Suddenly It's a New Day

You know, as we begin regathering, I guess, if you will, the church back in the areas that we are here in Jacksonville and Orlando. Last week we had a small group in Orlando with us. This week in Jacksonville. Next week we'll be back in Orlando with a small group. And I know churches around the country are beginning to reassemble and regather as the economy and our entire life begins to open up again. And it's nice. It's nice, but there's some things that we should stop and think about as we begin doing that. Now, here's been three months, three months since we've done that. If anyone had told us back on March 7th, which was the last time we had church services, person-to-person, in-person church services in this area, that would probably be, it wouldn't be until June that we were going to be able to meet together again. I think all of us would have thought that's impossible, right? It just seems too long and everything was going along so well.

But as we come back and as we think about us beginning to reconvene and over time, you know, eventually, at least our prayer is that it'll be God's will that all the congregation can be back here and feel comfortable and safe as the country goes through its, you know, coming out of coronavirus and maybe some other things that are going on in the nation, that we can all be back together again in person on Sabbath days.

It kind of reminded me of other regatherings or gatherings of people that God has done really in the Bible and down through the years that we've been in the church as well. You know, we can go back to the time of the Jews when they were dispersed after they didn't heed any of Jeremiah's warnings during the 40 years he prophesied to Judah. And eventually, it's just as God said what happened, they went into captivity, the Jews were scattered, and then in 70 years, some of them got allowed to come back.

And I'm sure as we read not too long ago in Lamentations, as they lost that ability to be in their land and to be together, they lamented and they repented of some of the things that they had done. They began to look at themselves and realize, wow, we did exactly what God told us not to do. We kind of departed from Him. We might have thought that we were doing everything exactly the way He wanted, but He had to get the Jews' attention by having them move out of that country. And then when they came back again, they came back with an eager heart to rebuild that temple.

But you remember reading in Zechariah how some of her ancestors, it's not the same as it was. It's just not the same as it was before. We've been through a lot, and this isn't the same as it was before. And they came back with an eager heart, determined to please God. But you remember in reading, you know, through Nehemiah, they would break the Sabbath day.

They began to charge each other interest and usury. And they began to intermarry with the people around them. And Nehemiah had to be there to remind them, hey, you know what? You got to stay close to God. You can't go back to your old way of doing things. That's what got you in trouble in the first place. And you know Israel, Israel, they went into captivity 140-some years before Judah did. And they were warned throughout time to turn back to God. God over and over in the Bible says, return to me, return to me. Israel didn't listen, and so they went into captivity. And they never have returned to their promised land. They still are scattered and having gone back to the land that God said He would bring them back to.

But we know in time He will. He will bring them back to that land that He promised them. But we know that God has blessed Israel during this intervening time as well. Maybe not in the promised land that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looked forward to, and that ancient Israel lived in. But we know that Israel exists today, the land of Israel, and God has greatly blessed them.

And the same thing could be happening to Israel all over again if they're not paying attention to God or if they don't listen to God. Let's just go back to Ezekiel here as we begin and read some verses. I think some of these verses we read not too long ago, but in the context of everything that's happened in the last three months.

Because there has been a lot that has happened. The world is not at all the same place today that it was on March 7th. You know, our lives are not at all the way they are today, that they were back on March 7th, the last time we met. We've gone through a time and times that haven't been seen before in history. You know, at least our modern history. Is this coronavirus? Who would have thought that it could go on for as long as it did, that it could just stop people flat and stop the world?

One little virus just brought the world to a halt. People stayed in and economy stopped.

These are things that we would never even think of, and we all were part of that. We never thought that we would be gone from church services and, you know, getting up and going to church, you know, on Sabbath for all these times in a row. And it still isn't gone. You know, we still keep hearing the roots or the reports that this virus just keeps going on and on again. Who knows how long it's going to last and what the effects of it are going to be, the long-lasting effects. I think we do know some of them that are there. But then right on top of that, just as soon as the country opens up, then we have, you know, that tragic event in Minneapolis that has spurred so many other things here over the last few weeks that have made the country a different place than it was even two weeks ago. And us a different people than we were two weeks ago. The world we knew back on March 7th, the world we knew back on May 1st, is not the world we live in today. But let's read it in the context of everything we've been through, and who knows what's coming next. I think we can predict some of the things that are going to happen ahead of us, because there's just been too much, too much go on that's going to be too difficult for the country unless God intervenes and just makes everything magically disappear. But we look at the economy, we see the things that are going on there and what can happen there and was likely to happen there as we've gone through this time, and other things as well. Where am I going? Ezekiel, right? Did I say Ezekiel? Yeah, let's find, I'm here for some reason in Hosea, but I need to be in Ezekiel 7. So we're going to read through some of these. And as we read through these verses with everything we've been through, I want you to think of them and how we look at them today differently than we would have back in February or March. Ezekiel 7, let me just start with verse 1 and we'll just, I'll just kind of read through, beginning in verse 1, says, Moreover, the word of the Eternal came to me, this is Ezekiel writing, saying, You, Son of Man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel. Now remember, Ezekiel, as Israel had already gone to captivity, so this is a time for the future, Israel in the last days and end, the end has come upon the four corners of the land. Now the end has come upon you, and I will send my anger against you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. But I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, verse 5, a disaster, a singular disaster, one major thing that happens. Behold, it's come, and end has come. The end has come. It has dawned for you. Behold, it has come. Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land. The time has come. A day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. Now upon you I will soon pour out my fury and spend my anger on you. I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. Drop down to verse 10. Behold, the day. It has come. Doom has gone out. The rod has blossomed. Pride has butted.

Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain. None of their multitude. None of them. Nor shall there be wailing for them. The time has come. The day draws near.

Drop down to verse 14. They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready. But no one goes to battle, for my wrath is on all their multitude. The sword is outside, in the past pestilence and famine, within. They are surrounded on all corners. Whoever is in the field will die by the sword, and whoever is in the city, famine and pestilence, will devour him.

Verse 19. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the eternal. They will not satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs, because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. It became their God. Verse 23. Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood, and the city is full of violence. Therefore, I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, and they will possess their houses. I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, and their holy places shall be defiled. Destruction comes. They will seek peace, but there will be none. Disaster will come upon disaster. One thing after another. Before one disaster is completely done and healed, another one comes.

And as we have seen it happen in the last three months, God only knows what the next two to three months will hold. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. They will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. God concludes this in verse 27, saying, I'm going to give them what they deserve. They'll know that I am God. So we know that for the land of Israel today, there are hard times coming.

And Ezekiel says a day is coming, and it starts this way, and it's going to continue that way until the return of Jesus Christ, or until the time the land falls and people go into captivity. You can go back one chapter and see that that's what's prophesied for Israel here in chapter 6.

And we'll begin in verse 6. And as we read 6, you know, verse 6, we remind, we remind that this never happened to ancient Israel. So this is a prophecy for a coming, a time ahead. In verse 6, it says, In all your dwelling places the cities will be laid waste. The high places will be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate. Your idols will be broken and made to cease. Your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. The slain will fall in your midst, and you will know that I am God. Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations when you are scattered through the countries.

So a time coming that, you know, God, a nation that doesn't obey God, a nation that rejects God, a nation that wants Him to be no part of it, that is warned and that will be warned more in the future. Return to Me, a thing that God says over and over in the Bible, a thing that you will probably hear more and more from His Church, you know, going forward. Return to God. Will they heed?

If they won't heed, they'll learn what God is, and the same fate will befall them that befell our forefathers or our ancestors from way back in Old Testament times. They'll be scattered.

They'll lose everything they had. And at that time, in verse 9, when they've lost it all, when it's been when they've been separated from everything that they came to be accustomed with, they begin to look at themselves more closely. God has to wake people up sometimes by the things He brings upon us. Verse 9 says, then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they're carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart, which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. Oh, they'll repent. They'll sit back and they'll say, boy, I guess we had departed from God. We should have paid more attention, more attention to what He said. And you know, this is for the land of Israel, but you know, I don't believe for a second that all this has come upon us for the people of God as well. What we've gone through, if we think for a moment, it's just for the people of this nation and the world to take notice, we're not thinking clearly. This is a time that God was getting His people's attention, too. And there's lessons that we should have learned that we've talked about during the last three months, that before we go back into society the way that we think it's going to be, the way it was before, there are things that we should think about and things that we should never lose again. Because you and I have been through some things in the last three months that we never thought we would be three months ago. And I mean spiritually, not just physically separated, but some things that we've done and some things that have happened that have been very good. And we shouldn't lose hold of those and go back to the way we were before. Because maybe just maybe God was saying, you know, my church seems a little bit like the Laodicean church that's written about back there in Revelation 3.

Maybe they need to go through some times and wake up. Wake up and see what's happening.

