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[0:00] In Jesus' name, amen. Get ready. Here's my message. Get ready. Be ready. Prepare for the coming of the Lord. You know, we should be preppers, shouldn't we?

[0:12] ! In the sense that we should be prepared, shouldn't we? I know I see some, there's the worldly kind of thoughts of preppers, aren't there? Of people that are preppers, as in they think they've got to prepare for maybe a coming nuclear holocaust or prepare for some totalitarian state or dictator to come or prepare for some great crisis or calamity or catastrophe.

[0:36] There's people who are preppers in that they may gather weaponry or they might store foodstuffs or they might have bunkers and have escape plans to flee from this coming danger or to be prepared such that they can flee and find some refuge, some safe place with some calamity that is coming.

[1:02] And of course, those preppers may not be prepared for the coming of the Lord. That's a different question, isn't it? And we're talking this morning about the second coming of Christ.

[1:14] It's an event mentioned more than 300 times in the New Testament, let alone in the Bible. And the coming of Christ, it's a promise for us. It's something that is promised.

[1:25] It's prophesied for us. You know, this book is filled with prophecies. Unlike other so-called holy books, like the man I was talking to in the last week, there's no prophecy in the Koran.

[1:36] But the Bible is full of prophecies, some fulfilled, some yet to be fulfilled. And it's a cause for real joy for us that Christ is coming. Our Saviour is coming.

[1:47] And the Lord calls us to make spiritual preparation for His coming. To make spiritual preparation for His coming.

[1:59] I saw a slogan that says, there won't be time to get ready. We have to be ready. We have to be ready. And how are we to prepare for the coming of the Lord? Now, just to preface this, I'm not going into the intimate detail of the timings of this or that.

[2:15] That's another question. But it's more about, are you ready? Are you ready for Jesus to come? And what are you doing? What are you doing in the light of His soon coming?

[2:26] In the light that our Lord is coming, what are you doing about that? And do you think that you are ready? Can you say, but as for me, I'm ready.

[2:38] Just let me know, Lord. I'm ready whenever, whatever, I'm ready. What are you doing? Are you ready? That's a big question. That's an important question. How prepared are you?

[2:50] How prepared are you, spiritually speaking? And God is getting His church ready. We see that for the ultimate, that ultimate day to come, when the church will be, it says, presented unto Christ.

[3:05] And this day, I put to you, it's fast approaching. God is making His church ready. Ephesians 5.27 tells us that. Ephesians 5.27 tells us about the church.

[3:16] And it says that He, our Lord, might present it to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

[3:30] Should be holy, should be without blemish, should be ready, shouldn't it? He wants to prepare it unto Himself, a glorious church, no spot, no wrinkle, nor any such thing. And He's going to present it to Himself.

[3:45] Now, I know there's, I know there's wedding bells in the air. I've heard of some wedding bells in the air. Someone's getting ready to get married. And, you know, that's something special, isn't it?

[3:55] That's something exciting. That's something enthralling. Something a bit scary, maybe. But, you know, there's people when they want to get ready to get married, when they want to get ready for their bridegroom, they want to be ready, don't they?

[4:08] They want to be prepared for their bridegroom. And so, too, the church, as it were, as pictured as they're like to a bride for the groom, that He is wanting to present it to Himself.

[4:21] Such a glorious thing, a glorious, blessed, beautiful thing at His coming. And the point is, are we ready? That's really my challenge today, to get ready.

[4:34] Whatever be tied, whatever it is that we face, we should be ready. Very, very ready. Very prepared. And there's an old book titled, I Saw, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life.

[4:48] It's an old-fashioned book, an old-time book by an old-time preacher. It says, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. Now, this is a serious call today.

[4:59] It's serious. We should take this really seriously about our preparation. And the Lord tells a parable of ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom to come.

[5:10] And this is Matthew 25. He told this parable of these ten that were awaiting the bridegroom to welcome Him, to light His path to the bride.

[5:21] And it says, Five were called foolish and five were wise. This is Matthew 25, verse 10. And the foolish ones, they brought no oil in their lamps.

