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A Sense of Urgency

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A Sense of Urgency

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A Sense of Urgency

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The Bible tells us that “Judgment is now on the house of God.” Implicit in that statement is an attribute/skill that Christians must develop, exhibit, and maintain. Without this, “that day” (whenever “that day” is) may take us by surprise, as it did the five foolish virgins of Matthew 25.

Transcript

[Rick Shabi] We’ve been talking many times, through our Bible Studies, and recently in sermons, about the building that God is building among His church and building in us individually. As we’ve gone through the book of Hebrews, we see that repeated. Just a couple Bible studies ago, we talked about the elementary principles that the author of Hebrews was reminding them then and reminds us today about – elementary principles like repentance from dead works, faith toward God, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, eternal judgment. If you’ve been on those Bible studies, we’ve recounted some of those things. But those are basic principles upon which we have begun to build our house.

The primary focus of Hebrews, of course, has been to remind us of Jesus Christ as our Savior, and just how significant and important He is. And I hope as we have gone through those, as we have seen the author of Hebrews talk about Jesus Christ, and the extent of what He did – just how magnificent it is – God’s plan is – and why He is the Chief Cornerstone of our calling. We’re also told that our foundation is built on apostles and prophets. We have a building we’re doing and just like the foundation’s been laid, and as you and I have gone through those processes in the beginning, God expects that we are adding those bricks. Just like when you build a house, you start with the foundation, but you have to continually add. It’s not enough to just have the foundation. It takes some time. It takes effort to build that house.

And so, we are doing that in our lives. And if we go over to 2 Peter, we see that he gives us the same concept in his second epistle. In verse 5, he says to the church he’s writing to then, he says:

2 Peter 1:5-7Also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue…you’ve got faith there as one building block, on top of that…add virtue…on top of that…add knowledge…on top of that…add self-control. You begin to see the building blocks of the Christian life – how we build those things. And as God works with us, all these things take our effort to do. He gives us all the materials, all the tools, all the resources we need, but we have to be the ones building this house. Add to your faith virtue, add to your virtue knowledge, add to knowledge self-control – so important – keeps us focused on what we’re doing and we have to make ourselves do what’s right – to self-control add perseverance – stick to it, no matter what comes your way, no matter what storms, winds come and try to topple us, keep building – to perseverance add godliness – the way we live our lives, the way we conduct ourselves – to godliness, add brotherly kindness, and finally, to brotherly kindness, add love – agape. All those things that God, through Peter, told us, “These are the building blocks. This is what you need to do.

Peter, in verse 8, sums it up. He says:

Verses 8-12If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. You know, that’s one of the big travesties, one of the big dangers, as we go through our lives. We can forget what God has done for us. We can forget the salvation that Jesus Christ has brought to us. We can forget what our calling is. We can forget what we started with and we can find ourselves drifting away, as we’ve talked about. We can find ourselves lax in some areas. And it’s always a challenge to keep ourselves focused on what’s been done for us and what we’ve been called to. Verse 10 – Peter says: Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And Peter…it’s not the first time he’s told the people that are hearing this, that are reading this, it’s not the first time you’ve heard this. For this reason, I’m not going to be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it’s right, as long as I’m in this tent – this physical body he’s in – to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me

So. Peter knew, and we all know – we have to be reminded – we have to keep ourselves focused on what we’re doing, why we’re here, the building that God is building in us, what we’re supposed to be doing, the progress that we’re supposed to be making, our part in that. Again, He gives us everything that we need, but it depends on us.

In those verses, Peter gives a lot of building blocks. In those verses, he gives us a key component that he doesn’t list specifically with faith and virtue and knowledge and self-control and perseverance and all those. But having that attribute, that’s implicit, that’s listed here in 2 Peter, is crucial for us to build our building. What is it? What is it, as we look through those verses? Well, I won’t tell you just yet. Let’s go back to some Proverbs, and look at some of those, and see, as we build our houses, build the temples that God wants us to individually and collectively as a church, some of the principles that He has for us back here.

Proverbs 10:4-5He who has a slack hand becomes poor…. Well, we’ve read that, certainly that’s true physically. But as we read through these Proverbs, it also becomes, or is true, spiritually too, isn’t it? If we are just slack concerning our spiritual life, if we’re just drifting along, coasting along – everything’s okay – if we have a slack hand, we can become spiritually poor. …but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Well, all of us want to be spiritually rich. Can’t have a slack hand if we’re going to be spiritually rich. If we’re going to be what God wants us to be, and blesses us to be, we’ve got to be…our hand has to be diligent in what we’re doing. Verse 5: He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame. There’s a time to do things. There’s a time to get it done. And at some point, that time to get things done is gone, is gone. It’s up to us to see that the time we have, we’re building the house that God wants us to build.

