Are You Ready for the End? Part 1

Let's pray together. Father, we are so grateful for the opportunity we have to study your word. Truly, you are a great God, and you alone are worthy of praise. And today we gather together to once again do what you've called us to do. To read the word, to listen to the word, to teach the word, to expound the word, that we might know the things you have for us, that we might live for your glory and honor. Pray in Jesus' name, amen. If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 21.

Luke chapter 21. We have just concluded the Olivet Discourse according to Luke's gospel. Matthew records it, Mark records it, and we've been studying the gospel of Luke for many years now, and we have just finished what Jesus said in response to a question asked of him concerning the end of the age and the sign of his coming. This is, as we have told you many times over, the longest answer that Jesus gives to any question ever asked him. So, of course, we spend the most amount of time on the longest answer that Jesus has ever given, because we want you to understand exactly what it is he has been saying.

In light of that, he concludes his sermon in loose gospel with these words. Be on guard that your hearts may not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life. That day come on you suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. To stand before the Son of Man.

Jesus concludes with a warning about being on guard and being alert, making sure that you'll be able to stand before the Son of Man. In other words, it begs the question, are you ready for the Son of Man to return? Or better yet, are you ready to die? Because one of two things are going to happen. One, you are going to die, or two, you'll see Jesus come again. One of those two things are for certain. And the question comes, are you ready to meet the Lord? Are you ready to stand before the Lord? Will you be able to stand before him, or will you be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever?

That's the question you need to ask. It was a question that my father asked a number of months ago, as he wanted at his memorial service, that question to be asked and answered for all who would come. And so I would sit down with my dad, and we would talk about what it is he wanted to say at his memorial service. If it was him preaching, what would he say? And so we came up with the sermon outline for that day that he wanted to be preached, because he wanted everybody who would attend his memorial service to be able to ask the question, am I ready?

And respond with a positive yes. So they would have ironclad assurance of the fact that they knew for certain that if they were to die, they would spend eternity with God. That's a great question to ask. And somehow I come back and say, well, how do you know that you're going to spend eternity with God? Well, the Bible tells us in 1 John 5, these words, it says, and the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. He who has a son has life, and he who does not have the son of God does not have life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. You can know for certain that you have eternal life. You can know for certain that you will stand before the son of man. You can know for certain that you are ready for the coming of the son of man. You can know for certain that you are ready to die. Nobody wants to die, but you need to be ready to die. So how do you know if you're ready? How can you be assured that you will stand before the son of man, that you have eternal life?

That is so important, a question that needs to be asked. And the reason we ask that question is because on the mind of Jesus, all throughout his ministry, there was that constant warning about how people would perceive their eternal destiny. With Jesus, there was always that warning that would say, do you know for certain that you are going to live with me forever? And how do you know that? In fact, it was uppermost in the because he would speak to Jewish people who were part of the quote Jewish faith, and they believed that because they were sons of Abraham, they would automatically go to heaven when they died.

That's what they were taught. That's what they believed. And so they were convinced that in their mind, they would spend eternity with God. After all, they were God's chosen people. And yet Jesus would always get them to ask a question, because he didn't want them to be self-deceived. In fact, the biggest problem in the evangelical church today is self-deception. There are so many people in the evangelical church that attend on Sunday mornings, who really think they're ready and they're not. And maybe that's you today.

I've been a pastor for a lot of years. I've been doing pastoral ministry since I got out of college and became a college pastor. And one of the biggest heartbreaks is that people find themselves self-deceived into thinking that they're going to go to heaven, when in reality, they have no idea of what it means to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Happens all the time. Happens in our church more than we'd like to admit. People who think they are ready, people who think that they will stand before God, but in reality, when that day happens, they won't stand.

They'll be cast out of his presence. Jesus said these words early on in his ministry, very early on in his ministry. In Matthew chapter four, he had just chosen Peter, James, and John to be his disciples. And they were following him. And they were amazed at all that was taking place in the ministry of the Christ. It says in verse 23 of Matthew four, and Jesus was going about in all the Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

And the news about him went out into all Syria. And he brought to him all who were ill, taken with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics. And he healed them. And great multitudes followed him from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. This is early on in the ministry of Jesus. And everybody wanted to be a part of the Jesus train. It was a locomotive that was unstoppable. Everybody was being healed. He healed. If you had a pain, if you were paralyzed, if you were blind, if you were sick, whatever disease you had, and you came to Jesus, he healed you.

