When He Shall Appear

And how you're living, I suppose, and and and how you

take it. But first, John, chapter three,

I've got some exciting news for you this morning.

Jesus is coming back to get us. That's exciting news.

I don't know what you expected me to say, but that there's no

more exciting news than that he's coming.

And I don't know when it's going to happen.

You don't know what happened, but it's going to happen someday

and probably soon. And that's an exciting, exciting

thought. But that's what this passage

here in First John chapter 3 is speaking about the appearance of

1 John 3 · chapter mention

Jesus Christ in the clouds. He's coming.

He's coming, and it's going to trigger the rapture of the

Saints. And you know, honestly, society

will be just going on as usual. And the Bible says in in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last

trump for the dead. And the trumpet shall sound and

the dead and Christ shall be raised incorruptible, and we

shall be changed. It's going to happen so quickly

that nobody's, you know, nobody's going to be prepared

for it, as far as you know, expecting it to happen when it

does. First Thessalonia chapter 4 and

verse 17 says, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught

up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the

air. And so shall we ever be with the

Lord. And Can you imagine what, what,

what life is going to be like on earth when all of the saved are

gone or just they're they're just they're there one moment

and the next moment they're, they're they're gone, right.

Could you imagine if Jesus Christ came back during the

church service and everybody's gone but you?

You'll know what happened and you're going to say, oh man, I

missed it. And I mean, it's funny, but it's

not going to be funny for the person sitting there.

You better make sure that you know for sure that you're on

your way to heaven. You better make sure that you

know you're going to go up in the Rapture.

But, but could you imagine an airline pilot knows Jesus Christ

is his savior? Gone.

You know, they say that at any given point there are 60,000

people above the United States in the air.

At any given point during a day, 60,000 people.

Could you imagine if five of those airline pilots were saved,

what kind of chaos that's going to cause?

Imagine when I was bad enough, when everybody is in the

driver's seat, let alone imagine what it's like when half the

cars are without a driver and you're going 75 miles an hour

down the road. Could you imagine the

destruction? Right.

But then and they'll find a way to spin it.

They do that with everything when it comes to the news,

right? Oh, it was a zombie apocalypse.

Or, you know, I don't even know what the zombie stuff is.

Maybe that's not anything. But, you know, they'll have a

way to explain it away. They'll have a well, you know,

there's an alien invasion. We've been telling you about

aliens all this time. And now there was an alien

invasion and half the people are gone.

Come up with a way to spin it, but we'll know what happens.

Jesus Christ is going to come back while the world looks for

us. We're going to be with the Lord.

And the Bible says in first John chapter 3 and verse #1.

1 John 3 · chapter mention

Think about these words. Wonderful, wonderful verses.

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us

that we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore the world knows us not because it knew Him not.

Think about that. Behold, what manner of love the

Father hath bestowed upon us that he would call us his Son.

That's an amazing, amazing thing, verse #2.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, And it does not yet appear

what we shall be. But we know that when he shall

appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

And every man that hath this hope in him purifyeth himself

even as he is pure. How you think about that in in

in verse #2. One of these days we're going to

see Jesus face to face, and everything that you've imagined

about Jesus, I can guarantee you it falls far short of exactly

who he is. Now.

Could you imagine? You know I've never wished to be

blind, but could you imagine being blind?

And the first thing you ever see is Jesus?

The first thing you ever get to look at is his face, the one

that died for you. Behold, what manner of love the

Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the

sons of God. But the Bible says there in

verse #3, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth

himself, even as he is pure. We've been talking in the

Institute with the men about studying out different words and

making sure you understand what the passage means.

That word, hope, in that passage is an interesting word.

It doesn't carry the usual meaning that we think of.

When you talk about hope, the feeling of you know that what is

wanted can be had or, you know, the hope that an event is going

to turn out well. It's not like hoping for a new

car for your birthday or hoping that Brother Bill is going to

finally come through and buy me that truck I've been asking him

for. It's not like, you know, hoping

for a raise at work or hope that you know that the mess at the

office will turn out right. That's when we think of the word

hope. That's a lot of what we think

of, you know, often I hope that everything's going to turn out

OK That's not the hope that the Bible was talking about there in

verse #3. That's not what this usage is.