A couple of chapters over, in Proverbs 12, and verse 24, it says:

Proverbs 12:24The hand of the diligent will rule…. What has God called us to become? Kings and priests. The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy will be put to forced labor.

Well. that takes some of the self-control, that takes some of the self-motivation, that takes something from within us. God will provide everything we need, but it has to be us who do the things that God tells us to do. We have to be making choices. We have to be making the decisions. We have to be about what it is in building that house. God’s not going to build it for us. He’ll give us the directions. He’ll give us the tools. He’ll give us the resources. He’ll give us the time. But He won’t do it for us. That’s up to us to do – using the Spirit and the gifts and all the tools He’s given us.

Proverbs 22:29Do you see a man who excels in his work? Someone who you can count on, someone, who when he gets done with what he’s doing, he’s like, “You know what? That is a really good job. It’s even better than I expected it to be!” Do you see a man who excels in his work? Is it the type of employee that is just good enough? “I just did the bare minimum that my boss expected me to do?” Do you see a man who excels in his work? If you’ve ever been an employer or a manager, you love people who excel in their work. You see the focus they put into it. You see the determination they put into it. You see the time that they put into it and the commitment to it. Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings – he’s got that quality about him. He’s always working. He’s always sure about what’s going on. He’s always doing things to the best of his ability – he won’t stand before the unknown. He will rise to the occasion. He will be one that, if we apply this spiritually, what does God say? “I delight in those who excel in their work, who put their effort into it, who see their calling and what they do. They’re doing it. They simply do it very well – not just enough to get by, but to do it to the best of their abilities.

Let’s go forward to Ecclesiastes – Ecclesiastes 9, and verse 10 – a memory verse for many of us. I’ve said many times, as I was growing up, I heard this. My dad mentioned this verse over and over and over again. And it is one of my favorite verses too – among many in the Bible. Let’s look at it – not just from the physical, but also from the spiritual.

Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever your hand finds to do – whatever, whether it’s physically doing something, but when you put your hand to doing what God has called you to do – that is, becoming like Him, following His principles, building the house that He has called us to build, individually and collectively –  whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might – not just to get by. Do it well. Do it with your might. Put your energy into it – for there’s no work or device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Do it well. You don’t know how much time you have to do it – could be several years, could be several months. How much time do we have to do what God wants us to do? Implicit in these verses is a sense of urgency about the work that we do. There’s a time element in everything that you read. When you read through the book of Hebrews, when you read through the book of 2 Peter, when you read through the Bible, you always see a time element. And here in Ecclesiastes 9:10, it tells us, you’ve got some time. Whether God allows you, or allots you, 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, 60 years, 100 years, there’s a time to get the job done, and there’s some time when there’s no longer going to be time to get the job done. Your time is up – just like the people who work in the summer. When the harvest time is done, if you haven’t gathered in the harvest, it’s just a little too late. Your family’s going to be hungry.

Now just like for you and me, there’s a time God gives us. None of us knows exactly how long that will be, so we have to be about God’s business, and we have to do it well. You know, spiritual maturity isn’t measured in the number of years that you’ve been in the church, is it? When God looks at us, He doesn’t say, “You know, they’ve been around for 25, 30, 40 years. They’re spiritually mature.” No, He doesn’t look at that at all. He looks at what we are, who are we, what are we, what character have we developed? Where are we in that list that Peter gives? Where are we in the doctrines? Where are we in developing the fruits of the spirit? Where are we in that? That’s what God looks at. So, someone who’s been in the church, if we want to use that, 10 years, might be spiritually more mature than someone who has been around 20 or 25 years. What did we do with our time? People who have been around 10 years might be really diligently working on what they should be building. Others may just be coasting and thinking, “As long as I’m here every week, as long as I’m doing whatever I’m doing, that’s okay.” You know, coasting and just getting by is never something that God looks at and says, “Well done.” Jesus Christ, in the 3 ½ years that He was allotted for His ministry, how much did He accomplish? He knew the time He was allotted, and He accomplished everything that God wanted Him to do. Those of us who have much more time than 3 ½ years, are we where God would want us to be – where we are today?” Where are we in building that house? How many blocks, how many layers have been added to the foundation that was laid back at the time we were baptized? How many layers? Does it look like it’s nearing completion? Can people see the progress? What exactly are we doing?

Let’s go to the New Testament in 2 Timothy – 2 Timothy 4 – Paul, writing to a young minister who is beginning his ministry, who might have looked at his life and thought, “I’ve got decades ahead of me to get things done,” but Paul tells in these first five verse of chapter 4, you see a sense of urgency that’s there. “Timothy, don’t just think you’ve got forever to do these things. Get to work.”

