Sermon Summary:
Wake up is what the word is saying. Wake up, your time is slipping away. Are you ready to face the King, or have you grown distracted and blind? Are you building stuff here on Earth that will all wash away on that day that the Lord knocks on your door, or that death knocks on your door? Is it not built on the foundation? Are you ready?
All throughout this word, in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, you see a principle that comes back everywhere. They were never living on Earth for their today. That people became the people of God; they now belonged to him. And today, in the Church of Jesus Christ, so often I wonder how many people can still see the end of their stay. How many people see that they are alive for eternity, that they will stand before God very, very soon? I can tell they are seeing because of the way they live. Paul said, "For me to go and be with the Lord is far better, but for you, it's better if I stay a little longer on this Earth." He could see the end of his stay, and he longed for it. But because he knew that God placed the Holy Spirit inside of him, he said, "It's better for me to just wait a little longer because that is going to be good for you, for the kingdom of God, for the people of God. But for me, it would be far better to go home to where I belong and be with my Lord."
Hebrews 11 tells us of sojourners. It calls the people of God, even far before the New Testament time when Jesus had actually appeared, sojourners—people that are on a journey. No matter where they went on this Earth, they never claimed to find their place. Those who had believed in God and became strangers on this Earth did not belong there anymore. The word tells us they were longing for a Heavenly Homeland. They could see the end of their stay here on Earth. Their entire life was based on the fact that, "I'm leaving soon, and I'm going to stand before God." That's how they lived.
And so the question today is: Are you ready? Are you able to see? Are your eyes closed to seeing every day the end of your stay, understanding that you're here for such a short time and you're living for eternity? The way you spend your resources has today with eternity because you can see the Heavenly Homeland that is waiting for you, and you no longer feel at home in this world. To be born again, having been born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible—to be born again. Corruptible means it dies, it is in decay. Incorruptible literally means imperishable; it cannot perish. And the Everlasting Word caused that person to become imperishable through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Who is formed by the word of God? Who is shaped by the word of God? The word of God has entered into their heart, into their life, and now it is the foundation of their heart. It has filled their heart; it is changing them.
What does that man or that woman look like? A doer of the word, the person that trusts the word—that person will be unshakable. That's what Jesus is saying. That person cannot be shaken, no matter the storm that hits their life. It won't cause a lack of peace; it won't cause anxiety; it won't cause fear, no matter the calamity. No matter if death comes when we hear the word but we do not let the word take the throne of our heart about following him, about surrendering to him, about trusting him, about how to spend my life. When the word of God does not become the building block that I build my life on, this is what begins to happen, Church: the enemy will be able to come after your peace. The enemy is allowed to come.
You're shaken; the peace is robbed. The peace in your marriage is under attack; the peace at work is under attack; the peace with your identity is under attack. The peace to raise kids in a generation like this, in a time like this, is robbed. The enemy is allowed to take it, and all of a sudden now you're thinking about death. Now you're realizing what's going to happen when I breathe my last. What is going to happen when I stand before the King of Kings? And peace is all of a sudden not there. Fear begins to creep in; wandering begins to creep in; uncertainty begins to make its way into your heart. Church, are you ready to be judged by the word of God according to what he has taught you, what he made available to you? Every promise that you ever heard about was for you, and he's going to judge you according to whether or not you built your life on that promise and the call to lay down your life for the salvation of many, to seek and save the lost. He's going to judge you by nothing else but his word.
Take a good look again. Begin to live seeing that your stay is ending. Wake up is what the word is saying. Wake up, your time is slipping away. Are you ready to face the King, or have you grown distracted and blind? Are you building stuff here on Earth that will all wash away on that day that the Lord knocks on your door, or that death knocks on your door? Here's another thing that the word has spoken: God desires for you to have an unshakable life, for you to not be shaken by death, for you not to be shaken by any storm in life. That is his desire. In other words, wake up. Behold, I'm coming quickly. The word tells us that the servants of the Lord will receive this word, that God will send his angel, that God will make known that Jesus is coming, that he himself says, "Behold," in other words, "Look up, behold, I'm coming quickly." He's coming soon. He gave you his word that he's coming soon. Are you building your life on those words? Are you living by those words? Because you're going to be judged by these words.
What do you imagine it will be like for you and I when we first see God in his glory, when we first see Christ in all of his majesty, glorified by the Father, the King of Kings, the highest name given under Heaven by whom all men must be saved? Are you ready for this? You will give an account as if the Lord says to you, "Explain yourself. I've given you all of this. I've met you time and time again. I drew at your heart so many times. I'm trying to prepare you. I'm trying to get you ready. I'm trying to make sure that my children have crowns for eternity. I don't care if you have that much on Earth. The Lord doesn't care if you have that much on Earth. He's seeking to make sure that you have an eternity that is glorifying the Christ. You can't tell the Lord, 'But I had membership. I even got baptized. How many times, Lord, how many times did I take communion?' It matters nothing because you'll be judged by the word, not by what you did. Did you enter into the word? Did you allow the word to enter into your heart and make every change that the word desires to make? Did you let the word make you imperishable? And did you become a doer of the word, or was it just knowledge? You know a lot of things about God. You know a lot of things about his word, and you respect it, but you're not doing it. The only thing that matters is have you given him all of your life because he taught you. He gave you his word unless you lay down your life.
But he who heard "pray without ceasing, whatever you ask of me, this I will do for you," yet he did nothing. But he who heard "cast your anxieties on me because I care for you," yet he did nothing. When unexpectedly death comes to knock on your door, when unexpectedly for you the heavens open and Christ comes to bring home his bride and says, "Explain yourself," those that let the word get into the heart and remove those things that so hurt, but it's seeking to save you and prepare you and get you ready, those that say, "I'm going to let the word do what it was sent for," they will be ready when the last trumpet sounds. They will be ready. The Father's command is everlasting life. The Father commands everlasting life through Christ. The word upon every life that is willing to be conquered by him, to let every wall down, no more in control of my own life, no more in authority of my future decisions, no more my will. Your will be done. Death will not be able to take hold. Nothing will be able to shake you. No storm will throw you off. You will be imperishable because of the blood of the Lamb.
-Pastor Stan Mons
Comentarios