The born again, people are not going around hoping that one day

they're going to be taken to heaven.

We know for a fact that if we've accepted Jesus Christ as our

Savior, then by faith we can trust that he's going to do what

he said he's going to do and we'll be gone.

When the rapture happens, it means to anticipate, usually

with pleasure, expectation or confidence, Faith, Hope.

Every man that hath this hope, every man that hath this

anticipation, every man that has this expectation or that

confidence purifies himself even as he is pure.

The anticipation, the expectation, the confidence, the

faith, that's what that word, hope, is talking about.

He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.

You know why so many Christians are going on in life filled with

things of the world? Because they're not looking for

Jesus to come. If we were really expecting

Jesus Christ to come right now, what would be changed in your

life? What would be different in what

you're doing right now if you knew that Jesus Christ was going

to come back tomorrow? There's no expectation, there's

no anticipation, There's no real confidence in their hope.

I heard about a little girl who was listening to a preacher on

the radio with her mother. And this preacher was talking

about the second coming of Jesus Christ and and Jesus may come up

today, may come today. And so she went upstairs.

It was kind of in the afternoon, Evening she went upstairs.

She took a bath and she put on her her clean white dress.

And then she stood right next to the window.

Her mom hadn't seen her for a few minutes, so she went

upstairs and she saw this little girl standing there looking out

the window and she said, what are you doing?

She said, well, the preacher said Jesus is coming back and

I'm up here looking for him to come.

And boy, if if we just had that same mindset, if we had that

same attitude, Jesus Christ said he's coming back, Are we looking

for his coming? Are we anticipating with

expectation that he could come back today?

When we were growing up, we we heated our house with wood.

And so Brian can tell you we were always out cutting,

splitting, chopping, you know, stacking wood.

I mean that seemed like that's all we did.

The whole summer was cutting split wood.

And then all winter we cut and split wood and carried it in the

house. I mean, it's like we never had

enough wood, but that's how we heated the house.

And so naturally, when you're supposed to be working and

you're a kid, you're going to find ways to try to make it fun.

And once you know that we had four apple trees in our backyard

that were there when we moved in and they would never been pruned

or anything. So the apples didn't.

I mean, you could eat them. They were kind of sour.

They had wormholes in them and we were starving, so we did.

But when you're a teenage kid and you're looking for something

to eat, you don't eat anything if even if it's an apple with a

wormhole, you just eat around the wormhole.

But The thing is, those apples were perfect as weapons, and so

we'd be carrying wood or splitting wood and somebody

would throw an apple. And I don't know, you probably

never got hit in the back with an apple.

But it stings, it stings. And I'm telling you one thing,

when you get hit in the back with an apple, you're not going

to just let it happen, You're going to pick it up and throw it

back, right? And next thing you know, there's

apples flying everywhere. There was ten of us.

There was a lot of apples flying through the air.

We were supposed to be working. And here we are playing and

throwing apples and everything else.

And guess my dad always came around the corner.

Not when we were working, not when we were splitting the wood

and chopping it and stacking it up and everything else.

He always came mid throw, right? It's like where you come eye to

eye and you're like, stink. How do I get out of this back?

My head's itching, right? That's But that's when he came.

That's it's like it never failed, right?

Same thing when your mom told you to clean your room.

And you better have that clean by the time I get back.

And you got plenty of time until she shows up in the driveway and

you guys are in the middle of making a giant mess, right?

And now what? Now we're trying to rush around

and clean it. And the same way as a lot of

Christians treat the coming of Jesus Christ, he's coming back.

And if if we believe that, then we'll be busy working for him,

We'll be busy living for him, We'll be doing what's right when

he comes back. We certainly didn't want to see

our dad then. There was no anticipation.

There was no eagerness. There was no I can't wait to see

my dad now. Right.

And and we do the same thing with Jesus Christ.

But there's only one thing that we need to do in regard to the

expectation of Jesus Christ coming.

And we find that very plainly there in verse #3.

Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.

Or how? How far do you go?

How do you know when you're pure?

How do you know when, when you've gone far enough and

you're you're living though exactly the way you should?