2 Timothy 4:1-5I charge you – verse 1 – therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Get out and do it! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. Get busy. Do it. Don’t think you’ve got eons to do it – decades to do it. Do it! Do all these things. For the time will come – and you don’t know when it will come, Timothy. Right now they may be listening to you, right now is the time to wake them up, give them the sense of urgency. They have to be building. They have to be paying attention. You don’t know when the time will come, but it will come – when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desire. Because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. Ah, we want to believe what we want to believe. “I have this pet theory. I know there’s something more. I’m going to find my own teachers.” Timothy, there’s a time coming…. You don’t know how much time there is to reach these people that have been entrusted to your care. Make sure they have a sense of urgency, just like you need to have a sense of urgency – that the time is now to be building – while it’s daylight and not dark, while we have the time to do these things. Verse 4: They will turn their ears away from the truth. They will be turned aside to fables. It’s just the way of the world. People will listen, and people will fall away, and they’ll believe things that, maybe years before, they never would have even imagined that they could believe, or fall for that lie, or that deception, but they do. We’ve seen it happen. You’ve all seen it happen among people that you’ve known. How much time…what were they doing with their time? Were they building their houses that they could get to the point where they could be deceived, and have their houses just knocked down by this false teaching, this fable, this idea that’s out there, that made them feel like there’s something different that I can hang my hat on to. Or they’ll turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you Timothy, you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Get to work and do it. Don’t think just because you’re young that you’ve got decades to get this done, Do it. Just do it and have a sense of urgency when you do it because the time is now. The time is now to get it done.

Throughout the Bible, we see that God builds in a sense of urgency. Almost every example that you can look at in the Bible, you can see where a sense of urgency must be in the people of God to get things done. Let’s go back to Exodus 12, where God has pretty much humbled and defeated Pharaoh, and he’s agreed to let the Israelites go. After that Passover morning, Pharaoh is in mourning. Pharaoh realizes he’s been defeated. But notice what God says in Exodus 12, and verse 19…that’s not where I want. Let me see what 13 is. What I want is where God tells them to leave hastily. Let’s look at verse 36… no, let’s start in verse 33.

Exodus 12:33-35The Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land in haste. Get out of here. Get out of here! For they said, “We’ll all be dead.” So, the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. And the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. God gave them favor in their sight and then they left. God said, “Get up and go! By the time sunset comes tonight, I want you out of Egypt. Close up your homes, get everything together, get out of here!” Couldn’t it have waited two or three days to pack up a household? God was telling them, “You’ve seen My hand, you’ve seen what you’ve been called to do. Get out of there! Do it in haste. Pack up and go. Don’t dilly dally around. Get up and go.

You know, Christ said, in essence, the same thing when He was on earth, when He would call people to follow Him – the apostles. He would say, “Follow Me.” What did they do – the ones who became apostles? They dropped what they were doing and they followed Him. But in Luke 9, we read about people who He did call, and they would always say, “Well, okay. I need to finish this first. I need to go back and I need to finish my responsibilities to my father, and then I’ll follow you.” And then another one would have another reason that he wasn’t going to do it right then. He wasn’t going to do it in haste. He wasn’t going to do it with a sense of urgency – when he received the call and the calling – but he was going to put it off for a while. What did Christ say to those? Remember that? Luke 9. He said:

Luke 9:62 – “No one, putting their hands to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

When you know the truth, when you’ve been called, God expects us to go. God expects us to work. God expects us to follow Him. God expects us to take the time, seize the time, use the time, redeem the time and get to work – not dilly-dally. He knew what would happen – Jesus Christ did. Those people would go back, and then something would happen, and then He would never see them again. I can’t tell you how many people have told me, over the phone, who have never shown up in church, “I’m going to be there this Sabbath. I’m going to be there this Sabbath.” And they never show up and I never hear from them again. And I think, “You knew the truth when we talked. You seemed to have it all together. You knew you should be there and yet, you let something interrupt you, and then you never show up. Where’s the sense of urgency?” That is what God is saying. When you know, do it. Get to work. Make it happen. Don’t look back.

Throughout the scriptures…we could go through so many of them. I mentioned Ephesians 5:15-16. It says, “Redeem the time.” That’s what Paul was telling them: “Don’t waste the time. Redeem it. Make use of it. Get to work. Do the things that you need to do.” We can go back to Romans 13 – or forward to Romans 13 – Romans 13, and verse11. Paul, to first century Christians in Rome, said:

Romans 13:11Do this, knowing the time, that now – now – is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

If he could say that back in the first century, how much more can we say it today? With all the years that have passed, and all the things that we have seen in the last year, anyone who can say that they don’t clearly see the end in sight, simply needs to wake up. Simply needs to wake up – not setting dates, not saying imminently, or what on anything, but looking at it – now is the time to wake up out of sleep.

