0:07 Some people have a a wake-up call. Some people they might be smokers and they're coughing and then suddenly they get to the hospital and they said, "You 0:25 just made it just in time. Uh we were able to catch it before it became more serious. But you'll have to get off of all your cigarettes. And it's a wake-up call. From that day onwards that person is not going to smoke anymore 0:44 because of a physical wake-up call. For us, each one of us, there is something of a spiritual wake-up call that's good to have. A spiritual check-up. The thing we none of us want to have is 1:02 when we stand before the Lord in eternity a surprise. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know that. As we think about you know, there's many things that I'm not sure if each one of us will 1:21 do in our lifetime. Some of us may never travel. Some of us may never go certain places, but there is one thing that we will all do. All of us will meet with the Lord one day. Every single person 1:40 will meet with the Lord on one day. And if that is going to be a a a reality that just as much as we're all sitting here together that one day we will all be sitting in front of the throne throne of God. 2:00 It is important that how we live today so that we are prepared for that day when we stand before him. And as I think about eternity and all those people, one day it's going to be where all of these people the Lord 2:18 invites and you see them. You see like D.L. Moody and Watchman Nee, Amy Carmichael. All of these people walking in and there's going to be a standing ovation in the eternity. Everybody will rise and it speaks about that in 2 Peter. He says 2:36 that there's going to be some with a big standing ovation as they enter into eternity. And if that's a reality that each one of us is going to be there if we truly believe it what would that mean for our lives 2:55 today? If you know for sure that there are going to be people that is going to honor on that day for sure would you not want to be one among those who the Lord is honoring on that day? That day is going to be a 3:16 a scary day for certain people. You know which people it's going to be scary for. There's something that the Lord has given each one of us. It's something that tells us when we do 3:36 something wrong. When you tell a lie when you take something that doesn't belong to you there's something that tells you that is wrong. You know what that is? Your conscience. My conscience too. As a young person, as 3:57 I did something wrong, the conscience will say A.J., what you're doing is wrong. And as time goes on that conscience keeps telling me that it's wrong, but I quieted quietened it down. I don't want to hear it. Eventually the 4:16 the conscience can be at a such a level that we don't even hear it anymore. It doesn't even bother us. We could do something bad and it doesn't bother us. It's a very very precious thing to have a conscience. But with a conscience that we've sinned 4:34 and we've made mistakes over and over again it's important that we know how to clean that conscience. Do you know how to clean that conscience? Turn with me to Hebrews chapter nine. 4:57 It says that they used to sacrifice animals. You know in the Old Testament they used to sacrifice the bulls and goats. But did you know that that sacrifice could never keep their conscience 5:15 perfect? It says that in Hebrews 9:9. Both gifts and sacrifices are offered. Hebrews 9:9. Which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience. Turn with me to 5:34 Hebrews 10 verse 3. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. So for today for each one of us 5:52 are you remembering your sins? Are you having a guilty conscience that you're reminded of? There is hope for that. To cleanse it completely so that you have a perfectly clean conscience. Paul says, I think it's in Acts 24. 6:12 He says, I keep Actually, let's turn there. Acts 24 verse 15. That there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. Verse 15. 6:30 And then verse 16, In view of this I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before man. And so here it says in Hebrews, turning back to Hebrews 9. How much more 6:52 will the blood of Christ who the through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Or give us a perfect conscience. A perfectly clean conscience. 7:11 It's only in Jesus' blood that we can have a perfectly clear clean conscience. And that promise is for every single one of us. Each one of you if you come to God and say, "Lord I have a guilty conscience, Lord, and I know that day is coming when I stand 7:29 before you, Lord, and I acknowledge, Lord, my conscience is not right before you. I have a guilty conscience, Lord. Lord, would you cleanse it with your precious blood? Give me a perfectly clean conscience. On that day when we stand before him 7:47 those who have a perfectly clear conscience will stand before him with great joy. And so as we're thinking about this day that's approaching that we're all going to be at and we want to be ready for that day. The other thing that we want to 8:05 in addition to a clear conscience do we have any unforgiveness in our hearts? Any unforgiveness to anybody? Or is there someone we've hurt but which we've not asked them for forgiveness? 