[5:33] They were not ready. They were caught on the hop. They were caught unprepared. In Matthew 25, verse 10, it says, While they went to buy, they went to get some oil for their lamps.

[5:44] The bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage and the door was shut. Some are not ready. Friends, some are not ready for Jesus to come.

[5:58] You know, there's a plea here to be watching, to be ready. So likewise, I put to you today just some practical pointers. These are kind of more practical pointers, not so much in terms of the finer doctrinal detail of the timings of this or that, but more about the practical pointers of am I ready for Jesus to come?

[6:19] Am I personally ready? Am I ready myself? Likewise, it is important and the context of Matthew 25 or 24 talks about being the importance of being watchful, being watchful, on the alert.

[6:33] It's like you could think of the SES or the CFS or the fire brigade. They've always got to be listening for that alarm where it's the beep, beep, beep, the call, the call to go and they've got to immediately be able to be summoned and sent and to respond to that call to service.

[6:57] They've got to be constantly on call, constantly at the ready. You know, I had a job alike to that in a sense that I was on call and I could be woken up in the middle of the night to take some action and likewise, this is a picture here.

[7:11] We should be watchful, we should be watching, we should be such that we are ready whatever the moment, whatever the time, whatever the circumstance that our Lord has got us ready and our Lord talks about preparation in Matthew 24, 42.

[7:26] He talks of some taken and of some left. Matthew 24, 42. Our Lord says, Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. We might have all kinds of ideas about when this and when that but we don't know what hour our Lord doth come.

[7:47] But in another passage in Luke 21, our Lord urges his people to watch and to pray and he says this and this is a really telling passage here. Matthew 21, 34.

[7:57] It says, And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting. Now, I had to look that one up because I didn't know what that meant to be honest with you.

[8:08] But surfeiting, it talks about being kind of an overindulgence of being kind of affected as in an indulgence in alcohol, for example, is the kind of sense of it, of being overcome, overcharged with surfeiting.

[8:29] It talks about the effects of, I guess, indulging in a party or such things. So, he says, Beware lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, so that day come upon you unawares.

[8:47] For as a snare shall come on all that dwell on the face of the earth, watch ye therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.

[9:02] Our Lord says, watch and pray. Friends, we have need to watch for the coming of our Lord. It's on the horizon. The Bible says it's coming. It's closer today than it was yesterday.

[9:15] I can tell you that for a fact because it's yet future. It's yet future. Some would think, oh, he came in 1844 or he came in whatever it be. They set dates and then they've got to make up for their mistakes.

[9:27] You know, these false cults like the Jehovah Witnesses, when they make predictions that don't come true and, but it's yet future. It's yet to be fulfilled and he urges us some things to be avoiding.

[9:39] He says, avoid drunkenness, he says. Avoid the cares of this life and we read of a coming deception. We should be watching and watchful because of the need to be warned and be alert to danger.

[9:56] there's mention of persecution. There's mention of that. And I wonder how many of us are really prepared for persecution.

[10:09] If persecution was to come, I think that's something we should consider really, really carefully. What must we do to prepare? We should get saved.

[10:21] That's number one, isn't it? Get saved. Make sure you're saved. Get holy. You know, get right with God. Get things sorted. Get the, get closer.

[10:31] Get, get right. And get oil in your lamp. You know, we don't want to be like those ones caught on the hop and that speaking of a kind of spiritual preparation, isn't it? Speaking of, the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit.

[10:44] You know, some people would say, oh, you're one of those kind of churches, aren't you? You're not spirit filled. That's what they would say. They would say that we're not spirit filled because we don't have the carry on and the hoo-ha and the, and the so-called tongues.

[11:01] But friends, the spirit filled church is the biblical church. The spirit filled church, the church that the spirit fills, that the Holy Spirit fills is the church that stands for the word of God and truth.

[11:14] That's the kind of church God helping us we can be. And, and we are a spirit filled church. We can say that. Amen, we are. Absolutely we are. And we should get oil in our land.

[11:26] It says we should watch, we should discern. Friends, I believe we should brace ourselves for what's coming up, for what's coming, for what's next. And brace ourselves taking courage, being brave.

