Don’t be Caught Sleeping

Welcome to the cross Power Church podcast.

You're listening to a service from our church in Campbell, TX.

We pray this message strengthens your faith and points you to the

cross. Now let's join the service.

God is good. I miss that see all the time God

is good need to keep that in mind.

I find that the, the, the more you, you stay focused, the

easier it is to stay focused. I don't know how how to explain

that, but it the more you are active about serving the Lord,

the more likely you're going to stay serving the Lord.

OK, So you need to keep that in your head and in your heart.

We've got way too much that we can be thankful for and we got

greater things ahead than behind.

So I want to mention something because if you go over in Second

2 Timothy 3:16

Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 and 17, it talks about or the Holy

Spirit speaking because he's really the one that that spoke

the word into existence. And, and he says that the word

of God is good for a multitude of things.

It's good for correction, it's good for rebuke.

It's so and so forth. And sometimes it's like the Lord

give me give me some word that is really exciting to share, you

know, and, and encouraging for somebody.

And then other times it's like God, are you for sure?

Are you, Are you sure on that? And how stupid is that?

You know, and, but then he knows our weaknesses and I sitting

here during this worship service and, and got one confirmation,

another confirmation and a third confirmation, you know, and so

he encourages us along. But I want to remind you that as

I just mentioned over there in that passage, it may be that one

person's getting encouraged somehow and the other one is

getting rebuked at the same time.

OK, so just keep that in mind before you throw stone.

I'm just fine. I heard it said actually here

one time, maybe twice that somebody mentioned preaching to

the choir and sometimes that's how I feel.

But somebody said even the choir can forget the words or

something along that line and so.

There's a lot of truth. To that, I don't know if that

came from, you might have, but it was.

It's a good word. And so I want to remind you of

that and say wake up. Oh, Sleeper.

OK. And by the time that I was nine

years old, I want to give you just a little bit of it'll tie

in. So just just bear with me.

But by the time I was nine years old, I've been going to church

all my life, which wasn't long, but it seemed long to me, OK.

And and while I was going to church, I accepted Jesus Christ

as my Savior and I struggled with him being the Lord.

But I find that that's not something that's uncommon

because most people have that problem.

But I also received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

By the time I was nine years old, I remember praying in

tongues for hours at the altar. And I mean, I was nine years old

and I'm praying lost in my prayers at the altar, crying my

heart out and praying in tongues.

And by the time it got a midnight or something, it was

way late. And everybody else is gone,

except for a few people there that stayed, the pastor and his

wife or whatever. And my parents and somebody had

to get on one side of me and somebody had to get on the other

side of me. And they had to carry me along

because I couldn't even walk. I didn't even have my legs yet.

You know, I mean, I was just that if you hear the expression,

sometimes drunk in the spirit. And again, I've been drunk

before, but that was in the spirit, not in the world.

And when I was young, I repeatedly was told that Jesus

could return at any time. We were just talking about it,

right? OK, we're singing about it, but

he could come at any time. Whenever I was a teenager I got

caught up in my sinful ways and I would come in at night and

though I believed my parents were fast asleep.

I. I'd be sure to tell them good

night, not because I was such a great kid, but because I wanted

to make sure they were still there.

And so if I didn't get an answer whenever I say goodnight, Mom,

you know. I'd say it a little bit louder

and I mom, because I knew if if the rapture came, my parents

were godly. I know they weren't doing what I

was doing. They were giving me the model

for what I should have been doing.

But. I knew that they would go.

I didn't know for sure I'd go because I knew I wasn't doing

what I was supposed to. And if they didn't answer, I'd

speak louder. Then I'd open the door and then

I would ultimately turn on the light.

And then once I saw that they weren't on the.

Bed. I would walk around to the far

side of the bed, look on the floor for a couple piles of

clothes that might have been left behind, just like I might

have been left behind. All right.

And and it was that kind of conviction that I started with

whenever I started going down the wrong way and trying to do

my thing. But after a while that fades

off. After a while, your hardened

heart because of the sin that you commit.

And your desires overriding the the the the leadership of the

Holy Spirit or conviction of the Holy Spirit, you have a tendency

to get dull in your senses spiritually.

You have a tendency to not not even feel Him whenever he stirs

your heart or tries to, or not to hear His voice when he talks

to you, because you've cluttered your ears and your heart with so

much other stuff that it's hard to hear.

And over a number of years, I became hardened in my sin, and

the return of Christ never seemed to take place.