When you see sleep in the Bible, you should think about the ten virgins in Matthew 25 – ten virgins that are in Matthew 25. All of them slept. Five of them were so soundly asleep that when the bridegroom came, they just weren’t there. They had no sense of urgency to see what they were doing. They thought, “You know what? His time is coming somewhere down the road. I don’t have to deal with it today. I can go about and do my business and I have time. I have time to be ready for Him.” They realized, “I don’t have time. “Now” is done. Now the time has passed. I didn’t expect it this soon. I didn’t expect that this was going to be the time that it happens.” And then it’s too late. Then it is too late.

We don’t need to turn there, but in 1 Peter 4:17 – we just talked about it in one of my recent letters – judgment is now on the house of God. Right now, God is looking at you and me and assessing. What are we doing? How are we living our lives? Are we building the house to His standards – to His specifications? Are we interested in it? Are we committed to it? Is that where our time and interest is? Or is it just kind of an afterthought, and maybe once every seven days, “Oh, you know what? I’ve got to do these things.” Because, God didn’t call us to be 1/7-of-the-time Christians, but 7/7 Christians – continually building it – not just when we’re with each other but on the job, in the family, in the neighborhood, out among the business that we do day in and day out. Judgment is now on the house of God. It’s now. It’s high time to be looking at these things.

Back in Matthew 24, Christ talks about this in the Olivet prophecy as well. He gives all these things that are going to happen that lead up to His return. But in verse 22 of Matthew 24, He gives this element that we just don’t know how much time there is.

Matthew 24:22Unless those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.

What does He mean by that? Less time than we might think? If we read in Matthew 24 and see that as in the days of Noah, everyone is happy, prosperous – a wealthy time – people are marrying and giving in marriage. It looks like everything is okay. Christ’s time – the day that we so look forward to – it’s so far off in the future. “I’ve got time.” But then God says those days will be shortened. Could we be taken by surprise by when that day – whatever that day is – comes? Will we know? Can we just look at events, and say, “Well, that can’t happen for years and years and years.” Because He says, “For the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.” He says in this chapter – in Luke’s account of it – “Don’t let that day come and you be caught unawares.” That means we need to be working now. We don’t know when that day is.

You know, we’ve talked several times – when you look at the world around us – things could happen literally overnight. Even economists look at our economy, and they shake their heads on how has it been going – four years with the situation that it’s been – certainly with this pandemic time – that literally, one morning we could wake up and the bottom has fallen out. Literally could! Will it? Probably sometime, down the road, whenever God determines that time to be, we’ll all find ourselves, and think, “Whoa! That was shorter. We didn’t expect it. We thought things would go on forever and ever and ever the way it is. That’s what people would have us believe – that America can survive through anything and it will always be this way. But Christ says, “For the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened.” Do we want to take a chance that we may not have a sense of urgency and be coasting – thinking there’s more time than there may be?

You know Satan has this concept of urgency. We read back in Revelation 12 – you can turn there if you want – but in Revelation 12, around verses 15-16 in there, it says Satan has been cast down to you. And he knows that he has but a short time. He knows he has a short time. Now what does he do with that time? Well, his mission is, “I want to topple every one of their houses. I want winds and storms. I want rain to come on their houses. I want them all to fall. I will do anything, in my short time that I have, to disrupt the people of God – whatever I can do in that short time. I’m not slumbering. I’m not sleeping. I’m busy at work. I have a sense of urgency. If I’m going to accomplish,” Satan would say, “what I want to accomplish, I’ve got to get it done now. I have a short time.” He’s busy at work. Are we busy at work?

What can be some of the enemies of a sort of sense of urgency?  Because there are those out there, right? If Satan has a sense of urgency, and God wants us to have a sense of urgency, and he’s working against us, and we’re all living in this world, what can be some of the things that would interrupt our sense of urgency? We’re in Matthew. Let’s go back to Matthew 13 – Matthew 13, verse 22 – the parable of the sower and the seeds. It says one of the ways that we can have our sense of urgency just dissipated:

Matthew 13:22He who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word – well, that would be you and me. That would be others who have been here with us before, others who are listening in on the web. Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