In fact, at the end of his ministry, he had pretty much banished all disease from the land of Israel because he had touched and healed those who came to him. And you didn't have to have faith to be healed. He just healed you because of his grace and because of his mercy. And all these people who came to him were healed. They didn't believe in Jesus. They just wanted to be healed. And so you have great multitudes following Jesus. It's not a hundred or 200 or a thousand or a couple of thousand. We're talking about tens of thousands of people were on the Jesus train because of what he was doing for them.

Jesus, early on in his ministry, knowing that people can be so deceived in their thinking, warns them by giving them a sermon called the Sermon on the Mount. It takes up chapter five, chapter six, and chapter seven of Matthew's gospel. And Jesus seeing these multitudes, when he saw the multitude, chapter five, verse number one of Matthew, he went up on the mountain and after he sat down, his disciples came to him and opening his mouth, he began to teach them.

And he goes into this long discourse about what it means to be a part of the kingdom of God. You see, everybody's coming to Jesus and everybody's being healed. And everybody now is feeling good about the fact that they were once paralyzed and now they can walk. They were once blind, now they can see. They were once deaf and now they can hear. I mean, why wouldn't you be on the Jesus train if that was happening to you, right? And so they feel good about themselves. And Jesus wants them to realize, look, I can heal you today.

You're still going to die tomorrow. You're still going to get sick again. But you've got to be ready to face me in the end. So he gives them the Sermon on the Mount. And the Bible records to us pretty much all what Jesus said. And he tells them in the sermon that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom of heaven. And for people of the Jewish persuasion, that was way beyond their thinking because of all the religious people, it was the Pharisees, it was the scribes, it was the religious establishment that set the standard for how people live their lives.

And now Jesus comes along, this rabbi comes along and begins to tell them, look, unless your righteousness exceeds theirs, goes way beyond theirs, you'll never see the kingdom of God. So you can imagine what must have been going through their minds as they heard him speak. And as he winds down the sermon, he's concerned about the hypocrisy of the religious establishment. He talks about hypocrisy in their prayer life and hypocrisy in their fasting and hypocrisy in their giving because you see, in their minds, they were spiritual people because they would fast and they would give and they would pray that somehow this appeased God and made God happy with their lifestyle.

So he speaks against all that. And then he says these words, as he concludes his sermon, he says to them, enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And many are those who enter by it for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it. Many are on the broad road to destruction. And the funny thing about the broad road, it doesn't say this way to hell. It says this way to heaven. Come this way. It takes you to heaven.

It's a broad road that leads to destruction. There's a narrow gate that leads to glory and few find that gate. So Jesus at the very outset of his ministry begins to warn people about, are you sure you're ready to face the king? And then he says, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from their thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown to the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. He warns them, look, not everybody who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into my kingdom. He says in verse 22, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons that in your name perform many miracles?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Jesus warns them there, there's not going to be a few of you. There's going to be a whole multitude of people who think they're ready and they're not. Who think that because they did something in the name of Jesus, because they were a part of a, of the ministry of Jesus, that now all of a sudden now they're going to go to heaven. Self-deception is a major ordeal in the church. People can believe they're on their way to heaven, but in reality will one day wake up in hell because they did not appropriate the scripture in their lives.

And that's what Jesus goes on to say as he concludes the sermon. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house. And yet it did not fall for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the rain descended in the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house and it fell and great was its fall.

And Jesus concluded his sermon and there are no record of any conversions on that day. None. There's no record that somebody said, boy, I want to act upon your words. I want to believe your words. I want to do the right thing, Lord. I want to follow you. I want to commit my life to you. Oh, they were all astonished at what he said, because never a man spoke like this man spoke. He spoke with authority. He spoke with passion. He spoke as none other rabbi had ever spoken because they always quoted other rabbis.

Jesus just quoted himself because he's gone. See, every word he spoke was the word of God. He spoke with authority, but he was concerned. So he sets a tone for his ministry at the outset. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, we did all this in your name. And he will say to them, I never knew you. Imagine going through life, attending church, going on missions trips, teaching Sunday school, giving to the church day in, day out, memorizing verses, going to Bible studies, thinking you're on your way to heaven.

