 --> 00:05:07.348 When that storm comes out, what good is her name, 00:05:07.348 --> 00:05:10.327 "I'm a disbeliever in hell" going to do for her? 00:05:10.327 --> 00:05:12.234 That storm is going to sweep that away 00:05:12.234 --> 00:05:13.442 and crush it. 00:05:13.442 --> 00:05:16.413 Many great houses are going to fall. 00:05:16.413 --> 00:05:17.764 Do you think that little thing is 00:05:17.764 --> 00:05:20.943 going to stand up in that day? 00:05:20.943 --> 00:05:25.825 Brethren, no name will shelter you or me 00:05:25.825 --> 00:05:27.157 from the coming wrath, 00:05:27.157 --> 00:05:30.479 except the name of Jesus Christ itself. 00:05:30.479 --> 00:05:32.480 None other. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:37.593 Here these folks are at Sardis. 00:05:37.593 --> 00:05:43.452 They're hiding behind a reputation. 00:05:43.452 --> 00:05:45.668 I'll say this, brethren. 00:05:45.668 --> 00:05:49.039 What mercy! 00:05:49.039 --> 00:05:51.928 You picture it. 00:05:51.928 --> 00:05:54.170 You have an enemy. 00:05:54.170 --> 00:05:57.434 His troops are coming across the field. 00:05:57.434 --> 00:05:59.087 The tanks are rolling in. 00:05:59.087 --> 00:06:02.038 The artillary is rolling in. 00:06:02.038 --> 00:06:05.164 You've got jets coming in fully armed. 00:06:05.164 --> 00:06:07.551 And here you are totally exposed in the field, 00:06:07.551 --> 00:06:10.323 you set up a few twigs and a little rotten cloth 00:06:10.323 --> 00:06:11.616 and you hide behind it. 00:06:11.616 --> 00:06:13.644 Oh, I'm going to be safe here. 00:06:13.644 --> 00:06:15.990 For the general of those ranks, 00:06:15.990 --> 00:06:20.026 who you have wronged badly, 00:06:20.026 --> 00:06:23.422 he comes across the enemy lines, 00:06:23.422 --> 00:06:26.153 and not as an enemy right at this point, 00:06:26.153 --> 00:06:27.749 but he comes up beside you, 00:06:27.749 --> 00:06:29.338 puts his arm around you 00:06:29.338 --> 00:06:33.443 as you stand behind your little tattered barricade, 00:06:33.443 --> 00:06:36.607 and he says, "Look. 00:06:36.607 --> 00:06:38.597 That barricade isn't going to stand 00:06:38.597 --> 00:06:41.909 when I come against you. 00:06:41.909 --> 00:06:46.126 Make peace with me now and come join me. 00:06:46.126 --> 00:06:47.978 And you'll be safe." 00:06:47.978 --> 00:06:49.539 What mercy! 00:06:49.539 --> 00:06:51.364 That he comes to them like that. 00:06:51.364 --> 00:06:53.636 Because he's got every right 00:06:53.636 --> 00:06:56.819 just to break forth against them. Right? 00:06:56.819 --> 00:07:02.052 But to come and even bid them, 00:07:02.052 --> 00:07:04.364 to encourage them, "Come." 00:07:04.364 --> 00:07:11.293 The name you're hiding behind will give way. 00:07:11.293 --> 00:07:18.632 Brethren, some of you, you're holding the title "Christian." 00:07:18.632 --> 00:07:22.324 And I hope you'll wake up like He called Sardis to wake up. 00:07:22.324 --> 00:07:24.226 Because all it is is a name. 00:07:24.226 --> 00:07:30.614 The name of Christian without the reality of Christian, 00:07:30.614 --> 00:07:32.481 it's going to be blown away by 00:07:32.481 --> 00:07:36.841 the wrath of God in an instant. 00:07:36.841 --> 00:07:38.722 It will not stand. 00:07:38.722 --> 00:07:42.864 It cannot stand. 00:07:42.864 --> 00:07:45.321 The most deadly, damning delusion 00:07:45.321 --> 00:07:49.683 is not miscalculating somebody else's reputation. 