So I began to tell myself that the imminent return of Christ.

It was a mistaken concept. I allowed myself to believe that

Christ's return might happen someday, but a long time from

now. And I had all the time in the

world to be the Lord of my own life rather than the servant of

some faraway God. And as it is with sin, such

thoughts led to greater sin and even greater hardening of my

heart. And I began to deny that there

even was a God. And I found myself surrounded by

those who called themselves atheist and agnostic.

And I declared that Christianity, as with other

religions, was simply a crutch for those who are perishing to

help folks cope with the reality that whenever they die, that's

it. And I've noticed that if you're

willing to embrace a lie, the enemy is really ready to give

you the lie. So I was going through the

University of of Houston, University of Houston down at

Clear Lake and then University Park and I was going through the

school and I was studying psychology, which turns out to

be one of the most useless things I've probably done.

OK, we're my wife and I are talking about all these

snowflake degrees that are out there these days.

Now psychology is not so bad, but you can't get anywhere with

it with a four year degree. And so I was kind of wasting my

time, but I was studying psychology and psychology in the

school of psychology. They have really a strong

conviction. A lot of a lot of teachers, you

know, legends in that discipline will tell you exactly what I

just said, that it's just a crutch.

It's there's really no God. And I'm able to be able to deal

with that. You have to have some way to

deal with it. So you create a God instead of

him creating you, he just created him.

So you're God now. Really.

OK. And and that's exactly where I

wanted to be. I wanted to be God because I

wanted to be able to do whatever I wanted to do without any

problem with that. And I don't think that I'm the

only one. And as I look back now, I can

see that my life had taken the course that was precisely

opposite of the one that was described in Psalm chapter 1 as

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

being blessed. If you read there in Psalm

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 verses one through 3, let's do that right now, it

says. How blessed is the man who does

not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of

the sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scoffers, but his delight

is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day.

And night now a lot of us would say, well, yeah, that that's

more appropriate for me. I I, I love the word of God and

I love the Lord. But do you meditate on it day

and night? Maybe you do.

I hope you do. Just just pointing that out,

says. He will be.

Like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields

its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Now let's just take a second and go back to that first verse.

Consider it again, because a lot of times we have a tendency just

read through something. We didn't catch most of it, but

we read it. So we're going to go back and

we're going to read it again. The.

Blessed man does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.

Nor stand in the path of the sinners, nor sit in the seat of

the scoffers. On the other hand, the one for

whom Doom lingers hangs out with.

Those who do not fear the Lord. It's the opposite is just as

true as what I'm getting at, OK? He listens to the voice of the

world and gradually accepts it to replace the truth.

It's just very similar to what you'll find in Romans chapter 1

Romans 1 · chapter mention

when they embraced a lie instead of the truth.

OK. And it goes on.

And if you keep dwelling on that for a minute, he's replacing the

truth with a lie. And he stops walking and he

takes his stand with sinners who rejected the biblical notion of

God. And then he moves from standing

to sitting. Now I'm going to tell you,

people say, well, I want the Lord to lead me, but he's not

going to force you. Therefore, if you find yourself

sitting, he's not going to drag you, OK?

It's much easier for him to get you back on the right path if

you're at least moving. But there's a natural course

that takes place. And at first you're walking,

you're hanging out with certain people who you don't need to be

hanging out with. And you start listening to the

voice of the world and you start accepting a lie instead of the

truth. And then you find that you

you're no longer walking. And then you find that you're

sitting seated with the scoffers who ridicule and mock the name

of Jesus and the church, his bride and the word of God.

And it's. Much more difficult the further

you go. That's why there are a lot of

people who started out in church and now they're 75 years old and

they never darken a doorstep of a church having in years and

they are so far from Christ it's unbelievable.

I mean, it's like they never even started out on the right

path. Proverbs chapter 16 verse 18

Proverbs 16:18

says pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit

before a halt. The fall, that's where I was,

that's where I ended up. I fell.

The world had created some. Lure that I embraced and now I

found myself having fallen from the point of thinking I'm God

and I can do it however I want to the point of I'm flat on my

back and I got nowhere to look but up.

And how many of you realize that God loves you despite the sins

that you've committed? However.

There's always that however, however.

You must also know that as much as God is a loving God, He is a

holy and a just God and He will not let those who practice who

make a lifestyle of sinfulness to enter into His presence

except for condemnation. Now Hebrews Chapter 9 verse 27

Hebrews 9:27

says that it's appointed unto men wants to die and then the

judgment every single man, woman and child.