8:22 Turn Turn with me to Matthew. Matthew chapter six verse 14. Matthew 6:14. 8:41 For if you forgive others for their trespasses or transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. 9:00 And so on that day when we stand before the Lord we want all our sins to be forgiven. Every single one of them. We don't want to be able to We don't want to stand there and say, "Lord, I I didn't know. I I forgot to set that matter right. I 9:16 forgot to forgive that person. I forgot to go and ask them for forgiveness." On this earth nobody's going to ask you about whether you forgave someone else or whether you have a clear conscience. The world is not going to ask you that 9:29 question. That question is going to be asked for us in eternity. And so if we want to prepare for the questions we're going to be asked in eternity we want to make sure that we have those answers for us now. And I want to talk about a couple of 9:55 people in the Bible that God was trying to speak to them to prepare them for eternity. Do you want to guess? This is a king of Judah fought against the largest army 10:14 and has three letters in his name. You can shout out the answer. Very good. It's It's King Asa. Uh 10:32 and we can try turn to 2 Chronicles 14. 2 Chronicles 14. As I go through the kings all the different kings of Israel and Judah, I've always wanted to find a king. Okay, this king did everything pleasing to the Lord. And you'll find 10:51 lots of the kings they'll do 90% pleasing to the Lord and then they'll have one thing that they displease the Lord. Usually the high places they wouldn't have cleansed or they would have disobeyed the Lord in one matter, 11:03 but this King Asa was a very, very good king for the most part. For the first 10 years of his his kingship, he removed it says here in 2 Chronicles chapter 14 verse two, Asa did good and right in the 11:25 sight of the Lord his God. He removed all the foreign altars and high places, turned on turned tore down the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord. And so he was a very, very good king. 11:42 And as he was ruling, there was a king there was a army that was coming and it was the Ethiopian army. Do you know how many people they had in their army? A million soldiers were there in in in their army. Verse nine it says, "An army 12:01 of a million men and 300 chariots and they were coming." And this is what Asa said. Verse 11, Asa called to the Lord his God and said, "Lord, there is no one beside you to help in our in the battle between the powerful 12:20 and those who have no strength. So help us, oh Lord God, for we trust in you and in your name come against the multitudes. Oh Lord, you are our God. Let not man prevail against you." Do you know who Asa's son was? 12:39 Asa's son was King Jehoshaphat. At this time he was about 5 years old. Like some of you young people, he was 5 years old. He was there and he probably saw his dad, "Dad, what's going on? There's a million people coming against 12:55 us and 300 chariots, son, but we're going to trust in the Lord. The Lord's going to help us." And the Lord did help them against a army of million. They were defeated because God was on his side. 13:13 And then in chapter five, there's a a prophet who comes to him. Uh 2 Chronicles 15 it says verse one, "Now the spirit of God came on Azariah and he went to meet Asa and said, 'The Lord is with you when you are with him, 13:29 and if you seek him, he will let you find him. But if you forsake him, he will forsake you.'" And so he gave this word and Asa took it to heart. And he was even more zealous. He al- already destroyed a lot of the uh the other 13:46 places of worship and high places. And then what he did was he verse 12, he they entered into a covenant seek to seek the Lord and the fathers with all their heart and soul. And so he said he told everybody, "We must seek the 14:05 Lord." And then he was so zealous that when his mother, who is queen, was worshipping idols in secret, listen to what he said. Verse 16, "He also removed Maacah, the mother of King Asa, 14:24 from her position as queen mother because she had made uh uh image." And so he was so radical. For the first 35 years of his reign, he was such a good, godly king. 14:42 And it would have been so good if the story ended there. But unfortunately, in chapter 16, it says the king of Israel came, King Baasha