Man, we would all love to believe that life as we know it is going to go on forever. But it isn’t one day, sooner or later – we are going to breather our last breath on this earth. So – let’s say it’s sooner. Let’s say it’s tonight. Are you ready for eternity?

The Day is Coming

Most people live their lives as though things will be okay. You know the story – chugging along … chugging along – a few little ups, a few little downs but basically same old same old. By and large we don’t plan for disasters; we don’t plan on there being tsunamis, silent and deadly, hitting us tomorrow at 9.41 am.

We don’t plan on having a heart attack or a stroke; we don’t plan on losing our jobs; we don’t plan on our children disappearing or our marriages falling apart; we don’t plan on a stock market crash, wiping out half our wealth or if not our wealth then the wealth of the companies that employ us and the consumers who keep spending money to keep us in a job. We don’t plan on our house burning down or a war breaking out and above all … above all, we don’t plan on dying.

We kind of know, one day, I guess, we will, but surely, yes, surely that’s a long way off. We don’t plan those cataclysmic events hitting us, but here’s the thing: as sure as God made little green apples, some of those things – not all of them – but some of them are going to hit you and me in our lifetimes.

Bit of a gloomy way to start off a new series, isn’t it? But you know what I’m saying right? Beyond perhaps having house insurance and car insurance and life insurance, those can afford it and those who own things worth insuring, we don’t plan on cataclysmic events hitting us, impacting us and robbing us of the plans we have. After all, our plans are good plans. We plan on bringing up our children and having them succeed. We plan on this and that – good things – things that we look forward to.

People who are listening to this programme; people right now, some of them living in the middle of a war zone, some of them living in extreme poverty. And given all the places where this programme is heard, there are more of those people listening today than there are in the wealthy West, I have to tell you. Those people, if you are one of them, you have good plans for peace, for enough money to feed your children and a roof over your head and perhaps, some clean drinking water.

Doesn’t matter who we are, where we live or what colour our skin is, we have good plans for our lives. And most of us kind of live in this delusional state, as though our here on this earth are going to go on forever. I know that I don’t give an awful lot of thought to dying – I just don’t. I’m planning the next programme, the next series, the next book – I’m working hard as though I’m going to live forever, on the one hand, but knowing, on the other, knowing that one day I am going to die. But that second part is much more in the background.

There’s a real danger here: if we live only for today as if the good things in our lives are never going to end, one day, we are going to get a rude shock. The stock market is a great case in point. I’m no expert but what I see is this: stocks start low, they go up, they go up, company profits go up, people who are in the market get richer and richer and, all of a sudden, greed cuts in.

“Let’s borrow lots of money and buy shares” (it’s called “margin lending”) “so let’s buy big houses and have lots of debt, after all, look how wealthy we are; look at the value of our stock portfolio”.

And then, almost like a thief in the night, the stock market crashes! Lots and lots of men in particular, commit suicide because their hopes and dreams are dashed. It’s a familiar cycle; it’s a cycle that repeats itself ever few years in fact – the market goes up and up and up and up and up … how long can it keep going up? I don’t know but let’s keep believing it – it’s going to keep going up and up and up and up.

But there is always … always an end to that “Bull Run”; either a small correction, a major correction or a crash. As sure as God made little green apples! Yet people spend and create debt and live out their greed as though that won’t happen, even though (wait for this), it’s an absolute … ABSOLUTE certainty that it will!!

I was interested in two quotes from the so called ‘experts’ on the 1987 stock market crash. Have a listen to these: On the one hand Rob Hagstrom on ‘Investing in the Last Liberal Art’ wrote this:

The market crash of 1987 caught most economists, scholars and investment professionals by surprise. Nowhere in the classic equilibrium based view of the markets so long considered inviolate, was there anything that would predict or even describe the events of 1987.

So, this guy is saying it was completely unpredictable. On the other hand George Soros in “The Alchemy of Finance” writes this:

Technically the crash of 1987 bears an uncanny resemblance to the crash of 1929. The shape and the extent of the decline and even the day to day movements of stock prices track very closely.

So one guy says it was completely unpredictable and the other guy was saying it was completely predictable. What do you think? Of course, it was completely predictable! Maybe not the exact timing or the extent but stock markets can’t always keep going up. Sometimes they have to come down.

And here’s something else that’s completely predictable – with absolute certainty – one day, maybe today, maybe tomorrow or in fifty years time – but one day, my life and your life on this earth are going to end. BANG! Finished! The statistics are that out of every hundred people – pick a sample of a hundred people out of six point five billion alive on the planet today – out of every one hundred people, precisely one hundred are going to die at some point.

Would you agree with that? And the only way that’s not going to happen is if Jesus comes back before they’re due to die. But either way, their lives here on this earth are going to be over at some point. My life; your life is going to be over at some point – with absolute certainty.

So, let me ask you this – when that happens – no ifs; there are no ifs about it – when that happens are you ready to face eternity? Well, are you? Are you so busy living for today; are you so busy believing the stock market is always going to go up that you have lost sight of the absolute certainty of death? I’m sorry to be so direct but this is so important that it demands directness. Listen to this: John chapter 3, verse 36:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.

That’s the reality – that’s the certainty and that demands our attention, so over the next few weeks on the programme, this is what we are going to be talking about. I have called this series, “If You Die Tonight Would You be Ready for Eternity.” So let me ask you, if you die tonight, are you ready for eternity? Are you ready to stand before God and give an account on that day? Well, are you?

The Rich Fool

One of the great distractions from living a life here today that’s bound for eternity with God are the pleasures and the trinkets and the treasurers of this world. And Jesus knew that when He spoke these words. If you have a Bible, grab it – open it at Matthew chapter 6, verse 19:

Do not store up for yourself treasures on this earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where the thieves do not break in and steal.

Doesn’t matter how much we store up here on earth, we can’t take it with us when we die. We all know that but we kind of forget it. I used to say, “Well, you know, if I can’t take it with me, I ain’t going!” Nice theory, but you and I both know it doesn’t work that way.

Over these next few weeks on the programme, we are taking a bit of a journey to answer this question: if you or I died tonight, would we be ready for eternity? I wonder, as you ask yourself that question, I wonder, what’s your answer? On a scale of zero to ten, how would you score your life right now?