Anybody who's drawn a breath is going to stand before the Lord

at some point, and God will not allow you to fall if you're

walking with him. You stumble and you it's.

It's almost like, for example, when I started learning the

voice of the. Lord.

And I wasn't 100% sure. Is that God or is that just me?

Anybody else had that problem before?

OK. And, and you think, well, it

might be got, hey, it's better to err on the side of caution,

which doesn't mean think it's you.

It means think it's him. OK.

And and if it lines up with Scripture, you step out and you

do what he's you think he's telling you to do.

And as you do that, if you make a few mistakes, it's kind of

like the guy on the trapeze. You know, or whatever the.

The, the tightrope Walker or whatever, and they have Nets

down below, unless, I mean, I guess some don't, but most of

them I wouldn't do it. They wouldn't even try it in the

first place, but especially if there wasn't a net.

But anyway, God's got a net. He is your net, OK?

And he's wanting you to step out and follow the, the, the word

that he's putting into your heart.

You know, when he tells you to do something or is putting

impressing you somehow to step out and basically put him to the

test, prove him that that that. And she also proves that you're

willing to try. But if you sit back and you do

like, you know, well, I don't know.

And and it might just be me. I better do nothing.

You it might be that you're just missing out on something and

somebody else might be missing out on something that the Lord

had intended all along. It's better to err on the side

of caution now. God will allow you to fall.

He allowed me to fall, but he allowed me to fall because I was

in rebellion to him. OK, so if you're walking in a

way that you're not supposed to be walking, if you're

associating and, and, and living in a place, a lifestyle, making

it a practice to do things you know he doesn't want you doing,

then guess what? After a while, you're going to,

he's going to let you fall. You know, at first he's holding

on to your hand, and after a while, if you're saying, no, I

don't want you to hold my hand, I want to do my way, I'm going

to do my thing. Guess what?

OK, just fall then. Yeah, he still cares about you.

But sometimes when you fall, then you're a whole lot more at

to look up because that's whenever you realize, oh, I got

a problem, right? OK, so God will allow you to

fall to the bottom of the bottle.

God will allow you to fall to the bottom of your hierarchy of

importance and and He'll allow you to fall to the bottom of

your life, which is no life at all.

Or at least it feels that way. For you'll be like the prodigal

son who thought that he didn't need his father, who thought

that he didn't need his father's house.

He set a course for himself, kind of like Frank Sinatra.

He said, I'll do it my way, right?

That's what he did. But Scripture declares in

Proverbs 1412 and also in Proverbs 1625, maybe in another

place too, I don't know, but it's at least twice.

It says there's a way that seems right unto men, but the end

there of his death so. There is a way that seems at the

time that it's got to be the right thing.

If it doesn't match up with what the Lords telling you, it's the

wrong thing. And I've learned from experience

that one. You've got to be in the word in

Matthew. I'm not Matthew, but John

John 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. I'm sorry, 15 verses 4 and 5,

John chapter 15. You know, that's the one that

John 15 · chapter mention

says I am the true vine. You are the branches, right?

OK. And it says that you have to

abide in him. He says abide in me.

That means you dwell there, you stay there.

That's where you're hanging out all the time.

But a problem is that there's a lot of people in the world today

that they say they're Christian, and they probably are, but

they're abiding way too much in the world than they are than in

the Word. They're not abiding in Christ.

And the more you abide in the world instead of in Christ, the

more likely you are to end up stopping your walk.

And then you're standing. Next thing you know, you're

sitting and you're scoffing and you're ridiculing.

You're doing things you never dreamed you would have done.

And you're not the same person you used to be.

And God is a long ways away from you.

Now, if you will turn to him, he hears the cry of those who are

repentant in their spirit. OK, he does.

But Scripture says more than one spot that if you are a wicked

person, because that's what you are at this point, you've

you've. Turned from the Lord, you've

embraced the world. Guess what?

He doesn't hear the cries of the wicked.

Now he hears everything, but he when it says that he doesn't

hear the cry. What it means is that he's not

moved to action on their behalf. They're not his kids.

Now, the reason why I started out talking about myself was

because I started out in a good spot.

Though the prodigal child found those he thought were his

friends. Though the prodigal child found

his millions, his wealth and his fame, he ended up with nothing.

No friends, no money, no position, No title, no pride.

All that he'd longed for had crumbled and vanished.

He was left. With one thing.

