and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. And all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you. But go ye rather to them that sell and buy to yourself. while they went to buy the bridegroom cave. They that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. She answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. The Old Testament prophets prophesied and foretold the coming of Christ. All you have to do is read the book of Daniel, and you'll find that to be true. And you may go way back beyond that, even to the time of Enoch. Enoch was the seventh from Adam, and yet in Jude, Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come with ten thousands of his saints. to execute judgment upon the ungodly. And so you may convince right back that Jordan Genesis, where you have Enoch prophesying the second coming of Christ, right on through the prophets, major and minor. But when you come into the New Testament, there is where you have the truth of the second coming of Christ mentioned, explained, detailed, so that no one needs be mistaken or misunderstood as to that event. As we said this morning, three hundred times in your New Testament, you have the coming of Christ referred to. We pointed out the fact that you have baptism mentioned nineteen times in the New Testament. And there are those who will constantly refer to baptism, and certainly we believe in baptism by immersion, but not essential to salvation. And yet there are those who preach at every meeting. Why don't they preach the second coming of Christ that's mentioned three hundred times? Money is referred to about nineteen, about fifteen times in the New Testament. Giving. Half of that's referring to giving to the poor. And yet here you have about seven or eight texts that refer to giving to the church. And how often is that preached on? About every service. Yet here's a subject referred to three hundred times hardly ever mentioned from one year's end to another. The precious blood of Christ referred to fifty-four times in the New Testament. That seldom refers to it. But thank God there are still a few who preach that. But why is it a subject mentioned so frequently, so in fact, so definitely, so deceit, should be so neglected, shunned, It is because a lot of them don't want to believe it. They don't like to hear it. And they are certainly being accommodated by those who fill the post. And so we have this subject mentioned three hundred times in the New Testament. Christ, take of it. He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. So Christ spoke of it. Angels announced it. This same Jesus, which is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as the seal of gold. The apostles taught it. You find it in their writing, if they were led by the Holy Spirit of God to dwell on this subject, and the Lord suffered. It emphasizes it, because the Lord Jesus said, when you take the bread and the wine, Do this in memory of me until I come. That defeats she instituted in the upper room to continue until he came to this church. So how can you get around it? What are some of the signs relative to his coming? This morning we were mentioning seven outstanding stocking signs in the world scene, around the world scene, among the nation. Certain trends. Tonight I want to confine myself with some signs relative to this passage that have to do with protecting Christendom. In other words, one of the first ones you see right on the surface is this. There's very little difference between the wise virgins and the unwise outwardly. Very little difference. Let me tell you there's very little difference today between those really born again and those who are not. Not for a minute that the unconverted have lifted themselves up to the plane of the real Christian. Sad to say at the very first the real Christian has come down to the deferable levels of the sinner in many ways. Christians living like the unconverted. So today it would be very difficult to say who is a Christian and who is not. But there's one thing I know, and the Bible declares it, the foundation of God standeth sure, the Lord knoweth in them that are his. And if there's anything that's stumbling poor sinners today who are seeking the gospel and seeking the way of salvation, it is those who profess to be and are not. Very little difference between the wise and the unwise virgins, outwardly, and then they're all asleep. Even the wise virgins were asleep. And are Christians not asleep? Yes, Christians are asleep as to their responsibilities. I can't imagine a born-again Christian allowing a whole week to go by without sticking to someone above his soul. And don't take it entirely up to the preacher to be a soul one. Every Christian should be a witness for Christ. Every child of God should be sticking to someone above his soul or her soul. I would have a very guilty conscience if I let a day go by without spitting to someone about his soul's name. And every Christian should feel that way. Don't leave it up to the preacher. Christ intends that everyone who saves witness for Christ and testify to the fact he's coming again. And if you don't have a desire for that, I question your salvation. one of the things that accompanies salvation, a burden for souls, a desire to see people saved and led to Christ. And how can the Christians look out upon the world of Riders and see things as they are? Darkness closing in, the end approaching, and every born-again Christians should know that we're living in the last days and see the wicked all around you and you don't have a desire to see them saved? You don't have a desire to speak to a lost soul about the Lord Jesus Christ. Not ask him to join your church, but ask him that he know the Savior. That he know Christ is he ready for the return of the Lord Jesus. Visiting a lady in the hospital even this week. He told me to Mr. Wilson, my