Eating and Drinking With the Drunken — David Wilkerson

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P .O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 903 -963 -8626.

None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends.

The Sudden Return of the Son of Man

It's Matthew 24, 24th chapter of Matthew. Let's begin with verse 44, please. Are you glad you're in God's house? Turn around behind you in front of you and just say hello to your friends. Hello. Good to see you.

Yes. Delighted to have you. Visitors, welcome. Eating and drinking with the drunken. Matthew 24, beginning to read verse 44. Therefore, you'd be also ready for in such an hour as you think not, the son of man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season.

Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily, I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him in an hour that he is not aware of and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites.

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, eating and drinking with the drunken. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your holy word. Your word is life and strength to us. Father, I also thank you that we have a hope this morning.

This city is hopeless, but we have hope because Jesus is coming soon. We look forward to the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, I'm asking by your Holy Spirit this morning in this service that you would make us aware and awaken us to the truth of your coming.

Lord, we have got to be stirred on this truth. We have got to be awakened to this fact that Jesus said he's going to come back in an hour that we think not. He's going to come suddenly as a thief in the night.

And that day should not take us unawares. Oh, God, speak to us today. Holy Spirit, break through to our hearts. Let nothing hinder the word from finding its place. I take your authority over every demonic opposition, every power of hell.

Nothing so hinder the word that has been anointed and sent by the Holy Ghost. Lord, these are your very words. I preach your words. These are the red letter words in my New Testament. They are from the very heart of God.

So I preach it with faith and confidence in Jesus name. Amen. Eating and drinking with the drunken. Probably one of the greatest tragedies in Christianity today, I believe, is the apostasy concerning the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I honestly believe that those among us here who are really looking for his coming and yearning for it would be absolutely shocked at the masses in Christianity today who no longer believe in the coming of the Lord.

They have jettisoned that from their thinking of their theology. They are not looking for his coming. They are saying he will not come in my lifetime. Our teachings now saying he may not come for centuries.

And so they have put away and out of mind the truth of his coming. We are seeing fulfilled right before our eyes the warning of Peter, the apostle. There shall come in the last day scoffers walking according to their own lust and saying, where is the sign of his coming?

Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of time. We are living that time when scoffers have risen in the church of Jesus Christ.

These are not heathen saying it. These are those within the church saying, where is the sign of his coming? Relax, he's not coming in your lifetime. All things continue as they were from the beginning of time.

But Peter still declares, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Say what they will teach, what they may. Peter says the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. I believe with all my heart what the Bible says and what Jesus says about his soon return.

The Promise of Christ’s Coming and the Hope of Resurrection

The Bible says in First Thessalonians 4, 16, 17, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. And with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ arise first.

Then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Hallelujah. The Bible said these are the words of the church that are meant to comfort the body of Jesus Christ.

He said, wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Remind one another. Preach it. Talk about it. Think about it. This is the comfort. This is the hope of the church of Jesus Christ. And unto them that look for him, look for him, expecting him, shall he appear.

Makes me wonder if he's coming for those who are not expecting him. He said for those who look for him, shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation? Paul, in fact, said there's a crown of righteousness that's waiting for those who are looking and yearning for the coming of the Lord.

There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, not only for me, but unto all them that love his appearing, the crown of righteousness waiting for all who are looking, yearning, loving his appearance.

Watch, therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord is coming. We all be changed, the scripture says, in a moment at the last trumpet for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye.

The Bible says how many times a minute did your eye twinkle wink in the wink of an eye? We shall all be changed. The Bible says the trumpets will sound. The dead shall rise. Then we alive remain shall be caught up to meet him in the air.

So shall we ever be with the Lord. I believe that always believed it. I'll die believing that or I'll be raptured believing it. I'll be carried away believing it. Now, let me show you the incredible danger of not believing this truth.

Watchfulness, Faithfulness, and Readiness for Christ’s Return

First of all, Jesus makes it clear that we're to live in constant expectancy of the return of Jesus. Therefore, be ready for such in an hours. You think not the son of man will come. Therefore, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us watch and be sober.

And those who say, my Lord has delayed his coming. The scripture makes it clear. They don't watch. They don't expect him at any hour. They begin to indulge in the flesh. They begin to indulge in sin. They're not looking for his appearance.