of Israel came to attack. It was a smaller army than the Ethiopian 15:02 army of million. But do you know that he didn't go to God? Instead of going to God, he went to the king of Israel went to the king of Damascus, Ben-Hadad Ben-Hadad and asked him, "Can you help us? Why don't you bring your army and we'll get 15:20 our army and then we'll go and fight against the king of Israel." And then a prophet came again, a different prophet. His name was Hanani. Hanani. Verse seven, "At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa and said, 'Because you 15:40 have relied on the king of Syria and not relied on the Lord, therefore the ar- army of Syria has escaped your hand. Were not verse eight, were not the Ethiopians an an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on 15:56 the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.'" And so God is looking for people who are depending on him, who are looking for 16:14 him for strength and not the king of Syria. And because of this, the king of Syria is going to escape. Look at this verse 10. Then Asa was angry with the prophet and put him in prison, 16:32 for he was enraged at him for this. The same pro- the same king who accepted the prophet earlier, now in these last days of his life, the last five years of his rule, he's upset with that prophet. The prophet cared for him. He told him the 16:51 truth. All he had to do was repent and say, "You know what? You're right. The Ethiopian army was much bigger and God helped me. I should have trusted the Lord." But instead of that, when God convicted this king, 17:09 who was a faithful king for so many years, 35 years, he said, "I don't want to hear this." And he took that seer, put him in prison. For us also, he walked with the Lord for 35 years, 35 17:31 years, faithfully, not compromising in any place. Yet when God convicted him, he was not able to bear it. And so what happened again? 11 verse 11, 17:48 it says uh it says verse 12, "In the 39th year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet and the disease was severe. Yet even in this disease, he did not seek the Lord, but physicians." And so you can see that this decline. 18:08 But the good thing that there was one good thing that was happening in the midst of all this thing, Jehoshaphat was watching all of this. He was growing up from a 5-year-old. Now he's uh 35. His father Asa passes away and he 18:26 becomes king. And you can see that Jeho- Jehoshaphat he values God's prophets. You might remember when Ahab came and said, "Hey, all the prophets are saying let's go to battle." He says, "Isn't there a true prophet of God? All of these prophets are telling 18:46 you what you want to hear. I want to hear a prophet who's going to tell me what I want what I need to hear, not what I want to hear." And they bring Micaiah Mic- Micaiah out and he comes and he tell they tell him, "You just tell the king what he wants to 19:00 hear and you'll be okay. We all told him he's going to be successful. You just tell him that." He said, "No. What the Lord tells me, I'm going to tell him." And he tells him the truth. Because he told him the truth, he also 19:16 got thrown in prison. And he said, "Feed him sparingly so that when I come back successfully, then we can release him." And he shouts out and says, "Everybody here, if the king does come back safely, God hasn't spoken through me." 19:36 He was willing to suffer because he wanted to please the Lord and did not care for anybody else's reputation. He cared for the eternal well-being of that king. Jehoshaphat again, later on when there's a uh a war that's going to happen. Again, 19:55 they bring up all the Israeli king put brings up a bunch of other prophets and again he says, "Is there not a true prophet of the Lord?" Where did he Where did he learn this? I believe it was in those years when he saw his dad. 20:14 When the true prophet spoke the word, he did not hear it and so he learned he saw something from his dad and he's learned I want to even if the message is not conducive, one which is easy to accept, which is hard on my flesh, 20:31 I know it's true and I know it's for my good. It's for my internal well-being. And so I accept it. And so Jehoshaphat then brings out Elisha comes and he gives the word of the Lord and so 20:48 for us too, as we hear God's word, we're going to have this choice. Each one of us is going to have this choice. Either take that messenger, put him in prison, or listen to that word. It may not be a word we want to hear, but it's a word we 21:04 need to hear. In light of eternity, the things we hear in light of eternity may not be things that we want to hear. The flesh definitely does not want to hear. But our spirit will rejoice in hearing it because it knows that this is for my welfare, my eternal 21:21 welfare. God used many ways to get our attention. Solomon, as you know, was a very very godly king at thing at when he started out. 21:39 He built the temple. God's presence filled the temple after he built it. God appeared to him twice and asked, "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you." He had that type of deep relationship with God. 21:57 God It says that he loved God. But you all know what happened. The same man who sacrificed so much sacrifice that the altar could not hold it for God was sacrificing to the other gods 22:16 when he he gave him old. And it says here in You can turn with me to 1 Kings 11. God was very It says God was angry. 