If you were in bed tonight and suffered a massive heart attack or a stroke or if you crossed the road tomorrow and stepped into the path of an oncoming vehicle and in an instant your life was snuffed out on this earth, on a scale of zero to ten, how ready are you to stand before God and give an account of your life? Well?

The problem is that with most of us: most of us are so caught up in the minutia of here and now. We’ve completely had this distorted sense of reality. To us we are the centre of the universe – my life, my family, my wealth, my job, my feelings … they’re all that matters.

Let us step back and get a grip on reality for a moment. Let’s see it for what it is. Each one of us is just one … just one out of the six billion, seven hundred and eighty seven million people alive on planet Earth today and we are one of just over a hundred billion people who have ever lived on planet earth. We live on a tiny, tiny rock called Earth, which is one of nine planets around a star called the Sun. And that star’s a pretty small example of an estimated trillion, trillion stars in a universe that’s so big that we can’t even measure it. For all we know it could go on forever – we don’t know what lies beyond.

Are you starting to feel really, really small? Good! That’s because you are and so am I but we carry on as though the whole universe … the whole universe over all time revolves around us and our lives – even though we are so small and here for just an instant in the overall span of time.

And then … then there’s the God who created the whole universe. How mighty, how powerful must He be? Isaiah chapter 40, verses 25 to 26:

To whom then will you compare me, says God, or who is my equal? Lift up your eyes and see on high: Who created these? Who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them by their name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one of them is missing.

See, God’s talking about the stars here and we behave as though all that matters is us. We live life as though it will go on forever, here on earth, when we know deep down it won’t. Let me ask you again: how ready are you to face eternity? How ready are you to stand before God and give an account of how you spent your life on this planet.

Jesus told people a parable about this very thing. Let’s have a listen together – Luke chapter 12, beginning at verse 16:

The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops? Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.

But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.

How ready are you? So many of us store up riches for ourselves here on this earth but we are not rich towards God. I kind of imagine this rich man standing before God, prepared to point out all his achievements and looking around and discovering all his riches; everything he built is gone. The only riches that will matter on the other side of you and me breathing our last breath here on this earth; the only sort that will matter are the riches that we have laid up for ourselves in heaven – the eternal riches that in this life we’ve deposited there – our richness toward God.

Am I suggesting that I need to do anything more than put my faith in Jesus in order to stand clean and pure and holy before God on that final day of judgement? No, not at all but putting our faith in Jesus isn’t just ticking a box with a mental ascent to the proposition that Jesus is who He said He is and that His death and resurrection have purchased for us a free ride into heaven. In fact, that’s not it at all – not at all! Listen again to the Lord’s Words – Matthew chapter 7, verse 21:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

And again, Luke chapter 6, verse 46:

Why do you call me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I tell you?

My friend, when you examine your life, how ready are you to stand before God on that day of judgement? Is your life; is your faith, what it should be? I’m not trying to cast doubt in your mind. I guess what I’m saying is best summed up by the Apostle Paul. Second Corinthians chapter 13, verse 5:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!

So, over these coming weeks on the programme, that’s what we are going to be talking about – examining ourselves – you examining you and me examining me. Are we ready?

The Wrath of God Revealed

Now I’ve sometimes heard God presented only as a loving Father, and He is that. His love is awesome, but just like any father, there are two sides to fatherhood and the side that we don’t like to talk about is the ‘just’ side of God. But unless we do … unless we have a handle on the ultimate judgement and punishment that we can avoid by believing in Jesus Christ, then grace simply doesn’t have any value. “God is love” is one of the Scriptures we love to remember and He is! The other one about God’s love that I truly delight in is this one – Ephesians chapter 3, verses 18 and 19:

I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

God creates us, we turn our backs on Him and that turning away from God, which is what sin is, brings punishment because God is a just God. And we wouldn’t want it any other way! I mean, imagine if God wasn’t just; imagine if He was a despot – it would be a pretty scary thing, wouldn’t it? This short verse from the Old Testament Book of Hosea sums it all up – Hosea chapter 12, verse 6:

But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.

See, God is both love and justice; not just love without justice and not justice without love. And it is precisely because God is both love and justice that He sent Jesus to die on the cross because this is the only way that the requirements of both love and justice can be met.

If He were just love without justice, well, who needs the cross? Forgive us … just forgive us – no punishment; no one has to pay the price but imagine how we would feel if our legal system didn’t give a criminal what he deserved? The criminal deserves punishment! That sense of justice comes from God. We are, after all, made in God’s image.

If He were justice without love, well, ha, He would simply punish us. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, verse 23:

The wages of sin is death.

If God were justice without love, well, the whole problem is easy fixed but because He is both love and justice, He sent His Son to take my punishment; to take your punishment so that we can be as clean and as pure and as forgiven as God wants us to be. Do you notice what Jesus says: John chapter 3, verse 16:

For God so loves the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Let’s unpack those three verses for a minute – chapter 3, verse 16: God is a God of love; He sends Jesus so that we won’t perish but have eternal life. Chapter 3, verse 17: God sent His Son, not to condemn us but to save us. Question is: to save us from what? Well, that comes in verse 18 – let’s read it again:

Those who believe in him are not condemned but whose who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

God’s judgement – that’s why Jesus came, to save us. Do you see how love and justice require Jesus to die on the cross for you and me? Now let me share very clearly with you – should there be any doubt – that one day … one day God will judge and punish those; ALL THOSE who haven’t believed in His Son!

Next week we are going to look at exactly what that means ‘to believe in His Son’. There’s so much more to that than we think, but that’s next week’s programme. Now let’s be clear – as much as God is the God of love and He made provision through Jesus for each one of us to be saved from His judgement and His condemnation, He is also a God of justice and justice demands that if we don’t avail ourselves of His love provision through Jesus, then we must bear the punishment. Listen to these three passages: John chapter 3, verse 36:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.

Romans chapter 1, verse 18:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness, suppress the truth.

Acts chapter 17, verses 30 and 31:

While God’s overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed the day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by an man,(that’s Jesus), whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising Jesus from the dead.