Well, he tells us, even as he is pure.

So I think we got a long way to go.

If we really believe that Jesus Christ is coming back, then we

would purify some things. And this morning I want to

preach to you on this thought, when he shall appear, when he

shall appear. And I want to give you 5 things

that we would purify in our lives if we really lived as if

Jesus Christ could come back today.

Let's pray and then we'll look at those things.

Good morning, Father. We love you.

Give me thank you for your goodness to us and thank you for

an opportunity that we have to be here.

I pray that you'd use this message in our hearts.

I pray that you'd give me the words to say fill me with your

power. I pray in Jesus name.

Amen. First thing that we would purify

is our hearts, and that makes sense.

You think naturally that if we're going to purify anything,

our heart has to be pure. Jeremiah 17 and verse #9 was

exactly the opposite of what a lot of people in the world has

to say today. Follow your heart.

Just just do what your heart tells you is the right thing to

do. That's that's horrible advice.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 17 and verse #9, the heart is

deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? So why would you follow your

heart if it's desperately wicked?

Don't follow your heart. Follow the Lord, that's what.

That's what our job is. And so it takes a lot of time

for us to purify our hearts. It takes a lot of effort for us

to purify our hearts. Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

says keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the

issues of life. Your heart is the speed of your

emotions. That's that's who you are,

right? I mean, I can't.

You're not going to open up your chest and pull your heart out

and clean it off a little bit and stick it back in there.

When he's talking about cleansing your heart, he's

saying get your get your life right with him.

Out of the heart, keep your heart with all diligence for out

of it are the issues of life. So how would we purify our

hearts? Will number one, we should be

cleansed through salvation. Are you ready for him to come?

Have you been saved? Have you accepted Jesus Christ

as your Savior? Are you one of those people that

when you go to sleep at night, there's a lump in your throat

the size of a football because you're hoping you wake up in the

morning because you don't know where you're going to be.

If you don't, there's no way to live.

What the tells us that we can have that hope?

We can have that expectation? When I lay my head down at

night, I don't think about, well, I hope I wake up in the

morning, bring it on. You can't threaten me with

heaven, but what a wonderful thing that's going to be.

Jesus Christ came back in the middle of the night while I was

sleeping to be the greatest thing that ever happened.

Not worried about dying. I'm not worried about, you know,

spending eternity in hell because I know where I'm going

when I die and know who my Savior is, and I know that he'll

do everything that he's promised to do.

But those who don't know Jesus Christ is their savior live with

that uncertainty. And they're certainly not

anticipating Jesus Christ coming back.

They're not looking forward to that coming because they don't

know what's going to happen when he does.

It might be the one person still sitting in the auditorium when

he comes back. I want a feeling, that's what a

feeling that's going to be because most of those people who

are sitting in church that are going to be there, the couple

that are left, they're going to look at each other and they're

going to say the Rapture just happened and we missed it.

And if you miss it, it's too late.

You can't. You can't catch the second bus

in the Rapture. There is no second bus.

You can't. You catch the Rapture on the

first time across, or you don't get in on the Rapture and you

don't spend eternity in heaven. What a horrible, horrible thing

that is. But you don't have to live with

that uncertainty. You can accept Jesus Christ as

your Savior. You can come to him for

salvation today and know for sure that if Jesus Christ came

back this afternoon, you'd be going with us.

And what a wonderful feeling that is.

We don't live by feelings, but it sure feels good.

I can tell you that much. Have you been to Jesus for that

cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of

the land? Are you fully trusting in His

grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of

the Lamb? That's how you get cleansed.

You get washed in the blood of the Lamb.

That cleansing is for salvation, but also we find the cleansing

through sanctification. Sanctification is that growing

process. After you're saved, getting

saved is the first step. That's the foundation.

But if all you have is a foundation, you can't live on a

foundation. You have to have a house.

You have to build on that foundation.

And that's what that sanctification process is.

It's the time of, as the Bible says, going on to perfection

that spoken of in Hebrews, growth in Christ is going to

produce a clean vessel. As you grow in Christ, you're

going to realize these are some things that I'm doing in my life

that I shouldn't be doing. I need to clean those out.