And then all of a sudden die, wake up and find yourself in hell. Many Jesus says are in that category.

Not a few, many because of self deception. This week is the 20th week of our, of our anniversary as a church. I can't think of a better challenge to the people of our church than to ask this question. Are you ready? Do you know for certain that eternity with Christ is your destiny? And how do you know that? How can you know for certain that if you died today, you would go right into the presence of the king? My father knew that my father never doubted that my father understood the scriptures. And so he wanted to make sure that those people who attended his memorial service, and there were a lot of people, the place was packed.

They were standing room only. He wanted to make sure that they knew they were ready and they would make a choice that day. Listen, either I'm ready or I'm not. And if I understand the Bible that I I'm either ready or not because he's coming again, one day they're going to die. And will they meet Jesus face to face and stand before his presence? That question is posed to us. Are we ready? We can't conclude the Olivet discourse without asking the question. Are you ready? Are you on guard? Are you alert?

Do you understand the biblical principles of what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? And so we're going to spend this week and next week examining our lives. We're going to partake at the Lord's table. And the apostle Paul said very clearly in first Corinthians chapter 11, these words, let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Let a man examine himself. So what better way within the sovereignty of God, and only God can map it out this way, that at the end of 20 years of ministry, we would be on communion Sunday. We'd be at the end of the Olivet discourse. You see, you think I'm taking a long time getting through Luke? Let me tell you something.

God had it all planned out from the very beginning, that on this day, on the 20th anniversary of our church, it would be the Lord's table Sunday, and that we would have concluded the Olivet discourse. And the question would be raised, are you ready for the coming of the King? God knows that. And so as we go through what the Bible says, we ask ourselves this question, are we truly ready for Jesus to come again?

Paul would conclude over in second Corinthians chapter 13, these words, second Corinthians 13, verse number five, test yourselves to see if you are in the faith, examine yourselves, or do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test.

In other words, you can do self-examination. You can match your life against the standard of the scripture. You can match your life against what God says.

Paul says, do you know that Jesus is in you? You can know that. If you pass the test, what test? The test of scripture, the test that examines our lives in light of what God's word says. And so we need to prove ourselves, need to examine our lives, need to test ourselves. Do we have Jesus living in us, Christ in you, the hope of glory? Do we know for certain that Jesus Christ resides within our hearts and souls? Is the spirit of God directing our lives? Do we know for certain that we are born again as the Bible speaks of it?

Because there are many who will say on that day, Lord, Lord, that's a term of passion, a term of endearment. Lord, we knew you. And Jesus says, ah, but I never knew you.

See a lot of people in the church who think they know Jesus, but they don't know him because he doesn't know them. Wouldn't that be just horrific to go through your whole life thinking you're going to heaven and wake up in hell. That is many people, not just a few. So we have to ask and answer the question. Are you ready? So that's what we're going to do. We're going to use five principles to explain to you to see if you're ready for Jesus to come or to die and spend eternity with him. We want you to be without question in your heart and mind.

Am I ready? How do I know I'm ready? Principle number one, have you repented of your sins? Have you repented of your sins? This is where it begins. Has there been a turning from the world and from my sin to follow the Christ? When Christ came on the scene in Matthew's gospel and Mark's gospel, Luke's gospel, he came on following on the heels of John the Baptist, the forerunner to the Messiah. John the Baptist would preach the message, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus would follow saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

He would say in Luke chapter 13, unless you repent, you will likewise perish. Repentance is the essence of the gospel message, calling people to turn from their sin and follow the savior. It's summed up in the book of first Thessalonians chapter one, verse number 10.

When Paul talks to those in Thessalonica who said that they had turned to God from idols to serve the true and living God. There was an actual about face. There was a turning from their sin to follow the savior, to follow the Lord God of the universe. In other words, there has been a turning from my sin. Proverbs 28.13 says that if we conceal our transgressions, we will not prosper. But if we confess and forsake our sin, we shall find compassion and mercy. So compassion and mercy comes because there's been a confession of my sin.

That means I'm going to say the same thing about my sin that God says about my sin. And there is a forsaking of that sin. There's a turning from that sin. That is the essence of what repentance is all about. When Christ concluded his ministry on earth, he gave this commission in Luke chapter 24 to his men in verse number 44. He says, these are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things, which are written by or which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

That he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.