Well, he was fruitful for a while. Doesn’t say immediately – there’s another seed that immediately is taken away – but here is someone who was becoming fruitful, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches came and choked the word, and he became unfruitful. His building was interrupted. His house fell. He stopped the building process. And because of everything going on in the world – “I’m so busy with this. I’ve got this going on over here. I’ve got that happening over here. And I’ve got money. Life is good. I can just coast. I don’t have to worry about this. I don’t have to worry about that. Everything is great. And as we become comfortable in life, we could become comfortable spiritually too. But we can’t become comfortable spiritually. We’re told, “Put on that armor every day.” We might fight the wiles of the devil. Do we keep our armor on for times that are really good – when money isn’t an issue, when we’re so busy with all these other things that they just take up all our time – for six days a week – so that when the Sabbath comes, it’s like, “Wow, I’m just falling into the Sabbath. But I can hardly wait until Sunday gets here so I can go be about my business again.” Is that what are our lives are like? Because those are deceitful things that Satan will use to destroy our sense of urgency, spiritually.

And we all – every single one of us – can fall prey to that. Every single one of us can, and probably have. It’s, do we catch ourselves? Do we recognize what we’re doing? And do we get back on track, with a sense of urgency, to do what God has called us to do – to build that house, and to add those layers, because we only have so much time to do it – only so much time to do it.

You know, we can turn to Ezekiel 16 – we don’t have to turn to Ezekiel 16. Not too long ago, we turned there when we were talking about Sodom. And there in Ezekiel 16, verses 49 and 50, it talks about what were the sins of Sodom: idleness, fullness of food. What did that do? Even Lot, who was living in Sodom, he became very comfortable in that society. He lost his sense of urgency. God had to have the angels literally drag him out of that society. He’s not going to do that with us. We have to be ready to be dragged out of that. We have to have that sense of urgency – that when that time comes, we’re ready to leave. We’re ready to follow God, no matter where, no matter when and how He says it.

We can talk about spiritual slumber. We’ve already talked about that. We don’t have to turn to Matthew 25. We all slumber. But “it’s high time,” we’re told, “get out of that slumber and get to work – be among the diligent, do the things that you are called to do.” Make that your priority. Order your days. Establish your steps.” Don’t have everything physical there, and, “Oh by the way, I need to pray. Oh, by the way, I need to study. Oh, by the way,” as an afterthought, “I need to do these things.” Make that your priority, and then go about the things that you need to do.

We can talk about the voices in the world. We talked about those last week. They can deceive us. We can listen to them. They can cast us into a sleep. They can make us think things differently than what the Bible and God tells us to do, and say, “Oh, I have to listen to that voice.” Well nothing wrong with listening to those voices, but what is the voice that we would completely follow when it comes to the choice between the two?

We can turn to Galatians 6. We can see another thing that we could do that would interrupt our building process, and really something we should be doing, if we’re building the house that God, in the manner that He wants us to build it. In Galatians 6, and verse 9, he says:

Galatians 6:9Let us not grow weary – let’s not get tired. Let’s not go to sleep. Let’s not say, “I’m tired of doing that – been doing it forever.” Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season – whenever God determines is that due season – for in due season, we shall reap if we don’t lose heart. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we don’t lose heart.

I think of the Old King James, the word faint is in there someplace and when you look that up, the concept of relaxing is in that verse. Let’s not relax. Let’s not relax while doing good. Let’s not say, “You know, it’s time for a little rest, time for a little of the folding of the hands, let’s take a little nap. I’ve been doing this a long time and serving. I just need to relax.” Well, we read verses in Proverbs about what relaxing does to us. Maybe we don’t do the same thing in service day after day after day, for fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years, but there’s always service. We’re always doing something that God wants us to be doing for each other – with each other. Let’s not grow weary. Let’s not relax. That’s not what people who have a sense of urgency do. They know the time is imminent.

In Hebrews 10 – and I know everyone thinks that these are my favorite verses, but I keep coming back to them because there’s a lot in these verses. In Hebrews 10, verses 24 and 25 that we…even though I try not to come back to that verse, there’s an awfully lot in that. And there’s a sense of urgency in Hebrews 10, verses 24 and 25.

Hebrews 10:24-25 –Let us consider one another in order to stir up love…. You see someone relaxing? Stir them up! See someone who is just kind of coasting? Let’s stir up the agape. Let’s stir up the good works.  Let’s not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That’s what Satan would have us do. There’s energy when we’re together. That’s part of what God called us to do – to be part of His body. If we forsake it…if we say, “Not important. Kind of tired of doing that. Kind of afraid of doing that.” Boy, that’s doing what Satan would want us to do! But this is a way for us to be energized – not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting – there’s another action word. You know, when you exhort someone, it’s not a casual hello. There’s some energy behind it. “You need to do this. You need to look at this. I need to build some motivation into you. I need to build some action into you.” …exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.