Sunday school teacher used to be after me every Sunday. to join the church when I was a little girl. She said, you're keeping our standards down, our records low, by not joining the church. The little girl would go home and tell her mother what the Sunday school teacher said. The mother says, you'll join the church when I was heavy, never mind the Sunday school teacher. One Sunday morning, the mother said, all right, you can go and join the church this morning. And the little girl did it, and she was eighteen years of age. But to admit to Wilson, I wasn't saved. I did it because my mother told me She says, two years later, I found the Lord Jesus, my personal Savior. I know I'm saved. I think, Jack, you know who I'm referring to. Mrs. Green, the nurses in the hospital who's involved in that act. In other words, today, people are not witnessing... to the Lord Jesus Christ and emphasizing the need of being born again. It's just going to join the church in that city. You might have joined some kind of a lodge or something. And that's all this truth. No, friend, let me tell you this. You better be sure that you're among the wise. Oh, there's one thing that will single you out. It'll be the second coming of Christ. Very little difference between the saved and the lost, according to the passage. And sleepy Christians, Christians not on the job. Yes. And then you see an abundance of profession. Because these foolish virgins, they had a lamp, and a lamp speaks of a professional light, a testimony. Oh yes, they had a testimony. The trouble is they had another little vessel that should have contained the oil. And this is where the truth comes in. Our bodies are referred to as earthen vessels. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels. And what is that treasure, the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God is dwelling in the heart of every truly born-again person. We're born from about, taken by the Spirit at the time we were born again. Every Christian has that treasure in his earthen vessel. And that's what qualifies him and prepares him for the coming of Christ. So many just have the lamp in their hand. They have a testimony. Oh, yes. They are part of the rest of your Christian. And let me say this. All of these, even the foolish, were looking for the coming of the bridegroom. That's very significant. Very few today believe it, let alone are looking for them to try. So I would take it that these foolish virgins believed in the fundamentals. And we're actually looking for the bridegroom, getting themselves ready. But they didn't have the oil in their neck. And fifty percent... find where the dead, who were looking for the coming of the bridegroom, where he came, were outside, left outside for judgment. That ought to search every professing Christian to his very heels. Am I just a professing, or do I really possess Jesus Christ? Have I got the Holy Spirit in my heart? Can I refer to a time when I was really, truly, genuinely born again? Or did I just make a professor? And I have a little testimony I can give. So they had their lamps, but they were looking for the dry dreams. When he came, the dog was stuck in her face. That's what he tried to give him. further see a sleeping world undoubtedly when Christ comes his coming will catch the world she's unaware because it says he's coming as a thief when a thief never announces beforehand the hour of his arrival he catches the judgment of the five advice of Christ This cruel old world, together ignorant and indifferent as to what's going to happen. It's going to happen on these days. Oh, yes, this day my grandmother used to talk something like that. But you know, we've grown up. We've learned differently. Yes. You better go back and believe what grandmother taught you. Because she told you the truth that she referred to the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ because he's come. So the world just slumbers on. Now how do they get around this subject? And dwelling further on that point about these five foolish virgins looking for the coming of the bridegroom and seeking to prepare for it, I noted one thing that Billy Graham said on his telecast here a couple of weeks ago. He said these foolish virgins weren't throwing stones at the wedding procession. That's true. They weren't hostile. They were sympathetic. Meaning there are people today who should be sympathetic for the coming of Christ. Yet not ready when he does. How is he going to come? He's going to come in person. That's how. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven to the shelf. That's what my Bible says. The Lord himself, he's not going to send an angel. The Lord himself. The angel says, This same Jesus, which was taken from you to heaven, shall so come as ye have seen him go. How did he go? He went corporal. He went a physical form that could be handled, that ate a fish in their presence. This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go. Christ said, I go away. I come again. How is he coming? He's coming in person. That's how he's coming. How do these fellas explain the second coming of Christ? One of our brethren said tonight back in the prayer room that one of the leading pastors of this town said publicly from his pulpit that He didn't know a thing about Revelation. Didn't want anybody to ask them about it because he didn't know. Just leave it alone. Leave it alone. To me, the book of Revelation is one of the most precious in the Bible. And what did God mean when he said in the very opening verses of that book, Blessed is he that read and they that hear the words of this prophecy. Why did God say that unless there's a blessing in the book of Revelation for those who read it and hear it preach? I'd like to know how these men get around that. I couldn't count the people I've seen led to Jesus Christ in my thirty years ministry from preaching