The desire to be fed by the same stuff he's feeding the pigs

with. Now it's in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

You're not familiar with the story, but it's it's an example

of how the Lord will let you just go ahead.

And if you're going to be hard headed and you're going to do

your thing, he will let you hit rock bottom.

Now let me tell you, in case you missed it, the prodigal child,

the Sinner, that stinking, miserable Wretch started out in

his in the House of his father, in his father's house.

Think about that. I mean, because this isn't just

about some wayward Sinner. OK?

It is, But he started out in his father's house.

So you can be in the Father's house, you can be here in the

church, and you can be saying, Oh yes, praise God, Hallelujah.

And if you're not careful and you'll allow little things to

come in, after a while, you're not going to be in the same spot

that you used to be. You won't be in the House of

God. You won't even have a desire to

please him. You may even do what I did and

deny him and say there is no God and you'll know.

Down deep, there is a God. But you'll say it with your

lips. There is no God because you're

too busy trying to do your thing.

Don't think for a second that He went from having a wonderful

evening meal and actively fellowshipping and loving His

Father to suddenly demanding of his father that he be allowed to

leave the church, I mean his father's house, and to

disassociate himself from his father's family.

It didn't happen overnight with him, nor does it happen

overnight today with any of us. In Luke chapter 15 where that

Luke 15 · chapter mention

story takes place in the 17th verse, it says.

There came a day when he. Came to his senses.

He woke up. He realized that it had been a

lie. It was kind of too late in one

sense, because now he's hit rock bottom, he's in the pigpen and

everything hadn't gone right and it's a mess.

But he realized it was a lie. The fact that he realized it is

actually a blessing of God because in Second Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:4

chapter 4, verse 4, it talks about how the God of this world

blind has blinded the minds of those who are in it.

OK, now if our citizenship is in heaven and we're walking abiding

in Him, guess what? We may be in this world.

We're not of this world and the blinds aren't on us.

If we walk away from him, who is the light, who is the truth, and

allow the enemy in the world to put a blind on our eyes because

we didn't want to see the. Truth.

Then it takes the grace of God basically to take that blind

back off of us so that we can see the truth again.

And while he's sitting in that pigpen and he.

Realizes that it's. A mess and his life's a wreck,

and it's to no good end. The Lord takes the blinds away a

little bit and allows him to see that.

And that's grace. Because if we didn't see where

we were, how would we ever have a need of anything, right?

But when we see that we're a Sinner, well then we have we

know we have a need. So he got up.

So he got up. Say it.

He got up. OK.

He got up from his calamity and made his way back home.

Now realize those around his father's house didn't know that

he was living in a pig pen. There's nothing in there that

indicates that anybody around his father's house saw him in

the pig pen or that they knew he was in the pig pen.

OK. And I say that because sometimes

you may find yourself, if you're hard headed like I was, you

might end up in the pig pen. And when you find yourself there

and everything's a mess and you're just wishing you were

back in your father's house, don't let the enemy deceive you

and say and lie to you and buy his lie one more time, because

he will. He'll tell you.

Oh, but those people over at your father's house, they know

where you've been and they know what kind of miserable rat you

are. And, and you'll be like, oh, I

don't know if I don't want to go or not.

You know, I kind of want to be over there, bro.

I can't really go. I can't show my face around

them. They would, what might they say?

It shouldn't matter so much what they might say.

It matters what he has to say about it, Right.

But we'll have a tendency to stay away from the church when

we realize that we've messed up and the place we need to be is

back in the Father's house. So just go anyway, OK?

And you might be amazed at how many people would lovingly

embrace you and welcome you back, just like the Father did,

because they have the Spirit of God living within them.

And if he is love, the love is existing there too, right?

So the prodigal didn't care who might see him along the way.

He didn't care what the neighbors might say.

He cared about one thing, and that was getting home, returning

to the presence of his father. And while he was yet afar off,

the father saw him right, You know that story.

And he saw him that he was making his way back to the

house. His father wasn't ashamed.

His father wasn't embarrassed. His father didn't say, boy, who

do you you think you are anyway? Some nerve you've got.

His father didn't say that, but he came running.

But he didn't come running Before the guy got up and

started walking back, some of us said, well, God knows where I'm

at. If he wants to do something

healing, he can do it. We got to get off up off our.

Butt and we got to be moving for him to be able to use this

better for him to be able to do anything with us.

It's like I just said that a while ago, did I not?

And some here might say to yourself, I don't have to get

up. I don't have to go down front.

I can return to the Father right where I am.