And all these admonitions of the New Testament to watch, be prepared, be ready or of no value. They're wasted. God wasted his breath, so to speak, on them has no meaning. Why would you watch if you don't believe he's coming?

Why would you be prepared? Why would you always be ready for his coming? The New Testament is filled with these admonitions to be ready at any moment. Now, Jesus offers proof that living in expectancy of his soon return produces faithfulness in your walk.

And it results in being wholly focused on Jesus Christ, no matter what happens to the society. If you have ever uppermost in your mind that Jesus is coming at any moment, any hour, as he said he would.

This is a motivation to holiness. It's a motivation to keeping focused on Jesus Christ, no matter what happens in your day and age. Look at verses 44 again and 45. Therefore, be also ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man cometh, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord has made ruler over his household to give the meat in due season.

Christ as Spiritual Food for the Household of God

Now, follow me, please, to give the meat in due season. That meat is Jesus Christ himself. The scripture makes it clear for my flesh. Jesus said his meat, indeed, and my blood is drink. The scripture makes it also clear.

Paul said our fathers did all eat the same spiritual meat. They drank the same spiritual drink and they drank the spiritual rock, which was Christ. He's talking about a faithful servant, his ruler over his house.

Now, this body is the house referred to. This is the temple. This is the house of God. Now, the scripture says he is giving meat. He's giving meat to the household. It's not just his own body, but it's the whole household of God.

Now, there's a very clear, simple message. Jesus is trying to show us in this. This servant kept all defilement out of the house. You see, God has entrusted us when he comes into our hearts. This body becomes a temple, the Holy Ghost.

He makes us ruler over it. Paul was a ruler over his house. He said, I bring my body under subjection. I rule my body. I bring it under subjection to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. I bring all my thoughts into obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ because he's made me a ruler of this house.

He gives me power to rule, but we are, the scripture says, to be giving meat. Scriptures say he gave them meat in due season. He gave the meat. This, first of all, is meat to your family, meat to those on the job, meat to those that are in the body of Christ.

This servant is not someone who's full of bitterness. He's not full of gossip. This faithful, wise servant is not drinking and eating the filth and the slop of this world. He is feeding on Jesus Christ.

He's eating and drinking the truth. Here's, here's a faithful servant who loves the word of God. You don't have to beg him to read. You don't have to threaten him to read the word of God. He loves the word of God because he's feeding.

He's a faithful, wise servant, and he knows that if he's going to give anything to anybody out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. He has got to be full of Christ to give Christ. He can't give it to his family.

He can't give it to anybody on the job because you are what you eat. And if you're eating Christ, you'll be giving Christ this meat. It's that simple. This man is, he's the faithful person that's coming to the house of God and can't wait for the word, hungry for the word of God.

And he says, Oh, Jesus, by your spirit, expose every hidden thing in my life. Let your word be a hammer, smash every hardness in me. There's a love for the word. There's a love for a holy conversation, not dirty jokes, not filthy stories.

But to hear the word of God, the conversation is pure because it comes out of a heart that's feeding, eating and drinking Christ. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus said, Blessed is that servant and the Lord when he cometh, so find so doing.

This is what our Lord desires for all of his children to be always ready, always expecting his return, living on him. He said, I am the bread of life. He said, I am drink indeed. Come and drink all you that are thirsty.

Folks, you have to be thirsty to drink. You've got to come to God's house every service thirsty. There's no such thing as getting too much of the word of God. That is stupidity. I've heard people say, well, they're being over preached.

You can't be over preached. Not if you have a heart for God. Not you. It's impossible. Now, now, if you're not giving it out, that's a different story. But God gives it to you and give me to the household in due season.

That's having received it. I go out to the hungry and I meet those needs. But somehow this wise, faithful servant lost the urgency of the coming of his Lord. And a wise, faithful servants become a servant becomes an evil servant.

And I want you to see this because this is the same man. It's not two servants. Now, some believe that. But I believe with many of the commentator, most of the commentaries that this is the same man. Because Jesus said, if that servant and also this servant says, if my Lord, my Lord is delayed his coming, one who's always been an evil servant would not call him Lord.