My friend, could it be any clearer? Unless we entrust our lives to Jesus, who He is and what He has done for us – unless we live our lives believing that we are truly forgiven through His death and resurrection, then there is an eternal punishment and an eternal separation from God; an eternal hell coming our way. Let that be very, very, very clear. Jesus told a parable about this very thing and in that parable God is the King and this is what happens to the people who reject God – Matthew chapter 22, verse 13:

Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

My friend, let me ask you again, right here, right now, right where you are standing or sitting or walking or running – if you die tonight, are you ready for eternity? Would you stand before God completely forgiven, with the gift of eternal life because you’d not only believed but lived your life for Jesus? Or would you be like those in the parable who either didn’t except the invitation or didn’t live the life that God wanted them to live? We’re going to look at that parable in a few weeks time. Would you be cast in the outer darkness for all eternity?

In a moment I am going to give you the opportunity to pray a prayer with me … a prayer that gives your life over to God, wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you have done, if you know in your heart of hearts that you are not ready for eternity or if somehow you’re not sure, then I implore you to pray this prayer with me.

Father God, I have Your Word today and I know that I’m not ready. And so today, Lord, I want to tell you that I accept Jesus Christ in my life. I believe He died for me, and by trusting in Him, that I have complete forgiveness and eternal live.

Father God, I’m sorry for all the things I’ve done wrong in my life and I turn away from all that now. But I know I can’t do that on my own, so I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit everything that I am, everything I have, every hope and every dream I give to you.

Show me now, Lord God, how to live this new life, this eternal life that you’ve given me in Jesus name. Amen.

Lots of people walking around planet Earth today – think they have the gift of eternal life because … they believe in Jesus. But Jesus Himself said – not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Sitting in the Chair

I have a question for you today. How do you know … how do you know if you have the gift of eternal life? I mean, some people kind of say, “Well, yea, I believe in Jesus, I think, or at least I said I did once. I prayed that prayer of salvation or I can’t quite remember what the words were.” It’s an important question. I mean, if you die tonight, would you be ready for eternity? How do you know? Well, that’s what today is all about on the programme.

When we go our separate ways in just under half an hour’s time, we will be able to know, with absolute certainty whether or not we have the gift of eternal life. And it’s all about entering into the promise and here’s the promise: John chapter 3, verses 14 to 18:

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

So what does that mean? How do you and I know if we actually have laid hold of that promise? How do we really know if we have believed? The inference here is clear. Last week on the programme we talked about the fact that God is both love and justice.

And you think about it: if He was only love then He wouldn’t need Jesus to die on the cross for us. He could forgive us without the requirements of justice being met. If He were only justice, ha, who needs Jesus? God would just punish us for rebelling against Him. But because He loves us so much, He sends Jesus, not to judge us but to save us from the coming wrath by taking the punishment on our behalf.

And the way we appropriate this free gift is fairly straight forward. Have a listen again to what is perhaps the most quoted of all Bible verses. John chapter 3, verse 16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.

See, the clincher is: “believing in Him”, but exactly what does that mean? The best way I have ever heard it explained was by a great man, Pastor Phil Littlejohn and actually, his explanation of this one passage literally changed my life. Here’s the gist of what he said. He said:

Look, in this phrase “believes in him” the original Greek word for “in” actually means, quite literally “into”. Later when I learned to use a Greek dictionary, I discovered for myself that Phil was right. So let’s read it again with its original meaning.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes into him may not perish but have eternal life.

Okay, what does that mean? Well, Phil explained it to us this way: he said, imagine a chair sitting over yonder in the corner. If I stand here and look at that chair over there and I say, “Yea, I believe that that chair is strong enough to hold me, then I’m believing ‘in’ the chair. But if I walk across the room and sit down in the chair, then I’m believing “into” the chair. Makes a lot of sense! The first is believing with your head, the second is trusting with your life.

And so what Jesus meant wasn’t that we would be saved by believing in Him with our heads but by demonstrating that belief by trusting Him with our lives. Faith in Jesus is about living that faith. Not making some vague promise one day that we forget the next. Jesus explained that so well in the parable. Let’s pick it up – if you have a Bible grab it – it’s in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 22, starting at verse 2. Jesus said:

The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatted calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.” But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized the slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed the murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, “The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. The slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe. And he was speechless. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Bind that man hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.

Now what’s Jesus trying to say to us here through this parable? First, there were those who were invited and didn’t rock up. Getting the invitation isn’t enough; accepting the invitation isn’t enough; saying that you’ll come, isn’t enough – you have to show up; you have to live out the invitation by attending the banquet. So many people pray the prayer and say, “Yea, yea, I’m into heaven!” But if you don’t go, you don’t get! Let me say it again – if you don’t go, you don’t get! If you don’t live out the invitation, you’re not in. Matthew chapter 7, verse 21:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

So, what about the guy who came along but didn’t wear the right clothes – seems a bit harsh doesn’t it? Well, some years later the Apostle Paul wrote these words to his friends in Galatia – Galatians chapter 3, verse 27:

As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.

See, here’s the problem: some people accept the invitation, they even show up but they’re not prepared to live the life; they’re not prepared to have their lives changed; to live out their faith; to demonstrate that they have taken the Good News of Jesus Christ to heart by the way that they live their lives.

We don’t much want to know about the man who didn’t prepare for the wedding. We don’t want to know about him! But these are Jesus words and not mine – I’m not making this stuff up. The faith in Jesus that saves is clearly demonstrated by a transformed life. By a man or a woman or a child that has turned away from the things they know to be wrong. Have a listen again to Jesus own words – listen carefully:

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pontius Pilot had mingled with their sacrifices.

We are reading here from Luke chapter 13.

And Jesus asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way that they were worse sinners than other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.

The person who has the gift of eternal life is the one who has walked across the room and sat in the chair; the one who accepted God’s invitation to eternal life; the one who showed up; the one who repented; the one who is living a life clothed in Christ. How do you or I know if we have the gift of eternal life? By looking in the mirror; by seeing a changed life; by knowing that we’re living out our faith in Jesus because faith without works is dead.