But I'm going to tell you, according to Second Chronicles

2 Chronicles 16:9

16, verse 9, which says the eye of the Lord is going to and fro

across the globe, OK, around the world, to see whose heart is

wholly His, that He might strongly support them.

OK. He's looking for somebody that's

not just going to lay down, sit down and refuse to get up unless

he was to drag you off, OK. And if you remember right, in

First Samuel chapter 16, whenever David was about to be

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

anointed the king to replace Saul.

The prophet was looking at the brothers and going, oh, that

must be him. What did God say about it?

Said no, it's not him. You're looking on the outside,

I'm looking on the inside. God looks on the inside.

OK, so get up from that position of the muck and mire of your

sin, just like he did, and head his way in Ephesians chapter 5,

Ephesians 5:14

verse 14. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse 14,

Ephesians 5:14

there's a really interesting verse there.

The Holy Spirit through the pen of the apostle Paul provides us

with a warning. He says, awake, O sleeper, arise

from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

OK, well, what's that mean? I mean.

Is he dead? Says Rise from the dead.

Now it's talking about a believer or somebody who has

named the name of Christ. In our situation here, you could

say that they they know who God is, but they've allowed

themselves to stop. Walking.

Start laying down in the pigpen with the enemy, OK?

They've allowed themselves to embrace the lies of the world

instead of the truth of Christ and, and the word to that

believer who's not acting like a believer because he's reaching

out for what the world's got to offer.

And therefore he's lying among the dead who are spiritually

dead, right? Because he's doing what they're

doing. And the word of the Lord to that

person is rise up out of that mess.

Stop acting like you're a Sinner when you're supposed to be a

Christian right now. I'm, I'm just not going to get

into all the little details of things, but the Holy Spirit

knows and you know, he knows and he's convicting certain people

and he's telling you, hey, you know that thing that you're

doing you thought nobody knew about.

I know. And it's time you let go of that

and you get up and you start moving my way.

You see, it's like the parable of 10 virgins or brides spoken

of in Matthew chapter 25, the 1st 13 verses.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

And I want for the sake of time go there, but I'm going to say

it again, Matthew chapter 25, the 1st 13 verses, I'm just

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

going to tell you there were 10 bridesmaids or not bridesmaids,

brides. OK?

There are 10 virgins and they were all, all ten of them were

considered virgins and brides to the groom.

OK, Now it helps if you know a little something about the

custom of the time, so. Way it worked back then it was

the guy that was the groom. He would accept, you know, this,

this lady or embrace this lady as his wife.

However they the, the marriage part of it wasn't fully finished

because he would have to go back to his dad's house.

He would have to prepare a place for that bride and then he would

come back and get the bride, which is very similar to what

you read in John chapter 14 in the first 3 verses when he said

John 14 · chapter mention

hey. Hey, don't let your heart be

troubled. I'm going to go away, but when I

go away, I'm going to come back and get you one.

Because that's exactly what the groom does.

He comes back to get his bride. He doesn't come back to get the

whole world because the whole world hasn't received him.

Is there as the groom, OK, But he does come back to get the

bride. And, and so there's 10 brides,

there's 10 virgins. There were ten of them waiting

for the return of the bridegroom.

There were ten of them who had prepared themselves for the

wedding celebration. There were ten of them who had

on that the wedding garments. There were ten of them who had a

Lantern to stay up and watchful for the groom to come.

All ten of them were, but there were five of them who let the

light of their. Lantern burn out.

There were five of them who decided the groom wasn't going

to come anytime soon. There were five of them who got

LAX and decided to lay down and take a nap.

But it was then that the bridegroom came.

He didn't come for all 10. He only came for those who were

ready and eagerly looking for his return.

It came for those who had kept their oil in their lamp.

It trimmed the the Wick and and let their light shine.

And Grim came for those who were watchful and eagerly awaiting

his. Return.

I'm telling you, Jesus Christ is the groom.

Just get that real clear. You're supposed to be.

Right, but only five of them out of the 10, we're ready now if

you move that to modern day, OK, and make it just use the

averages, OK, that means about half of them that were in the

church didn't go. Why?

Because they warmed that bench every Sunday.

So. What was the relationship like

with Christ? What did they do behind the

scenes whenever nobody else was looking?

Christ has not fallen asleep, nor has he stopped watching over

His bride, and there's nothing to keep him from returning this

very day. Second Peter chapter 3 verse 9

2 Peter 3:9

declares. These words the Lord is not

slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness or

slowness, but he is long-suffering toward us, not

willing that any should perish, but that all should come to

repentance. Now who is this us that's

referred to in this verse? Let me say it again.