00:07:49.683 --> 00:07:51.112 You understand that? 00:07:51.112 --> 00:07:55.062 I mean, I may look at you and I may have 00:07:55.062 --> 00:07:58.151 a great estimation of you. 00:07:58.151 --> 00:08:00.951 And be wrong. 00:08:00.951 --> 00:08:04.005 But that in and of itself is not the determining factor. 00:08:04.005 --> 00:08:06.047 Because you may look at me and say, 00:08:06.047 --> 00:08:07.687 "he makes way too much of me, 00:08:07.687 --> 00:08:10.005 I know my real state - it's bad." 00:08:10.005 --> 00:08:13.576 And you may flee to Christ and all is well. 00:08:13.576 --> 00:08:16.031 Or I may look at you and I may think evil of you, 00:08:16.031 --> 00:08:17.912 and I may be dead wrong. 00:08:17.912 --> 00:08:19.634 Really, things are well with you, 00:08:19.634 --> 00:08:21.336 and Christ thinks well with you, 00:08:21.336 --> 00:08:22.727 and everything is all right. 00:08:22.727 --> 00:08:24.877 I mean, miscalculations about somebody else's 00:08:24.877 --> 00:08:28.043 reputation are not necessarily the final word on the matter. 00:08:28.043 --> 00:08:29.613 But I'll tell you this, brethren, 00:08:29.613 --> 00:08:32.636 when you're wrong about yourself, you're wrong. 00:08:32.636 --> 00:08:36.881 And if you stay on that course, it's damning. 00:08:36.881 --> 00:08:38.787 It's serious. 00:08:38.787 --> 00:08:41.361 You need to wake up! 00:08:41.361 --> 00:08:42.698 That's what He's saying here, 00:08:42.698 --> 00:08:44.092 "Wake up! Wake up!" 00:08:44.092 --> 00:08:46.534 If you're not willing to repent, if you're not willing to wake up, 00:08:46.534 --> 00:08:49.889 you should tremble. 00:08:49.889 --> 00:08:51.462 The question of the hour is this: 00:08:51.462 --> 00:08:53.311 is there any possibility... 00:08:53.311 --> 00:08:55.088 and look, we all need to ask ourselves this. 00:08:55.088 --> 00:08:59.040 I want to ask myself this. I want you to ask yourself this. 00:08:59.040 --> 00:09:04.651 Is there any possibility that you may be dead 00:09:04.651 --> 00:09:07.104 or that you may be dying? 00:09:07.104 --> 00:09:10.521 And that if you continue on your present course, 00:09:10.521 --> 00:09:13.082 you will lose your soul? 00:09:13.082 --> 00:09:14.813 I'm just asking you to consider, 00:09:14.813 --> 00:09:20.178 is there any possibility that that might be true? 00:09:20.178 --> 00:09:23.841 Is there any of us that bear the name alive and well, 00:09:23.841 --> 00:09:25.915 but if you basically look at the path that you're on 00:09:25.915 --> 00:09:27.594 and you were to draw a line off of it 00:09:27.594 --> 00:09:31.973 and project where it goes, it misses heaven. 00:09:31.973 --> 00:09:34.174 Brethren, that's what we want to think about. 00:09:34.174 --> 00:09:38.519 You know what Jesus says? 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:44.801 In Matthew 7, He says that there are few that have life, 00:09:44.801 --> 00:09:47.125 but there are many who don't. 00:09:47.125 --> 00:09:49.280 And He's talking to the religious crowd. 00:09:49.280 --> 00:09:52.347 Look, He comes along and He says this, 00:09:52.347 --> 00:09:54.614 He says, "On that day (on judgement day), 00:09:54.614 --> 00:09:56.679 many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:59.503 did we not prophesy in Your name, cast out demons 00:09:59.503 --> 00:10:03.018 in Your name, do many mighty works in Your name?'" 00:10:03.018 --> 00:10:05.275 Do you hear what they're saying? 00:10:05.275 --> 00:10:09.308 Lord, look how alive we were! 00:10:09.308 --> 00:10:11.316 We had the name of "alive." 