And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. The gospel message is that Jesus came, he died, he rose again. Okay. And therefore you, because of what he's done, you must repent of your sins in order to obtain the forgiveness from God. You see forgiveness is so conditional and people miss that. It's not unconditional. Love is unconditional. Forgiveness is conditioned upon a repentant heart, someone who is willing to confess their sin and turn from their sin.

They are granted forgiveness from God. Listen, if, if repentance or forgiveness wasn't conditional, everybody who ever lived would go to heaven. Everybody would just go to heaven because there is no demand placed upon them to turn from their sin and follow a savior. So repentance must be preached to everyone, to all nations. This is crucial. So what do they do? They did go to the book of Acts, Acts chapter three, what happens? That's what Peter says. Acts chapter three, verse number 37. Now, when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do?

And Peter said to them, repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. You want to be forgiven? You got to turn from your sin. You got to repent of your sin. Over in Acts chapter three, verse number 19, that was Acts two, I'm sorry, verse 37, 38. This is Acts three, verse number 19. Repent, therefore, and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that the times of refreshing may come. Over in Acts chapter 17, therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead.

You see, the essence of the gospel message is all centered around the person and work of Jesus Christ and our response to that work. And that is to turn from your sin and follow Christ. Some would say, well, that seems to me like there's something you got to do to be safe. You see, we forget that repentance like grace and like faith is a gift from God. Grace is a gift for a grace. You have been saved through faith out of yourselves. It is a gift of God. Okay. Second Peter one, verse number one says that to those who have received the same faith as ours, faith is a gift.

Grace is a gift, right? But repentance is a gift. Second Timothy chapter two, verse number 24, and the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all able to teach patient when wronged with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition.

If perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do as well. So an unbeliever is held captive by Satan to do as well. An unbeliever can only do the will of Satan. He cannot do the will of God. He can only do the Satan because he's held captive by Satan to do his will. So in order for man to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son, God must grant that man, the gift of repentance.

So man only can turn from his sin because God has granted him the gift, knowing to believe, knowing to have the faith, to believe in who God is and the grace to receive all that God gives, but actually to turn from a sin and follow the Savior. Salvation is a total work of God. It's a work of God in the heart of a sinful man, sinful woman, and only God can do the turning. God does the turning. Over back in Acts chapter 11, these words were spoken. Acts 11, it says, and when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God saying, well, then God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.

The Jews were rejoicing over the fact that God now has granted, gifted the Gentiles to be able to repent of their sins and receive the gift of life. God does that. So when you call men to repentance, to turn from a sin, that is a work of God that takes place in his heart that turns him. Our job is to call them to repent. It's God's gift to grant them repentance. And so the question comes, have you turned from your sins or do you still love to relish in your sins? If you love your sin, you're not saved.

You can't be saved. Gerard Kittle has written a book, a theological dictionary, the New Testament. There's a word study on repentance. Listen to what he says. He says, repentance is a radical conversion, a transformation of nature, a definitive turning from evil, a resolute turning to God in total obedience. This conversion is once for all. There can be no going back, only advance in responsible movement along the way now taken. It affects the whole man, first and basically the center of personal life.

Then logically his conduct at all times and in all situations, his thoughts, words, and acts. The whole proclamation of Jesus is a proclamation of unconditional turning to God, of unconditional turning from all that is against God, not merely that which is downright evil, but that which is in a given case makes total turning to God impossible. It is addressed to all without distinction and presented with unmitigated severity in order to indicate the only way of salvation there is. It calls for total surrender, total commitment to the will of God.

It embraces the whole walk of the new man who was claimed by the divine lordship. It carries with it the founding of a new personal relation of man to God. It awakens joyous obedience for a life according to God's will. That's repentance. And he gives a variety of scriptures within his definition to show you exactly what the Bible says.

You see, it's imperative that you understand biblical repentance. The reason this church was founded was because the church that I was previously at did not believe in repentance, did not believe that. And when I first came to the church, I began in Mark chapter one and began preaching about the ministry that John the Baptist had.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then Jesus, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And the leadership of that church did not believe that you had to repent to be saved. They just said you just have to believe in what the Bible says.