on the book of Revelation. And I don't know the Christians who've been helped in preaching on the book of Revelation. All that... And they say you can't understand the Book of Revelation. No, I don't say I understand everything that is. But certainly there's enough there on the very surface, on a little beneath the surface, that you can understand for the profit of your soul and for the glory of God. How do they explain this? Gold, they say. You know what the coming of the Lord is when a person dies. That's the Lord coming for that person. Let's analyze that subtly basis. The coming of the Lord is when a person dies. My Bible says that the coming of the Lord is life, not death. What's the Lord going to do? The dead in Christ shall arrive. That's what's going to happen when Jesus Christ comes. It's not a person dying, that's not the answer. When Jesus Christ comes, the dead shall arrive. Not the living dies, but the dead arrive. Just the opposite to what they try and say is an explanation. You get around not preaching when the second coming of Christ. They say when a person dies, that means the Lord has come to that person. And yet as I say, my Bible says that dead in Christ shall rise, grave shall be opened. Furthermore, others say, well, you know, when you receive a little knowledge from the Bible, something you hadn't noticed before, a little light, a little truth dawns on you when you study the Bible or when the scripture is preaching. That's the coming of the Lord. It means knowledge. The Lord is coming to your mind, your heart in the form of knowledge. That's what the Bible refers to when it speaks of the second coming of Christ. Well, that means after you've got your first thought, some new thought about the Lord Jesus that stopped there, the second coming of Christ. What a watered-down sin explanation. In other words, I simply say that the Lord Jesus Christ was here nineteen hundred years ago, was he not? You say, yes, certainly. We know that history recorded. Let me ask you this question. Was it just a knowledge of the Lord that was here, or was it the Lord himself? Was it just a knowledge of Christ that was here nineteen hundred years ago, or was a living man here? Was Christ in person here? Christ in person, would he? And when Jesus Christ comes, he's coming in person. It's not going to be a knowledge. And what a ridiculous explanation that just as you read the Bible, you get a new thought. Well, that's the coming of the Lord as far as you're concerned. How ridiculous can we get, we're trying to explain away Bible truth. Yet that's the way they try and explain away. But he's coming in person. He's coming unexpectedly. There's not going to be any supernatural sign when he comes. No angel announcing in the heavens, no blowing of prophets, no letters of fire across the sky. But he's coming. He's coming in a moment, in the trickling of an eye. He's coming as a thief, unexpectedly suddenly. Matthew twenty four tells us he's coming as sure as the word. Jesus Christ says, Just as sure as my word, for heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. And as sudden as the flood, for as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. And as swift as the lightning, for as the lightning flashed out of the east, even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. Silent as the feet. and coming the feet of the night in the night just as silent as it is who comes into that house and snatches away the treasure so shall the coming of the son of man be and here's a family and only one in that family is born again or maybe the parents are not and the little children are in their kids and tiny beds and of course they'll be protected and taken when jesus comes they'll not be left for judgment And when Jesus Christ comes, those little beds are going to be left empty. Although the empty hearts in the pebs the next morning, where children are gone. He's coming as a thief. He's coming for the treasure in those hands. If one member of the family is saved, that member will go, and the unsaved will be left behind. Do you want Bible for that? Turn to Matthew twenty-four. Two shall be in a bed. One shall be taken, the other shall be left. Two shall be in the field. One shall be taken, the other left. Two shall be crying at the mill. One shall be taken on the other left. Family life, two in a bed. Factory life, two at the mill. Farm life, two in the field. One taken, the other left. What a separation. Yes, he's going to come in person, and he's going to come sunrise. That's how he's going. When is he going to come? God's the point of time. No man knows, but we know this much. He gives us certain things that are going to take place on the earth. And he says, when you see all these things come to pass, lift up your head, you, Christen, your redemption, the redemption of your body, God and I. He says you can indicate the weather. Matthew, sixteen, three, you say when you see the sunset, it will be fair or foul weather tomorrow. He says, you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you can't discern the signs of the sky, indicating that you can see the end of Proceed. And then let me tell you the end is of Proceed. All I can say as to when Jesus Christ will come, is locked in the knowledge of God. Jesus Christ said that, of that day and that hour, there was no man but my Father which is in heaven. But I know this much. The Scripture says that he has come, Jesus Christ has come, to take out of the nations a people for his name. And when Christ went back to heaven nineteen hundred years ago, when humanity went into the presence of deity, deity in the person of the Holy Spirit came down to abide in the presence of humanity, to dwell in the hearts of those who are saved, that began the work of gathering out of all nations of people of Christ known as the church. are in the midst of all Christendom, all