[11:39] I believe that we will face suffering. Paul says we're going to go through much tribulation. Paul says that. I mean, I believe that we will face some suffering. Now, I still think and hope and pray that we'll go before it gets really bad as in the great tribulation.

[11:56] But there's going to be some tribulation. We're going to face some tribulation. I put to you, we will suffer. If we're a Christian, you will suffer persecution. You will suffer. If you're a Christian, you shall suffer persecution.

[12:08] And I believe we're going to need to be like Daniel. We're going to need to be like Daniel. This is no time for half measures. May we not be ashamed at his coming. 1 John 2.28 it says, Now little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

[12:28] Some people are going to be like the five that had to go and get their oil filled up in their lamps and oh, door shut. They missed out. They were ashamed, I suppose, in the sense that they were not prepared.

[12:42] And my plea to you today, God helping me, is just to urge you to be prepared. To think, how can I better prepare my heart?

[12:54] How can I better prepare myself for this coming event which is soon coming? It's coming sooner now than it was yesterday. It's coming. And some things are necessary I put to you to be prepared.

[13:05] Some practical pointers for preppers, you could call it today. And the first one is concerning your soul. It concerns your soul. And the first point I'd like to make is this one.

[13:27] Be saved. That's my first point today for you. The Bible tells of a blessed hope. In other words, a joyous, joyful, glad, happy hope.

[13:37] And that is telling us of our Lord's appearing. And it also tells of a hope that is within you. A hope that is within you. That's why we care about witnessing and evangelising or telling others the message because we've got a hope that is in us.

[13:52] We've got a reason for that because we know him, our saviour. So the first point is make sure your soul is saved. In 1 John 3 verse 3 it says that every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.

[14:09] You know there's a way you can get pure on the inside and it's not by any working or straining or stress or effort of your own really. It's this hope that is in you that makes you pure.

[14:20] It's Jesus in you that makes you clean. It's Jesus in you that cleanses you. It's Jesus' blood shed for you that you apply that you appropriate. It's Jesus' blood that makes you clean, makes you pure from the inside out.

[14:34] And he cleanses us and he makes us pure the Bible says. There's another old book with the title An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners. An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners.

[14:47] Now there's a crying need. There's an alarm going off. There's this boom, boom, boom. You know you see the videos of the tsunami as it hit Japan and the earthquake warning, the tsunami warning.

[15:06] There's an alarm going off. An alarm to unconverted sinners. Get saved. There's a crying need. A lost man is in great peril. Now here's now another call from God's book itself we see in Titus 2.

[15:22] We need to get ready. We need to read carefully what it says in this context, what it says of that blessed hope. It impacts our lives. This is no legendary or kind of make-believe or some superstitious thought of man.

[15:44] This is the promise of God. There's a blessed hope. There's a blessed hope and it tells us that in Titus 2 verse 11 it says for the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.

[16:21] You know that bears reading that verse doesn't it? That passage the grace of God has appeared salvation is in extended as God's gift as an offering to all that will trust him.

[16:37] Grace has given it salvation has appeared and it tells us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should have a life change we should live soberly we should live righteously we should live godly because Jesus is coming and we've got that blessed hope that we're looking for his coming friends we should think soberly we should live soberly aren't we such a people?

[17:04] Now you might think well that sounds a bit hard how do I get to be living godly and righteously and soberly how do I get such that I'll live that I've got a purifying it's the hope that is in you it's that hope it's Jesus in you that makes that change that heart change you know I was talking to this fellow as I was witnessing to him earlier in the week this Muslim man and he and I said you know God will give you a brand new heart a brand new star and he was questioning all this he was saying well how do we know you know how do we know this is true he'd rather hold to a book that's a much more recent book a much more contemporary book than the old time word of God and I just urged him to find that trust in Christ to find that God can make a new heart and that you can be born again and that's the point I'm making here is be saved it's not religion it's not philosophy of man it's not some turning a new leaf some kind of mind change it's about having a new heart

