Christian in name only, Matthew 25, 25th chapter
of Matthew, verse 13 verses, a very familiar
passage of Scripture, I'll read to you, Matthew
25, 1 through 13, and all of our
guests in the annex, guests in the annex,
and our people there in the overflow rooms,
God bless you, we trust the Word will
find its place in your heart today.
Beginning to read, Matthew 25, verses 1 through
13, Then shall the kingdom of heaven be
likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps
and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were wise, five were foolish.
They that were foolish took their lamps and
took no oil with them.
The wise took oil in their vessels with
their lamps.
When the bridegroom carried, they all slumbered and
slept.
At midnight there was a cry made, Behold,
the bridegroom's coming, go you out to meet
him.
All those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish said unto the wise, Give us
of your oil, our lamps are gone out.
The wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there
be not enough for us and you, but
go ye rather to them that sell and
buy for yourselves.
When they went to buy, the bridegroom came,
and they that were ready went in with
him, and the marriage, to the marriage, and
the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord,
Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I send
you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day
nor the hour, when the Son of Man
cometh.
A Christian in name only.
Heavenly Father, this is an evangelistic message to
the Christian, and I pray, Lord Jesus, that
you make this everything you want it to
be.
Lord, I'll not let up.
I'm not, I will not soft peddle it.
I'll not try to sugarcoat it.
I'm going to preach it as you said
it.
Lord, there are people here that call themselves
Christians are not going to heaven.
They're going to be lost.
It's that plain.
It's that simple.
And Lord Jesus, we're in a time that
we can't play games in church.
It's not a time just to be coddled.
It's not a time just to be told
you're okay.
Lord, we have to measure ourselves by the
Word of God.
And I've come to you, and I've come
to your Holy Word, and I ask you
to put an unction on me.
Now I may speak this with divine love.
Lord, I know you love us.
But Lord Jesus, you're also a God of
justice.
You're a God of holiness, a God of
righteousness.
And we can't put that aside.
Lord Jesus, I pray that you speak to
us about the coming of Christ, about the
soon return of our Lord, and whether or
not we are ready and prepared in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Now, I think it's a very tragic thing.
Probably the worst thing I can think of
is being an atheist.
And yet, I believe even more tragic is
to be a Christian in name only.
More tragic than being an atheist.
The sad truth, there are millions today that
call themselves Christians, and if you ask them,
they're convinced they're going to heaven, and they're
not.
Not at all.
Even though they have the name.
And when I pray and ask God in
my prayer closet for Him to share His
heart with me, and tell me what grieves
Him so that I can preach it, and
what blesses Him so I can preach it,
I feel the greatest grief of God right
now when I pray, is the grief over
so many becoming foolish virgins.
Those who were once wise, those who had
been preparing, those who were diligent, somehow getting
caught up with the spirit of this age,
somehow allowing themselves to drift away from Jesus
Christ, from faithfulness to the house of God,
becoming Sunday morning Christians.
And many that sit here right now, that's
exactly what you become.
You're a Sunday morning Christian.
You don't come to any other service.
You don't go to any other, whether it's
this church or another church.
In fact, it's quite a job for you
to make it through Sunday morning.
It's not just being a Sunday morning Christian.
It's much more than that.
That this foolish virgins is another term for
a Christian in name only.
You don't hear much preaching today about the
coming of Jesus.
Not at all.
You preach, you hear mostly about coping with
problems and a little bit of pop psychology.
And I dare you to go to churches
today and never hear a message anymore about
getting ready for the coming of Jesus.
That the coming of Christ could be right
at the door.
And we just don't hear that anymore because
people, pastors would tell you, my congregation is
so full of fear, there's so much turmoil
in their families, there's so much difficulty, so
much pain, that we just have to give
the message how to cope, how to deal
with it.
And many Christians have to just be propped
up just to get through the week, just
to get through another day or through the
week.
But Jesus preached so much about his return.
He warned over and over again about being
ready to meet him when he comes.
He told of a day when he's going
to stand, he's going to come with a
sound of a mighty trumpet and the whole
world's going to see his appearing.
Listen to the scripture.
And then shall appear the sign of the
Son of Man in heaven.
And then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn.
And they shall see the Son of Man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory.
The Bible said he's going to send his
angels with the sound of a great trumpet.
He's going to gather his people from the
four corners of the earth.
And he said in the twinkling of an
eye, suddenly he's going to take them and
they're going to be gone from the earth.
Jesus cautions, but of that day and the
hour, no man knoweth.
No, not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only.
Now that doesn't say that Jesus doesn't know.
I've heard that said.
But Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father.
The Father knows.
And he said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father.
He said, we are one.
But he said, no angel knows, no man
knows.
Watch therefore, for you do not know the
hour when your Lord is coming.
Therefore, be ready also for such an hour
as you think not the Son of Man
is coming.
He's speaking to his own disciples.
He's not talking to heathen.
He's talking about Christians or believers, those who
love him, being ready for his coming.
Now, there's a lot of confusion about the
coming of Christ.
There are many people, the majority of evangelicals,
believe what they call the rapture, a sudden
taking away that no prophecy has to be
fulfilled.