1 Kings chapter 11 verse 9. Now the Lord was angry with Solomon 22:35 because his heart was turned away from the Lord. And so the Lord's Lord wanted to get his attention. And so he raised up two people, Hadad the Edomite and Rezin Rezin. And these two people he was hoping that 22:54 these by the pressures of war and them coming against him that he'd wake up and say, "You know what? Lord, you're trying to get my attention through these circumstances and people so that I'll humble myself, that I'll go 23:07 and return to you." And for us too, the Lord may use certain circumstances in our life, people and circumstances, so that we will turn to him. We're straying away and he says, "Lord, Solomon, this is not good for you in 23:22 eternity eternity. There's serious implications of the the way you're going right now, Solomon, and I care for you. I love you. So I'm going to bring up these two kings to hopefully get your attention." God did that with with uh 23:41 with uh Paul as well. Turn with me to Acts 26 verse 14. Acts 26 verse 14. Yeah. Acts 26:14. 24:06 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads." And so goads are basically a sharp object a sharp object that they usually 24:25 put behind the oxen. As long as the oxen is going forward and is obedient, it's not going to feel those goads. But the moment that ox kicks back and says, "You know what? I'm not going to listen. I'm going to kick back and I'm 24:38 going to rebel." Guess what happens? That goad comes and pokes it. And he's basically telling Paul, "The harder you kick, it's going to be it's going to be harder for you. You're going to go through much suffering the harder you kick." 24:56 There's a beautiful verse where it says, "He who falls upon this stone will be broken." That means if I willingly want to go and fall upon that stone, I'll be broken. But if that stone has to fall upon me, then I'll be crushed to dust. 25:13 And so sometimes the Lord will have to use circumstances like that. With uh you might remember with Nebuchadnezzar. God had warned Nebuchadnezzar. He had showed him a dream where he was like a big tree growing up, branches, 25:29 and birds were in the tree and all of that. And Daniel told him, "I hope this dream is for your enemies because it's saying that if you be lifted up, there's going to be an axe that's going to cut you down." One year later, he got that warning a 25:46 year ago. If he had fallen on the rock, he would have been broken, but he had said, "No." A year later, he did not take the warning. And you might remember he was on the rooftop saying, "Isn't this Babylon that I've built?" 26:03 And within a moment, his mind was taken away with him and he became like an animal. And after he repented, he said this, "God knows how to humble those who walk in pride." God knows 26:22 how to humble those who walk in pride. And so he had the option. You want to fall upon fall upon the rock? Or do you want the rock to come and crush you? But either way, if we submit to the crushing or the breaking, it'll be for our good. 26:50 With Peter, too. It's wonderful when God can find a man who he can correct and he receives it. And then he corrects him again and he receives it. The reason I know that he kept receiving 27:11 it, Peter received every single piece of correction, is because it says in Matthew Matthew 7. Turn with me to Matthew 7. Verse 6. 27:33 Matthew 7 verse 6. "Do not give what is holy to the dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine because what happens when you do it? See what See what's the reaction 27:50 when you give a pearl to a swine or a dog? It says, "Or they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces." When the prophet came and told Asa 28:11 and warned him, what did he do? He got angry at the prophet. He didn't take it. Ahab, the same thing. When prophet told him, he got upset, threw him in prison. Our reaction to God's word and his correction 28:29 and his word to us convicting us will tell us if we're receiving a pearl or we're rejecting it. And Jesus himself says, "If I give a pearl and they reject it, if 28:47 he's not going to keep giving pearls." And for me, I have to ask myself, "Lord, when was