These are some things that I need to have in my life that I

should be doing. I need to put those in, right?

I mean, you think about a house, right?

If you decided, you know what, I need that my house needs to be

cleaned. I'm going to stop dropping

crumbs on the floor. And you can try to stop dropping

crumbs, but you're still going to drop some here and there.

You need to add a vacuum cleaner or or at least a broom so you

can use it to help clean up the mess, right?

So you need to get rid of some things, you need to add some

things in there. And that's what that

sanctification process is all about.

But that sanctification comes through cleansing and I'll and

then turn over to Ephesians chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

If you will keep your finger there in First John or put a

bookmark or something, we're coming back to it.

But if we believed, if we truly believe that Jesus Christ is

coming back today, when He shall appear, we would purify our

through salvation and #3 through the scriptures, we'd be cleansed

through the scriptures. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

#26 says that he might sanctify talking about the church and

cleanse it with the washing of water by the word John chapter

John 15 · chapter mention

15 and verse 13. Now you are clean through the

word which I have spoken unto you.

When you get your heart exposed to the word of God, then there's

going to be a cleansing that takes place.

You can't read the word of God long.

You can't sit in a message and listen to the Word of God being

preached long without it affecting you, without it

changing you. Not that you plan it.

It's not that you have to activate it.

That cleansing comes from reading and hearing the word of

God. If your heart is not clean, then

I would say that you've not been washing it enough.

With the word of God you get in the Bible, you'll have a hard

time finding time. You'll have a hard time finding

place. Sin you know, and sin doesn't

come so easy anymore When you start reading the Word of God

and you start really digging into it and studying it.

Did your mom make you scrub behind your ears when you were

growing up? I tell you that mothers must

think that that's the only place you ever get dirt.

Because my mom would tell me that all the time the back of

your ears are so dear. I would scrub them things so

they were raw. And then she's like your ears

are dirty again. I'm like, I scrubbed it.

I don't know what you want me to do.

There's no ear left. You're probably seeing my brain.

And that's why it looks dirty, right?

But but that's exactly what the Bible does to us.

It scrubs us. It cleans us.

It gets into the places that it needs to get into in order for

us to be clean before God. Turn over to 1st John One

because the word of God will cleanse your heart.

We need that purification if we're going to be pure.

If we're going to purify ourselves as the Bible says,

then that's where we have to start.

We have to purify our hearts first.

John chapter one and verse #7 says but if we walk in the light

as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and

the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.

Verse #9 If we confess our sin, by the way this is written to

Christians, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just.

To forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness, we need that cleansing.

You're walking through a dirty, dirty world.

You're walking through the muck and the mire and the mess and

everything else that's going on around us.

You need that cleansing. You need to have the word of God

that cleanses us. Psalm 51.

David in his in his penitent Psalm, if you will, said in

verse #2. Wash me throughly from my

iniquity, he said, Cleanse me from my sin.

If you are convinced thoroughly that Jesus Christ was going to

come back today, you'd be at this altar this morning,

cleansing your heart. I can promise you that.

We need to be doing that every single day.

We need to be asking him for that cleansing.

We need to be asking him and that and and how do you know

what needs to be cleansed out? How do you know what needs to be

changed? The word of God does that.

If we were really looking for the we would purify our hearts,

but also #2, we would purify our heads.

Turn over to Philippians, Philippians chapter one.

And I'm thinking of the mind at this point.

I use the word head so I could stay with H this morning because

all the rest of the points fit right in with that.

But Philippians, really. Paul deals with this matter of

the head or the mind a lot in the book of Philippians.

And over there in Philippians chapter one, we see first of all

that we have to keep our minds on the gospel, keep our minds in

the gospel. Paul spent so much time talking

about that. In fact, in verse #7 of chapter

one, he says, even as it is made for me to think this of you all,

because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my bonds

and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you

all are protectors of my grace. Verse 12 have fallen out.

These things that have happened and we have fallen out, he says

rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, verse 17.

But that I am set for the defense of the gospel.

Verse 27, he says. Only let your conversation be as

it becometh the gospel of Christ.

I know that if we had made the gospel of Jesus Christ the one

main focal point of our entire thinking and all of our efforts,

it would purify our thinking process.