And so much more as you see the Day approaching! What is the Day approaching? And are we doing what God said? Are we together more as we see the Day approaching, or are we together less as we see the Day approaching? Certainly, today we have more opportunities to be together – not necessarily always in person, but by virtual means – we have an opportunity every week – even mid-week – to be together. Do we take advantage of those opportunities that God has built in? Perhaps that’s why He did it – so we have time to be together a little more – so that we can grow together, study His word a little bit more, be energized, be focused. Are we doing it a little more as we see the Day approaching, or are we finding ourselves assembling together a little less as the Day is approaching? Because that’s the opposite of what God says to do. That’s not a way to build your house. That’s a way to let it be chiseled away – and those bricks just chisel, chisel, chisel – just chisel them apart.

But what Day is he talking about here? Is he talking about the Day of the Lord – as we see the Day of the Lord approaching? We know through the Bible when the Day of the Lord occurs. It’s the time of the seventh trumpet – comes after the great tribulation, comes after the heavenly signs. We can see that Day approaching, but there’s an awfully lot that happens between now and the Day of the Lord. Are we just looking at the Day of the Lord? Because there’s an awfully lot that happens before the Day of the Lord. If we’re only looking to the Day of the Lord, and think we have until the Day of the Lord to get our acts together, and to be urgent about our calling, then we might want to think again. Because there’s an awfully lot that happens before the Day of the Lord.

You know, Jesus Christ and the Bible tells us, “Be aware of that Day. Don’t let it catch you as a thief in the night. In fact, let’s turn to 1 Thessalonians 5, where Paul eloquently puts that.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-2Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. We know what the plan of God is. For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. People aren’t expecting it. It’s not that we can point to a day, and say, “You know what? That’s XX months or XX years away. I’ve got plenty of time.” There’s no need to have a sense of urgency. The people in the first century – to whom this was written – they had to have a sense of urgency. If they thought, “It’s 2,000 years away. I’ve got my entire life to do this. You know what? I’m just going to coast. I’m going to enjoy. Every generation of Christians has to live with a sense of urgency, because we just don’t know. We’re told over and over again, we don’t know when that day is coming – the Day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.

Verse 3For when they say, “Peace and safety….” Notice: when they say it, doesn’t mean it’s actually technically there. For when they say, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.

Now God uses this example of pregnancy and labor pains a few times in the Bible. Remember in Jeremiah 30, when it talks about the times of Jacob’s trouble, and it asks, “What is this that I see?” Men are doubled over in pain, like in a time of labor. And we can use this analogy that he’s using here to think about the day that’s coming. For all of us who have had children, you know we’ve seen what our wives have gone through – the pain, the intense pain, that is a part of childbirth. It’s not an easy process, right? What do we do? We’re pregnant. The doctor gives us a date, and says, “Your child will be born around that. What do we do? Just say, I don’t have to think about until XX date. No, we have classes we go to. If moms are paying attention to their health, they’re eliminating things from their diet, paying attention to vitamins and health. And moms and dads are going to classes, because they know this day is imminent. We need to know what to do when the pain comes. We need to know how to handle it. And so, you’re coached: “Here are some breathing techniques. Here’s what you do. Dad, you’re a coach. Dad, you’re going to be the encourager. Dad, you’re going to be the strong hand in that to help your wife through it. It’s got to be a team effort. You need each other.” And you prepare for that.

But the time comes. You don’t know the day. Now, I know today – in today’s world – you can set your birthdate, and you can do induced pregnancies, or induced deliveries, and all these things, but you never know when the day is. You know about when it’s going to be, but you don’t know when that day will be. If you haven’t given it any thought…if you thought, “You know what? The doctor told me that the child’s going to be born March 1, and whoops…February 15, the child is ready. Uh oh, what do we do? We thought we had two more weeks. We thought we had more time than this.” You know, some people, it’s even earlier than that.

Now if you haven’t had that sense of urgency to get things done, so that you’re ready when that day comes, it’s disaster. There’s panic. There’s all sorts of upset. Can’t even imagine what it would be like. It is stressful enough, even when you have planned – when the day comes and your wife says, “It’s time. Let’s go.” You’re glad you have the bag packed, You’re glad you have the things. You have to catch yourself, and think, “This is what we do. We’re prepared. We’re ready. We had a sense of urgency. We didn’t put it off until the last minute. We worked on it exactly as the plan.