So this is the same servant, but something has happened to this man. It's an amazing thing. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord, delay this coming. Now, there's no question in my mind it's the same person.

But even if you want to say that there are two persons here involved, you're going to see the awful consequences, the fatal consequences of losing the theology or the truth about the soon return of Jesus Christ.

I believe Jesus can come in the next 10 seconds. I believe he can come in the next hour. I believe Jesus can come at any time in the twinkly of eye. I don't believe there's anything that hinders Jesus Christ from coming for his church right now.

He could come in this meeting while I'm preaching. What a glorious thought that is. What a wonderful truth. But you see, there's a false doctrine that has gripped this man's thinking. The Lord's not coming soon.

I don't have to think about it. There's a lot of time. There's a lot of time left. He begins to think. In fact, the kingdom dominion teachers now the gospel called the kingdom dominion. I have read one of their books to skimming through it.

And they say he may not come for centuries for hundreds of years. In fact, one writer said I would think it's more like 10 ,000 years before he comes. We have to first conquer the whole earth and bring it under subjection and set up the kingdom of God.

Then bring the king back. And that's why that same book suggests that when hard times come that you stockpile tobacco and alcohol. These same people, the Bible said, because of the lust of their flesh, they say, where is the sign of his coming?

When you even begin to think that Christ is delaying his coming, it can be absolutely fatal to your Christian walk. The false doctrine of delay somehow got into this servant's mind and became his absolute downfall.

The Saul Syndrome and the Danger of Spiritual Compromise

First of all, he said he began to say in his heart. He's just thinking it. He didn't even voice it yet, but he gripped his heart. He's not coming. My Lord's not coming soon. All of these co-workers of mine expect many money.

They're running around and they're working so hard and they're striving so hard. You see, people don't want to strive against sin. They don't want any more spiritual warfare. They want to relax. And we have a whole army of ministers in the pulpit today, preachers of peace saying, relax, you're OK, I'm OK, relax.

After that thinking took his heart, the Bible says he began to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken. Now, this servant is not eating and drinking Christ anymore. He's not into the word.

He's bored with the word of God. Now, he doesn't want to hear anything about the coming of the Lord because it's going to ruin his lifestyle now. Because you see, the world is creeping in. The spirit of the age is creeping in.

This man's thinking is changing completely. I've got all the time in the world. You know, a lot of Christians today are living for the devil and saying, well, he's not coming right now anyhow. But if I get sick and before I die, I'll repent like the man did at the cross.

The thief at the last moment said, take me to paradise. You're the son of God. I will repent on my deathbed. Chances are you won't get that chance. He began to smite his fellow servant because now he's intoxicated with what has intoxicated his society.

He's imbibing. He's taking in now. This man is lifting, eating and drinking entirely something different than he's ever known before. He shall begin to smite his fellow servants. I call that the Saul syndrome.

Remember, Saul tried to smite his fellow servant David because Saul had lost the anointing. The spirit of God had left him because of his compromise. And David remained faithful to the Lord. And Saul threw a javelin at him and he said when he threw it, I will smite David even to the wall.

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways. The Lord was with him. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. And Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

You see, he had taken a fall. He's no longer expecting coming of the Lord. He's backslidden. He is cold. He's indifferent. But you see, he looks at what he used to be and what he's lost. And he sees people going on for God.

He sees fellow workers all around him now that are living at any moment expecting Jesus to come. They're motivated to holiness and righteousness. They're seeking God. They love the word. And he uses his tongue to smite.

He will mock. He will ridicule. He'll get hard. And he will accuse because just as Saul was afraid of David, those who stay true, those expect the coming of the Lord, those who walk in righteousness are smiting.

They strike fear in the heart of the compromisers. There's nothing. I've seen it in preachers. I've seen it in ministers conferences. Those who are into pornography, those who are living double lives and having affairs and all of the things that happen.

You can tell the fear, the absolute fear of God, a fear of those people, of the touch of God in their life. And folks, when you lose this vision of the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will absolutely grow cold and indifferent.

You will not feed on Jesus anymore. You will not feel any motivation to read the word of God. You will sit in God's house, but your mind will be filled and satiated with all the other stuff you've been feeding on.