That something is coming and that they need to be aware of it and they need to return to me with a fuller heart and a greater sense of purpose and dedication that they had before. Because face it, we all live in a world and it's very easy to just kind of float by and pat ourselves on the back and think we're doing everything right. But in times like this that we've never lived through before, God's giving us, God's giving us an opportunity to return to Him. Well, let's go to Ezekiel 11. You know, we know that there's a time when the Israel is going to be brought back, brought back to its promised land, the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in verse 16, you know, at a time after they've lost everything, they've been separated from their land, separated from everything they're familiar with, gone and loathed themselves, and realize it's God. They should have always followed God. Here's what it says in Ezekiel 11, verse 16. Therefore, Ezekiel, thus says the Lord God, although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they've gone, therefore say, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the peoples. I will assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel, and they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there, and I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes, keep my judgments, and do them, and they will be my people, and I will be their God. You know, when they go back, they're going to get rid of all that stuff that was there, that separated me from them. All those sins, all those idols, all those things that were there, they're going to cast them out, and when they bring them back together, they're going to be a stronger people. They're going to be more dedicated to me. The spirit that, you know, that's already in us will be more in tune with God, more in tune with what His will is, more seeking Him, as I hope we have all done during this last three months, because if this last three months hasn't affected us all, at all, then boy, we have slept walk. We have slept walk through a time that God has given us as a blessing. You know, as you look at what we've been through, and the church has been through this in times this past, too. Those of us who have been around for 25 or more years, we know that at one time, the church was scattered.

One day and one week, it seemed like, suddenly it was just gone what we knew, and all of a sudden, people were saying different things and believing different things than us, and eventually God brought people back together, those that wanted to continue to believe the things that God wanted them to have. It hasn't been too long ago that the same thing happened, and things were separated, but God brought people back together, hopefully with a renewed sense of commitment, because the pattern is people go away from God. God takes things away from them. They realize what they've done, and they come back with a renewed spirit and a greater commitment to God. God wants us to come back as we begin to reassemble in His time and when things are comfortable for everyone to come back, and as we watch what's going on in society, to come back with a renewed spirit, more spiritually in tune to Him, closer bound as a family, knowing what's going ahead, because the day has come for us to be serious, really, really serious about what's going on and what's ahead. You know, three months ago, it was right before Passover, a month before Passover, and God stripped us of everything that we knew, right? We weren't coming here in Jacksonville to our familiar church hall. Every morning we were in Orlando. We weren't coming to our familiar church hall. Every morning, one week we were there. The next week we weren't. And then on March 14th, we were all together by internet. We didn't even have any local internet at that time, a local internet citizens. Everything came from the home office, and people gathered together because we knew something was up. We need to be where God wants us to be. Physically together wasn't the answer. Together by internet was the answer, and for a longer period than what we thought. But as we went through the three holy days, you know, I'm sure it occurred to all of you as it occurred to me, we kept them differently this year, didn't we? But we didn't just have everything done for us. All the trappings of the holy days, you know, coming to Passover service and everything is set up. This year it was between us and God.

We had to go through the process of examining as we always do, but we had to have our unleavened bread ready. We had to have the wine ready. We had to have the washbasins ready in our home. We had to think about those things. We had to prepare. And as we did that, I think that they, Passover, had a greater meaning to us. We were all together for the service by internet. Imagine what it would have been like if we had no internet. And we were all just separated not to even see each other or have any contact with each other, but God did give us that during this time. And so we learned more about the Passover events and things. Same thing with the days of unleavened bread.

You know, we weren't able to get together on the first day of unleavened bread. We didn't have any night to be much observed. You know, no fancy, no night to be observed group dinner in the hall. It was up to us to do that in our homes and to do things. And no one was watching us. No one knew whether we did it or not. Only God was watching us. On the holy day, when we came together for church services, no one was watching us except God. He knew whether we were gathering together with Him. You know, we didn't have any, you know, in Orlando we always have our annual camp out around unleavened bread time. That luxury was stripped away this year. There was none of those physical things that might add to the days, but maybe, maybe, just maybe, was distracting us or detracting us from the real meaning of those these days. This year it was all about God and the holy days.

All about us and Him. All about Him seeing what we're about when we were doing what we were doing in secret in our homes on those holy days. Even the offering, right? Even the offering. It's very easy to come to services and drop your offering envelope in the basket and it gets processed and mailed off, but this year it was between you and God. We had to bring the offering to the temple. We had to take the time to go online and donate it or write the check and put it in the mail.

And no one knew whether you did or not. Only God. I think God learned a lot about me during this time. I think He learned a lot about all of us during this time. Maybe we learned a lot about ourselves during this time and that's a very healthy thing to do if we look at ourselves honestly and if we're really looking at things through the way that God would have us do. So we've been through a very, very unique time in history that really no one saw coming.

I don't think there was a person really on earth on March 7th that would have said, you know, by the following weekend the country's going to be shut down. It's going to be basically illegal to meet in groups of more than 10.