the last time could be in a meeting or through your word or through a godly brother gave me a pearl 29:06 and I didn't receive it?" Then the Lord's going to say, "You know what? You're not interested in receiving these pearls. I'm not going to give it to you. You're not valuing these as pearls." But Paul Peter, the reason I know that 29:22 the Lord kept giving him these pearls is because he kept receiving them. When he was on the water and he sank, "You of little faith." I receive that, Lord. I don't want to have little faith. Satan get get behind me, Satan. Lord, I 29:39 receive that pearl. I don't want to think in a human way. I don't want to think in a earthly mind. I don't want my mind to be a set on man's interest. I want it to be on God's interest. Okay, I'll take this pearl. And throughout his life, he kept getting 29:52 these pearls. I say, "Lord, I want to be like this man. I want to be like this man." Because this is the man in 2 Peter says there's going to be abundant entrance for certain people. When God told them something and showed 30:09 them something in their life, they said, "You know what? I receive it. I want this. I know it's hard to take. Being called get behind me Satan is not easy to take. But I receive it, Lord. I receive it. Because I know it's for my good." And 30:24 Jesus looked at Peter and said, "You know what? You're a man who receives pearls. I'm going to give you more." And that preserved his life to the very end. Where Asa failed, where Solomon failed. Why did Peter not fail? 30:39 It was because when God corrected him, he received it. And you could say, "You know what? That and then in in Matthew 26:52, when he cut the ear of the chief high priest's servant, Malchus, he says, 30:58 "Put your Put your sword back in." Every place he said, "Yes, Lord, I'll put it back in. I was rash with my sword. I I cut people with my sword." There's one thing that's that It's only God's mercy. So many things 31:19 could have been so much worse than it was. I know in my life there's certain situations that could have been so worse than it was, but by God's mercy, it wasn't. I think about if Peter act instead of cutting his ear, killed him that day. What would have 31:37 What would What regret Peter would have had throughout his life. There's a verse that's in I believe it's in Psalm 103, where he says he's not dealt with us according to our iniquities. We deserve so much were more worse and 31:54 God didn't deal with us that way. It could have been worse. He could have killed that man and regretted it for all eternity, but God in his mercy allowed him to just slice off his ear and then healed it back. But even in my life, and I'm sure in 32:11 yours as well, there's so many situations which could have been so much worse. And it was only God's mercy that prevented us. But I believe that he would have learned the lesson saying, "You know what? I need to be careful with the sword. 32:26 Both of this physical sword and also my tongue." And because he could receive those corrections from God, he could also receive it from godly men. Sometimes we might say, "Oh, you know what? If God corrects me, I'll take it. 32:42 But if a godly man corrects me, I No, I'm not going to take it." Peter wasn't like that. You read in Galatians from verses 11 and 14, when he was playing when he was a hypocrite, he didn't want to eat with the Gentile believers because the Jews were 33:00 there and he didn't want to be seen with the Gentile believers. He's like slowly went to the other table and ate with the other people. And Paul being a loving but caring He cared for the eternal of Peter, not his reputation and he said, 33:20 "This is hypocrisy, Peter." But Peter said, "You know what?" He didn't answer a single word. If you read there, it doesn't say, "Oh, I justified myself saying, you know what?" Nothing. He didn't justify himself. He didn't 33:35 explain himself. Nothing. He received it. I want to be able to receive, but the Lord will only give me pearls if he sees that I'm willing to receive them. The day I stop receiving the pearls and 33:55 stop receiving it, he'll say, "No, okay. You made your choice not to receive it." He may use circumstances and situations to get my attention. But it's good for me to humble myself. It's good for us to humble ourselves and 34:09 say, "Lord, if a godly king like Asa after 35 years can stop receiving correction, stop receiving your word, let me take heed lest I fall." But we don't We We We also, you know, we 34:28 have to be careful. There's many people who would who would When it comes to godly men, Paul didn't say, you know, "Receive my correction" or anything like that, but he said something in 2 Cor- uh 2 Corinthians, I'm sorry. 