Believe in who Jesus is. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Just believe. There's no turning, just believing. That's what they said. Their argument was this. Their argument was in John's gospel, the gospel of belief that you have to believe in Jesus, there is not one word about repentance in John's gospel. That was their argument. That was the main argument. Repentance is nowhere mentioned in John's gospel. And because John's gospel is the gospel of belief, all you have to do is believe in Jesus.

You don't have to turn from your sin because they would look at turning from sin as a, as a work that we would do.

And there is no work in salvation. All you have to do is believe in Jesus. Well, see the fallacy of that is this, that Jesus never ever used the word grace in his entire ministry. Never used it. Does that mean that Jesus never believed in grace? No. His whole ministry was around grace, right? But just because he never used the word grace doesn't mean that he didn't believe in grace. In fact, if you go through John's gospel, here are the stronger verbs that are used instead of repentance. He teaches that all true believers love the light.

Chapter three, come to the light, obey the son, practice truth, worship in spirit and truth, honor God, do good deeds, eat Jesus's flesh and drink his blood, love God, follow Jesus and keep the commandments of Jesus. Those are the way he speaks of those who have been committed to following Christ. There has been a turning. If you're going to obey Jesus, if you're going to love Jesus, if you're going to do what Jesus asked you to do, there has to be a turning, a transference from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

To John becoming a believer meant resurrection from death to life, a coming out of darkness and into light, abandoning lies for the truth, exchanging hatred for love and forsaking the world of God. And what are those images? But of a radical conversion. So John would preach and teach about, yes, you must believe in who Jesus is. But you see, repentance encompasses more than just the change of my mind. It's a change of my heart. It's a change of my soul. It's a change of my life. It's a turning of my life based on what I believe and who God is and what he says.

There's been a turnabout in my life. And so there are many people who got on the Jesus train, but were never willing to deny themselves, take up the cross and follow Christ. They were never willing to do what he asked them to do, because what he asked them to do was beyond what they could do because he had never turned from their sin. You see, we forget that, and we'll say this over and over again, especially in the last weeks of our Lord's life, last days of our Lord's life, that Judas was the most, the most in terms of belief than the other 11.

Nobody would say Judas wasn't saved. None of the 11 would say that. He, above Peter, James, and John, was the most convincing of his self-deception. That's the way a lot of people are in the church. We can't believe that somebody wouldn't be saved. They grew up in church. They were saved as children. They say in the church, they minister in the church. How can you say they're not saved because of what the Bible says?

You see? And so we have to go back and we have to examine our lives. We're about to partake of the Lord's table. Who can say, Christ sacrificed for my sins. He died for my sins and not live for him. Who can actually embrace the Messiah and then not live for him? And why on earth would we ever convince somebody of a false assurance? Why would you do that? Why as a parent would you convince your children of a false assurance? Because one day they prayed a prayer. Show me a scripture verse where you pray a prayer and get saved.

Show me one. There is none. You walked an aisle. You signed a card. Show me a verse. Show it to me. There is none. It's all about commitment. It's about a change of life. And so you have to challenge yourself say, listen, you might say you're saved, but Jesus says you're not.

Jesus said by their fruits, you will know them. It's not by their fruits. You may think something about them by their fruits. You will know them. You will understand them. You will know where they stand with me because it will be evident in their life. At the same time, he says in the parable of the tears, that the tears who are false believers will grow alongside the wheat all throughout the kingdom age because the disciples wanted to know what to do. He says, listen, he gives a parable about the soul and the soil and how, how the majority of the soils, right?

They look like they're saved. They jump on the Jesus bandwagon, two of the four, they jump on the Jesus bandwagon and they look like they're saved because they received the word with joy. But in reality, they're not, there's only one that is. And that's the one that bears forth fruit because it's been truly repentant of its sin. And then he goes to that whole parable about the wheat and the tears, because throughout the church age, there will be people who would look like they're saved, who will grow alongside those who are saved.

And you cannot tell the difference because they are so convincing, so convincing, but at the end, they will be separated at the harvest, at the judgment of God. Folks, this is crucial. It's imperative that we understand, have I turned from my sins? Doesn't mean you never sin because you do, but you hate your sin. Harry Einstein wrote these words years ago. He was the pastor of the Memorial or the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. He says, perhaps someone may ask, but does it make no difference to God what I am myself?