your denominations, and all the confusion, there are a few born again here, a few born again there, a few saved here, and they're the only ones who are going to go up in Jesus' time. God is gathering out of all nations a people for His name. Some soul will be the last. when that last soul is saved to complete the church. The church is likened unto a building in Ephesians. When the last soul to complete that mighty structure that commenced on the foundation of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost, when the last soul is saved, then Jesus Christ will come and take his church to heaven. That's when he will come. When the last soul is saved, and friends, that could be the night. No one knows. That's when he'll come. Where will he come? He'll come to the air, according to First Thessalonians chapter four. As we were noticing this morning, he comes to the air first, and he catches up his church to meet them in the air. That's what you read, First Thessalonians four. The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout of the voice of the ark, came from the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and he which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Then after a period of her take prophetic truth, as we see it from Daniel to Revelation, it will be approximately a period of about seven weeks of years, or one week of years, seven years. That's then all the books of Revelation practically, from chapter six on to chapter nineteen, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vows of wrath, those twenty-one consecutive judgments are poured upon the earth. That runs a period of approximately about seven years, or as far as we can see from the prophetic truth. After that, Jesus Christ comes the rest of the way with his church in judgment upon this godless world. He comes first for his people to take them out, and then he does send later in judgment upon again. But the best illustration I could use is this. Supposing a certain army were advancing upon Albany to destroy it. And the commander of that army halted his troop five miles outside the city limits. He said, I have some friends in Albany. They're not sympathetic toward what's going on in that city. They're sympathetic to me. I'm not going to destroy them with the wreck. And under the cover of night he sends in an MSF, messengers, go here, go there. I've got the names of them all. Notify everyone that I am haunting my army in its march upon Albany, and for them to slip out to me and come quickly. For at the dawn breaks, I'm going to descend on the city. But under the cover of night all his friends are notified and taken out of the general, the commander outside the city of Albany. And then he's got them all with him. He gives the command for his army command. Destroy the enemy. Jesus Christ is coming to the air. He knows he has those here upon the earth who are his friends, who have been born again, who are saved by his grace, and he's going to call them up. When they're gathered with them, then he gives the order to march. That's what you have in chapter nineteen of Revelation. Christ got his white box, riding down the heavens with his faith in white robes, coming in judgment upon his foes, assembled in the veil of the ghetto. Then will be the battle of army deadened, the repercussions of which will be felt throughout the whole earth. Yes, Jesus Christ is coming. He's coming for his church. He's coming to the air. Doesn't he use a wonderful symbol in First Corinthians fifteen? In a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Do you ever notice when you twinkle your eye that the top lid comes down? He comes further than the bottom lid. The bottom lid goes up, parked the way the top lid comes to earth. He's coming down. We're going up like a flinkling of an eye. Yes, he's coming. Why is he coming? We've noticed how in person and sudden we've noticed when. when the last soul is saved and complete the church. We've noticed where he's come to the air. Why is he? He's coming to fulfill Scripture, and that is first coming. Why did Jesus Christ come nineteen hundred years ago? Did the Scriptures not foretell he was coming? Do we not read away back in Genesis three, the seed of the womb, referring to Jesus Christ? Did the prophet Isaiah not speak in chapter seven and chapter nine about the virgin conceiving and bringing forth a son? Did he not? Did he pray in chapter nine his name to be called Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace? Think of the many other references in the Old Testament that foretold the coming of Christ? Let me ask you a question. Did he come nineteen hundred years ago? A man would be a fool to say he didn't. Certain he came. Petra records the fact. Josephus, an unbelieving Jewish historian, one of the most authentic, but one of the most accurate and honest, gives such flowing language, writes in such flowing language of the person of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, and yet he wasn't even a Christian. And he practically uses language almost similar to your Bible in speaking of this marvelous character Jesus Christ. Why, certainly he came. No one can deny that. Then why did he come nineteen hundred years ago to fulfill Scripture? Let me ask you this question. Why is he coming again to fulfill Scripture? Did these things happen nineteen hundred years ago as the Scripture foretold? The Scripture foretold then how Christ was to come. He was to come by way of the Virgin, isn't that right? Didn't he come by way of the Virgin? The Scriptures foretold when he was to come. At the end of the sixtieth night, the ninth week of years, according to Daniel, four hundred and eighty-three years from the time of the building of the temple in Jerusalem, that referred to Christ coming. And so the Old Testament foretold when Christ was to come. Furthermore, did it tell where