Jesus could come at any moment.
He could come in the next five seconds.
He can come tonight.
He can come tomorrow.
He can come any time at all.
Many others believe that Christians will not be
taken.
Jesus won't come until halfway through what is
called Jacob's Trouble or the Great Tribulation.
It's supposed to be a seven-year period,
according to prophecy.
And many believe that he's coming in the
middle of that, that there's going to be
a lot of suffering, and there'll be a
mark of the beast, and that many Christians
will be lost during that time, and others
will be saved.
And the others teach that we will go
through seven years of Great Tribulation, then Christ
will come.
And there's another school that teaches this, that
Jesus will not come probably 30, 40,000
years from now until Christians overcome all evil
in the earth, and we will subdue the
earth and push out all evil, bring Jesus
back as king.
That's far-fetched.
The Bible said, Woe to any man who
say the Lord delays his coming.
He said he's an evil man who says
the Lord delays his coming.
Now, folks, listen to me.
I believe all of these doctrines miss the
point, completely miss the point.
I have readers, as I told you, we
have about 800,000 right now on our
mailing list all over the United States, and
I get so many letters saying, Brother, we're
asking you to take a stand.
What do you believe?
Do you believe in the rapture?
Do you believe in Jesus coming?
When do you believe Jesus is coming?
Well, folks, I'm not going to get involved
in this.
Let me tell you what the point of
Jesus is trying to make.
He said, Be ye ready at any time.
It's all about readiness.
Folks, you see, if you're truly living in
readiness and you're preparing for his coming, it
doesn't matter what he comes tomorrow or a
year from now or ten years from now,
you are living in readiness, and being in
readiness gives you joy and peace.
You can't lose by being ready.
You can be very lost by not being
prepared.
So, please don't write me about this.
Now, Jesus commands that we're to be always
in a state of readiness.
Be ye ready.
Watch.
He said he's coming for those who are
looking for his return, and then he warned
against any suggestion that he would delay his
coming.
For the evil servant will say in his
heart, my Lord is delaying his coming.
Now, folks, I'm not speaking against those who
say he's coming halfway through the tribulation or
seven years.
I don't think those who believe that have
any attempt to deceive or say the Lord's
delaying is coming.
In fact, if you were in Afghanistan, if
you were in North Korea today, if you
were in parts of Russia and in Georgia,
part of Russia or former Russia, and if
you were in some of these Muslim countries,
you would believe that you were in the
tribulation right now.
They are going through tribulation, and I personally
believe with all my heart that there's going
to be a lot of suffering.
Usually, we Americans don't like to suffer.
We like the prosperity.
We like it easy, and we want to
go to heaven in an easy manner.
We don't want to suffer.
We have not suffered, and we're not going
to.
I'm not going to suffer.
I'm telling you, there's going to be a
lot of suffering.
I was in Russia recently, and when I
was in Moscow, and there were pastors who'd
been in prison for 18 years, their wives
in jail for five years, seven years, and
come through such suffering.
You can see the marks on them, and
when I warned and prophesied that they're going
again, a Russia is going into a time
of great persecution.
All of these pastors have been in prison.
They've only been free for nine years now.
Only nine years of freedom, and every one
of them confirmed it, said, we believe the
same thing.
We see it coming from the Russian Orthodox
Church, now supported by the Communist Party to
stop all evangelical ministries.
Even in St. Petersburg, our attempt to rent
the large ice hockey arena was hindered, and
fortunately we were able to get the hockey
arena in Moscow, but they all agreed it's
right at the door again.
Tremendous persecution and suffering, and when you talk
to these people about being taken away without
any suffering, they would say that's a lying
thing, but we've already been through this stuff.
I've been in jail for 18 years.
I've been beaten, and I went hungry, and
we were separated.
There was tribulation of all kinds.
You see, the point is, it is the
Lord saying, be ready.
You don't know.
You really don't know when I'm coming.
I'm going to come suddenly, but he said,
you're to be ready at all times.
You're to be ready today, at any moment,
you'd be ready for his coming.
Jesus warned what would happen to Christians who
persuaded themselves in their own heart that he's
delayed his coming.
He said, you'll start drinking with the drunken.
He said, you're going to beat your fellow
servants.
In other words, you're going to start gossiping,
and you're going to have murderous tongues and
hatred thoughts, because you see, you don't believe
you're going to have to stand before the
throne and give an answer.
You say you have all this time.
The Lord's delayed his coming, so eat and
drink and be merry.
He's not coming.
I'm not going to have to answer.
In the mid-1800s, here in the United
States, there was a pastor, a preacher by
the name of Miller, and he was a
statistician and a very brilliant man, and in
his calculations, he had charts.
He went all through the scripture, and he
decided that he knew the exact day when
Jesus was coming, and through his charts and
calculations, he announced.
Now, he had quite a following, and they
were called Millerites, and Pastor Miller announced to
the United States that he was coming on
a certain day.
The whole country, the news picked it up.
It was all over the nation.
Jesus was coming on this certain day, and
so I think it was in Kansas.