The same is true for us. We don’t know when the Day is coming. How many times does Jesus Christ and God have to tell us? We don’t know when that day is going to come. Now, we might think we know. We might think it’s years off, because the Day of the Lord, we know, is at least 3 ½ years, if the Great Tribulation started tomorrow – which it won’t – it would be 2 ½ years away. Is that the Day of the Lord? Is that the Day he’s talking about? Because we know, basically, when that is going to happen, or we’ll know when things start happening when the Day of the Lord is

What about the Day of the Lord? What about is the time? You know, Jesus Christ says no one knows the Day that He’s returning, except God the Father – even the angels don’t know, He doesn’t know. But there will come a time when God says, “This is the Day. Now is the time to return.” But there are other markers that we know about as well. Go back to Daniel – Daniel 12 –  we find days mentioned in the last chapter of Daniel. And when these days happen – which happen before the return of Jesus Christ – we know when, you know, when those days are going to be. In Daniel 12, it’s clear. We’ve talked about this before. This is the time of the end. Let/s read through just a few of the verses here – the middle of verse 1.

Daniel 12:1-4 – Daniel…there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation – just like Jesus Christ said in His Olivet prophecy – never a time like that even to that time….your people – Daniel – shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Then he says: Daniel – we know the time frame of what we’re talking about here. Drop down to verse 7, as Daniel is asking about these things, it says:

Verse 7I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven and swore Him who lives forever. It will be a time, times, and half a time. Now when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. Daniel, this will happen 1,260 days – as we’re told in Revelation as well – 1,260 days before the return of Jesus Christ. So, when that time happens – 1,260 days before the return of Jesus Christ – the day of Christ’s return is set. God’s very exact in His schedule, and when these things happen – three and a half years before that – we may not know the exact date that the great tribulation starts, but when it starts, we’ll know, Jesus Christ is coming in three and a half years.

But is waiting until the time the great tribulation starts the time that you want to wait to get serious about your calling? Is that the time when we get the sense of urgency? Because believe me, there will be a sense of urgency when we find out what is going on at that time. But it won’t be a time that you want to find yourself unawares. If we go over to verse 9…no, verse 11 – you can read verses 9 and 10 yourself – it gives us another set of days.

Verse 11From the time that the daily – and sacrifices is in italics there – from the time the daily is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up – we’ve talked about that a little bit a few weeks ago – there will be 1,290 days.

So, before the 1,260 days, there is a day that something happens. 1,290 days before the return of Christ something else happens. Is that the day we should be looking at? Because at 1,290 days, the return of Jesus Christ is set. Do we know when that 1,290 days is? None of us can look at it and say, “You know, we know exactly when that 1,290 days is.” So, we can mark our calendars, and we can say, “If I have a sense of urgency, I can start working on it, because I know when that 1,290 days is.” Because thirty days after that – maybe thirty days after that… Right next door to Daniel is Hosea – in Hosea 5, we see something that may be happening during that 30-day period of 1,290 and 1,260. In Hosea 5, verse 5 it says:

Hosea 5:5The pride of Israel testifies to his face – Israel is a proud nation – we know who modern-day Israel is. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with them. Now we know, if we’ve been listening who modern-day Judah is. So we have three nations significant in the earth that stumble. In verse 6, it says: With their flocks and herds they’ll go to see the LORD, but they won’t find Him. He has withdrawn Himself from them. You know, we’re told, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” This tells us some will seek the Lord too late – too late – the time has already passed to find Him. He’s withdrawn Himself from them. Could that happen to you and me? Could we just wait until too late, thinking that we think we have enough time – there’s no sense of urgency – but we go and we just can’t find God? This is talking of nations, but you know, they better be paying attention, because there is a time when God’s not there for them. They’ve dealt treacherously with the Eternal. They’ve begotten pagan children – they don’t follow His principles at all. Now a new moon – or 30 days – shall devour them and their heritage.

Thirty short days gone – thirty short days gone. Is that what happens at 1,290? So, when we get to 1,290, things go on just fine, and all of sudden in the next thirty days…. But God knows when that 1,290 days is. And then the next thirty days, all these things happen. It’s like, oh, 1,290 was back there. We should have been ready for 1,290, but we didn’t know when 1,290 was going to be there, because everything looked so good, everything looked so fine. We didn’t count on it happening at that time. That’s 1,290, but then we go on in verse 12 of Daniel 12, and it says:

Daniel 12:12Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the 1,335 days. That’s 45 days even earlier. What’s going on at that time? Does the world look like a great place to live? Are they giving in marriage, and marrying, and times are great? We think things are just wonderful, but 45 days before 1,290 is 1,335. And God says to those, “Blessed is he who waits until that time – 45 days before 1,290, 75 days before 1,260 – and of that person, he says, “Blessed is he who waits.”