00:10:11.316 --> 00:10:14.553 We sought out demons, we cast them out. 00:10:14.553 --> 00:10:16.749 We prophesied, we used spiritual gifts, 00:10:16.749 --> 00:10:19.932 we didn't do just a few works in Your name, 00:10:19.932 --> 00:10:21.841 we did many, and they weren't just little works, 00:10:21.841 --> 00:10:23.179 they were mighty works. 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.872 And we didn't just do them, we did them in Your name. 00:10:25.872 --> 00:10:28.660 And they're saying, "Look how alive we were!" 00:10:28.660 --> 00:10:31.202 "Look at the movement, Lord, look at the movement!" 00:10:31.202 --> 00:10:34.465 And He said, "I never knew you." 00:10:34.465 --> 00:10:36.023 "You're dead." 00:10:36.023 --> 00:10:37.523 And this is exactly the picture. 00:10:37.523 --> 00:10:40.534 All sorts of apparent motion 00:10:40.534 --> 00:10:41.812 that made it look good, 00:10:41.812 --> 00:10:43.314 so much so that these people, 00:10:43.314 --> 00:10:47.034 they're hiding behind the name, right? 00:10:47.034 --> 00:10:49.508 They're hiding behind a reputation 00:10:49.508 --> 00:10:51.894 that had been created by all this movement. 00:10:51.894 --> 00:10:53.659 But Jesus says, "You're lawless." 00:10:53.659 --> 00:10:56.048 "You're not Mine. I don't know you." 00:10:56.048 --> 00:10:59.272 "You're dead." 00:10:59.272 --> 00:11:04.433 And the thing is, He says many, over against the few. 00:11:04.433 --> 00:11:07.160 In other words, those in this world 00:11:07.160 --> 00:11:11.934 that bear a good reputation and bear a good name 00:11:11.934 --> 00:11:16.767 most, the reality is not behind the name. 00:11:16.767 --> 00:11:21.442 Most religion in this world is false and empty. 00:11:21.442 --> 00:11:26.679 Brethren, that ought to make us sit up and say, "Wow!" 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:33.215 Look. You don't want to have that name peeled away 00:11:33.215 --> 00:11:37.028 like these people when it's too late. 00:11:37.028 --> 00:11:38.973 I mean, they're saying, 00:11:38.973 --> 00:11:40.750 "Lord, we're alive! We're alive! We're alive!" 00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:42.794 And He says, "You're dead. Depart." 00:11:42.794 --> 00:11:44.373 You don't want to find out then. 00:11:44.373 --> 00:11:45.540 You know when you want to find out? 00:11:45.540 --> 00:11:47.875 You want to find out today. 00:11:47.875 --> 00:11:50.260 You want to be like the people at Sardis, 00:11:50.260 --> 00:11:52.302 who heard the warning, and they responded 00:11:52.302 --> 00:11:54.439 and they repented and Christ didn't come against them, 00:11:54.439 --> 00:11:56.383 and they were worthy to walk in white. 00:11:56.383 --> 00:11:57.559 That's who you want to be like. 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.044 You don't want to just say, 00:12:01.044 --> 00:12:02.781 you know what? I've got my opinion, 00:12:02.781 --> 00:12:04.387 and I'm going to bank my soul on it, 00:12:04.387 --> 00:12:06.212 without any self-examination. 00:12:06.212 --> 00:12:09.003 Brethren, don't do that. 00:12:09.003 --> 00:12:11.045 Religiously, there can be a lot of movement. 00:12:11.045 --> 00:12:12.162 But you know what? 00:12:12.162 --> 00:12:15.657 It's no more than the twitching of a corpse. 00:12:15.657 --> 00:12:17.313 That's all it is here. 00:12:17.313 --> 00:12:19.810 When Jesus says people like this are many. 00:12:19.810 --> 00:12:21.767 So here's what we have to ask. 00:12:21.767 --> 00:12:24.874 How do I know if my life is the fruit of true, 00:12:24.874 --> 00:12:27.316 real, God-breathed life, or if my life 00:12:27.316 --> 00:12:30.306 is no more than the twitching of a corpse? 