Come to the Party

Earlier we had a look at something really, really important … I mean REALLY important. How do you and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ? Now before you flick the dial and say, “Hey, I not interested”, or “I already know that” or whatever, I just want to encourage you to stick with me because there’s nothing more important in life than this.

Anyhow earlier, we saw that it’s not just about some quick prayer of salvation, prayed last week or twenty five years ago but that what Jesus calls us to is a new life … a life where we are transformed from a selfish, self-centred individual we once were, into someone who lives every breath of life for God; someone whose life is constantly being changed, like an old oil painting that’s being restored back into its original image; the image of God.

And the thing we did also earlier was to look at the somewhat disconcerting parable that Jesus used to teach this truth … the parable of the King and the wedding banquet. And right now on the programme, I want to go into a bit more depth in looking at that parable. Not only because it’s so important but because it’s utterly life changing. So let’s just take another look and then spend a few minutes unpacking that together. This is what Jesus said again:

The kingdom of heaven can be compared to the king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fatted calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized the king’s slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet. So the slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But the king came in to see the guests, and he noticed that there was a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe. He was speechless. The king said to the attendants, ‘Bind that man hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

See, the first stage in this story is that the king “invites” us but we won’t come. He is having a banquet for His Son, Jesus. He’s obviously sent out invitations and then He sends His slaves out to call those people who’d been invited to the banquet. But they won’t come, so He sends the slaves out again and this time they tell the people, “The king has prepared the best of the best.” Have another listen: “Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fatted calves have been slaughtered, everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”

Isn’t that often the way? That’s how I lived my life for the first thirty six years. I knew, deep down in my heart … I knew that Jesus was the Son of God; I knew that I had received an invitation, even when God sent people to tell me that He was offering me the best of the best, I turned them away.

And I used to mock those whom He sent, just like in this story. I hated those goody two shoes Christians. They used to make me feel so uncomfortable and that’s the second stage. “They made light of it and they went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized the king’s slaves, mistreated them and killed them.”

I used to give those Christians such a hard time and you know it’s not just non-Christian against Christian – you even see this stuff in churches. There are inevitably a small handful of people in a church who are passionate about Jesus and they put everything that they have and all that they are, on the line. They pour their lives out to bring people closer to God and the rest – the mob – the people whose hearts really aren’t engaged to Jesus, sort of sit back and cynically poke fun at them. As though there is something wrong with being completely and utterly sold out to Jesus. I’ve seen it! Let me ask you – where do you fit in all of this?

Anyhow, the third stage is that the king changes tack. If the people he invited won’t come, then he is going to punish them and invite someone else. But first, listen to this very carefully – he pours his wrath out on those whom he invited; “The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed the murderers, burned their city then said to his slaves, the wedding in ready but those invited were not worthy.”

Let there be no mistake about what happens when we reject the invitation that God gives us through His Son. It’s a wonderful invitation, not some rule-fest, not some prison or straight jacket but an invitation to a feast. That’s what a relationship with God is like. It’s like a feast; like a banquet, but if we reject that invitation, then ultimately punishment will come. Make no mistake! So He invites other people. Have a listen:

Go therefore into the main streets and invite anyone you find to the wedding banquet. So the slaves did that, they went out into the streets, they gathered all that they found, good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

I love this bit – “go and get just anyone”; not the people you’d expect a king to invite; not the well heeled socialites around town but just ordinary people on the street, people like, well, people like you and me. Do you see? The invitation is open to everyone to join the feast. But then there’s this problematic bit in the parable that we talked about earlier – the man who accepted the invitation but who was thrown out.

When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed this man who wasn’t wearing a wedding robe. He was speechless and the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind the man hand and foot, throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called but few are chosen.

See, it’s so easy for us to get all casual with God; to treat Him like He’s there to serve us; like He’s just our buddy. Of course, He does serve us; of course, God is our friend – look at what happened on the cross of Calvary – Jesus died for us. But He’s not some pet poodle who performs to our command. He is the King in this story. Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Now, evidently back in the first century, when you went to a wedding banquet you wore special robes. I mean, today, when you go to a wedding function you don’t go in your torn and tatty jeans. You wear some decent clothes to show honour and respect for the people who invited you and for the people who are getting married. So this man turning up without the appropriate clothes on was effectively showing a complete lack of respect to the king for who he was and for his invitation.

My friend, if we want to have this gift of eternal life then firstly, we have to accept God’s invitation, secondly, we actually have to show up and thirdly, we have to live a transformed life. Remember earlier we talked about that wonderful passage written by Paul in Galatians chapter 3:

As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

And the reason for that is that faith without works is dead. If we don’t live out the relationship with Jesus, then it’s meaningless. James chapter 2, verse 18:

Some will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works and I, by my works, will show you my faith.

Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works.

The Cart before the Horse

Some people are going to find today’s programme intensely unsettling because there’s this thing that’s crept into our thinking, that well, John 3:16 is it! It’s a very simple tick in the box: eternal life is a free gift – there is no work involved – all I have to do is to believe and that’s it – “For God so loved ‘me’ that he gave his only Son so that if “I” believe in him “I” may not perish but have eternal life.”

And after all, didn’t the Apostle Paul say, in Ephesians chapter 2:

It’s by grace you have been saved and this not through your own doing, it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Absolutely! The gift of eternal life is absolutely free – nothing to do with what you or I do. God accepts us just the way that we are – no ifs, no buts, no maybes. Anything that’s said that you have to work your way into a state of ‘salvation’ is, well, the Bible calls that the ‘doctrine of demons’. First Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 to 5:

The Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage, they demand abstinence from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.

See, the moment you add a bunch of rules – do this, don’t do that, don’t eat that food, don’t get married, do this, you have to do that in order to be saved – it becomes a lie. It’s what the Bible calls the ‘doctrines of demons’; the shackles of religion. That’s not where freedom lies. Jesus came to set us free and when He does that, we are free indeed.

But you see both the doctrine of demons and the Gospel of grace speak of faith and works. They simply do it in a different order. This legalism; this doctrine of demons says that in order to have a right standing with God; in order to be saved, you have to do these things, then you’ll be saved; then you’ll have eternal life – but that’s a lie. I encourage you to have a read of Romans chapter 3 for yourself. Paul tells us that it’s a lie.