[18:09] God can give that to you it's his gift are we such a people that we are saved by the grace of God we're looking for that blessed hope are we such a people that we're eagerly waiting our Lord to come a purified people in a dirty planet in a defiled world that we can be such a people that you can be purified isn't that great you know to think all my sin all my lack he paid for it all from my birth to my death all my sin was paid for by virtue of his blood shed for me he has made me pure he's counted me his son he's counted me washed from all of that all of my sin all of my need he's paid it all and we can say likewise we're a purified people in a defiled planet yes we stand out like sore thumbs because we're clean and that's not by virtue

[19:13] I didn't scrub it off he washed it he washed me it wasn't my scrubbing really hard with my own effort to make myself clean Jesus made me clean I'm washed he did the washing we washed by his blood we washed in the blood we washed by his blood by his washing we can be made clean and that and that applies to all our sin that's an astounding truth and no wonder we can actually feel I actually feel clean you know when you had a wash you feel clean physically speaking what about spiritually wow we've had a heart washed with living water the pure purifying work of God's spirit can wash us clean cleaner than we can ever make ourselves clean religion can't make you clean religion can't take your sin away Jesus can he can and he will if you trust him ask him receive his gift and friends we'll be safe from wrath through him it says we will not suffer the wrath poured out on

[20:18] Israel I believe we will not suffer the judgment wrath of the lamb that's that's not going to hit us the wrath of the lamb but the wrath of the lamb the wrath of the wrath against unbelieving Israel will be poured out the wrath of the the God rejecters will be poured out God saved Lot God saved Noah and their families we can we can trust God will take take action on our part but friends judgment looms and that's the point I'm trying to hit home here today judgment looms and it's important that we're ready for that it's important that we know that we're saved it's critical that you know that you're saved the situation on this planet is a deepening crisis look at what's going on and this is just a virus mind you they're saying there's worse ones have you heard that this is just the first plague you know the

[21:20] Bible talks about plagues plural this is just a little one this is just to soften you up a little bit to get ready for what's maybe I'm being a bit scaremongering here but the sense is maybe this is just the beginning of sorrows maybe it's just the beginning and this situation I'll put you as a deepening crisis and look at the rioting the lawlessness the mayhem the disorder that's going on the lawlessness they don't just hate the police they hate the law they hate the fact that they can't just go to a shop and pillage and take everything they want off of the shelf there's a lawlessness and it's in the heart of wicked man and mankind has enough weaponry to destroy all life on this planet now someone's just got to press the button see what happened in Lebanon I mean who's to say whether that was intentional or not but boom a whole city virtually destroyed in a moment of time friends these are serious days but friends despite all of this hopelessness we can have a hope that is within us and it's a blessed hope that we look for a glorious appearing of our

[22:39] God so be saved number one secondly you that are saved be I put to you be sober be sober in your mind it says in 1 Peter 4 verse 7 but the end of all things is at hand be therefore sober and watch unto prayer you that are saved be sober as well when we think about these turmoils on the planet of this time we look beyond that we look to the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ we long for that we look for that we have an expectancy of that now sometimes we joke about a crisis that's going on and you know it's something I've said at times that when something bad is happening there's something bad that we're going through we might say something like it's not the end of the world well

[23:47] I don't know could it be the end of the world could we be starting to see the end of the world actually that of which we speak today is the end of the world but the end of all things is at hand therefore be ye sober and watch unto prayer actually we're talking about the end of the world and it's the end of the world as we know it in that sense that wow I wouldn't have thought three or four months ago that we would be at this place in this mad state of affairs that we're in don't you reckon that wow who would have thought that such a thing could be going on even it's kind of sounds too much like a movie or something a horror movie but we're in the horror movie now and the end of the world as we know it is shortly to happen so we ought to think soberly friends the bible talks much about soberness about being sober about soberly thinking in 1