Because only those expect the coming of the Lord are feeding on Christ. Some of you sitting here now. You've been in this church quite a number of years. You've heard message after message. What are you eating and drinking?

Are you as much in love with Jesus this morning while I'm talking to you as you were a year ago? Are you as hungry for the word of God or have you put Jesus on the backside of your mind? He's back here somewhere and you say, oh yeah, I believe him.

I trust him. But you know, I've got all these things to do. I've got things in my life. And little by little you eat and drink the other things of this world. And you are, you are not focused now on Jesus.

You are not eating and drinking. And the only reason you would do that is because you really don't believe Jesus is coming soon. If you really believe Jesus is coming at any moment and you believe what he said, be ready.

You would not get spiritually lazy. You say, well, as long as I'm morally clean, it's not enough to be morally clean. All of our moral cleanness, if it is not associated with absolute watchfulness, if it does not motivate us to the love of his return, it can become absolute rags.

Saul thought to make David fall. And this is where it can lead you, that you will try to bring everybody down to your own cold, dead spiritual level. Now, keep in mind this servant is not convinced the Lord is not coming, but he's still ruler of the house, but he's lost control, absolute lost control.

The fear of the Lord is no longer there. It's gone. What does he have to give anybody? What does a man, if he's a father and a husband, what does he have to give his family? You see, now he's eating and drinking with the drunken.

And I'll explain what that means in just a moment. What kind of meat does he have to give in due season? To those on the job, to those in the body of Christ, what does he have to give? Did you hear the news yesterday, St. John's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn?

The pastor, who just a month ago was in the headlines with a big baseball bat in his hand, is supposed to have chased off some people trying to rob the church. Well, they moved into his office this week and found out the church was a drug den.

In fact, they caught him typing out his sermon with a crack pipe in his mouth. Now, I'm going to ask you, I'm not condemning that man. I pray God save him. I pray God forgive him and save him. We need to pray for the rector of St. John's Church in Brooklyn.

But I'm asking you, if that man, what is kind of meat is coming out? What kind of death? Because death produces death. What kind of life is coming out of that? You see, when you're not eating and feasting on Christ, you don't expect his return.

Eating and Drinking With the Drunken: Cultural Intoxication

You turn to the world. You turn to its filth. He shall begin to eat and drink with the drunken. Now, he's not going to bars and nightclubs. That's not what he's talking about. You see, that little box in your living room?

Now, folks, I'm not on a soapbox. But let me tell you where we're headed. And I want you to listen to me. Because I don't have anything to prove. But I answer for your soul. And let me tell you where we're headed.

You see, you can turn your living room into the bar room. That is, in other words, when it says eating and drinking with the drunken. It means that you're eating the same food, drinking the same food that's intoxicated the world.

They are intoxicated now with sports and entertainment. I can't believe the intoxication. You go to Dallas, Texas when the Cowboys are playing? On Sunday morning? If the service isn't over 12, if the Cowboys are playing at 12 o 'clock, they dismiss at 11 .30.

And there's a screen in the basement for everybody to go down and watch the kickoff. God can wait for the Cowboys. There's an intoxication with sports in the United States that is absolutely demonic. We've got a basketball player now who's become popular because he wears green and blue hair.

And the more people, the more umpires he hits with his head, and now he's kicked a cameraman. And his managers told him, I read it in the papers, managers told him the meaner you act, the worse you act, the more popular you are and you're going to make more money.

And they're lining up, all of these commercial companies are lining up to give him millions of dollars and they love it now. And he's becoming a hero. He said, oh, brother Dave, come on. Sports, that's innocent.

It can become so addictive that you begin to eat and drink with those who are drunken with entertainment. And you can bring those videos into your house and get so involved in eating and drinking. And folks, I'm going to tell you, this begins to satiate the mind.

It begins to affect your thinking. Now he's eating and drinking, he's not thinking about, he's not thinking about wasting hours in sports. You know, there are some Christian men that go home, they make sure they get, if their church has three or four services on Sunday, they get to the earliest service.

They hope it was six o 'clock in the morning so they can go for their little hour religion. And then they go all day long for football games, basketball and sit there sucking potato chips. And not one thought of spending an hour along with Jesus in the word.