he was to come yet? South Bethlehem of Judea. The place of his birth was foretold long ago, hundreds of years before he came in the Old Testament. Did the Old Testament tell why Jesus Christ was to come? Yes. The Old Testament foretold he was to come to die for sinners. He was to come with Israel's king and Messiah. The Old Testament foretold how, when, where, and why Jesus Christ was to come. Did He come? Nineteen hundred years ago, as the Old Testament scripture said He would. Exactly. Then the same word of God foretells how, when, where, and why He'll come the next time. Is He going to come just as true as He came first? You can't deny a man belongs in Millageville. who would speak to them. You've got the word of God to prove. That's how we start. Where he's coming, where and why. He's coming to execute judgment after he takes the church out. certainly he'll begin setting up the machinery that will bring Israel into her place of blessing where he will set up his kingdom and reign for a thousand years but bless God the first thing the thing I miss today is he's coming to the church to take me up and all who are born again yet he's coming what will happen when he does come three things a great separation a great discovery and the great tribulation. What will happen? The dead in Christ shall die first. The poor Thessalonians Christian, they were just buried in Christ and they were all upset about loved ones who had died. They wondered about their loved ones. Oh yes, they said, we know that when Jesus comes, we're going up. But what about those who carry down the earth? Oh, said the apostles, they're going to get the pretzels when Jesus comes, and then in Christ he'll rise first. Then we which are alive and remains should be caught up. They shall be raised and we shall be changed. That's what your Bible says. The dead change, the living, the dead raised rather, the living change into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That's what your Bible says. Don't go away tonight and say, Lester Wilson said this and Lester Wilson said that. I've given you the Bible. You go away and say, God said this and God said that. And if you don't believe it, then you don't believe God. That's the book. A great separation. Yes, the poor foolish virgins, they went midnight, fly was heard, behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Here they had been sleeping, and they awakened in their lamps, where God had gone out, and they had no oil, and the oil is triggered, and of the Holy Spirit, no more oil in their vessel. The five who had the oil went in and the door was shut. The five foolish were us. Oh, but is that fair? Yes, it was fair. They had the same opportunity as the wise to get ready and to get the oil, but they didn't avail themselves of that opportunity. And there was a great separation between the wise and the foolish. And oh, what a separation. is coming one of these days when Jesus returns. I shudder to think of it. I have a brother unsaved. A finer boy you would hardly like to meet. He doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He doesn't gamble. He doesn't swear. And yet George is not a Christian. I know when Jesus comes, he'll be left behind for judgment. I know it. What an awful separation. An awful separation. I've seen some sad partings. When busloads of our boys took off in a bus during the last war, oh, the cheerful partings, as the bus blew that for the trade. I never see anything like that without thinking of when things have come, go. What partings? What separation? When the savor caught up, the unsaver left behind. I wonder how this will affect your family, the great separation, the wreath and the tear. The wreath gathered into the garter of the tears left behind to be burned. The foundation of God's family is here, the Lord's more home than ever did. We read about they that are Christ, that is coming. A great discovery. Yes, a great discovery. So many are going to make the discovery of these foolish virgins that they didn't have it after all. Oh, they may have been church members. They may have been active in the church. They may have been deacons, stewards, elders in the church. They may even have filled the pulpit. That makes no difference, friend, unless they're born again. They'll not be ready when Jesus comes. We read about those who said, when the door was shut, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in thy name? Here are preachers. Lord, we preach in your name. And in thy name we done many wonderful works. We did many wonderful works. He shall say in the day, then depart from me the forces of iniquity I never knew. I never knew. He didn't say I knew you once. I don't know you now. He said, I never did, though. You've been a professor all along. That's tragic, isn't it? A great discovery. You notice all these virgins are called virgins. They all have the same name. You may take the name of Christian. They were pure. You may have a blameless character. just like one who's really born again. You may have a testimony. You have a lamp. The foolish had a lamp just like the wives. You may have a certain knowledge of the Bible that Jesus is coming, for the foolish have the same knowledge as the wise that the bridegroom has come. But when he does come, our door will be the tree. because you lack that which speaks of the Holy Spirit no more. The pride that ends with him, the match, the foolish, left outside their judgment. A great discovery. I shudder to think of the discovery that are going to be made right here in Albany when Jesus Christ died. People who thought they were Christians discovering And they're not. They missed it. Remember this. It'll be too late. When the discoveries made to rectify it. That's final. The last point. The great tragedy. The door was shut. The door was shut. And the bridegroom shut it. And no man will open it. The door is