May I live on in my sins and be saved? No, surely not. But this brings in another line of truth. The moment one believes the gospel, he is born again and receives a new life and a nature, a nature that hates sin and loves holiness. If you have come to Jesus and trusted Him, do you not realize the truth of this? Do you not now hate and detest the wicked things that once gave you a certain degree of delight? Do you not find within yourself a new craving for goodness, a longing after holiness, and a thirst for righteousness?

All this is the evidence of new nature. And as you walk with God, you will find that daily the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit will give you practical deliverance from the dominion of sin. He understood the fact that, yes, you will sin, but you don't love your sin. You hate your sin. You hate that which you were saved from. You detest it. You loathe those things. Will you sin? Yes, you will sin. Will you sin frequently? Yes, you will sin frequently. But what marks the heart of a believer is that he is grieved in his soul when he does sin.

Is he grieved in his soul? He turns from his sin. He doesn't try to conceal it, doesn't try to hide it, but he wants to confess it. He wants to forsake it because there's been a turning in his heart, a repentance from his sin. That's where it begins. How do you know you're ready for the coming of the Messiah? How do you know you're ready that when you die, if you die today, you would stand before the Son of Man? You've repented of your sins. That's a gift of God. Only God can do that. Only God can turn you.

You can't turn yourself. You can't muster up enough energy to turn from your sin because the lure of the world, the pull of the world brings you into it. And so you have to be turned by God. And when God turns you, you walk away from the domain of Satan into the dominion of God's dear Son. And there you live, and there you delight, and there you want to be. We have too many people today who claim to be Christians, but just love their sin and love and delight in committing sin. And they don't want to be with God's people, and they don't want to read God's word.

They just want to kind of go through the motions. But God isn't the delight of their soul. Listen, if you're saved, God is the delight of your soul. Remember the book of Haggai talks about one of the titles of the Messiah is that he's the desire of the nations. He is our ultimate desire. He's what we want. He's what we crave for. We can't wait to see him face to face. If that's not you, you got to ask yourself, have I repented of my sins? Don't be self-deceived. Don't be in that mode. Satan wants you to think, oh, you're okay.

You're okay. It's all right. You're in church. It's okay. You're in a good church. It's okay. You've given today. It's okay. It's okay. You read your Bible. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. You're going on a mission trip to Russia. It's okay. You're good. That's what Satan wants you to believe. But has there been a repentance, a turning of my life to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? That's where it all begins. Are you ready? Say, well, how about the other four principles? That's next week.

So what if I die between now and then I might not be ready. Let me tell you something. If you've repented of your sins, you're ready. It's where it begins, right? It's where it begins. And that's why we celebrate the Lord's table. We've turned from our sin to follow Christ and we celebrate his face. We could not have done that without him. We could not have been a part of his kingdom without him. We celebrate all. This is the finished work of Christ on Calvary. When he arrived, it is finished. What was the work of redemption was complete.

We've been purchased by the blood of the lamb. And for that, we celebrate. For that, we are ecstatic because we've been forgiven of our sins. We've been set free from the bondage of Satan. And we have new life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now we can honor him. Now we can glorify him. Now we can follow him. Oh, better than that. Now we want to do those things. You see, that's the bottom line. It's what I want to do. See, I want to honor the Lord. I want to follow the Lord. I want to serve the Lord. It's not I want to sin.

I want to be out of church. I want to be engaged in illicit relationships. I want to lie. No, it's, I want to be with my Lord. I want to honor my Lord. This is what I want to do. I might not always do it. Paul said, that which I want to do, I don't always do. I want to do those things, but I don't do them. And the things I don't want to do, I do. But boy, by the grace of God, he forgives me of my sin. So Paul knew the inner struggle, but his heart's desire was, I want to honor the Lord. I want to follow the Lord.

I want to serve the Lord. That's how you know. It's at the depth of my soul. This is what I want to do more than anything else. If it's not, you haven't repented and you are not ready. If you have repented, that's your heart's cry. That's your desire. That's what you want to do. For that, we celebrate the work of Christ. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for our time together this morning, and we anticipate all that you're going to do. Our prayer, Father, is that we would follow you wholeheartedly and that we truly would have turned from our sin to follow the true and living God. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.