If everything you did was with the idea of getting the gospel

out, it would change the way that you think.

If everybody that you encountered you thought that

person needs the gospel, it would change the way you think

about other people. If, if, if, if, if, if all you

can think about is getting the message of the gospel out.

It would purify your thinking. But then he goes on in chapter

two. He said we need to keep our

minds on our glory and Savior Jesus Christ, right?

Philippians chapter 2 talks all about that in verse #5.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Really kind of boils it all down there.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Do you have the mind of Christ? If you had the mind of Christ,

your mind would be purified. You would be thinking about the

right things. Have you ever wondered what

Jesus thought about or what he thinks about?

I've thought that so many times. Jesus was God, so he was.

He was sinless, He was perfect. He he could sin because he was

all man, but he couldn't sin because he was all God.

And what did he think about, you know, What would he think about

the way it used to be in heaven? Did he?

Did he what? What did he think about when he

was on this earth? I don't know.

But. But the mind of Christ is the

mind that we're supposed to have, right?

So have you ever considered what really went through his mind as

he was being tried for the crimes that he didn't commit and

he knew he didn't commit those things?

I wonder what he thought about when his when his own people

cried out. Crucify him.

Crucify him. What was going through his mind?

But the mind of Christ is what we're supposed to have if we're

going to. We'll force our minds to dwell

on the Lord Jesus Christ and what He's done through the cross

for us. It'll purify our hearts, our

heads. Collections Chapter 3 and verse

two says set your affection on things above, not on things on

the earth. If our affections are there, we

don't have time for this. Down here.

You can't split your affections. That's what the Bible makes that

very clear in Matthew. You're either going to love the

one and hate the other. You'll despise the one and hold

the other. You cannot serve God and ma'am,

and you can't love both with all your heart the way that he tells

it to. You either love the world with

all your heart or you love God with all of your heart.

There is no middle ground, Roman chapter 13 and verse 14 says,

But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision

for the flesh to fulfill it in the lust thereof.

You get your mind focused on the gospel.

You get your mind focused on Jesus Christ.

You can have a hard time finding other things to focus on that

shouldn't that, that are not right.

And then we go on to Philippians Chapter 3, and he says that we

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

ought to keep our minds on the goal.

What's our goal? Get rich?

No. Is it to to retire at an early

age? Gain popularity?

All of those things are are empty.

They're vain, they're worthless, they're useless.

When it comes to the cause of Jesus Christ, we're talking

about purifying our minds. Our goal should be to to what

Paul spells out and Philippians Chapter 3 and verse #14, I

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God

in Christ Jesus. That's what our minds ought to

be on. Paul says.

Nothing is going to detain me. Nothing's going to hold me back.

Nothing's going to make me turn or alter my course.

I'm pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of

God in Christ Jesus. See all these things, these

these are motivators for us, right?

Why would get Why would Jesus tell us about heaven and how

beautiful it is if he didn't want us to go there?

If he didn't want us to think about going there?

Why would he offer us crowns if he didn't want us to try to earn

those crowns? Right?

They're there as motivators and he's Paul has got his eye on the

prize. I pressed toward the mark for

the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, right?

And then chapter 4. I don't want to belabor the

point, but he says we need to keep our minds guarded.

Philippians chapter 4 and verse #8.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true.

Whatsoever things are honest. Whatsoever things are just.

Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely.

Whatsoever things are of a good report.

If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on

these things, those things which you have both learned and

received, and heard and seen in me do, And the God of peace

shall be with you. But I rejoice in the Lord

greatly, that now at the last your care of me have flourished

again, wherein you're all so careful, but you lack the

opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of

want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with

to be content. How can Paul be so in control of

himself? He has his, he has his thinking,

right? That's why verse 11 was no

problem for him. I'm not speaking in respect of

I've learned whatsoever study him to be with, to be content.

Why? Because he had his thinking

right. He was dwelling on those things

that he tells us we ought to be dwelling on.

Make your mind think on the things inverse Satan.

Before long you're going to have a purified head #3.