I forget the state.
The Millerites began to gather from all the
United States.
Now, I'll tell you, many of them sold
everything they had.
They gave up their houses and their lands.
They started confessing their sins, and husbands became
nice to their wives, and wives confessed everything
to their husbands.
Some of them had their last fling, because
they said, I still have a week.
That's true.
A lot of Christians went out and had
a fling, because they said, I believe I
can repent.
The Lord is merciful.
I'll repent the day before, because he's coming
tomorrow.
He's not coming today.
You begin to understand why Jesus said, I'm
not going to tell you the time.
You're not going to know.
I want you to live expectantly, and so
the day came, and they were singing something.
They were dressed in robes and went up
on a mountain.
They were going to meet him on the
mountain.
Thousands of people gathered, and in other states,
they, you know, because this is, I didn't
get the whole, I read it once, but
I forgot all the details, but you know
the time changes around the world?
When he says he's coming at midnight.
Well, midnight in California, midnight in New York
are three hours apart.
Didn't take that into consideration, but they gathered.
It was supposed to be before midnight.
He was going to come, and so they're
gathered on the mountain, and they waited, and
they began to sing and shout just before
midnight, because this was the last few moments,
and he didn't come.
Miller went back to his calculations and figured
he'd made a mistake in one of the
years, and he reset the date, and they
gathered again.
When did he come?
He tried to reset it again.
By this time, those who'd been fooled are
now backslidden, many of them turned away, and
the Millerites became a very small group of
people still holding on to that truth.
I think some of them may still remain,
but you see, Jesus said, no man knows
that day.
Suppose the Lord had set a date, and
he told his disciples, I'm going to tell
you when I return, and he sets the
date.
Let's pick one, January 25th, 2085, midnight.
I'm going to return 2085.
Now, he said this at the beginning, that
would have been zero, year zero, but in
the year 2085 years from now, on a
certain day, January 25th, I'm going to come.
Be ready.
How many generations would have gone to hell?
How many generations would have said, I'd be
dead and gone by then.
He's not coming, I don't have to give
an account.
If I die, I've got to give an
account, but I've got plenty of time.
First pain I have in my belly, I'll
repent.
First time somebody says cancer, I'll repent.
I have time.
If Jesus had done that, even today, how
many, how many in New York, how many
in this church right now, would ease up
and say, I don't want that, you know,
he's not coming.
This is the motivation Jesus gave us toward
holiness.
You say, well, love alone should be holiness.
No, the Bible said we're bent on backsliding.
We are bent, God's people are bent on
backsliding.
It takes everything the Holy Ghost has in
his divine power to keep the saintly of
us on fire for God.
Now, to illustrate this call to readiness, Jesus
gave us a parable, this parable of the
ten virgins.
The ten virgins represent the whole body of
believers who call themselves by the name of
Jesus.
All of them were appointed to be ready,
every one of them.
Now, if you call yourself a Christian, if
you say you're a lover of Christ, you
love Jesus, you believe in Jesus Christ, then
you're a virgin, according to the scripture, you're
one of these ten virgins.
That represents the whole body.
Now, this parable is all about being prepared
for the coming of Jesus, because the bridegroom
here is Christ.
The virgins are those who call themselves by
his name.
Jesus sums up the parable with this warning.
After he's given us the parable in verse
13, then, watch therefore.
Now, these are the words of Jesus, they're
not mine.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day
nor the hour, the hour wherein the Son
of Man comes.
Now, see, the five wives took oil in
their vessels with their lamps, and the foolish
took none.
They had just enough in the lamp itself,
and it was burning, and it went out.
But the wise virgins had oil with them.
Now, I've heard many people say that oil
represents the Holy Spirit.
The Bible talks about the oil of gladness,
the oil of anointing, there are a number
of definitions of the oil.
I have a problem with all of that,
because the Bible doesn't say what the oil
is, and these foolish were said, go buy
the oil.
We can't share ours, you go buy some.
But who sells the Holy Ghost?
I mean, come on, how do you buy
the Holy Ghost?
We're not talking about the Holy Spirit here,
we're not talking about any other thing, but
that which causes us to be ready, that
force in us, this desire, this oil of
preparation, it can be nothing else.
The Lord, the whole thing, has to do
with being prepared.
Anything that motivates you to prepare for the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the state
of readiness.
Now, the word foolish here in Greek means
careless, heedless, and it also means blockhead.
Get your Greek concordance and look at it.
In the blockhead in the original, it means
an unconcerned person whose mind has just gone
lame.
It's from a root word that means mystery
or secret.
They're secret believers.
Nobody really knows.
You can't tell by the way they live,
you can't tell because they have no testimony,
they never talk about Jesus, and yet they
call themselves by his name.
It's a mystery.
They're Christians in name only.
Could have been a time, years ago or
sometime, that they made a confession, they said
a sinner's prayer.
In fact, at the beginning there may have
been a time in their past life that
this particular Christian, this kind of Christian, this
brand of Christian, may have read the Bible
occasionally, may have whispered prayer, and may be
in a crisis, they even cried out to
God.