00:12:30.306 --> 00:12:31.650 I mean, how can I know that? 00:12:31.650 --> 00:12:34.353 The folks at Sardis believed they were alive. 00:12:34.353 --> 00:12:36.177 I believe I'm alive. 00:12:36.177 --> 00:12:38.496 They were very much mistaken. 00:12:38.496 --> 00:12:40.082 Am I? 00:12:40.082 --> 00:12:41.350 Brethren, let me tell you this, 00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:44.636 if you have sin that you know is against the will of God, 00:12:44.636 --> 00:12:46.740 and you can live in that state, 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:48.081 you're in trouble. 00:12:48.081 --> 00:12:50.898 If you can live in a state where you've got something 00:12:50.898 --> 00:12:54.059 you know you need to repent of, and you're not. 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:55.670 I don't mean you shed a casual tear, 00:12:55.670 --> 00:12:57.730 and you get concerned once in a while, 00:12:57.730 --> 00:13:00.566 but you let it exist and go on. 00:13:00.566 --> 00:13:02.721 If there is not regular repentance, 00:13:02.721 --> 00:13:05.930 where you're actually casting off in your life 00:13:05.930 --> 00:13:07.182 what God hates. 00:13:07.182 --> 00:13:09.676 If you're able to live with what God hates in your life, 00:13:09.676 --> 00:13:14.233 brethren, again, He says you will not enter heaven. 00:13:14.233 --> 00:13:15.835 You won't. 00:13:15.835 --> 00:13:18.914 It doesn't matter what name you've given yourself, 00:13:18.914 --> 00:13:21.449 or what reputation you hide behind. 00:13:21.449 --> 00:13:24.461 If you are not a Christian in private, 00:13:24.461 --> 00:13:28.403 and if you are not sold out to do God's will, 00:13:28.403 --> 00:13:31.473 you are in trouble. 00:13:31.473 --> 00:13:35.148 Don't rest in any name you've given yourself 00:13:35.148 --> 00:13:36.699 or somebody else. 00:13:36.699 --> 00:13:38.746 And I'll tell you this, 00:13:38.746 --> 00:13:41.489 There are very well meaning Christians that will come along 00:13:41.489 --> 00:13:44.056 and will call people "brother." 00:13:44.056 --> 00:13:46.336 And I think rightly so. 00:13:46.336 --> 00:13:49.986 But they'll call you, "brother." 00:13:49.986 --> 00:13:52.310 They'll call you "sister." 00:13:52.310 --> 00:13:53.988 They'll give you a name. 00:13:53.988 --> 00:13:57.507 They'll embolden that reputation. 00:13:57.507 --> 00:14:01.007 But if inside, you know these things aren't true, 00:14:01.007 --> 00:14:06.244 don't let a man's word, a man's name, 00:14:06.244 --> 00:14:08.859 a man's perception of your reputation 00:14:08.859 --> 00:14:13.790 be any comfort to you, if inside you know 00:14:13.790 --> 00:14:17.577 you are wrongly bearing the name. 00:14:17.577 --> 00:14:19.200 Don't rest on that. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.317 Don't rest on somebody else calling you a Christian. 00:14:21.317 --> 00:14:23.744 Or calling you brother or sister, 00:14:23.744 --> 00:14:28.862 if you know that according to Christ, I'm not well. 00:14:28.862 --> 00:14:30.651 Wake up! 00:14:30.651 --> 00:14:33.042 Don't lose your soul. 00:14:33.042 --> 00:14:38.277 You see, brethren, we like to have a good reputation. 00:14:38.277 --> 00:14:39.297 If I come clean, 00:14:39.297 --> 00:14:41.222 I'm going to have a bad reputation. 