I know men who are Christians, even preachers, not preachers so much, but I know people who, men, who can't memorize two verses, but they can tell you that every basketball player, every football player, their height, their weight and their statistics.

Now, folks, I'm not trying to be facetious. I'm telling you, that's a shame. And that's what's happening in the body of Jesus Christ today. Sports, it can kill you. It can rob you of your spiritual life.

You eat and drink with a drunken. I'm not saying it's a sin to sit there occasionally, but you had better balance your time. You had better be giving God your first. Do I hear a whole lot of wives saying, amen, pastor, they give it.

Now, let me talk to you. Sister, what are you eating and drinking? Are you eating and drinking with the drunken? There's nothing filthier than soap operas. Nothing. Nudity, filth, adultery, fornication.

And I'm going to look you right in the eye and tell you that if you're sitting there when Jesus comes, and you're watching that filth, how do you expect to come out of that cesspool suddenly into the arms of Jesus?

Come on now. How do you sit there and watch those talk shows that are nothing but slop from the very pits? Absolute filth. And you're going to feed on that? You're going to drink that drink? You're going to eat that food with the drunken and get intoxicated with this?

And you come to the house of God and you're still think what's going to happen to Mary because she's in her third husband? And you're going to sit here, all these things going through your mind. Praise the Lord.

The Internet as a New Avenue of Temptation

This is the end of side one. The Internet, folks, no more clapping, please. This is life and death. If you think I'm putting on a show, then you're missing the whole point. The average time a person spends now, according to New York Times, in front of their computer is 35 hours a week.

Average. 35 hours. And now there's an attempt to say this is one area that will never be censorship. Do not censor the information highway. No, folks, it's about to become the highway of hell. And it's already on the way.

I'm telling you what's coming is going to be indescribable. There is going to be such pornography and filth on the Internet. It's going to be totally uncensored and it's going to be the eye and door of hell itself.

The eye and door. Thank God for the technology. It can be used for the glory of God. But the enemy has come now and take you have a computer. Have you sanctified it? What are you eating and drinking from that computer?

Come on. What are you eating and drinking? And I say this for the young people, especially 10 years ago, I couldn't have preached this because it wasn't there. But you see, the devil is already let me tell you his strategy.

He wants it totally uncensored. He's got to have one media avenue that is totally uncensored. And so here we are. First of all, we're legalizing marijuana now. We're legalizing it. That is going to lead us now into growing it.

It's going to become a big cash crop and anybody is going to be able to get it now. Marijuana is going to sedate and mess up the minds of a whole society. We are going to pass euthanasia. It may have a little legal setback for a while, but soon we are going to legalize assisted suicide and to the point that it will even be recommended and offered for those who have depression and mental disorders.

And if a man, for example, doesn't love his wife anymore and she's a little mostly disturbed occasionally, and if he's got enough money and the right doctor, he can have an assisted murder in his hands.

That's where we are going. And it's right at the door. And I'm shocked that the number of Christians even are into this, believe in it and pushing it. Folks, what we're going to see soon, very soon, here's what the Holy Spirit was speaking to me last night.

Within the next 10 years, should Jesus not come, it is going to be so beyond anything you and I see today. Folks, what's happening right now, we've got people in the United States, in Iowa, little farms in Iowa, little shacks in Kentucky, out in the lonely plains of Texas, West Texas, and all over the United States, a little 12-inch disc now, you can bring in anything from all over the world.

We have grandmas and grandpas who never saw a dirty thing in their lifetime, sitting watching pornography, watching filth, preachers, politicians, farmers, young people. It has gotten so bad that even the politicians are asking for a little chip.

But folks, that's not going to do it. There's a new disc coming, a little 6-inch disc. And this disc, they say, is going to have a movie on each side, the same movie, a PG version on one side, the X-rated, R-rated on the other side, but you have to buy, it's all on one.

It's the devil's subtle way to get it into your house. You say, oh, I'm buying a PG disc, but then on the other side, the devil has gotten into your house so that he gets you to eat and drink with the drunken.

And folks, this is coming, it is speeding down upon us, so much so that I was praying last night, and here's what I see, that rape is going to lose its sting. It is literally going to be glorified. Not only that, but 12-year-old girls, 11, 12-year-old girls will be featured in major theaters and movies, in X-rated movies.