But over the years there's been a drifting
away, they don't think about him, they don't
talk about him.
They go to church, they're sweet people, they're
loving people, they'll do anything for you, and
if you ask them, are you going to
heaven?
Yes, I'm going to heaven.
Are you a Christian?
Yes, I'm a Christian, I'm a believer.
But it's in name only, because they have
no passion for Christ, they spend no time
with him, they're not seekers after him, they're
still virgins, but the Bible said they're foolish,
and they're in real danger if they don't
soon recognize how vulnerable they are because they're
totally unprepared to meet Jesus when he comes.
In Isaiah, don't turn to it, but in
the third chapter of Isaiah, there's an account
of awful judgments that fell on Israel because
of their sin.
The Bible makes it very, very clear that
they were provoking the eyes of his glory.
They declared their sins as Sodom did.
Folks, isn't that what America's become right now?
We're sinning just as Sodom did?
We have become a sinful, ungodly nation where
anything goes.
Folks, I was reading a paper yesterday, and
some of the people who used to be
performers on MTV said this is the worst
filth that the nation has ever had spewed
upon it.
These are those who were once in it,
and they said, we can't even handle it.
Those who just five years ago were on
the cutting edge of immorality are saying, hey,
this is too far, we've stepped too far
now.
We have stepped over the line, brother, sister,
we have totally stepped over the line.
And I don't even know what goes on
because we don't have TV in our home,
but I do a lot of reading and
it appears to me, it sounds to me
like we have come to the very abyss,
to the very brink of the abyss of
hell.
And this is what happened in Israel, a
time just like this.
And the Lord said, I'm going to strike
the economy.
And he said, I'm going to take away
the whole supply of bread.
That means their livelihood.
He said, it seems to me the only
way I'm going to get the attention of
these people is to hit their pocketbook.
Folks, it's the only way God's going to
get the whole of America.
It's the only way God's going to get
attention of this mad nation.
It's the only way I'm going to get
attention to Wall Street.
God says, I'm going to cut off your
supply of bread.
I'm going to affect your livelihood.
Those who are going to build this 52
story building on top of us because we
don't have the air rights.
They canceled that primarily now because of the
economy, mostly because we prayed with the economy
also.
But you see, in that day, when you
get to chapter four and chapter four is
a continuation of chapter three, this is what
you read.
And in that day, when God begins to
judge, in that day of immorality, seven women
shall take hold of one man saying, we
will eat our own bread, we'll wear our
own apparel, only let us be called by
thy name.
Take away our reproach.
This is an amazing thing, because this man
is Jesus.
I believe Isaiah is talking about Jesus in
that day, in a time of turmoil, they're
going to be people, they're going to be
a certain kind of Christian who are going
to try to have a marriage of convenience
with Christ.
A marriage of convenience.
There's no love, no courtship mentions, not a
word of forsaking all others, not one word
about faithfulness, not a mention of the marriage
bed, no talk about engagement, no talk about
intimacy.
They don't want this husband, seven women, what
one man said, it represents the things of
God, the perfection of God, things that are
spiritual.
These are people who appear spiritual or claim
to be a part of the kingdom of
God and they're saying, no, we will provide
for ourselves, we will make our own living,
we'll do our own thing, we just want
your name.
To take away our reproach, so we'll appear
good before man.
You see, this is the arrangement that many,
this is the Christian in name only.
They don't want the commitment, they don't have
intimacy with Christ, there's no talk about the
marriage bed, there's no talk about total commitment
to Jesus Christ.
There's no talk here at all about love,
devotion, commitment.
We'll do our own thing, just let us
be called by your name.
And we are seeing that prophecy being fulfilled
before our very eyes today.
Our churches in America and around the world
are filled with millions of so-called Christians
who have no intimacy with Jesus Christ.
They called themselves by their name, they somehow
attached their name to him, they did it
on their own because Jesus will have no
part of this kind of arrangement.
He might have it, but some have taken
his name and said, I am married to
Christ.
Ask them the last time they spent 15
minutes in his presence loving him.
Ask them the last time they picked up
this Bible just to find out who Jesus
is and even read one chapter.
Here are people that God has blessed, here
are people that God has touched, he's kept
them, he's given them health and strength, he's
given them children that love them, or young
people even that God has blessed and kept
and protected.
And they can't even lay down at night
and say, thank you Jesus.
Listen to the heart cry of a true
Christian, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my soul shall be joyful in God.
He that hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation, he's covered me with the robe
of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with
ornaments and a bride adorns herself with her
jewels.
That means that the bride, the true Christian,
his heart goes out, or her heart goes
out constantly to Jesus.
There's a longing, there's a yearning, there's a
cry, Lord, put your robe of righteousness on
me, I'm dependent on you.
But you see, the Christian in Amoli really
doesn't want to depend wholly on Jesus.
There's not dependence, it's I can do it
on my own.
I'll go my own way, do my own
thing, and when I die, I'm going to
change, everything will be different.
This all happens, the scripture says, in that
day, that's in the day when the Lord
shakes the earth, when the child behaves himself
arrogantly against the elderly.