00:14:41.222 --> 00:14:43.204 Wouldn't it be better to have a bad reputation 00:14:43.204 --> 00:14:44.336 and go to heaven, 00:14:44.336 --> 00:14:48.488 than keep your good reputation and burn? 00:14:48.488 --> 00:14:52.445 Brethren, don't waste your soul on the fact that 00:14:52.445 --> 00:14:56.978 you might somehow now get a bad reputation with somebody. 00:14:56.978 --> 00:15:00.057 They might think less of you. 00:15:00.057 --> 00:15:03.470 Brethren, what really matters is what Christ thinks of you. 00:15:03.470 --> 00:15:06.583 If you take a hyper-Calvinistic road on this, 00:15:06.583 --> 00:15:09.202 and say well, I'm not going to burn bright, 00:15:09.202 --> 00:15:10.403 I'm not going to have life, 00:15:10.403 --> 00:15:12.169 I'm not going to be a raging fire again, 00:15:12.169 --> 00:15:13.870 this thing isn't going to be recovered 00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:14.960 unless God does it. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.636 You will go to hell in your hyper-Calvinism. 00:15:17.636 --> 00:15:20.794 What Christ is telling you to do is act on this. 00:15:20.794 --> 00:15:22.873 Right now. Act on it. 00:15:22.873 --> 00:15:24.762 Think about this: if you're in the wilderness, 00:15:24.762 --> 00:15:26.358 and you had a fire, and you know 00:15:26.358 --> 00:15:28.993 your life depends on that fire being kept lit, 00:15:28.993 --> 00:15:30.808 if not you're going to die, 00:15:30.808 --> 00:15:32.437 then suddenly, you look at the fire 00:15:32.437 --> 00:15:34.777 and you come to realize, the flame is out. 00:15:34.777 --> 00:15:36.951 There's a few glowing embers in there. 00:15:36.951 --> 00:15:38.404 What are you going to do? 00:15:38.404 --> 00:15:41.519 Take a cold cup of the water of television 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:43.241 and throw it on there? 00:15:43.241 --> 00:15:44.878 Brethren, do you see this is real life? 00:15:44.878 --> 00:15:47.070 This fire is you. It's your heart. 00:15:47.070 --> 00:15:48.602 It's us. 00:15:48.602 --> 00:15:49.615 I mean what are you going to do? 00:15:49.615 --> 00:15:51.411 Are you going to throw blankets over the top of it? 00:15:51.411 --> 00:15:55.381 The blankets of just fun and frivolity of this life. 00:15:55.381 --> 00:15:57.898 Brethren, what you're going to do is 00:15:57.898 --> 00:15:59.421 you're going to get down there and you're going 00:15:59.421 --> 00:16:00.575 to blow on those coals. 00:16:00.575 --> 00:16:03.105 You're going to find the driest kindling that you possibly can. 00:16:03.105 --> 00:16:06.129 Brethren, I see this like blowing on it 00:16:06.129 --> 00:16:07.916 with the breath of prayer. 00:16:07.916 --> 00:16:09.029 You're going to blow on it. 00:16:09.029 --> 00:16:10.939 Put the kindling of repentance on it. 00:16:10.939 --> 00:16:11.828 If there's any sin in your life, 00:16:11.828 --> 00:16:13.323 anything between you and Christ. 00:16:13.323 --> 00:16:15.582 If there's bad things you've let into your life. 00:16:15.582 --> 00:16:18.220 I mean, brethren, this is about getting that fire back up 00:16:18.220 --> 00:16:19.898 because it's ready to go out and if it goes out 00:16:19.898 --> 00:16:22.541 you die. 00:16:22.541 --> 00:16:24.207 You say I don't know how this fits in with election. 00:16:24.207 --> 00:16:25.413 I don't know how this fits in... 00:16:25.413 --> 00:16:27.095 Don't concern yourself with that. 00:16:27.095 --> 00:16:29.149 Christ is talking to people. 