The Gospel of grace on the other hand, it talks about faith and works too, but in an entirely different way. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8:

For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God – not the result of works so that no one may boast.

First and foremost, when we put our trust in Jesus, God gives us the free gift of eternal life but then when we do, the evidence of our faith; the thing that demonstrates that we actually have taken the Good News of Jesus Christ to heart, is what we do with that – how we live it out – that’s the evidence. Some people say, “Yes” with their mouths but the Good News of Jesus Christ never takes root in their hearts.

Again, let’s look at what James says about faith – James chapter 2, verse 18:

Some will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

A life being transformed by God; a life that’s being regenerated is the evidence of the faith that God is looking for – a person who has taken the Good News of God’s sacrificial love through Jesus Christ and the resurrection, to heart. Mark chapter 8, verse 35:

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

The bottom line … the bottom line is that our faith has to be real; not some platitude or promise but REAL! That’s the sort of faith that God’s looking for – that’s what it means to believe “into” Jesus – to trust Him with our lives. Nothing more and nothing less!

So let me ask you – where are you going to spend your eternity? It turns out that what we do here and now – is going to have a massive impact on the answer to that. And my hunch is that there are going to be a few people who get a really rude shock.

A Wake-Up Call

I remember one time a few years back, I had a week of travelling that was brutal. From Melbourne to Singapore to speak at a conference and then to Malaysia for a meeting. Back to Singapore. And then instead of heading back to Melbourne it was a direct flight to Adelaide – the capital of the state of South Australia.

Now back in my IT consulting days I travelled a lot and I kind of had my regular hotels in each city where I liked to stay. But on this particular trip to Adelaide – my regular hotel was booked out. The Formula One Grand Prix was in town and so I was forced to stay at an unfamiliar hotel.

Before I collapsed into bed that night, I ordered a 6 am wakeup call – I had some preparation to do before my client meeting at 8 am. I will never forget receiving that wakeup call.

It was pitch black. The sharp ring of the phone. I awoke in a complete daze. And I had absolutely no idea where I was. Instead of rolling over to answer the phone I jumped out of bed – skinned my shins on a coffee table – when I finally realised a phone was ringing I picked it up and asked the receptionist what must have appeared to be the strangest question.

I said to her out of my daze, “I know this sounds really weird … but where am I? What city is this?” I can’t begin to imagine what she was thinking … but then perhaps she’d heard it all before.

It had never happened to me before and it’s never happened to me since. All that travel and that work – the unfamiliar surroundings of that hotel room – I had absolutely no idea where I was. And for a moment there – I had a real sense of panic. Where was I? Was there some plane that I should have been on that I’d missed? Was I in the right city? What day was it? A terrible sense of panic. Completely disoriented.

And I wonder – I wonder how many people have that same sense in their lives today. They woke up this morning – probably in a familiar place physically. But in their hearts – as they kind of – well, look at their lives – wake up, head off to work or school or whatever it is that you do – and you think – man, am I in the right place? Is … is this where I’m meant to be? Am I doing what I’m meant to be doing.

Today’ program is possibly one of the most important messages you’ll ever hear in your life. Its called Things I absolutely Must Do Before I Die. And we’re kicking that off – with a wakeup call. As sharp a sound as it may be, as disturbing as it may be, as disorienting and unsettling as it may be – it’s time for a wakeup call.

Since the days of old, God has been sending people to call us back to Him. In the Old Testament – Prophet after Prophet came to speak to God’s chosen people Israel – but they were rejected. God sent John the Baptist in the 1st Century. He was rejected. God sent His Son – He was crucified.

Men and women have been rejecting the call of God not just for centuries – but for millennia. It’s a call of love, it’s a call – a call into the most wondrous and beautiful relationship. But most – most have rejected Him. I’m going to read to you know a passage – a chapter actually form Matthew’s Gospel. It’s what Jesus said about our rejection of God – and the consequences.

This Word from God – this Word is His wakeup call – the shrill sound of an alarm. And while disorienting it may be – once we get our bearings – it is the sweetest sound of all. Have a listen. Matthew chapter 11 beginning at verse 7:

Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John the Baptist: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen! But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, we played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.

Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”

At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

So, what was Jesus ranting and raving about to all those cities? Simply this. He was saying in effect, “Look, God sent you the prophets, God sent you John the Baptist, God sent you me – and look at all the miracles I’ve been doing and still, still you haven’t repented. Still you haven’t turned back from your wicked ways to me again.”

That’s the wake up call – because there are consequences; There is a day of judgement coming. That’s the wakeup call.

And today … today God has sent you – for better and for worse – me. To say to you, “wake up! Wakeup! A day of judgement is coming.” And its not complicated. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist – wise and intelligent – but simply to believe with the faith of a child. And listen, listen again to the alternative that Jesus presents to this horrible day of judgement. Just listen again with me:

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Not a bad alternative is it? So, here it is: wake up! There’s a life out there that God wants us to live you and me. Wake up!

Investing Your Talents Wisely

Right now, I want to talk about one of the most important things that you and I have to do before we die. And it’s this: to use our talents wisely.

One of the basic principles of life is that we have to risk in order to receive a reward. Think of the farmer who plants his crop. He has to purchase the land, he has to purchase the seed, he has to plough the field, plant the seed. And then hope that a crop grows.

But he has no idea whether there will be enough rain, or too much. He has to risk in order to receive his reward. He has to plant in faith knowing that he may or may not reap a crop. And even if the crop is healthy and full, will it be eaten by a plague of locusts? Will it be hit by a sudden hailstorm? Will market prices plummet?

Wherever there’s a reward involved, inevitably we need to invest something first, we need to put something on the line, before we can reap the reward. And because we can’t be certain of the return or the reward in this world – well, that’s where the risk is, right?

So many people look a the risks and think to themselves – you know, it’s not worth it. I know that I have these gifts and abilities but, I could never be successful. I could never achieve that one thing in my heart that I want to achieve. And so they never put it all on the line. They never risk … and so they never reap the reward.