And when the wicked rise up against the
righteous, when God's judgments are upon the land.
And in that day, there'll be many Christians
who claim to be married to Christ and
claim his name and talk about his name.
And Jesus will have no part of it
and they are truly not his, the scripture
says.
The wise virgin cries out, O Lord, we
wait for you.
The desire of our soul is to your
name and to the remembrance of you.
Our soul desires thee in the night time.
Yea, in my spirit within me, I seek
thee early.
I get up every day and my heart
goes to you, Jesus.
I yearn after you.
That's the true Christian.
The true Christian cries out, my beloved is
mine and I am his.
And the Bible says, when the bridegroom tarried,
they all slumbered and slept.
This tells me we're living in the fulfillment
of that prophecy right now.
They all slumbered and slept.
Would you please go with me to Mark?
Turn right into Mark, the 13th chapter.
Are you still with me?
I've asked the Holy Spirit to help me
preach this with the love of God.
I'm not mad at anybody.
But beloved, if I'm a true pastor, I've
been on my knees with God and he's
speaking to my heart.
If you have any love for Jesus, if
there's the smallest desire for Christ, you've got
to hear what he says.
You've got to take it to heart.
You can't sit in your seat and say,
this is for somebody else.
You're going to say, Lord, if you're a
genuine person, if you really have heart for
God, otherwise you'd be an atheist.
But you sit here and say, I want
to know him better.
I don't want to be left out when
Jesus comes.
Then I would say, you've got to hear.
I'm not hitting you.
I'm not railing at you.
I'm telling you a verse and he still
loves you and his great desire is to
draw you.
And what he'll do, he'll send arrows of
conviction in your heart.
He'll speak the truth to wake you up.
That's why I'm trying to preach this quiet.
For me, this is quiet.
All right.
Mark 13, verse 35 and 36.
Watch you therefore.
Here it is again.
You know not when the master of the
hour cometh, even or at midnight or at
the clock crowing or in the morning.
Lest coming suddenly, he what?
Finds you sleeping.
And what I say unto you, I say
unto all.
Watch.
Even the wise were sleeping.
Now folks, when I was preparing this message,
that stuck in my throat.
I said, Lord, how can wise people who
have been preparing have extra oil?
How can they go to sleep?
I follow one scripture from Song of Solomon
said the bride says, I sleep, but my
heart was awake.
I said, well, that may be it.
Maybe, maybe the wives were just kind of
nodding and their heart was wide awake.
And that didn't satisfy me.
So I called a doctor friend of mine
who knows a lot about sleep from the
clinic.
And I said, doctor, I'm preparing a sermon
about the virgins.
And I'm stuck on this idea of the
righteous or the wise virgin sleeping.
I have a hard time with that.
And I said, I heard that there are
various stages of sleep.
And he said, actually, there are four, brother
Dave.
He said, first of all is REM, R
-E-M.
And that means rapid eye movement.
And that's the dream stage.
And then he said there's the moderate stage
where you, you know, you're not dreaming right
now.
And you come out of moderate into that
every 20 minutes.
He said 80 minutes, usually you're in stage
two.
He went all through this to the stage
four.
To the extreme and the deep sleep and
all of that.
Because the Bible does talk about deep sleep.
The Lord put them into a deep sleep.
And I said, that's it?
The foolish virgins are in this stage four.
Deep sleep.
I got it all figured out and I
was going to come here this morning and
tell you that you wise, all of us
as wise virgins, we're in stage one rapid
eye motion.
We're in REM.
And our hearts are wide awake.
And the Lord said, away with all your
technicalities.
Sleep is sleep.
I had to blow it all away.
All those hours of research down the drain.
The truth is, Jesus prophesied in the last
days there's going to be a great falling
away.
And I'll tell you, why would Paul the
Apostle admonish brethren?
Holy brethren, he called them.
In the same chapter, to wake out of
sleep for now your salvation is much closer
when you first believed.
Go to Ephesians, go further right, will you
please, to Ephesians.
Ephesians, the fifth chapter.
There are a few people here saying, when
will he ever finish this?
Look, Ephesians, the fifth chapter, verses 14.
Wait, yeah, Ephesians fifth chapter.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Ephesians 5, 14.
Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light.
Now look at chapter 5, verse 1.
Who's he talking to?
Be ye therefore, what?
Followers of God as dear children.
He's talking about those who are walking in
love.
Read it again, verse 14.
Wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest.
He's talking to the beloved.
And arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee light.
See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools
or foolish virgins, but as wise, wise virgins.
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wake up, saints.
Wake up, Christians, is what he's saying.
And he finishes, 2 Thessalonians 5, 6 and
7.
Therefore, let us not sleep as others do,
but let us watch and be sober for
they that sleep, sleep in the night.
What he's saying, listen closely.
What he's saying, when just prior to his
coming.
Now this is very important, I want you
to hear it.
This suggests to me that just before Christ
comes, there's going to be a great sleep.
And slothfulness and slumber come upon many Christians.
Many, many believers are going to be tested
by this.
I believe with everything in my heart.
When I ask God to show me his
grief.
That I could preach what is on his
heart and his mind.