[24:50] Thessalonians 5 verse 6 again of the context is of our Lord's coming it says therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and be sober we need to be sober I put to you to have presence of mind and speaking of a mind that's not addled by drink or any such thing that we have a soberness the soberness here now if I was about to board a jet liner to take an international flight I would want to know that the pilot was sober wouldn't you if I saw the pilot there with his little flask of brandy as he walked up the steps of the jet liner I think I'd be feeling a little bit concerned about that I'd like the pilot of my plane to be sober amen what about you fathers you're the pilot of your family friends it's a serious question isn't it even the world warns us about alcohol here's a quote from a worldly source it says alcohol is a mood altering substance that affects the nerves that pass messages around the body by slowing them down the more you drink the greater the effect alcohol affects parts of the brain responsible for self control do you want your self control to be diminished do you want the thinking processes of your intellect of your willpower to be diminished man you are the pilot of your home lead wisely now I happened to sometime some while back

[26:31] I think at the time Julie and I were eating out at a hotel and it's the local the midway and I went into the bar area obviously not buying an alcoholic drink for myself or Julie but I went into the bar area and I happened across a man and that man was once a committed and active part of a big church just down the road here yet he no longer goes to church something happened he got offended or whatever and I've been trying to reach out to this man lovingly gently urging him to fellowship to get things back on track spiritually but he has said to me there's no intention no intention at all of going any longer to any church on a Sunday but he is open to attending our men's meeting so we're keeping that door open to reach this man and here is a man with great potential to be a useful Christian yet sadly here he was at the bar beer in hand and he had a different kind of fellowship it's a different kind of fellowship

[27:37] I put to you he was not sober he was not sober now that's not to condemn the man but for the grace of God such would be me but the Bible tells us much about being sober there's many passages that talk about soberness now it doesn't just apply to alcohol but alcohol is just one aspect isn't it what does it take to put you off you know brother Neil and I saw another man put off going to church some let down some minister let him down and he's kind of thrown the whole thing away because some preacher must have done something he didn't like or hurt him if you look at man you'll give up but if you look at God he'll never let you down Jesus will never let you down don't let anything stop you from fellowshipping even if you get offended today or something that I say or someone does something or other don't let anybody stop you from Jesus keep your eyes upon him don't look at man churches will let you down preachers will let you down fellow

[28:44] Christians will let you down you'll get disappointed you'll get hurt by Christians they're flesh they're still flesh they're still human and I'm saddened when I saw that man and my heart went out to him just wanted to reach out to him and as we both tried to reach out to him but the question is what does it take to put you off some people get easily put off some preacher lets them down they throw their whole thing away but here was this man he was having a different kind of fellowship you could say there's repeated cause to be sober to be sober minded to be clear headed in days such as this we need to be clear headed like that pilot flying that jetliner it says watch do not sleep wake up and friends I put to you we need to be diligent we see that in 2 Peter 3 another passage there's many but here's another passage just passing comment on this theme of being sober and it says 2 Peter 3 verse 10 it's telling of the day of the

[29:46] Lord it says it will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works thereof shall be burnt up seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness what manner of people ought we to be we know what's coming we know that the end of all things is at hand we know that the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness wherefore beloved seeing that you look for such things be diligent that you may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless now friends

[30:52] I'll use that example of the Christian here I'm not meaning to condemn the man but there is a sense where we've all got to give account of ourselves to God where do you stand you might have different convictions on these things but nevertheless there's the need to be sober that's clear as crystal that's in black and white be sober and I don't know that I can have a little taste of it and stay sober to be honest I've never really had a liking for it I know as a young man one of my early jobs was cleaning the Elizabeth mall I was one of the cleaners for a few days I think I only lasted about three days but one of my jobs was cleaning out before it was an enclosed mall it was an open mall the Elizabeth town centre there was no cover there and people used to smoke there and one of my jobs was cleaning out the little round things with sand in them that people would stub their butts out and one of my jobs was getting all the butts out of the sand and putting it in a bin and cleaning it all up so someone else could go and stick their butt in the sand and it was a hot day and the boss said look here I'll get you a drink because it was pretty hot that day and there wasn't really any water around so he gave us all a beer and I had a look at it and thought well okay

[32:32] I'll have a little drink and I felt like vomiting actually after I virtually spat it out and then when he wasn't looking I tipped the beer bottle down and gave it to a plant but in a sense we've all got different convictions about these things but I think it'd be better to err on the side of not drinking at all Amen I honestly would put that to you but friends we're talking about being a glorious church that we'll be diligent to be found of him and as a child of God he saved us and this is true even if you're weak if you feel weak in yourself if you feel lacking in your knowledge if you're feeling like your walk is not as good as it could be in your service as a child of God he saved you your salvation is sure but there's always more we should be diligent it says we should be diligent it says yet there is a call to be on the alert to be waiting for the saviour and it says that in 1 Thessalonians 1 9-10 it says how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true

[33:44] God to wait for his son that comes from heaven whom he raised from the dead even Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come there's a wonderful joy that Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come we don't need to fear God's wrath his anger was vented at the cross all the anger of God against your sin was vented there!

