I’ll get this thing on a minute, young man. All right now, Mon, we’re good to go now. Can you all hear me? I want to be sure you can. I was sitting there today, or just a few minutes ago, and I began to get a little horse. I think I got a frog in my throat and that’s not a problem. But he’s crossed his legs and that’s when it’s a problem, so it’s become a problem. But hopefully I’ll be able to talk to you tonight a little bit if you would turn with me in your Bibles to first thessalonians chapter five one. Thessalonians. Chapter five, it seems like the day the Lord has directed everyone I know that Mark taught on the coming of the Lord, and I mentioned it in my message two or three times. And the Lord has directed me to this scripture tonight and I want to talk to you. There’s some things that we need to understand as we approach the coming of the Lord. Our Bible gives us so many things. It tells us what to expect, it tells us what to look forward to, and it tells us how we ought to conduct ourselves when we see these things begin to take place. Many times in the Bible, the writers wrote this. We know. We know and understanding that there are a lot of things we do know. And that’s wonderful. When we learn from the Bible and we learn from the Lord and we begin to understand some things, with that comes responsibility. You see, if you don’t know something, it don’t always help you. I mean, if you’re out on the highway and you’re going down the road and it’s 70 miles an hour and you’re doing 90, you might tell that policeman, well, I didn’t know that was the speed limit. But that probably ain’t going to help you any right there, I can promise you that. That’s not from experience, but it probably won’t help you any. But nonetheless, whenever we know something, with that comes responsibility. Churches like this, it’s wonderful. And thank God for churches like this because I know you’ve been taught the word of God, but there’s something we must all understand, and that’s when we know that we become responsible for what we know and in the scripture. Notice it with me, if you would, please. In verse number one of chapter five of one thessalonians the Apostle Paul writing to the church of thessalonica he’s talking to them about the second coming. We know that chapter four, verse 13 through 18 gives us the account of the rapture of the church. Now, may I say to you tonight, don’t make a mistake. If one of your friends out in the world comes to you and says, rapture is not in the Bible, don’t say, oh, yes, it is, because the word rapture is not in the Bible. Rapture means a snatching away, a catching away. And that’s what happens when the Lord returns. And that’s what the Apostle Paul explains in 413 through 18. But in chapter five, notice verse one with me. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, brethren, you have no need that I write into you. Now, you must understand, we can pick up on so many things from the Bible. Watch what he said. You say? Well, who’s he writing to? He told us, brethren, that’s those that are saved by the grace of God, he’s not writing to lost people. He’s writing to the brethren that are saved. He says that you have no need that I write into you. In other words, what he said is, you already know what I’m talking about. You already understand about these things. And so there are some things you need to understand because you do know. Look verse two for yourselves. Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Now, all of my years since I’ve been saved, I’ve heard about the coming of the Lord. I remember I got saved in 1972. The first prediction I remember was 1978. The Lord was supposed to come in 1978. And what that was. I know where they got that at. Israel became a nation in 1948. So they surmised that because Israel became a nation, and they figured that 30 years was a generation. So they thought that Jesus would come back in 78. But guess what? He didn’t. He didn’t come in 78. And then it began to be later in the 80s. They said he was coming. One man made a fortune off of a book he wrote, gave the date. I don’t remember what that was, but it was a certain day. The Lord was coming on that day. Guess what he did. I remember there was a preacher. You may have heard of him. His name was Ralph Sexton SR. He pastured in Asheville, North Carolina. His son Ralph Jr. Was preaching in the TriCities area, I think it might have been kingsford. And I went to hear him that night that the Lord was supposed to come. And he called his dad as he was coming over, and he said, dad, you think the Lord’s really coming today? And he said this. He said, Son, God’s not going to let anyone steal his glory. You know what? I’ve never forgotten that. That was a long time ago when he said that, but I’ve never forgotten it. You see, you can trust the Bible. Jesus himself said, no man knoweth the day nor the hour that the Lord cometh. No man, only the Father in heaven. So God’s the only one that knows when Jesus is coming back. And so we understand, though, that there’s things that we need to be responsible for and we need to be thinking about as we approach this time. We do know that there are signs that tell us he’s coming. I want to report to you tonight, folks. He could come any time. There’s nothing that would hinder him. There’s nothing in the Bible that has not been fulfilled. The Lord could come at any minute. And because of that, there’s some things we need to decide tonight if you haven’t already decided that we’re going to do as we approach that time. All through the Bible, Jesus speaks about it, the writers speak about it is to be ready when the Lord comes. Now, I understand that most people that come on Sunday night are saved people. I understand that. I’ve been in church a long time and I know that bolster saved. So here’s the thing. You say, preacher? I’m ready. I’m saved. But you see, you and I that are saved, we might be saved. But I would ask you this question. I’m not going to