I begin to think, Lord, why would you
want to bring to heaven a couch potato.
Who spends all his time in front of
TV watching sports, you know, 5, 6 hours.
Has never had a moment for Jesus.
Why would you want to bring into glory,
to be with you a Christian in name
only.
Who really has been ashamed of you.
Why would he want them in heaven?
Because they're bored now.
Why would he take them to heaven and
be bored for eternity?
Why would God want somebody with him?
Why would he want you?
He said, because, you know, 15 years ago
I said, I believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ.
I'm a sinner.
God forgive my sins.
The Bible said, even the devil believes and
trembles.
You're not even trembling.
Why would God want with him for eternity?
Those who have no time for him now.
He said, well, it's different.
When I die, I'm suddenly going to change.
I'll suddenly want him.
How do you stand at the judgment seat
of Jesus Christ when he comes and you
stand there?
And he says, give him a count of
your time.
And he's recorded everything that you've said, everything
that you've done.
And he can't find in the records even
thoughts of him.
Christian in name only.
You say, well, God loves me.
Yes, he does.
He loves you.
There are going to be many, many people
lost even though God loved them.
Because he's a God of justice.
He's a God of holiness.
He's a God of righteousness.
Nobody believes he loves sinners more than I
do.
But even though he turned to Israel when
Balaam mocked and said, I see no fault.
Those are the same people who all died
in the wilderness.
They died in the wilderness.
Because it was in name only.
Their hearts had never been changed.
God still loved them.
You know what I hear in my heart?
The Lord speaking.
Not only do they neglect me.
Not only are they not in love with
me.
Not only do they have no passion for
me.
No intimacy.
But they don't even think about me.
Now I've got a loving word for the
wise virgins also.
Before I close today.
Those who have begun to slumber.
This is what I believe is the grief
of God.
There's so many wise servants are becoming foolish
virgins.
They are turning away.
They were in this category.
And now they're moving into this category.
And God grieves over those he loves so
much.
This has been burning in my spirit.
The prophets wept on the backsliding preachers of
his time.
And Isaiah cried out.
The watchmen have become blind.
They're sleeping now.
They're lying down.
They're loving to slumber.
And I have a message.
And I want every Christian here.
Every one of you said, well brother, I
don't fit that category.
I'm not a foolish virgin.
I have a love in my heart for
Jesus.
I read my Bible.
I'm faithful.
I have a heart for God.
I have a passion for the Lord.
Here's what the scripture says.
Proverbs 19, 15.
Slothfulness cast into a deep sleep.
Slothfulness means beginning to allow things that you've
never allowed before in your life.
Sloth is backing away from that zeal for
God's house you once had.
It is just a drift.
It's a beginning to drift, little by little.
Just little by little.
First, it's missing the time of prayer.
It ends up being a Sunday morning Christian.
All Christians in Amalia are Sunday morning Christians.
Now, many of you can't make any other
service.
I understand that.
And it's not just church attendance.
As I've said many times, going to church
doesn't make you...
Going into a barn doesn't make you a
horse.
And going to church doesn't make you a
Christian.
You have to have an experience to understand
that.
But this has really been burning in my
heart.
When there's a sluggishness.
The Bible says, you become sluggish about my
ways.
And you begin to drift.
That will cast you into a deep sleep.
It will drive you into a sleep.
Little here and a little there.
The Bible says that the
Christian in Amalia is going to be left
out of the kingdom of God on that
day.
At midnight, there was a crime made.
I'm going to tell you, in spite of
dead churches.
In spite of sleeping pastors and shepherds all
over the world.
In spite of the falling away.
In spite of all the noise and din
of false prophets saying, peace, peace.
And trying to get people to just settle
down in a love trap.
In spite of all of that, God is
going to have his servants crying out.
It's midnight.
Behold, the bridegroom is coming.
God is going to have his servants that
are warning that Jesus is coming.
He's going to have that cry.
It's going to be made.
No matter what happens, there will be servants.
There will be those.
I am saying that now.
I'm one of those voices here this morning
in this church.
And this message goes out tape by tape
all over the world.
By video and also by audio.
And I am proclaiming right now the message.
It's midnight.
And behold, the bridegroom is coming.
That's the cry of this hour.
That's the cry from this pulpit.
Be ye ready.
Are you ready?
Are you ready to stand before Jesus?
Thank God for that little voice.
But the Bible said there's another cry going
to be made.
Not only is it a cry that he's
coming, but there's another cry.
And it's going to happen, the Bible said,
when men's hearts begin to fail them for
fear.
And looking after those things which are coming
on the earth.
When the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
It's a cry that's going to be heard
the day that the mosque is blown up
by militant Jews.
Who are going to sneak, I believe, right
under in those taverns beneath the Muslim temple
on the mount.
And they're going to blow it up.
You're going to know then that the Bible
says very clearly that there is a moment
of time.
There's little time left when you begin to
see that happen.
And when intuitively everybody knows that America and
the world is in critical mass.
In that moment when everything in society is
being shaken.
In that moment when Jews all over the
earth say, our Messiah is right at the
door.