But he's long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should

perish, or that any should, but that all should come to rather

to repentance. Who is the US?

Well, if you look back in the 1st chapter, second Peter, he's

talking to the believers. Now think about that again.

So here you've got this verse that says it's not as though

he's just deliberately being slow and he's kind of half

forgotten that he's supposed to be coming back.

But he doesn't want anybody to be left behind and the.

US referred to there is is a pronoun that refers back to the

believers, including himself who was writing this OK.

So you could rightly say the US is US.

And about some sinners out there in the world someplace, the US

is US, OK? And he's saying he doesn't want

any of us to be left behind. So why would the Holy Spirit,

speaking through the pen of Paul, say that because he loves

you, the groom loves the bride, But the groom doesn't isn't

going to take the bride if the bride is deliberately being

unfaithful before they've even finished the wedding, right?

Man, this is some tough stuff. I'm, I'm, I'm glad nobody's

going. You know, you're stepping on my

toes. I'm leaving.

But I'm just saying when I feel like the Spirit of God is

telling me to tell you so somebody needs to hear this.

And I think a. Lot of us need to hear this.

What happened to me and what happened to the prodigal can

happen to any believer. If she or he's not on guard, we

have a tendency to stop too soon.

We may say a prayer call out to the Lord because we know that

whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

So we do that part, but then. We allow sin to harden our heart

and drive a wedge between US and the one that just saved us.

And and I'm talking to. The bride.

I'm I'm talking to the choir, right?

Why? Because the choir knows.

But sometimes they forget the verses.

They forget the song they're supposed to be singing and they

start singing a different song. And I don't know if any of you

have ever done that before, but I've sang song and then found

out, you know, I got a little bit of this song in there and I

got a little bit of that song. I just got melded them all

together. You can't live that way.

Hebrews 9, chapter 28 or Chapter 9, verse 28, Hebrews 928 tells

us that. So Christ, having been offered

once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not

to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting

for him. Who?

The ones who are eagerly waiting for Him now.

This should be a real simple question or answer, but I want

you to think about it. Are you eagerly waiting for him

because you love the groom, or are you eagerly waiting for him

because you'll be glad to get out of this mess that you're in

down here? And I'm telling you, there's

some truth to that too. But the the heart of the bride

should be for the groom. And then I find that a lot of

times among the brides, among the church, there's probably

about half of us that. Really aren't eagerly awaiting

his return. In fact, if we thought that he

was coming right now, you'd be like, hey, can I get about 10

seconds? At least say I'm sorry, forgive

me, Lord. Right?

Because you know that there's things in your life that don't

necessarily need to be there. Though we may, like the five

foolish virgins, fail to keep our lanterns burning, we may

have decided the bridegroom isn't coming back for anytime

soon anyway. But this could be the day for he

is returning for those who are eagerly awaiting for him in

First Thessalonians chapter 4. And you know the passage, just

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

read it in First Thessalonians chapter 4 verse, starting with

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

verse 13, it says, and now, dear brothers and sisters, he's

talking to the brides. Yeah, even though there's

brothers and sisters in there says we want you to know that

what will happen to the believers who have died so you

will not grieve like people who have no hope for.

Since we believe that Jesus died and he raised he was raised to

life again, We also believe that when Jesus returns.

Then say if Jesus returns, says when Jesus returns, God will

bring back with him the believers who have died.

Now you might have a different translation up there, but that's

the way mine reads. OK, so it's the same thing.

I don't know what translation that is, but sometimes I pick up

something that's real simple. You know, the easier the better.

Sometimes we tell verse 15 it says, we tell you this directly

from the Lord. We who are still living when the

Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with the

commanding shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the

trumpet call of God. First the believers who have

died will rise from their graves, and then together with

them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be

caught up in the clouds to meet the.

Lord in the air, yeah, there there's a lot of people and

there's going to be more that evidently are coming around on

the world, on the surface of the world, walking the same ground

we are. And they're saying I'm the

Christ you've heard of. Some what, you know immediately

that that's not true because that's not the way it's going to

happen, right? He's going to snatch up the

remaining bride, those who are eagerly awaiting for Him, and

we'll meet Him in the air with those who have gone before us.

Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on

the earth will get caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in

the air, and then we'll be forever with the Lord.

So encourage each other with these words.

Now there's a little issue that you might find in there.