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:31.540 He's talking to real people just like you and me. 00:16:31.540 --> 00:16:33.781 And He's saying you have a responsbility, 00:16:33.781 --> 00:16:34.902 and if you are dying, 00:16:34.902 --> 00:16:38.022 brethren, ask yourself. 00:16:38.022 --> 00:16:42.537 Are there any signs that you're dying? 00:16:42.537 --> 00:16:44.142 I mean, did you know conviction in the past 00:16:44.142 --> 00:16:46.366 that you don't know today? 00:16:46.366 --> 00:16:49.299 Did you know affection and feelings for Christ 00:16:49.299 --> 00:16:51.900 that you don't feel today? 00:16:51.900 --> 00:16:53.737 When you sang the songs of Zion in the past, 00:16:53.737 --> 00:16:55.150 was there a joy and a delight 00:16:55.150 --> 00:16:56.938 that you don't feel today? 00:16:56.938 --> 00:16:59.017 Were you concerned about your soul in the past 00:16:59.017 --> 00:17:00.191 in a way that you don't feel today? 00:17:00.191 --> 00:17:01.712 Were you concerned about other's souls 00:17:01.712 --> 00:17:03.437 in a way you don't feel today? 00:17:03.437 --> 00:17:05.391 Brethren, that is a picture of spiritual decline, 00:17:05.391 --> 00:17:07.308 and if it's true, brethren, 00:17:07.308 --> 00:17:10.008 draw the line out from where you are. 00:17:10.008 --> 00:17:14.581 That which is dying will die and the end is death. 00:17:14.581 --> 00:17:16.119 You don't want that. 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:17.876 I mean, Christ told another church, 00:17:17.876 --> 00:17:22.349 first love, intensity, increase, 00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:26.014 if not, brethren, He removes candlesticks. 00:17:26.014 --> 00:17:28.166 He responds. 00:17:28.166 --> 00:17:29.528 If there's any kind of decline, 00:17:29.528 --> 00:17:30.690 we need to jump on this fire, 00:17:30.690 --> 00:17:34.448 we need to make sure that it comes back to a blaze. 00:17:34.448 --> 00:17:36.768 And you know the things that put the fire out. 00:17:36.768 --> 00:17:39.353 Worldliness puts the fire out. 00:17:39.353 --> 00:17:43.058 The world comes at us in full force 00:17:43.058 --> 00:17:46.533 on the computer and on the television 00:17:46.533 --> 00:17:49.105 and on movies, on the news, and on radio. 00:17:49.105 --> 00:17:53.639 Full force. 00:17:53.639 --> 00:17:57.251 Having worldly friends and acquaintances, 00:17:57.251 --> 00:17:58.507 they corrupt good morals. 00:17:58.507 --> 00:18:02.635 They're this wet water on the fire. 00:18:02.635 --> 00:18:04.021 Staying away from the Word, 00:18:04.021 --> 00:18:06.908 Oh brethren, if there's anything to kindle the fire, it's the Word. 00:18:06.908 --> 00:18:09.019 Anything to kindle faith. 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:13.562 Brethren, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. 00:18:13.562 --> 00:18:15.309 You look at your life, well, you know, 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.135 I'm kind of cold when I read the Scriptures. 00:18:17.135 --> 00:18:18.702 Brethren, if there's any kind of disobedience, 00:18:18.702 --> 00:18:20.721 disobedience - basically sin, 00:18:20.721 --> 00:18:23.586 it separates between you and God and puts the fire out, 00:18:23.586 --> 00:18:24.636 it quenches the Spirit, 00:18:24.636 --> 00:18:26.102 quench, quench, quench... 00:18:26.102 --> 00:18:31.239 You want to reverse everything in your life that is quenching. 00:18:31.239 --> 00:18:33.826 Because that puts the fire out. 00:18:33.826 --> 00:18:36.092 And brethren, Jesus is serious. 