In that moment when there is something in
every one of us.
Some of us know it now.
There's a sense, there's an inner knowing, there's
an intuitiveness in people right now.
That something supernatural is going to have to
be.
There has to be intervention supernaturally.
Something has to happen.
This can't go on.
And when we're getting so close that day.
And when that cry comes.
You see, there will be this cry, our
lamps are gone out.
They don't have the resources to face what
is coming.
Their hearts, Jesus said, will fail them for
fear.
And they're going to run to Christians.
They're going to run to pastors and say,
what do I do?
What do I do?
And you see, the whole thing is, now
I know it says, go buy oil from
those who sell it.
I think the whole thing is the Lord
saying, there's just not going to be time.
It's just as simple as that.
There's not going to be time to build
your Christian character.
There's not going to be time to build
up spiritual resources.
You're not going to have the time.
Our lamps are gone out.
We're empty, we're dry.
We've wasted our life, we've wasted our time.
And now the coming of the Lord draws
nigh.
And I'm not ready, I'm not prepared.
And you say, if you have it in
your mind today, that when Jesus comes or
you die, suddenly, either death or the coming
of Jesus by His angels to take you
home, however it may be, you say, at
that moment I'll change.
Death is going to change me.
Suddenly I'll have a heart for Jesus.
Suddenly I'll be talking about Him.
Suddenly I'll be praising Him.
No, no, no.
Death doesn't change anything.
You're going to be known as you are
known now.
The same character you have now, you'll have
when you stand before Jesus.
Nothing's going to change.
You're going to stand before Him still a
couch potato.
You're going to stand before Him just as
you are in your sins and wickedness.
Nothing's going to change.
I said with tears, brokenness, because I have
to stand before God.
The Bible says an answer.
The Bible says, while they were gone, the
bridegroom came and the door was shut.
Then they came knocking and said, Lord, Lord,
let us in.
And Jesus opens the door and says, I
don't even know you.
You've lived for 40 years, 50 years, 60
years, 70 years, 80 years.
I didn't know you.
You never even tried to know me.
We're strangers.
And the door's shut.
Now, take that for what you mean.
I know there are many people who say,
well, that doesn't say they're going to hell.
Folks, the Bible said the door's shut.
To me, that's frightening.
To me, what else can you say?
The door's shut.
Jesus shut the door in your face.
And how hard that must be for the
Savior.
Because He's just a holy God.
You were warned time and time and time
again.
I've got some good news.
You ready?
The door's still open.
Three minutes.
Let me tell you what to do.
If you're an honest person, say, that's me,
brother.
You're describing my life.
My first thing you do, number one.
First step toward becoming a wise virgin.
Start thinking about Jesus.
Let Him be in your thoughts.
Whatsoever things are honest, just, pure, holy, that's
Christ.
Just, pure, and holy.
Think on this.
Four, five, six times a day, as often
as you can.
When you get up in the morning.
Just say it.
Jesus.
All through the day.
Jesus.
Mention His name.
Think upon Him.
Put your thoughts upon Him, the Scripture says.
And number two.
I'm going to give you a prayer that
a man prayed in the New Testament.
A man who was this very kind of
person.
A man who was, he could hardly lift
up his eyes.
And all he said is, Jesus.
And this is the prayer I'm going to
ask you to pray.
Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.
And Jesus said, that's the man who's going
to go to his house justified.
This is the man that the door will
open to.
This man who says, Jesus.
Now, folks, you don't have to learn how
to pray.
You don't have to pray in public.
You've got to have this privately before the
Lord.
And, folks, if you'll start praying this privately.
And say it over and over again.
Say it 20 times a day if you
must.
Say it when you get up.
Lord, have mercy on me.
I'm a sinner.
What that does is say, I'm not what
I thought of.
I thought I was pretty good.
Your goodness is going to get you nothing.
Your Bible said, your goodness is filthy rags
in His sight.
That won't happen.
You say, I am a sinner.
That humbles you before the Lord.
I'm a sinner.
I need your grace.
I need your mercy.
I can be saved not by my good
works, only by your mercy.
Hallelujah.
Jesus, have mercy on me.
I am a sinner.
And let that be known in you.
That humbles you.
And that takes the pride out of your
heart.
I'm a sinner.
And then you can say, saved by grace.
A sinner saved by mercy.
By the mercy of God.
Can I tell you something?
If a door is closed on you, it
won't be my fault.
It won't be your wife or husband's fault.
This is something that you have to answer.
I'm going to ask you one last time
in closing.
If Jesus were to come this day, then
this is not just to provoke fear in
you.
It's an honest question.
Could you look in his loving eyes and
say, I've been a wise virgin.
I've prepared for this moment.
I didn't drift away from you, Jesus.
I've loved you.
That doesn't merit.
The only merit you get is through his
blood, through his faith and finished work of
the cross.
But you're also saved by promise.
Promise.
He promised you.
You seek with all your heart, the soul
of my name.
You'll find me.
And you'll find the door open.
Will you stand?
I'll give you another scripture.
Jesus said, if you're ashamed of me before
men, I'll be ashamed of you before my
father in heaven.