Do any of us even suppose that we know when the 1,335th day before the return of Jesus Christ is going to be? Do you want to bet your salvation on the fact that you do know that it’s several years off? That’s a long time, but when God comes to that 1,335 days, the return of Jesus Christ is imminent. It’s happening. God is not going to say, “Ahh, I’ve changed My mind. Let’s make it 1,500 days instead of 1,335.” It is going to be 1,335 days. You and I won’t know when that 1,335th day is.

Now some of us will know when that 1,335th is, because we will not have slept. We will have had a sense of urgency, not knowing whether it’s going to happen a year from now, or ten years from now, or fifty years from now – if that’s even possible – that the world could go on in this state that long – because we will have been getting ready, and preparing, and have that sense of urgency that that house, every layer is being built. We’re not going to wait and say, “Uhh, you know what? I’ve got to wait until godliness gets added. Oh, I’ve got to wait until agape gets done. We have to be about the building the house now with a sense of urgency, because we don’t know when that day is going to come. But when that day comes and goes, something happens. Do you want to be among those who, “Whoops, now I know it’s around between 1,290 and 1,260. I’m not among those who God said were blessed.” I can’t tell you exactly what happens, or what will happen at 1,335 days. Neither can you. But we better be building our house. When that day comes – knowing that judgment is now on the house of God – God will look at us and say, “He’s built his house well. He’s been diligent.” Or, “He’s been very lax, and he has taken…and he’s been asleep.” And so there’s a different sense of urgency that will be thrust upon the people then.

A sense of urgency – a sense of urgency is extremely important as we live the life that God has called us to. Let’s go back to 1 Peter again – I guess it’s 2 Peter 1 – as Peter writes about these building blocks in our homes – in the temples – that we’re building individually, that God is building together with us as a Church – never forget that. We have a dual responsibility to do a dual building we’re doing here together. In verse 5 He gives us the important thing about the time that we have in order to build the house. In verse 5 He says:

2 Peter 1:5For this reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge and so on. Later on, in verse 10, he says, “Be even more diligent.”

If you look up the word Greek word diligent – it’s 4,710 if I remember it correctly – it says it comes from the root word that means speed – speed. It has to do with time. In some places that same word is translated haste – has to do with earnestness There is a focus that people need to have. So, when Peter says, “For this reason, give all diligence,” when he wrote that Greek word, they realized time is of the essence. You know, we may not all live until the 1,335th day, right?

None of us know exactly how long we will live. Our time for building could be very short. God could say, “They’ve had enough time.” When you’re resurrected, or when you die, when God looks at you, would He say, “Yep, his house is complete. Yes he added all those layers. He’ll be part of the first fruit?” Do you want to bet that you’ll live until the return of Jesus Christ? And even if you do, do you know where 1,335 days is? Do you want to bet that you’ll know exactly when the time should come, and if you have that much time? Or do we believe God when He says, “It’s going to come as a thief in the night.” We better be having a sense of urgency in doing what He has called us to do now. Build, build, build.

Let me close in 2 Corinthians – 2 Corinthians 7. Where do we get the energy, what do we do, if we assess our lives to God’s eyes and through His Holy Spirit, and we see we’ve been coasting, we’ve been allowing things to just go by, thinking we’ve got plenty of time. All the things in the world are more important to us, and we just don’t have time to do this. We don’t have time to do that. Maybe we have time to do everything else, but some things…. We find a source of energy is right there in one of those basic building blocks – basic building blocks that we read about in Hebrews 6 – in repentance. In 2 Corinthians 7…Paul writes about this man they had to put out of the church in 1 Corinthians 5, and when he came to repentance, he came back and he was a different guy. Now all those years when he was coming to church, he was just kind of coasting. He thought, “As long as I’m coming to church, I can do this, I can do that.” It was said he had a sexual problem that wasn’t even named among the saints. But when he was put out, he began to realize, “Wow, there’s eternal life at stake here! This is salvation. This is real stuff. This isn’t just like going through the motions and playing a game with God.” So, verse 11 shows us that when we repent, if we found ourselves…that we’ve been coasting, that we’ve been maybe asleep and we haven’t had a sense of urgency, individually and/or collectively, to build what God expects us to be building among ourselves, look what repentance does. Here’s the sense of urgency. Here’s the energy. Here’s the commitment.

2 Corinthians 7:11Observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence – there’s that word – that same Greek word that has to do with speed and time, haste, earnestness – what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!

Wouldn’t we all want to feel that? Isn’t that what we need to fire us up, to wake us up, to get going to realize the time is now? Well, the time is now. The time is now. Judgment is now on the house of God and now is the time – always with a sense of urgency – to be building what God has called you and me to build.