How can believers who passed on be returning with Christ and

rise up from the grave at the same time?

That's interesting, but that's what I said.

OK, so. Let me just.

Tell you how this works before the devil tries to tell you how

it works and he tells you a lie. OK, here.

Here's how it works. OK, whenever, if you go to

Philippians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23, and you don't have

Philippians 1:21–23

to turn there right now necessarily, but that's where

it's at. Philippians 121 through 23.

Also in Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8, it they both

2 Corinthians 5:8

refer to the fact that to be absent from the body is to be

present with the Lord. If you are a believer, OK, so we

know that whenever their body was given up, the believers went

to be with the Lord. We know that they're not sitting

around in a grave somewhere, OK? They went to be with the Lord,

and then we know. That that's true because when he

comes back, it said just a second ago when we read it that

he would have them with him. OK, So they're going to be

coming down with him. OK, now how can they be rising

up out of the grave and coming down at the same time?

Because that's the time that according to First Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15, we're this perishable must put on the

imperishable. This mortal must put on

immortality. We have to have a new body

because we got eternal life ahead and this body isn't good

enough, right? And that's what's taking place

right then at the rapture of the church.

That's whenever the bride's getting caught up.

That's whenever the those people first who have already gone on,

they got the first dibs, I guess.

And so they're going to get the, the, the changed body.

OK, That old body, you said, well, what if you're cremated?

Oh, what if you are? You think God doesn't know where

every little Adam is? He knows where.

I mean, it could be, and I've said this before, the fish could

have eaten you if you were spread out in the ashes in the

sea, and they could have pooped you out and something else

happened and something else happened and God still knows

where you're at. God has not lost sight of you.

He knows right where you're at. He knows what you're going

through. And he says, come on back,

right? Because I'm fixing to come and

you don't want to miss. This to those who say I'm

already saved, it's obvious I love the Lord because I come to

church faithfully. I don't remember, you know,

sometimes, I mean, I only put it this way.

Sometimes we come up with some of the the lamest supporting

things, you know, to support what we're trying to do.

And it doesn't even, it's not right at all, you know, and yet

we, that's where I understand. That's my story and I'm sticking

to it. Well, you might need to change

your story. Recall this John chapter 14,

John 14:15

verse 15. Jesus said if you love me, you

will what? Keep my commandments?

You will keep my commandments. What if you love me?

Second John chapter 6, I'm sorry, verse 6 it says this, and

this is love, that we walk in obedience to his commands.

OK, So he says if you love me, you're going to keep my

commandments. And then it's basically repeated

in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18. Most of you will remember that.

Matthew 28:18

That's where Matthews reveals the Great Commission.

OK. Jesus is is already died.

He's risen from the grave. He gives them a Great Commission

before he leaves. And that Great Commission is

according to if you study it out, not it's not just for the

12. It was for all who believe that

includes you and me. OK.

And in Matthew 28, verse 18, and for the next couple verses there

Matthew 28:18

he renders there, gives this Great Commission telling that

they're supposed to go out and they're supposed to start at

Jerusalem, right? And then they go to Sumerian and

then all the way to the uttermost parts of the world.

And that's for you and that's for me.

Not just the 12 that great commission's not simply a great

because it was wonderful. It's great because it's

important. It's great because is mag.

I don't know the right words. Critical.

It wasn't the great suggestion it could.

Accurately and easily be called the Great Commandment.

And what did he say? If you allow me, he'll keep my

commandments. Now he's giving you this great

commandment. What was it?

That you got to go save. People, no, you can't save

anybody. You can barely save yourself,

right? What you can do, though, is you

can point them to the one who can, OK?

And you don't have to wait to disciple somebody and you don't

have to wait until they get saved to start discipling.

OK. And and what you need to do is

you need to find the people around you that need somebody to

point them towards Christ. And you start pointing, you

start working, you start showing them love, you start reaching

out and telling them about Jesus.

Don't you sit back and say, well they can surely figure it out.

By the way, I live my life. What if they didn't and tomorrow

they get in a car wreck and you were the one that God had there

just so that you could bring them to him, and you thought,

well, one day they'll see it in you.

I'm going to close with this John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

In John chapter 21, Christ has already died.

John 21 · chapter mention

He's already been resurrected and He's shown himself to His

disciples, His followers, and the disciples are in this boat

out on the water, and they've been fishing all night long and

caught no fishes, right? OK.