ask anybody to raise their hand. But how many of us tonight really would be happy if the Lord came right now? Would we be satisfied with the state of our hearts and our life between us and Him? Would we be satisfied by the way we’re living our Christian life? Or is there something in our lives that tonight if we knew the Lord was coming in the morning, we would take care of at this altar tonight? We wouldn’t wait till in the morning if we knew he was coming because we would want to make that right before he got here. But I want to tell you something, folks. We have the Bible. And as I said to start with tonight, what we know makes us responsible. You see, when we stand before God, we won’t be able to make a lot of excuses. I’m always amazed. When I was pastoring, I can’t visit like I used to. But when I was pastoring, I visited right much. I walked up the doors and walking a lot of times, somebody outside or something. And you walk up and you take them kindly by surprise and you see them trying to hide a beer can or something like that real quick, here comes the preacher. And I always thought, you know, there’s no use you hiding that for me. Somebody bigger than me has already seen what you’re doing. But people think like that. But you see, the Lord knows all about us and he gives us instructions. And because we know that the Lord is coming back watch this. For when they shall save peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as prevail upon a woman with the child. And they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Did you hear what he said? You know who that you is? That’s us, brethren. He said, ye are children of light. Excuse me. And the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Excuse me. Just a minute. I told you, devil’s fighting. He don’t like this, here’s the danger. What’s the let us in this passage. He says, Let us not sleep. That’s the first one, because we understand that the Lord is coming. He said, don’t go to sleep. Now, I want you to understand something. Tonight, a lot of God’s people are not sleeping, but they are sleepy. You’re listening to me? They’re not asleep, but they’re sleepy. And that’s not talking about literal sleep, that’s talking about the fact that they’re not as Econscious, they’re not as concerned about what’s going on as we used to be. It’s amazing to me. I know that God knows everything, but God knows totally everything. He knows how we are, but not only does he know how we are, he knows how we will respond before we ever respond. He knows the condition of the people before he returns. He knows that it’s going to happen. And God said, here’s the thing, god knows how it’s going to happen, but he gives us warning. And the warning is don’t be caught in what’s going to happen. You see, we look around so many times and I’m sorry about the voice, it’ll come or go one in a minute, so we’ll see. But he knows what’s going to happen. But here’s the thing, just because that condition that norm is going to happen, he knows that. But you don’t have to be called in it that’s why the warning is there. You don’t have to be called in, it don’t have to be you. That happens to. That’s why he said, Let us not sleep. And he said, but let us watch and be sober. Now, that does not mean drunk, that means sound mind. Stand right with the stuff. And I’m glad God gives us that opportunity, but we must take advantage of it. We must understand that we, as God’s people, need to keep ourselves right with God. Now, there’s a battle going on today, it’s happening right now, right here. I can tell you what’s going on in this ear. There’s a voice speaking to you saying, oh, you don’t have to worry, you’re all right. You don’t even have to be concerned, you’re fine. There’s another voice speaking in this year and it’s saying, you better listen to that preacher, he’s telling you the truth. You better listen to the word of God and you better take heed. Now, watch this. Do you remember what I said? There’s a voice coming in this year. There’s a voice coming in this year. You know where the battle is? Right here in our minds. In our minds. That’s the battleground, folks, it’s our minds. And the devil, consciously, every day of our life, he throws it at us. Now, we can do one of two things. We can listen to whichever voice we won’t listen to, but the wise person will listen to the Holy Spirit speaking and what thus saith the Lord from his word. Because you see, we know this is truth. We know if it’s temptation to do wrong that didn’t come from God, you don’t have to even think about it. If there is doubt whether it’s right or wrong, you probably better stay away from it, because it’s most likely wrong. You see, there’s something about the devil you need to understand tonight, folks. The devil will not tell you not to do something. He won’t. The devil never tells a lost person not to get saved. But he will tell you, don’t do it now. And that’s the same thing he does to us Christians. Yeah, you need to do that, but not now. Not now. That is a big hindrance to God’s word when people begin to say, well, I want to do it. I ought to do it, but I’ll do it later. He’s got you. He’s got you where he wants you because he’s convinced you that it’s not really that important. If you can put it off, then it’s not as important as it ought to be to you. You see, a mini of a thing, a mini of a blessing is missed by all of us by simply pushing it out there and not saying, well, if God wants me to do it, I’ll do it now. If God wants it for me, I’m going to take advantage of it now. So important, he said, Let us not sleep. I want to ask you a question tonight. Please don’t raise your hand. Is there anybody asleep in here tonight? Well, that scares you. When the preacher asks, I’m feeling good, preacher. Hallelujah. I’ll shout, no, don’t look at me, I’m not asleep. Not talking about little sleep. Is anybody drowsy? I’m not talking about literally, I’m talking about spiritually. Don’t let the devil get