If we're really looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ and if

you will turn over to James, Chapter 4, We'd purify our

James 4 · chapter mention

hearts, We'd purify our heads. And #3, if we're really looking

forward to the coming of Jesus Christ, we'd purify our hands.

James Chapter 4 and verse 8 makes that very clear.

James 4 · chapter mention

He says draw night to God and he will draw night to you.

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, Ye

doubleminded. Well, there's purify in both of

those. Purify your hearts.

But he's also saying, purify your hands, clean your hands.

We'd put away the hands that hold the beer cans.

If we had pure hands, we put away the hands that hold the

telephone while we gossip. If we had pure hands, the hands

that participate in evil deeds, we'd put those away.

If our hands were pure, purified hands would pass out tracks.

Purified hands would would take the message of the gospel and

give it to other people. It would knock on doors of

sinners. It would make our hands of

service to God. #4 I want you to see this.

If we were really looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ,

we purify our homes. Don't raise your hands this

morning, but how many of you be thrilled to go home this morning

and find Jesus Christ sitting in your living room looking through

all the things that you have in your house?

How would you feel if he turned on your TV and the last show

that you were watching popped up for him to see it?

How would you like for him to go through your DVD collection or

your Netflix account and see the things that you've been

watching? Would that be something you'd be

fine with or would you have to hang your head and say don't

look at that? Let me clear the history off of

that for just a minute. How about if you sat down at

your computer or picked up your cell phone and started going

through it? Are you okay with that?

Because if we really believe that Jesus Christ was coming

back today, we'd purify our homes.

There wouldn't be things in there that we didn't want him to

see. The magazines or the books or

whatever you're choosing to read and listen to and watch and all

of those other things that you think are hidden.

Hey, brother Josh is a is a computer guy.

He could find stuff in the in the dark corners of your of your

computer. Imagine what Jesus Christ can

do, because he's already seen it.

He already knows it's there. He knows exactly where it's at.

He knows exactly what you're doing.

If you really believe that Jesus Christ was coming back today or

could, your home would be pure, you wouldn't.

You wouldn't allow your kids to be doing those things.

You wouldn't be doing those things that you wouldn't allow

your kids to do. See.

Would you welcome the idea of him turning on a hidden tape

recorder and listening to your conversations the last week?

Listening to the things that you talk about, Listen to the things

that you argue about, But you have to change any of your plans

for entertainment. If you knew that Jesus Christ

was coming to your house. See, the American home is in

shambles. The horrible news broadcast is

just, you know, just a report of the failure in the homes of

America. The reason why this country is

in the condition that it's in is because the homes have fallen

apart. And the reason the churches are

in the conditions they're in is because the the church is not

doing its job to strengthen the home.

Strong homes and strong families make up strong churches, and

strong churches make up the backbone of a nation.

So when the home falls apart, the churches fall apart, and

when the churches fall apart, the backbone of the nation falls

apart. If we would purify our homes,

what a difference it would make in our society.

Purified home but not be a home where child abuse occurred.

Purified home would not be a home where the dad was abusive

to the to the mother. Purified Home would be a home

where Christ is the head, where the Bible is the authority.

Purified home is a home where the Bible is red and the Bible

is memorized. Purified home is a home where

every member of that home has a high regard and a respect for

the other members of that family.

Right. Most most people treat the

neighbor's dog better than they than they treat their their

family, their own family members.

I remember the Larry Brown. Some of you wouldn't would know

who he is. He's been an event.

He was a pastor for a long time. He's evangelist now.

But he preached a message called treat her like a dog.

And you think the title is from a treat.

Treat. He's talking about your wife.

Treat her like a dog. He said most people treat their

dogs better than they treat their wife.

You know how many times you go, oh, you're such a good boy, Come

here. And then you're hollering at

your wife, right? Treat her like a dog.

If you treat your wife the way you treat your dog, your wife

would probably get treated a whole lot better than most wives

are treated. But how does that happen?

That happens when we purify our homes, when we let Jesus Christ

be the center of our home. And here's the last one.

Turn over to Romans, chapter 12. I put this point last on purpose

Romans 12 · chapter mention

because I don't think it's anywhere as close to as

important as the first four points, but it's certainly worth

mentioning nonetheless, because we find it in the Bible.