00:18:36.092 --> 00:18:41.474 He's saying no activity, this is about to die. 00:18:41.474 --> 00:18:43.723 And it's amazing - isn't it amazing? 00:18:43.723 --> 00:18:47.371 I find this absolutely merciful 00:18:47.371 --> 00:18:49.369 that Jesus would say, 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:52.536 you have had, you have received, 00:18:52.536 --> 00:18:59.825 you have heard good things. 00:18:59.825 --> 00:19:01.889 And now you're at this place. 00:19:01.889 --> 00:19:03.851 And Jesus just doesn't pull His hand back 00:19:03.851 --> 00:19:05.625 and say I gave them the truth, 00:19:05.625 --> 00:19:06.973 they didn't respond, 00:19:06.973 --> 00:19:08.618 let them be damned. 00:19:08.618 --> 00:19:10.446 Even right at the end, 00:19:10.446 --> 00:19:11.670 even before the flame, 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:14.670 the last vestige of that fire goes out, 00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:18.161 He steps in one more time, 00:19:18.161 --> 00:19:22.899 and He says, pull back. Pull back. 00:19:22.899 --> 00:19:27.247 Stop putting the water on the fire. 00:19:27.247 --> 00:19:29.495 I still bid you come. 00:19:29.495 --> 00:19:32.393 I will still receive you. 00:19:32.393 --> 00:19:33.766 Repent. 00:19:33.766 --> 00:19:36.489 If you don't. It's going out. I'm going to come against you. 00:19:36.489 --> 00:19:38.439 But even here at the end, 00:19:38.439 --> 00:19:40.471 what a mercy! what a mercy! 00:19:40.471 --> 00:19:42.276 Some of you have been drifting. 00:19:42.276 --> 00:19:43.898 Some of you are way out there, 00:19:43.898 --> 00:19:46.894 you're out there, and if you draw that line 00:19:46.894 --> 00:19:49.204 from where you are on the path that you've been on, 00:19:49.204 --> 00:19:50.728 it misses heaven. 00:19:50.728 --> 00:19:51.719 It does. 00:19:51.719 --> 00:19:53.960 You may not think so because you're hiding behind a name. 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.351 And you're hiding behind a past reputation. 00:19:56.351 --> 00:19:57.546 And you're hiding behind these things. 00:19:57.546 --> 00:19:59.973 But I'll guarantee you, based on what we've been seeing 00:19:59.973 --> 00:20:03.238 in these letters, if you draw the line out, you miss it. 00:20:03.238 --> 00:20:08.033 And even now, before you fully reach that place, 00:20:08.033 --> 00:20:09.625 like Hebrews 6 talks about, 00:20:09.625 --> 00:20:10.728 where there's a point of no return, 00:20:10.728 --> 00:20:13.060 even before you get to the place of no return, 00:20:13.060 --> 00:20:16.920 He comes up and He puts His arm around you, 00:20:16.920 --> 00:20:19.906 and He bids you turn back. 00:20:19.906 --> 00:20:22.402 I still bid you. 00:20:22.402 --> 00:20:24.868 I would have you not perish. 00:20:24.868 --> 00:20:27.572 I still would rather see you turn. 00:20:27.572 --> 00:20:29.703 And brethren, the thing about this letter... 00:20:29.703 --> 00:20:34.632 there is no guarantee from it 00:20:34.632 --> 00:20:37.197 that these people turn back. 00:20:37.197 --> 00:20:41.782 Your realize there is great possibility 00:20:41.782 --> 00:20:44.729 that it will not turn out well. 00:20:44.729 --> 00:20:49.615 You do not get an overly encouraging feeling here. 00:20:49.615 --> 00:20:52.483 This is like the last word. 00:20:52.483 --> 00:20:54.617 Turn back. 00:20:54.617 --> 00:20:59.370 You're running suicidally towards a cliff, 00:20:59.370 --> 00:21:04.142 and you're close to it even now. 00:21:04.142 --> 00:21:07.914 Pull back. Repent. Come back.