you there. Where you’re getting drowsy on God. You’re getting weak to where what comes in here. You’re listening to God more than you are to Satan. That’s where you need to be. Don’t let the devil convince you that you need to listen to him. There’s a thought that goes around the Christian circles today that you don’t have to be everything you ought to be for God. It’s all right to just be sort of Christian. May I tell you something tonight, folks? There is never a time when it’s all right for a saved person not to be Christian. Never a time you say, Old preacher, you don’t know what happened to me. You don’t know what never a time that it’s all right for a Christian not to be a Christian. When you’re saved by the grace of God listen to me. When you’re saved by the grace of God, people need you to be a Christian. They may mock you, they may make fun of you, but let me tell you something. They need you to be a Christian. And I’ll tell you something else. Not only do they need you to be a Christian, they want you to be a Christian. All testimony after testimony have I heard of people that lived a Christian life that tried their best to do right. I know we all mess up, I understand that. But they tried their best to do right. But people made fun of them. They mocked them, they talked about them behind their back. But you know what happened when trouble came in their life? Guess where they went? They went looking for that Christian. They went looking for that person that had stayed right with God. They didn’t go looking for those that were mediocre, those that just talked about being a Christian. You know what, it’s easy to talk it, but it’s a whole different story to walk it in it. Amen. It is. But God is telling us that’s what the apostle Paul is talking to the church of Thessalonica about. He said, I want you to understand, since you know that the Lord’s coming, you understand that I want you to be ready, so don’t go to sleep. And then he said this but watch. I’ve just about quit watching. I’m listening now for the sound of the trumpet. I do a lot of funerals. I’ve done a lot of funerals and did a lot of graveside service. But the last August year, maybe two, I started thinking about something. I want you to imagine this. What if the Lord was to come when I was doing a graveside service? Can you imagine standing beside of that casket? Can you imagine the Lord comes, that casket bursts open all those graves in that cemetery, those that are saved would start bursting open. I hope that happens to me. Don’t know if it will. But you know what? God loved that. And he could. It’s very possible. I don’t know when he will come, but it could happen. But you see, watch this. But let us be sober. One other thing I want to give you tonight. Notice verse number nine. For God hath not appointed us to wrath. Some people get their theology messed up. I’ve heard it said, there’s those that would tell you, well, we’re in the tribulation period, dahl, we’re not. We’re not in the tribulation period. If you’re saved by the grace of God, I’ll tell you something else. You’re not going into the tribulation period. Yes, you see, I’m so pretrib that I don’t even like post toasties. Amen. But we’re not going. And you say, well, preacher, give me scripture, I just read it to you. We’re not appointed to wrath. We’re not going to suffer any of the tribulation period, because God has promised. And when God promises something, as I said this morning, it’s settled. You can take it to the bank. It settled. God said it. But watch this. But to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Now. Then he gives us some warnings and I’ll give you these real quick. And I’ll be done. I might let you out early tonight. I might do something that Pharaoh wouldn’t do to the Moses and his people. I might let you go. Amen. Notice this, just a few things. Verse 16 through verse 22 gives us some things. And I’m going to give you just a little, right? Watch this. Number 16. He said, rejoice evermore. You know, there’s something I’ve noticed about people. God’s people. It’s awful quiet. Church anymore? Where did the joy go? Where do the rejoice and go? I tell you. I’m mean, in some ways, but I love to go to churches where it’s real quiet. I do. I love it. And when the preacher says something I like, I say, Amen. And I can tell you right off whether that’s common in that church. Because you can watch people start turning around looking and say, who did that? I love it. I love that. But you see, there ought to be rejoicing for the child of God. Why, Preacher? Why? The world is terrible. It’s bad, preacher. Gas. I don’t buy gas in West Virginia. No. I’m praying I can get back to Virginia at least before I have to buy gas. I bought gas for $2.99 before I left Tennessee. Praise God. But I’m kidding about that. But notice this. Notice we need to understand and rejoice because of the goodness of God, not the condition of the world. The world. And the devil tries to convince us that we don’t have anything to rejoice the friend. I want to tell you something. If you’re a child of God, just hang on in just a little bit. All of this worldly mess is over. It’s done. It’s passed from then on. It’s good. I’ve read the book. It’s good after that. For the Child of God. Don’t drive your stakes too deep in this world. God has been so good to America that America’s people have driven their stakes too far in this world. We’ve come to the point where we can’t imagine being away from what we have here. We all have so much. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with having things, but there is something wrong when things have you and they begin to take over your life and this place becomes real important to you. Hey, this will be over. The Bible tells us life is like a vapor. It’s here for a little while, then it vanishes away. But for the child of God that’s saved by the grace of God, it’s better farther on. Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with beauty. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us this eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered the heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. It’s better farther on. Don’t get too attached to this world. We’re just passing through here. This is just a place we’ll be for a little while. Then we’ll be with him forever. I noticed something while Mark was teaching this morning I’d never seen before. It says, in my Father’s house are many mansions. That’s true. The Bible says it. Watch this. He said, I go to prepare a place for you. There’s mansions there, but Jesus is preparing a place for us that I believes better than any mansion. You see, it’s wonderful what God is doing. And because of this, he said, Rejoice and then watch the next one. I promise you I won’t take as long on every one of these as I did on that one. Pray without ceasing. Don’t quit praying. Pray without ceases. That mean, preacher, that we’re to go around and just stay on our knees all day long. No, that means this be in that attitude of prayer every minute of every day. When I saw a preacher do this one time, and it really impressed me. And I know this has happened to me, and maybe it has to you. We have a tendency if somebody comes, say, Preacher, pray for me. And I’d say, oh, yeah, I’ll pray for you. And then I’ll be honest with you. I’ve forgotten and didn’t pray for that person like I told him I would. But that preacher that night, this lady come up to him and said, preacher, I want you to pray for me. And she told him her problem. He said, I’ll tell you what, lest I forget it, let’s pray now. I thought, what a blessing. That impressed me. He said, I don’t want to forget it. So I’ll pray now. And he did listen. That’s the attitude. Be ready to pray every minute of the day. Pray without ceasing. Then in everything. Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Then I want to give you this. And then I’ll close. Quench not the Spirit the most dangerous thing that any one of us can do is quench the spirit. When the Spirit of God is moving, it’s very important. I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been in services and the spirit of God would start moving in the first of the service, maybe in the singing. And I’m honest. It scares me. Because you see, when God begins to move, I don’t want to quench the spirit. I don’t want to say anything that God wouldn’t want me to say. I don’t want to do anything God wouldn’t want me to do. You say, well, preacher, I’m just one person. I can’t quench the spirit. Yes, you can. It don’t take the whole crowd. How do you quench the spirit, preacher? How do I do that? When God tells you to do something and you don’t do it, you quench the spirit. You know what? Well, preacher, I’ll tell you what’s the truth. I couldn’t get up and come to the altar while you’re preaching. I might disrupt the service you just did when you didn’t mind God. I’m confident that if God tells you you need to get saved, you ought to come right then. They say, well, it ain’t invitation time. We’ve got it all scheduled anyway. You know what we do sometimes, and I’ve been guilty of it. We make fun of these churches that have bulletins not like yours, but have bulletins that give the songs and everything that’s going to happen in the service. We make fun of them and say, well, they got it all rode out. We’re better than that. We got it all right here. We don’t need the bulletin to write it out. We got it all up here. You see, dawn. We quench the spirit when we don’t mind God. And it only takes one person here’s the danger of that. Well, preacher, that just affects me. No, it don’t. Because, you see, if you quench the spirit, god might be dealing with some lost sinner. You would cause them not to get saved. It’s serious. Quench not the spirit. It’s a very sobering thing. And he said even more so when you understand that I’m coming soon. God’s people need to realize that. Prove all things whole fast. That which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil and the very God of peace sanctify. You holy and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. How is it with you tonight? Is everything all right between you and God? If he was to come right now, would you be happy to see Him? Or would you say, I wish I had done something last night at church before I went home. I wish I had come and told God about what’s going on. I wish I had repented of my sin. I wish I’d have done this. Don’t let that happen in your life. If there’s something tonight that you wouldn’t want to face God with in the morning, get it settled tonight. You don’t have to confess it to me. I can’t forgive you anyhow. But if you confess it to Him, he promised he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So I ask you tonight, is there something you need to talk to the Lord about? Well, preacher, now wait a minute. I’m going to tell you how it is right before I do this. Well, preacher, if I go up there and pray, those people back here, they’re going to look at me and say, well, wonder what’s going on in his life or her life. May I tell you something? They got a bigger problem than you have. They’re the ones that need to be up here if they criticize somebody, that comes forward. So don’t mind whoever that is. You come tonight if God speaks to your heart. Let’s stand together. We’ll sing a song of invitation and God work in your lives tonight. If you need to come, you come at this time. Everyone’s standing. Let’s pray. Father, I am grateful tonight for the spirit of God. I’m grateful for the word of God. And thank you, Lord, for clearing my voice. Lord, I thank you so much for doing that. You’re so precious. The devil fights, but, Lord, he can’t win. Thank you. I pray now you’ll bless this invitation. If there’s a need, God help that one to come tonight. It whatever it is, and tell it to Jesus. And we’ll thank you for all you do. For we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.