They already have one that they're trying to get released, an updated version of Lolita, they call it. I was reading in the paper, and it involves a 12-year-old girl. This is where we're headed, folks.

And I'm telling you, if you are drinking and eating at the wrong table, if you start eating and drinking with the drunken, you will not make it. I say it again, you will not make it. I think of my grandchildren, 11 of them.

I think of your children in this church, your little children. And I say, Lord, if you don't come within the next 10 years, I believe you're coming in a moment, but if you should wait until another 5 or 10 years, God, how do my grandchildren stand against this moral invasion, this moral landslide that's coming, that's accelerating so fast?

Oh, folks, we have people now watching stuff that 10 years ago would have made them vomit. They would have literally gone out of the living room and vomited. And now they sit there drinking it in, wanting more.

And where will we be down the road as it accelerates, according to Leviticus, seven times, seven times, seven times? And what do we do with our children? And I pray so many times, oh, God, what do my grandchildren do?

How are they going to stand? How are all the children in Times Square Church? How are our Christian children, our children, our grandchildren, how are they going to stand? Because Jesus says, the Bible says, clearly evil men are going to wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

And you and I cannot sit here now. If we had the full vision, we would all be on our feet weeping or on our knees and on our face if we knew what's coming. And we have a whole generation of young people now from Christian families.

They're going to face this flood. How are they going to make it? Now, let me tell you what the Holy Spirit told me. Hallelujah. First of all, you must have in your home a renewed vision of the soon return of Jesus Christ.

There has to be a cry in you so that your children hear it. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. That's the cry of the Holy Ghost. Folks, I was born and raised in this. I was raised. I was raised with this message.

We expected Jesus to come any day. Camp meeting days when I was a boy. Oh, there were some nights that I would just go out to power. God would come down and people would be crying out. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

And I thought he was coming that night. I never wanted to do anything wicked because my mom said, David, Jesus is coming. Do you want to be anywhere doing anything that displeases him? I said, no. And my mom could always tell if I did something wrong.

I didn't have to say anything. She'd come in. She said, David, what if the Lord had come? And I'm standing. Who told you there was a motivation? There was a yearning. Yes, there's some fear mixed in it because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And all these people said, well, you can't serve the Lord with fear. Well, you better believe I do. Oh, the fear of God. The glorious, marvelous fear of God. Thank God for it. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil, the scripture says.

And this has to be uppermost in your mind. If you don't have this truth burning and alive, a flame in your hearts. And, oh, Jesus, I believe that you can come at any moment. I want to be prepared. Oh, God, by your Holy Spirit, enable me.

Give me power to live for you. It's not the fear of going to hell. It's the fear of failing a loving Savior who loves you and died for you. Christians who truly believe that he's coming, they will watch, they will pray, they will yearn for him.

And I'm going to tell you, you really don't believe the Lord is coming at any time. If you're living a lazy, apathetic Christian life right now, you really don't believe he's coming. And secondly, no matter how vile and wicked society becomes, anyone can and will stand if they eat the right food and drink the right drink.

Listen to me, please. Your children, you say, Pastor, how are my children going to make it? First of all, you're going to teach them about the coming of the Lord. I believe you should do this every single day.

We made that clear in our family. My children all believe in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll be preaching it more and more from this pulpit. Jesus is coming and he's coming soon.

Hallelujah. And I want to be watching. I want to be waiting. I want to be ready. Hallelujah. And that means I want to be eating the word of God. I want to be feasting on Jesus. I want to be drinking, being satisfied.

I want all my thirst satisfied in him. Folks, when it's all said and done, you see, when you get in your mid -60s, so many of your friends are dying. You know, they're maybe 10 years older than you and you see them dying left and right.

And you begin to see, hey, all that is in this life. Thank God for family. Thank God for friends. Thank God for his blessings. But this is not the real world. This is not the real world. We're going somewhere for eternity.

This is just a little piece of eternity cut out called time and space to repent. A little time and space to prepare our hearts for the glory of God that awaits us. I'm not living for today. Why would I trade this for a few moments of pleasure?