And Jesus positions himself on the shore and he's got a little

fire going, and he's got fish already so that he can feed

them. So it wasn't that he needed

their fish, but he tells them, hey, if you'll throw the net on

the other side of the water, even though you've been fishing

all night long on your own or didn't work, throw it on the

other side of the boat rather and and you'll and they caught

a. Huge net full, right?

And then he says bring them here.

Now I'm paraphrasing, but you can go check it out.

He says bring them here. Said come show me your catch.

Come show me a fishy. Cod There's a whole lot of

people that name the name of the Lord that are among the brides.

And one day the Lord's going to come, and one day we're going to

stand before him, and one day I believe.

He's going to say show me the fishy cod and some of us aren't

going to be. Able to do a very good job of

that. Because we spent too much time

thinking about worldly things. We we sang the songs of the

world, we meditated on things of the world and and we just browse

through or kind of peruse through the church every now and

then, once a week at least. But our relationship with Christ

isn't there because we're not even doing what He said would

prove that we were his. Now what was that?

If you, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.

And one of the greatest commandments was go fishing for

real people, not just fish. OK.

And yet we kind of act like, well, that's the preacher's job.

That's Lance's job. When he gets here, man, he'll

take care of that. We'll just take that.

We'll take your name down, Sir, and we'll we'll let him know

about that. No.

Why don't you just start telling him about Jesus?

Why don't you start telling everybody about Jesus and set

this thing on fire so that everybody can go to heaven?

All right. It wasn't just for the 12, it

was for all of us, but we just have a tendency to pick and

choose what we want and live our own way and we get kind of in a

comfortable. Spot.

I don't think Jesus or the disciples had too many

comfortable spots. The only comfort they got was

being right up next to Him, and the only comfort that he got was

being right up next to the Father.

They stayed there. Just like in John 15 where he

said, hey, you need to dwell here.

You need to not just cruise by on Sunday, you need to stay

dwelling in me. If you'll dwell in me, then I'll

dwell in you. And then there's that

relationship and there's the fire that'll lead to salvation

unless we shut our mouth and just stay with the comfortable

flow and hope that we don't actually stop and sit down or

lay down and not be able to get back up.

I'm going to tell you one last thing and I'm going to shut up.

But in Revelation chapter 21, verse 4, there's a really

Revelation 21:4

unusual thing there. For it says that there will be

no crying in heaven, but then it says that he'll be wiping away

your tears. Now, how is it that there's no

crying in heaven if she's got, I mean, there's got to be tears

for him to wipe, all right, if he's going to wipe them away and

then it says there's no crying. I'm I am convinced I know the

answer to that. The bride, before she's allowed

to have eternity in the presence of the Father in heaven, that

bride is going to face judgment. It's not condemnation.

He's not going to kick you out and say you can't come here, you

got to go to hell, but he is going to judge you to see how

well you did the things that he told you to.

Do did you just say Hallelujah, Amen, praise God and you did

your little church thing or did you really seek after me?

Did you really do what I told you to do?

And the first thing is show me your fish.

And whenever he says that and we go, well, I don't have any fish,

I think we're going to cry. I know I would cry to think that

He offered me an opportunity to rescue through working with him

to rescue the perishing. And all I could think of was my

own desires, my own comfort. And I didn't want to, you know,

I didn't feel like it that day. I'm going to cry.

And I think all of us will cry because none of us are perfect.

But if we realize that now, maybe there'll be fewer tears

for him to wipe away from us later because we decided we're

going to do something about it before while there's still

breath in our lungs. We're going to get up and we're

going to start telling people about Jesus in a way we never

did before. Now, you know, I used to wear a,

I'm just, I used to wear a, a Jean Jag with the arms cut off

and rode a motorcycle and whatever.

And I see there's some, I know there's a motorcycle kind of

place. You can't just wear a jacket

that says you're part of a Christian motorcycle group and

think that's good enough. OK, you need to wear Jesus

Christ and you need to walk every day in such a way that

you're reaching out and you're fishing and you're trying to

save as many as you can, even though it's not you.

All right? It's him, but he's working with

you. It's a.

Commission. That ME Co means what?

Together, it's a Commission. There's so many times we don't

let him work. Why?

Because we're not working and it's a Commission.

I'm going to pray. Pray with me up.

Father God, I thank you for your love and your mercy.

Thanks for listening to the Cross Powered Church podcast.

May you know that true hope, peace, and salvation can only be

found in Jesus. If you're near Campbell, TX, we

would love for you to join us in person.

You can find service times at crosspowerchurch.com.