If we're really looking for the appearing of Jesus Christ, we

purify our hearts. We purify our heads, we purify

our hands, we purify our homes, and lastly we'd purify our

health. Roman chapter 12 and verse #1

says this. I beseech you therefore,

brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a

living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is

your reasonable service, and be not conform to this world to be

transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove

what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

To purify our health means we ought to be eating right, taking

care of our bodies. I'm not a health nut by any

stretch, and I would never say that you need to cut out all the

sugars or all carbs or whatever they say that you need to do to

to be the healthiest you can possibly be.

I like food as much as the next person, and I can put away of my

shared desserts and all that stuff, but I do believe that we

should take care of the body that God's given us.

Somebody said this. If I had known I would live this

long, I would have taken better care of myself.

I'll be honest with you, I think it's less of a health nut issue

and more of a Bible issue when we don't take care of our

bodies. Turn over to Philippians chapter

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

3. I'm not going to belabor this

point, but I think it's worth mentioning because in

Philippians chapter 3 and verse #17, the Bible says this

Philippians 3 · chapter mention

brethren be followers together with me and mark them which

walk. So as ye have us for an example

for many walk, of whom I've told you often, and now tell you even

weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ,

whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose

glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

For our conversation is in heaven.

From once we also look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashion like unto

his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able

even to subdue all things unto himself.

There is no good in this body of flesh and the and the Bible

makes it very clear it's wicked, it's evil.

But I would like for the Lord to know that I have control over it

and that I'm able to purify my health.

Right? The better your health, the

longer you live, the more time you have, and the more you're

able to accomplish for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I've seen a lot of pastors who are so unhealthy that they died

at a young age and and and and were in the last few years of

their life, not even effective at all for the cause of Jesus

Christ because they didn't take care of their health.

And a lot of church members fit into that same category.

You need to take care of these bodies.

You only get one you only you only get to live once.

Only one life to a soon be passed.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

So if you don't take care of this body that God gave you, the

things that you're able to accomplish for Jesus Christ are

going to be far less than what you could accomplish if you had

taken care of the body that he gave you.

Listen, I just turned 40 and it's like a switch went boot and

now I can't just eat anything I want.

I used to be able to actually started well before 40, but hey,

I'm on a diet right now. I'm trying to lose a little bit

of weight because I realized that if I let it go, I'm going

to, I'm going to end up dealing with health problems later on.

I'm going to end up not being as effective for the cause of Jesus

Christ as I could be. I want to present my body a

living sacrifice. It's not a sacrifice to let my

body run out of control, not a sacrifice to allow this body to

do what it wants to do. My body doesn't like to

exercise, but it's important for that to happen right now.

What is Paul saying First Timothy chapter 4 and verse 8

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

for bodily exercise. Profit is little.

There you go, I don't need to exercise doesn't do any good

anyway. He doesn't say don't exercise.

If you read the context of the passage, what he's talking about

is he's saying but godliness, Profit is profitable into all

things, so he's saying bother the exercise compared to

spiritual exercise is nothing. But he didn't say don't do it

right, and he just says that when it's compared to godliness,

it isn't worth much, but it is worth something.

It's going to allow me to serve God longer.

There are a lot of people who say they could quit this or quit

that at any time. I I drink Mountain Dew.

Yeah, I have a six pack of Mountain Dew a day.

But I can quit anytime I want. Then do it right.

Well, I smoke, but I can quit anytime I want.

Then do it. Yeah.

Okay. That changes things a little

bit, huh? Well, I just don't want to.

I don't want to quit. Right.

Hey, you know what a good exercise is?

Tell yourself no To something that is not bad for you.

Even just just to tell yourself no, right?

You want that fourth piece of cake.

Tell yourself no. I don't need to have it right.

Look at it and say no. I don't need you.

My dad used to tell. My dad used to do that.

Sometimes, you know, mosquito would be on his arm.

And I'm like, dad, you got a mosquito on your arm.

He's like, yeah, I know. It's fine.

He can bite me if he wants to. He's like, I got enough

selfcontrol not to scratch it after he bites me.

And I'm like, we'll kill it. At least, you know.

So I would do the same thing, right?