So – let me ask you – it this is such a basic principle in life – what’s God’s take on it? Interesting. Jesus actually told a story, a parable about that very thing. And His take on it – well, it may not be what we expect. Have a listen. Matthew 25 chapter 25 from verse 14:

… it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ The same thing happened with the one who’d received the two talents.

But then the one who’d received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’

But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Now, that’s pretty harsh punishment. Jesus tells this story in the context of how we live our lives and that one day – one day you and I will have to stand before Him and give an account for our lives.

You know the really powerful thing here about this parable is this. A talent isn’t some gift or ability that we have, but in this context, in the first century, it was a sum of money. And in the first century a talent was worth around 15 years wages for a labourer. An enormous amount of money. Five talents = 75 years wages. 2 talents = 30 years wages. Even 1 talent is still 15 years wages.

An inconceivably large sum of money. What Jesus is saying is that we’ve each been given so much. Now we may look around some days and think, ‘well, I don’t have much money. I can’t do much.” Let me tell you a story:

Elsie’s an elderly pensioner who’s been supporting our ministry since – well, for a very long time. She doesn’t have much, she’s a pensioner. But every now and then, she’d send in a few stamps to help us with our mail outs – something we always celebrated when we received Elsie’s stamps.

She sent some in earlier this year, and we used them in the very next mail out to our ministry supporters. We received a letter back from a woman called Shirley. Turns out that by some strange coincidence that she only lives a few kilometres away from Elsie.

This is what Shirley wrote:

Life has been really getting me down. The spiritual battle has worsened and the suicidal thoughts have returned. I tore up your letter but something you wrote caught my eye. It gave me hope. You just saved my life.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that one of Elsie’s stamps ended up on Shirley’s letter. But do you see how this seemingly small, seemingly trivial gift of Elsie’s had a mighty impact in Shirley’s life? Even the smallest thing that we have, the seemingly most mundane ability that we have – when we risk it, when we get it out there for God – ends up having powerful results.

And what Jesus is telling us here is very clearly this: He expects us to get it out there and risk it for Him. He expects us to use all our talents – our money, our gifts, our abilities – all that we are and all that we have – to get it out there, lay it on the line for Him. And that, that is how we know that we are truly ready for eternity.

It’s great to believe in Jesus at a distance but as we saw last week on the program – that alone – some distant intellectual belief is not what gets us into the kingdom of God for all eternity. The evidence of our faith is what we do with it. If we have truly made Jesus our all in all – we can’t help it – it comes out in how we think and in our priorities and in our desires and ultimately, ultimately in our actions. Listen to what the Apostle John writes. 1 John 2:3-6:

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

Separating the Sheep from the Goats

One day God is going to look at you and at me and judge whether we have met His standard, Some of us will spend an eternity in the Presence of God. And others will – well let me put it bluntly – go to hell. We don’t much like to think of God doing that. But Jesus made it clear – in fact the whole Bible makes it abundantly clear that one day, one day God will do precisely that. He will judge us. 1 Peter 4:1-7:

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention … so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You’ve already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They’re surprised that you no longer join them in these same excesses and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an account to God who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves.

It’s pretty clear, is it not? But how will God separate one from the other? See there’s a great misconception about this. Some people say, “well, yeah, I kind of believe in Jesus. I have eternal life.” But as we saw last week on the program. Matthew 7:21:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

What do I have to do to gain eternal life? Well, John 6:29 says: believe in the one who God sent – believe in Jesus. But this is the crux of the matter – the thing that we’ve been talking about over this past few weeks – the evidence of our faith – is what we do.

If I hate someone – then ultimately the outworking of that is going to be what I do to that person – the revenge, the anger. On the other hand, if I love someone, then I’ll sacrifice for them even when they don’t deserve it. The evidence of accepting Jesus in our hearts, is what we do with our lives. That’s exactly what Jesus said. Matthew 25:31:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’

And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating – and that is clearly what Jesus is saying here. Don’t get me wrong. He’s not demanding perfection. He knows who we are, that we are human and frail and all that. But any judge in giving a ruling impartially weighs the evidence. And in this case the evidence of believing in Jesus in our hearts, comes in the love that we show flowing out of our lives.

My friend, when we believe in Jesus, when we put our heart trust in Him, then that, and that alone gives us the gift of eternal life. But when we do that, our lives change – they have to. It’s like watering a half dead drooping plant. The plant starts to grow healthy again and produce flowers and fruit. And if it doesn’t then there’s something wrong.

I’m not saying we have to do good works in order to get into the Kingdom of heaven. What I am saying is that those works – that fruit – is the evidence of our faith.

And what Jesus is telling us in this parable is that God – in judging us on that day of judgement – in deciding who will spend eternity with Him and who will receive eternal punishment, will weigh the evidence.

And the evidence is what we did with our lives. It’s there, on the record, irrefutable. The mistake we can make at this point is to think to ourselves, “oh no! My life, my life doesn’t measure up. I have to work harder. I have to do better. I have to be a better person in to get into the Kingdom of God.”

But let me ask you, “what plant can bear fruit by working harder? What plant can sit there – root bound in a dry pot– and by working harder at being a good little plant, bear a rich crop of fantastic fruit?” It’s ludicrous isn’t it?

And the same in our lives. We don’t bear good fruit in order to be accepted by God. We bear good fruit out of our relationship with God – with our roots deep down in Him, fed by His Word, watered by His Spirit. And then, the fruit grows naturally.

If you are listening today and you feel the Word of God slicing deep into your heart. The thing that God does not want you to do is to work harder. The thing that He wants you to do is to draw close to Him – in a deep, intimate, personal relationship with Him.

Listen to how Jesus put it. Just a few verses out of John Chapter 15:

Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.

So, let me ask you: “if you died tonight, would you be ready for eternity?”

As much as today is today, and tomorrow is tomorrow, one day, without warning for many of us, life on this earth will be over. The end … the end is coming, ready or not! And when it arrives, let me ask you, “will you be ready for eternity?”