[34:05] it was poured out was fully vented and dealt with there at the cross all of your sin and the anger of God against you was taken he's delivered us from the wrath to come but yet there is the call to be diligent to be diligent so be sober in your mind and just thirdly another one is to be established!

[34:28] I'll talk about that one! established now this word established I'll talk about that the Lord caused us to establish our hearts in other words established you could put in modern lingo in other words this word established it talks about steadfastness it talks about God strengthening and friends I'll put to you in the context of our Lord's coming again what does it say about men's hearts that they're going to be failing them for fear what does it say about believers hearts that our hearts should be established it says that our hearts should be established we have need of faithfulness we need of steadfastness James says this and so does Paul James 5 verse 7 and 8 it says be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord behold the husband and waiter for the precious fruit of the earth and have long patience for it until he hearts for the coming of the

[35:37] Lord draw nigh I put to you be saved be sober be established what am I saying in other words be firm be fixed be stable be stabilized be established!

[35:53] Paul says like words again in the context of the second coming he says this 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 12 he says and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward you to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints James says establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draw off nigh Paul says establish your hearts at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ it's a common thread some people's hearts are not established what do I mean by that in other words they're wavering there's a lot of flim flam there's a lot of people that are wavering such that as I referred to that decent man that we saw maybe he wasn't established in the faith such that an offence caused him to turn from his fellowship something comparatively slight unsettle his walk with

[37:05] God and in these days I put to you that we're seeing this preponderance of a weak kind of Christianity a weak kind of Christianity that has a softness to it and it will not stand and I put to you today now more than ever we need to get equipped we must get equipped it tells us in the word that judgment begins at the house of God we have an accountability I have an accountability to you before God for you in that sense I've got to give an account for your souls that fills me with a trembling that I have to give an account for your souls so God forbid woe to me if I were to offend you with other than the truth that I were to offend you with my own requirements of you I don't want to do that woe to me on the other side that

[38:10] I'm not strong enough with you to urge you and I've had occasion to be very frank with some people about sin and that's hard it's hard for me to to be straight out I don't want to it goes against the grain for me to tell someone off really to be honest but yet as God's messenger I must deliver his message if God says something is sin then I can't skirt around that I cannot but friends judgment begins at the house of God and we've all got an accountability there's a call to holiness the word of God urges us to be holy there's a call to be holy to holiness let's avoid the flim flam and be fixed steadfast unmovable Philippians 4 verse 5 Paul says let your moderation be known to all men the Lord is at hand he's saying there's need for moderation in other words we should we should take things seriously there's a need for seriousness let your moderation be known unto all men we should be temperate we should be resolute we should be resilient in our faith we should be strong in our

[39:30] God in our walk with him in our faithfulness friends I put to you that we need to be ready to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ Christ now I'm going to say something here and this is not to be misunderstood but if we do go through the tribulation there's going to be some hardness isn't there's going to be some hardness that's for sure I'm not saying we are going through the tribulation but I'm saying we need to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ who knows how much tribulation before the great tribulation that's just the great tribulation that's that's when it gets really serious but friends judgment begins at the house of God there's a lot of soft effeminate Christianity today as an effeminate Christianity that's all about you know this wishy washiness and this pathetic pampering preponderance to pampering people and it's all about this softness this weakness and it's all about the sensuality and such that oh God forbid that you would dare to offend somebody that would be such a thing that you would dare for someone to actually get offended with you well actually there is a time for offence for a good a godly offence where our