Let the mosquito bite you. And smack them when you're ready

to smack them. And then just look at the

mosquito bite. I mean, that's a silly thing,

but it's teaching you to say no to yourself.

It's a simple, simple thing. But but here's the here's,

here's where this comes into a spiritual aspect of that.

If you can't say no to your flesh when it comes to food or

junk or whatever else it is that you're putting into it, then

you're a whole lot less likely to say no to a temptation when

the devil throws it in front of your path, right.

If you can say no, I'm not going to eat that because I'm on a

diet and it's not good for me, then when the devil comes along

and says, hey, this is this is your thing, do this and it's a

whole lot easier to say no, I've got control over my body, I've

got control over myself. I don't have to do that.

And it's, I mean it is a small thing and that's why I say this

is the is the put this point last on purpose.

But when you tell yourself no to that extra piece of cake or to

that, you know, second helping of food or or whatever it is

you're teaching yourself selfcontrol, You don't have to

get crazy about it, but you ought to purify your health.

I think you go overboard too. You know, I'm not saying Lester

Roll Off went overboard, but Lester roll off was a was a was

a one of the most wellknown preachers in America in the 60s,

seventies, 80s got the guy ate onions like apples and then he

died in a plane crash when he was 60, you know what I mean?

So you just never know, right? But you can.

You can go overboard and and make a big deal about it and and

spend waste a lot of money that you don't need to be wasting on

that kind of stuff that you could be using for everything

else above. I understand all of that stuff,

but what I'm saying is you ought to think about it.

You ought to purify your health. The longer the the healthier you

are and the longer you live, and the longer you live healthy, the

more you're able to accomplish for Jesus Christ, what is our

text verse, say back in first John, chapter three, First John

1 John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, and verse #3. I want you to see it one more

time as we close this morning. He says this and every man that

hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.

Are you as pure as God is in your life right now?

I don't think anybody can say that.

In fact, if you do, I'm moving away because I don't want you

to. I don't.

I don't want to be part of the lightning bolt that you get hit

with. Not purify later.

Not should Purify, right? That means right now he is

purifying himself. Purifieth.

OK, man, we talked about this. Purifieth is in the present

tense. That means it's active.

It's it's happening right now and it's continuing to happen.

It's being done presently. Do you have that hope in Jesus

Christ? Are you?

Are you have that expectation? Are you looking forward to His

coming? Are you anticipating His coming?

You can't say that you are if you have not purified yourself.

Have you purified your heart? Are you purifying your heart?

Are you purifying your head? Are you purifying your hands?

Are you purifying your home or purifying your health?

See, everyone that has this hope, this anticipation, this

expectation that Jesus Christ is coming back is purifying

himself. Is that you this morning?

Are there things that you need to purify in your life?

If there are, then get them purified.

Because guess what? Jesus Christ could come back

today. I hope He does.

I hope he does. But if not, what have you lost

by being pure? Nothing.

He's coming back. It could be today, it could be

tomorrow. It could be 10 years from now.

But I want to be ready. If he does come back today, I

don't want to be found with my hand in the air.

Guilty. I want to be found busy only

been found working for him. I want to be found with a pure

heart. I want to be found with a pure

life. I want to be found doing

everything that he wants me to do.

Everyone that had this hope in him purifies himself even as he

is pure. When he shall appear.

Will you be pure? Will you be ready?

That's the question for you this morning.

Let's pray, Father. We love you.

You're gonna be. Thank you so much for your

goodness to us. I pray that this message was

encouraging but also convicting. God, it's convicting to me.

I, I I want to be pure. I want to be right.

I want to be holy before you and I pray the same for every single

person in here in God. If we need to make a decision

this morning, that here's an area that I need to work on,

here's an area that I need to work on purifying God.

I pray that you help us to make that decision this morning so

that we can be what you need us to be and what you want us to be

when you're coming back. And so that we can anticipate

and look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ with everything

we have in us because we're ready for you to come.

Pray that you use the message in our hearts this morning.

Convict us. Please, God, I pray in Jesus

name. Amen.

If you would please stand at your seats with heads about and

your eyes closed as the piano plays this morning, The

invitation is open. You can come.