shut. What a tragedy. Let me tell you that this, that will be just and it will be final. Just because you have just as much an opportunity of being saved as anyone. You're hearing the same gospel. You can receive Christ just as well as anyone else. Therefore, if you listen, you're being left outside and be just and it will be final, meaning that door will never open again. get shot for us. George Whitfield, that great preacher of the four centuries ago, was preaching to a vast audience, and he was emphasizing those words, and the door was shut, and the door was shut. Way back in his audience, far back, because thousands listened to Whitfield. Two teenage young men were cutting up, fooling around during the sermon. that that man of God was preaching in front of them. Right in front of them sat a drowsy old lady. When George Hickfield's voice rang out, and the door was shut, one of the young men says, Well, what? If it does, another one will open. Hickfield didn't hear that. He was too far away, but God heard it from the spirit of God led that man to say, And yet, Some of my audience will say, when I say, and the door was shut, well, suppose it does, another will open. Yes, says Whitfield, another one will open. It will be the door to the bottomless pit. That went like an arrow to the man. He slumped under conviction in his seat, and went up on his seat flight. Yes, he said it as good. to go how Solomon is and how God heard it and led Whitfield to give the answer. If that one shuts, then you're on the outside, there is another one that will open. And that's the door to the bottom of the book. My Bible says, stride to enter into a straightening, meaning simply this, that word strides in the original. Really means this, agonize, not that works will save you, for works will not save you. You can join every church in town, you can be baptized in every tank in the city, that won't take you to heaven. You can give a tenth of your income, that won't take you to heaven. You can keep the Sunday school quiet, you can engage in all kinds of good work, that won't take you to heaven. You've got to trust the precious blood of Christ, you've got to be born again. Oh, you'll never be ready when Jesus comes. They that were ready went in. We read in our text and the door was shut. Are you ready? Have you been born again in the spirit of God? And do you know that you're safe? I have hated to go to bed any night hoping I was Christmas. I want to know this uncertainty and indefiniteness. Well, I hope I am. Who wants that? I don't know. I want to know. I want to know. In fact, you may. You can't show me your Bible where a person is hope there is. Paul says, we know we pass from death into life. He says, we know we have eternal life. We know we'll never perish. Read the epistle of John and see how many times You read, we know, we know, beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, we shall see him as he is. Romans five, one being justified by faith, we have peace with God, not we hope we have it. John five twenty four, fairly, fairly I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that set me. H-A-T-H, past everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life. It's not a hope so, Dane. You have it alone. Do you have him? That's the only thing that will prepare you. They were ready. We're in with him for the marriage. And the door was shut. Agonized, friend. Meaning this, we're going to be opposed. The devil's not going to make it easy for you to get saved. He's not going to stay on the sidelines and see you've got Christ to come up with the crosses and fences. He'll turn everything loose, but it is power to keep you from making this decision. God says, you agonize. You make up your mind. You're going to settle this thing. You're not going to be left behind when Jesus comes. You're going to go in with the rest. If you want to be saved, you may be saved tonight. And God deliver you from a great separation. God deliver you from the horrible experience. of a sad discovery and an awful tragedy. By Christ coming, you're being unprepared. The Spirit of God has brought some of you right to the door. All it's going to take is one step. You're in. You're likely to be saved. You're pretty close. The Spirit of God convened you. I challenge you to take that step tonight. Will you open your heart? Will you receive Christ as your personal faith? and be ready. Think, O soul, in turns, of Christ coming tonight at the midnight hour. At midnight it was a cry heard, behold, the bride did come. And who's the man who dare say he won't come? Certainly I couldn't say he will, but I couldn't say he won't. But he could. Vicki knows, sir. Are you ready for the coming of God? Personally, I thrill at the Sodom and Comet. I don't know any. God sooner happened right now than the Lord comes. I don't know how long I'm going to live, but if ever I'm allowed to live, then the Lord comes until he comes. Well, I might say there's one place God sooner be than here. And that's at the worship meeting, remembering him, taking his bed and wine, remembering himself. It would be wonderful to go from there into his glad presence, to leave the emblems and see and face the face. If I'm not at the Lord's table, I hope I'm on the platform preaching Christ when Jesus comes. And I don't know anything, anything. I long for more than that coming again of the Lord Jesus. And I hope he comes and comes for him. Friend, I ask you, are you ready? Are you prepared for his return? If not, make sure tonight. God loves you. Jesus Christ died for you on that cruel cross when he wants to save you. Question is, are you willing? God help you to say, yes. I want to be sure of this thing. I want to know it. I'm going to settle it tonight. I'm going to accept the Lord's leading as my personal savior. I'm going to do it now. God has to do it for his name of faith shall be done.