When We Least Expect It

I don’t know how you are in your life but I’m one of these hyper-organised people. I have a “to do” list with more items on it than I can possibly do and it sits on my computer and I am constantly updating it. My diary – well, that’s on my computer and it’s replicated on my mobile phone and that’s planned to within a inch of its life, with different colour codes for different types of activities. And what I tend to do, is I tend to plan my time to achieve maximum through-put.

My wife, Jacqui, who also works in this ministry Christianityworks, sometimes finds that a bit frustrating. She’ll suggest this or that and I’ll quickly sift it through my list of priorities – things I want to do today and tomorrow – and if it doesn’t make it onto the priority list, it just doesn’t happen.

Now, I know we’re not all quite like that with our time, it’s just in my nature to be that way. But more and more in this world we are seeking to master this most precious of commodities – time. Today’s younger generation – Generation Y – why has the ipod become such a vital tool or the mobile phone and the mp3 player on it?

Well, because then they can listen to the music they want to listen to, when they want to listen to it and where they want to listen to it. We call it “on demand”. That’s why mobile devices are becoming so popular. Instead of waiting for a radio station to dish up stuff, some of which we are not interested in. We do it for ourselves, “on demand” – music, podcasts, whatever it is, it’s all about taming time.

I think back to the good old days when letters took days to travel from one person to another and it took days to respond. These days we use SMS on the phone or MSN Messenger on the PC or Skype and because of these things, the pace of life has sped up. We do more; we pack more in – even kids these days, in many parts of the world, sit in their bedrooms with Broadband internet, chatting away to their friends.

While I was preparing this programme I was interrupted with a video call from the U.S. One of our team there wanted to chat about a few things happening with Africa. I mean, man, the world has changed! More and more, it’s on demand. Time becomes our servant rather than our master – we schedule things when it suits us.

And one of the things that really doesn’t suit us is this idea that Jesus could be coming back – the Second Coming; the end of life and civilisation on this earth, as we know it – a day of judgement, which we looked at last week on the programme.

No, Jesus is coming back definitely doesn’t fit with my plans or your plans, for today and tomorrow. We have things to do, places to go, people to see. We have our priority lists, don’t we? And so even God … even God has to fit in with our plans.

I was speaking with the young pastor of a new church that is starting up in our local area and we were talking about when would be the best time to have a weekly service – Saturday or Sunday? Um? Definitely not in the morning, no, young people don’t do mornings. Sunday night’s not as good, because people are going back to work Monday morning and they want to rest up Sunday night. Saturday during the day – well, everyone goes out shopping – Saturday night people go out, so it kind of leaves Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon.

Now they are all perfectly valid considerations when you’re starting up a new church. You want to meet at a time when people are likely to come. But do you see what’s going on here? Because there are so many other things crowding our schedules, we are squeezing worshipping God into a time that suits us. Even God has to fit into our “on demand” world.

It’s a scary thought! But, more and more, I ask people who believe in God; God fearing believers – when do you spend a quiet time with your God each day; time in prayer, time is His Word, time resting in Him and learning from Him and growing in Him? And the answer … the answer is an embarrassed silence. People aren’t making the time because in the razzamatazz of a self-centred, “on demand” kind of world, where you and I are the centre of our respective universes, well, God just has to make do; He has to fit in!

Let’s change the perspective for a minute; let’s put the shoe on the other foot. Remember that childhood game hide and seek? Whoever was in would bend over and face a wall and cover their head with their arms and count to ten or twenty or whatever the number was, while the other kids went to hide. And then, when the count was over, the kid who was in would yell out, at the top of his or her lungs, “COMING, READY OR NOT!” It didn’t matter if you had run far enough or found a good enough hiding spot, the hunt was on, whether you were ready or not.

And that’s exactly how it’s going to be with Jesus coming back – the Second Coming and the Day of Judgement. First Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, says:

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

And have a listen to what Jesus had to say about His coming again. Matthew chapter 24, verses 35 to 51:

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You see, we may well have the world arranged to serve us; we may well have everything coming together on our hand-held mobile device; we may well be living under the delusion that God is happy to fit in to meet us at a time that suits us but none of us … none of us knows the day or the hour when He’ll return. Or the day or the hour that life on this earth will be snatched away from us. And when our life, here on this earth ends, one way or another, it’ll be too late!

My friend, are you ready? Is your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God? Are you living out that new life … that new relationship with the Son of God in your life? Because it doesn’t matter how well we organise our time, it doesn’t matter how much we have managed to get the world to revolve around us, Jesus is coming – He’s coming, ready or not!

Patient Endurance

Now we can’t talk about eternity without looking at the fact that, well, we have a life to live here on this earth first and sometimes it seems like God’s taking a long time to give us the eternity that He’s promised us. You know, one of the things sometimes that I wish God would do is just hurry up.

It seems as though one mundane day rolls into the next. And in my faith walk, it’s easy to lose sight of a majestic God and the power and the love He has for me. It’s easy to lose sight of the end game which is an eternity in His presence; an eternity with Him.

You know what I’m talking about – the mundaneness; the ordinariness of life can just grind you down. And in the middle of that, someone comes along and asks you, “Now, tell me, if you died tonight would you be ready for eternity?” And it’s like that falling sensation you get sometimes when you’re heading off to sleep. It casts a doubt in your mind. You know the feeling of experiencing the mundaneness of life and you think, “Man, am I ready or not?” There’s a kind of massive gap between the eternal glory of God and the reality of day to day life, and that gap can be disconcerting.

Well, over these last few weeks this is what we have been talking about. If you or I died tonight, would we be ready for eternity? It’s a discussion that we kind of finishing up today on the programme and I don’t think we can do that unless we talk about this gap that so many people experience between the reality of life and the glory of God.

When I first became a Christian, man, I had some wacky ideas. I first read the Book of Acts – this starts with Jesus ascending into heaven and then it talks about the early church. The Apostles and all that they did – the miracles. And I came to the conclusion that times were different then – it was like there were wall to wall miracles throughout the Book of Acts – things aren’t like that now – until I realised sometime later that the stories in the Book of Acts span a couple of decades.

So between all the flash bang of miracles, there were lots and lots of mundane days – tough days – it’s just that we don’t hear about them too much, we just get the highlights, if you will, in what is, after all, a very short book – given that it chronicles the first twenty years or so of this fledgling thing called “the church”.