[41:02] Lord was very offensive wasn't he the last times he was very offensive you know you see these memes that where it's got a picture of Christ cleansing the temple and thrashing the cord that he's made for the money changes and the you know the hypocrites that would defile the temple and someone has said oh you know it's almost like that's not my Jesus that he would be so hard and he would be so strong you know that's not my Jesus wouldn't do that well that's the Bible Jesus that's what he does that's what the Bible Jesus does he casts the money changes out he turns over the tables he opens all the cages for the pigeons and the doves and such and he turns over all their money making schemes and he rebukes them strongly as he does with the Pharisees too friends that's my Jesus that's the Bible Jesus and friends the Bible

[42:02] Jesus says there's need for us to endure hardness you wonder whether anybody's going to be able to endure some hardness these days you see I know I've seen other pictures of like 18 year olds about to storm the beaches of Normandy you know D-Day and yet you see the 18 year olds of today and you think what hope is there for this world honestly and that's not to put down any 18 year olds present but there's a sense where like there's a sense where you know some in the in the yesteryear we'd have been the ones us younger men probably not me anymore but the younger men would be storming the beaches and they would be going into the machine gun fire and they would be putting their life at risk for their loyalty to their country and willing to lay their lives on the line yet you see the modern youth and it's almost like

[43:05] I don't know it's a different world isn't it with their effeminate ways I think there's an effeminate men are becoming effeminate and weak and we need men we need warriors we need masculine a masculine Christianity and that's not to say of course for the women present there's the same thought of bravery women need to be brave women need to say I'm not going to be a light to the world I'm going to be a boldness there's a resoluteness that is in you women folk here today as well that we need a brave kind of Christianity that will confront sin and will stand for the truth won't be afraid of of causing some waves here and there we need to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ and this is part of getting ready people there's much talk about suffering and I put to you that as much as my hope is of the rapture before the tribulation what if it's later than that am I ready for what could face planet earth am I ready am I ready in the for in the coming to that point that the

[44:40] Christian should be willing to suffer for Christ I think in western Christianity we've lost that I think we have got it it's almost like it's too easy and that's not to discount you know some would say well you believe in easy believism well it is easy it actually is easy it is easy to get saved because he's done the hard part salvation is easy in the sense believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved but there's a sense where there's a hardness to the walk that we should be willing to go into the very battle zone that we should be willing to lose our job that we should be willing to be turned away from by our own family our own flesh and blood that we are willing to be hated and despised for the name of Jesus that and to be even taken before the legal authorities of our day as

[45:46] Paul and company were and they were beaten for the name of Jesus as Peter was we see the early church to have the kind of faith that took Stephen to the very place where he would be stoned to death that wasn't an easy breezy kind of Christianity for Stephen was it he was a godly man but God allowed him to be stoned to death to be brutally painfully killed and the Lord allowed Paul to be as history shows us that he was beheaded for the cause of Christ as were 11 of the 12 as history records that 11 of the disciples were martyred for their faith in Christ as you know I suppose legend or history as the best records would show it appears that 11 of the 12 disciples were killed for Christ and then John the revelator was locked up until he died in a

[46:51] Patmos island in a prison of sorts that he was held captive so the early church had it hard they went through some tough things and I think as much as we have the hope he'll take us before it gets really bad we need to be ready that things are going to get tough we need to toughen up princess don't we we need to toughen up church of God don't we I put to you I really urge you that and how are we going to get ready friends I wonder whether some of you are ready I wonder whether some of you are ready I really do and God forbid God betide woe betide me if I weren't to challenge you urge you heart feltly to earnestly seek after God be diligent it says I urge you to get equipped spiritually now some of you can't get to Bible study but ask for the notes ask for the notes so you don't miss out ask me for the notes I'll email them to you you know there's some good material there's some material in the library here borrow some good books use some of your money instead of going down to KFC or McDonald's or whatever it be get a good