But if you confess me before men, I'll
confess you before my father in heaven.
I'm going to open this.
We call this the altar area.
There's no altar here.
It's just a piece of wood.
We've got a little space up here.
But I want you to make a public
confession.
If you can say honestly in your heart,
Brother David, the word of God by the
Holy Spirit touched me.
I am one of those.
Now, this is a bold invitation.
That's who I am.
I've been a Christian in name only, and
I don't want to be that.
I've been foolish.
And I want Jesus to touch my life.
Now, I know some of you will find
it hard to step out.
But if only 20, 30, only 10 were
to come, I would have done what the
Holy Ghost told me to do.
Up in the balcony, you can go to
the sides.
I would tell you, in the annex also.
This is so important.
I want you in the annex to go
back into the lobby.
The usher showed them how to get down
here.
And you come through the stairs into this
building and walk down the aisle and meet
me here.
I'd like to pray with you also.
You can come.
They're going to sing a chorus, not to
create a mood for you, but simply to
give us time for those that are coming.
And I'd like to advise you a little
here at the altar and pray with you
and believe God to change your life.
Folks, it's time to get serious with God.
It's time to get serious.
Some of you have been coming here for
quite a while.
You still haven't really haven't crossed that line
of commitment.
The Lord wants you to commit yourself and
say today is the day.
Husbands and wives, come on, take her by
the hand, sir.
Walk down this aisle and let's believe the
Lord.
Coming down here in itself doesn't save you,
but it's a beginning.
All right.
You can still come while I'm talking.
Those that are any others coming, put them
down this aisle.
That aisle is pretty close.
Bring down this other aisle, if you will,
please.
Let me read to you from Psalms 86.
Lord, you are a God full of compassion.
You're gracious, long suffering, plenteous in mercy and
truth.
Oh, turn unto me, God.
Have mercy upon me.
Give your strength to your servant and save
the son of your handmaid.
And show me a token for good that
they which hate me will see it and
be ashamed.
Because you, Lord, have helped me and you,
Lord, have comforted me.
He said, give me a token of good
that my enemies will see it.
Those that hate me.
That's the devil and all the powers of
hell that hate you.
And you pray, Lord, show me a token
of good.
Show me your mercy.
It's just that mercy and that's a touch
of God in your life.
Now, some of you that didn't step out.
I'm asking you in the annex and upstairs,
downstairs, wherever you are.
You can pray this prayer in your seat
right where you're at.
And folks, I'm coming more and more convinced
that this prayer means absolutely nothing.
It's just a bunch of air unless it
comes from the heart and there's a commitment
behind it that says, I've heard the word,
the word's dug into my heart and I
want to obey God.
There has to be something more than just
saying this prayer is going to save me.
It has to be so much more than
that.
There has to be conviction of the Holy
Ghost in you.
There has to be saying, I'm sick of
living half-heartedly.
There's something that has to cry out in
you, Lord, send the Holy Ghost and give
me power and anointing to live for you.
If that's where you're at.
If you can say right now, I accept
the word of the living God.
I'm convicted.
And I want to go further than I've
ever been.
I want to know Jesus like I've never
known him.
And I want to give my time to
him.
If that's in your heart right now, the
Lord's going to hear your cry.
He's going to hear the prayer.
I want every one of you to pray
this prayer with me right now.
Then I'm going to pray for you.
I'm going to believe the Lord.
Don't pray it unless it's from the inner
part of your being until it's from the
depths of your gut and in your heart.
Pray it right out loud.
Jesus, I am a sinner.
Have mercy on me.
Forgive me and cleanse me.
Oh, Jesus, I turn to you with all
my heart.
Not half-heartedly.
Not the way it's been.
I want to change.
I want to serve you with all that
is in me.
I need your help.
I need the Holy Ghost.
Now, Jesus, this very hour, I commit myself
to follow you completely, honestly.
Give me courage.
Draw me nearer to yourself.
Put a love in you, my heart, for
your word.
I believe you, Jesus, to go deep in
my soul.
Cleanse me.
Pull out the sin and give me a
heart after you.
Now, let me pray for you.
Heavenly Father, you heard the cry.
Holy Spirit, you're the only one who knows
the depth and reality of what you heard.
But, oh God, you said, He that's begun
a good work and you shall finish it.
He shall complete it.
God, finish the good work.
This is just the beginning.
Lord Jesus, don't let us lose the conviction
that you have placed in our heart today.
You promised me that if I would obey
and preach this word, that you would drive
into the hearts of people loving arrows, arrows
of love and conviction and say today, cross
the line, make your commitment and I'll help
you honor it.
I'll give you the power and the strength
to honor your commitment.
Just make it by faith and I'll carry
you through.
Now, Father, I thank you.
You're faithful to your word.
What great love you have for us.
Lord, you love the wise and you love
the foolish.
But you've made a promise.
The day you seek me with all your
heart, you'll find me.
Lord, thank you for that open door.
Let not one person hearing me today that
has turned to you ever have that door
shut.
Thank you, Father.
I want you to raise your hands and
give God thanks.
Let's just give Him thanks.