I wonder if that isn’t what we expect out of life – wall to wall miracles; all these amazing mountain top spiritual experiences and when we discover that it isn’t always like that, then so many lose their way. Church, well, that’s not all it was cracked up to be.

My relationship with God – it’s not like in the Bible where all these miracles happen and so I don’t feel like it’s real – I stray away, I find other things to give me a hit and then … then some joker comes on the radio and asks me, “If you died tonight, would you be ready for eternity?”

That’s why for so many, this question is kind of jarring. It smacks you in the face! It either makes you realise that you have drifted away from God or it shines a light on this gap that we perceive, between life and the promises of God.

But here’s the other thing I’ve found – when I really started reading my Bible – I mean REALLY – looking at it, not as some distant fable or pantomime story, but reading it for what it really is: a gritty story about life and God’s engagement with us in the middle of that life.

Here’s what I discovered: a very strong thread; a theme – something you just can’t miss – about persevering through the trials and persevering through to the end. You don’t hear theologians talk too much about their doctrine of perseverance, I have to tell you! No wonder it doesn’t sound very enticing, does it? But it’s there. Have a listen. Matthew chapter 24, verses 1 to 13:

As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon the other; all will be thrown down.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us when this will be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Beware no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

Then they will hand you over to be tortured and you will be put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

The last thing that Jesus is promising His disciples, is a bed of roses, isn’t it?? The last thing He is promising them is an easy life. He’s saying, “torture”, He’s saying, “death”, He’s saying, “uncertainty”, and “wars and rumours of wars, and famines and earthquakes”. And in the midst of all this, will come a whole bunch of false prophets; people who tickle our ears with promises of an easy life.

“But that’s not it,” Jesus is saying. All this stuff that is going to happen to you, the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. Some people, their love for God grows cold because of the tough times, other people go chasing off after this false prophet or that. But here, just before going to the cross, Jesus is saying, “Guys, hang in there and you will be saved.” We have been so conditioned to seek after gratification in this world, which well; it’s not an easy message to swallow, is it?

The thing that I love about God is that He comes to us to speak to us through His Word, the Bible – boring as though I used to think that “thing” would be – not with unrealistic platitudes; not with false, unattainable promises, but with a gritty reality that shines a wondrous light, even into the darkest corners of our lives. And in the midst of a time of great persecution, this was God’s message to His people, Revelation chapter 2, verse 10:

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested and for ten days you will have affliction but be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.

Be faithful until death and God will give us the crown of life. So if there’s one thing that I can say to you about being ready for eternity, it would be this: “hang in there; keep going; don’t give up. I know some days are just awful, I know that and some days we feel as though God is a million miles away but His promise is to be with us till the end. And right here and right now, in the middle of the stuff that you’re going through and the stuff that I’m going through, He is here with you. He is here with me.”

Trust this Jesus, not just with your head – although that’s important; not just with your heart – although that’s even more important; but trust Him … trust Him with your very life. And we do that by living out our faith by sacrificing, by loving, by honouring, by encouraging people, even when they don’t deserve it.

There’s something sweet about that – there’s something godly and glorious and wonderful about persevering through the trials of life and living a godly life – this denying ourselves, taking up our cross, following Jesus. And if you died tonight, right in the middle of a rough patch, but hanging in there, doing good, believing in Jesus and when the evidence of our faith is examined on that day of judgement, man, that is exactly what He’s looking for.

Galatians chapter 6, verse 9:

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap the harvest, if we do not give up.

A Call to Action

Well, I’m not sure what you have made of our time together over these last four weeks. It’s sobering stuff! This notion that John 3:16 means so much more than simply believing in Jesus from a distance. Let’s have another look. John 3:16 to 18:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

You may recall that in that phrase, “whoever believes ‘in’ him”, that little word “in” literally means “into” Jesus. In other words, not some vague, intellectual ascent to the proposition that He is the Son of God and that He died for our sins and that He rose again to give us eternal life – not that – but actually taking this amazing gift of grace to heart and trusting Him with our lives and living our whole lives for Him, as a living sacrifice.

The Apostle Paul hits the nail on the head in his letter to the Roman church in the New Testament when he writes in chapter 12, verses 1 and 2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good, acceptable and perfect.

In other words, what he is saying is, “Look, all the mercy of God that I have been writing to you about in the first eleven chapters of this letter, in view of that great mercy, get on with it. Give up your old ways and become a living sacrifice, that’s how you worship God – that’s what God is looking for.”

Instead of continuing to let the world stuff you into its mould, change your mind about how you’re living; change the old attitudes that have kept you away from God. It’s only when you do that that you will discover the amazing plan of God in your life – the good, acceptable, perfect will of God.

God’s not looking for a bunch of pew warmers – pew sitting believers who drag themselves along to church, week after week, to sing songs and listen to sermons. He is looking for disciples, people who are prepared to get off their backsides and get out there in life and live out their faith, no matter what it may cost them.

And one day … one day, when either we breathe our last breath on this earth or when Jesus comes back – whichever of those two it’s going to be, let me tell you, the end of life here on earth, for you and me, is going to sneak up like a thief in the night. On that day, is Jesus going to find us living out our faith in Him; living out the mercy that He’s shown us, living out a life that demonstrates we’ve taken His grace and His mercy and His commandments to heart or is He going to find us asleep at the wheel?

As we draw to the end of this series, I want to leave these sobering words from Jesus Himself with you. Let the Spirit of God take them and do the work of God in your heart and in your life. Matthew chapter 7, verse 21:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

And again, Luke chapter 6, verse 46:

Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord”, and do not do what I tell you?

The difference between a pew warming believer and a disciple is this: the pew warming believer wants to accept Jesus as his Saviour; the one who brings him eternal life but that’s where it ends. The disciple … the disciple, on the other hand says, “WOW, in view of these mercies, I need to get on and live my life for Christ.”

Let me ask you something, according to Jesus’ own Words, which one is He looking for to spend the rest of eternity with Him – a pew warming believer or a radical disciple?

If you died tonight, my friend, would you be ready … would you be ready for eternity?