[48:06] Christian book that you can read feed your soul you know there's books like this one Keith Piper and there's other books there's a really good thick book called The Answers Book and let me know we'll order some we'll pay for it as a church so you can get some good stuff in your hands amen some good study material there's The Answers Book there's a book called The Understanding Great Bible resource study material that will bless your soul you know if you can't get to Bible study times then get some Bible study material and I urge you we should get serious we should be diligent amen we should be diligent this is no time for flim flam and pussy footing around get some good biblical study books get a good Bible you can get study Bibles you know there's a mixture maybe get some recommendations before you commit but let's get some good material spend some money on your soul get some biblical books at home and we can give you some recommendations look in the library and there's a Bible course you can do as well on the wall there there's an online

[49:25] Bible course that you can do you can do that from your own home get equipped get equipped people I know I'm talking frankly right now because I know some of you you only come to one meeting you only come to one it's not enough it's not enough now I'm not saying come to lots of meetings but it's not enough just to have a little talk a little sermon and then nothing you've got six days after today get some material I urge you tell me you want some we'll get some more of these it's a good book all right I'm not saying please don't misunderstand me I'm not meaning to put a guilt trip on you and say you've got to here Monday whatever Wednesday I'm not saying I'm not putting on a guilt trip saying it's about coming to meetings I know you've got young family some of you I understand that but don't leave it six days with nothing get some

[50:31] Bible books get your Bible open pray friends we should be sober these are sobering times these are sobering days we should be established how can we establish ourselves in the faith if it's just one little sermon a week that we get and nothing else it's not enough honestly it's not enough you want to be established get some good biblical study material buy yourself some good Christian books I can give you some suggestions and ask for some stuff we'll give you stuff free this is not going to cost you and do that Bible course well you know as a younger person you might be studying all manner of good stuff but what better than to study the Bible what better than to study how can I grow as a Christian there's a Bible course on the wall there from Victoria Bible College and you can do that online in your own time and it will help you I urge you I fear that many are ill equipped for what faces us friends

[51:34] I'm talking seriously and honestly here I don't know you know and some preachers would say I preach as a dying man to dying man I know there was a little clip I saw of President Trump you might not hear from me again it's almost like I could get taken!

[51:51] I could get assassinated! But friends we haven't got much time I really believe we haven't got much time so get equipped the Lord is at hand it says but the God of all grace who has called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that you suffered a while it says we are going to suffer a while that is what it says make you perfect establish strengthen settle you to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen friends look if suffering comes your way if you totally lose faith as it were in the church or in the preacher or in a fellow

[52:51] Christian you get hurt you get hurt really badly the church stinks because of what they done to you don't let that put you off Jesus don't do that don't do that don't be like that foolish man that Christians or a preacher put him off friends don't be soft we've got to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ it's going to get harder it's going to get harder people and there's going to be suffering he says after you've suffered a while establish strength and settle you friends are you ready I pray I urge you I just can't put more emphasis on this than to think number one get saved this is all this is all just the add-on bits that I'm talking number one is to get saved be saved know Jesus that he took your sin and shame he paid the cost of your saving in full he bled for you he died for you he bore your sin on the cross in his own body it says be saved don't waste another minute be sober!

[54:01] it's! time to sober up we need to be sober people not to have our mind in a stupor or to be distracted or to be lacking that clear headedness God's calling us to be clear headed to have a sober and to be established do what you can to establish yourself to get stronger in your faith to get more resolute in your faith that whatever be tired you're ready whatever suffering is not that we might have to be like James and Paul and to be killed for our faith friends who knows are you ready are you ready to go to the death for Christ that should be our heart let's pray Lord we praise you that you are our great saviour you've saved us from the wrath of the lamb you've saved us from the wrath that will be poured!

[54:59] at Armageddon Lord we know that there is a grace that you've saved us from the wrath against our sin at the cross and Lord we can be a people prepared getting ready looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our saviour Lord we thank you that we can be saved only by your mercy that we can be washed fully washed fully clean that we can be a people that have our hearts established Lord that we can be a people that are in that readiness of mind that will be ready our mind will be as it were girded up our mind will be equipped we pray for everyone here today Lord help us to grow in our

[56:01]  Bible learning help us Lord to open your word through the week not to wait for Sundays help us to study it help us to take it seriously help us to fellowship whenever we can so we can be more and more established in our faith in Jesus name Amen