2 34:43 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, "Commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Commending ourselves our Doesn't your 35:03 conscience bear witness of my life? The way I conduct myself." He He told them, "I've earned for my own bread. I did not seek anybody else's bread. You saw how we walked among you." 35:22 He asked them Look at our lives. In the earlier verse that actually verse 2, it says, "But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but the manifest but by the 35:39 manifestation of the truth." So they said, "Take a look at our lives. And if you feel in your conscience that your our lives are bearing witness, then if we say something, receive it." And so with Paul, they could see his 35:58 life. He was not interested in their money. He was not interested in their honor. He was not interested in any on any of these things. He was not interesting in twisting the word to make it palatable. He cared for their eternal well-being. 36:13 And so he says, "You know what? Then listen to our what we say." There was a There's a song it says, "I wish I wish I had given him more." It was by a 36:32 uh lady, her name was Grace Reese Adkins. And it says, "By and by when I look on his face, beautiful face, thorn-shadowed face, by and by when I look on his face, I'll wish I had given him more. 36:50 More, so much more, more than more of my love than I ever gave before. By and by when I look on his face, I'll wish I had given him more." For me, I don't want to be able to sing 37:08 that song when I stand before the Lord. I don't want to be able to say that on when I stand before the Lord, then it's too late. I wish I had given him more. When can we give him our more? When When can we see his face, 37:24 his beautiful face, and give him more? When is that time? It's now. It's now. It's today. That's why we have a spiritual wake-up call. Today is the day when we could make that decision. 37:43 There are going to be many people like we we we saw, who their conscience was seared. Who it won't be a happy day for them when they stand before the Lord. People who have had bitterness and unforgiveness and did not set matters 37:58 right. It won't be a happy day for them. And then there's going to be others that have made it into eternity. But this is will be their testimony. I wish I gave him more. Lord, I wish I gave you more. I wish I did more for you. I wish I 38:15 loved you more. I wish I was devoted to you more. I wish I gave up more of my life for you. But they won't be able to. But for each one of us today, 38:34 we have that opportunity. And that's why I ask each one of us, remember this word we hear, it'll be very easily for it to slip away from our minds. Very easy. We go back to our work. We go back to 38:54 our activities and stuff like that. The spiritual wake-up we we left it on Sunday. No. Unless we live our lives each day for Christ, fully for him, for all that he's done 39:10 for us today, starting today, we will be singing that song before the throne of God saying, "I wish I did more for you, Lord." Even if we were saved and we're entering in there, we would have that regret saying, "Lord, I wish I 39:28 did more for you." And we won't have that opportunity. But today, we do have that opportunity. Each one of us, so that when we stand before him, we also can have that abundant entrance. I want to turn you to that verse so that 39:44 you can think about that verse. It's found in 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 11. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 11. For in this way the entrance into the eternal 40:03 kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. That's my longing. My longing is not to just make it in there. My longing is Lord with this one life you've given me 40:21 I want to give it all for you, Lord. And I want to share that with each one here, Lord. Each one from the youngest to the oldest each one of us can make that choice, Lord. Every single piece of me 40:38 I want for you, Lord. And then on that day when we stand before the Lord, you will have such great joy when the Lord says, "Well done my child." Let's pray. 40:56 Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, that your desire for us is for our very best, Lord. Your life the life you have to offer us, Lord, a clear conscience, Lord. Free from any guilt, Lord. Lord, to forgive everyone in the sight 41:12 of God, we forgive everybody. Lord, and also, Lord, Lord, I don't want to wait to give my all for you. I want to give my all starting today, Lord. Each one of us starting today so that when we stand before that that throne your or your throne, Lord 41:29 you would see a life that was lived out completely for you, Lord. I pray, Lord, that your grace will be upon each one of us. That your Holy Spirit will fill each one of us so that we will run this race and finish it well. 41:44 In Jesus' name. Amen.