No one knew it. With all the fancy technology we have, with all the ways we can project hurricanes and storms and track those things, no one could track this. And yet we found ourselves in this situation. You know, it's not escaped either that as we came to Pentecost, things began to open up. It's that three-month period of time when we are, when we were keeping the Holy Days, the Spring Holy Days, and all the deep meaning that's in those, that we had a time to really keep them in a unique way this time. That wasn't by accident. That wasn't by accident. We found ourselves, at least I'll say that I found myself in kind of an intense period of time, knew something was up. We knew something that we were closer to the end time. This wasn't just an accident. This was just a fly-by-night thing that many people thought it would be. The virus will be here, in a week it'll be gone. We don't have to make any preparations, and here it is still, still with us, and had a devastating effect. A period of intense time. Look what we did. You know, look what we did. We were there on Passover. We were there on the first day of Unleavened Bread. We were there during the day on the last day of Unleavened Bread. We were there on Pentecost.

We made our offerings. We focused on God. We didn't give up and say, I don't want to keep the Holy Days. You know, it's not the same without the group dinners. It wasn't the same without being able to go out to lunch to our favorite restaurant on Unleavened Bread or those things. No, none of us did that, I hope. The Holy Days were even more meaningful without all those things because God was the focus and not taken away from it all. And we entered into an intense time. So we've had weekly Sabbath services and those have been able to go on by webcast. And I thank the people who have been involved in this to make that all happen. And we thank God that we live in a time that this could happen. You know, when you read the book of Amos, there's a time coming that it says there will be a dearth of the hearing of God's Word. Now, we often think that that's the dearth of the hearing of the Word through the world, but, you know, looking at some recent things that's going on on how people and companies like to dictate, you know, I'll let you send out or tweet what I think is the truth. And if I don't like it, I'll quell it. Makes you wonder is there time coming for all of us that there will be a dearth of the hearing of the Word and we won't even have the opportunity to do what we've done over the last three months. You know, only God knows what the future holds for us, but it is time, it is time for us to be growing closer to one another and growing closer to God and understanding, you know, where the world is headed. You know, even the weekly Bible study, you know, I'll have to say that I have enjoyed those very much and I, and as I prepare those each week, I'm, you know, we've gone through the book of James, you know, here locally in Jacksonville, Orlando, all by Zoom. And I don't know, I, you know, I kind of look and I see a lot of people are joining in on it, which is very good. And I thought, would we have on March 7th, if I had said we're going to start a weekly Bible study every Wednesday, I don't even think I would have suggested it back on March 7th. But here we are doing it. Look what God has brought us to. Look what God has done for us. Look what he has opened up. It's time, he would say, get more intent with me. Spend your time studying the Bible, delving into it. You know, church services are great. We know the format for church services. There's a place for Bible studies as well, a time for us to delve into the scriptures in a different way than we do during services, a time for us to discuss those things. And Zoom is a beautiful, a beautiful tool to do that on, where we can actually see each other. You know, I think it's been much easier during this three months, as I see, because I've seen most of you on Zoom every week, and it's nice to know that. It kind of makes us feel together. So look at the things we've done, and as we go back, as we go back, you know, to our lives, and as people go back to work, and all the stores are open up and everything again, we can't forget the intensity that we have, the commitment that we had, the interest that we had.

We can't forget putting God first, and that means in every aspect of our life, if we have a choice between God and what He wants us to do versus shopping, TV, family time, maybe we need to really think about, we need to put God first. He needs to be built into our lives. And so we do have afternoon and evening Bible studies that we're doing, so that it fits into, I guess, everyone's schedule. I don't know that everyone, anyone that works 24 hours a day, but I guess if you don't have internet, and I know we've even had some people get on the internet that weren't there before, just so they could join, and that's a good thing. And if you need help in that, let us know that we can, we can make that happen. You know, you look at the world, right? Look at the world. They were intense. Again, if someone had said on March 7th, you know, the whole world will be shut down. People won't be going out of their homes. They won't be shopping, except as necessary. And the whole world will do this. All of America will just stop everything. We would have said, that's, that's impossible. That can't happen. You can't shut down a country. That, that couldn't happen. But they did.

They dug in, and they listened to the experts, and they did what they should have done.

And I know, as I mentioned in my letter yesterday, quarantine fatigue came in, and it's like, you know, I kind of want to get out and do some things. Kind of want to do, you know, what I used to do.

And we were urged, you know, and the churches, we put together opening plans for the church again. It was in line with what the government, you know, had said, and the local authorities.

But then this thing happened in Minneapolis, and caution was thrown to the wind.

Everything went out the window. The last three months, it was like they didn't even happen.

You know, I understand the emotion, and I even understand some of why it's happening. I get that.

And that's something I've grown in in the last few weeks as well, to understand the other side of the story, and to understand the emotions of people who have, you know, who go through that, and why this is so important. But boy, just to see us do the exact opposite of what had happened, it was like the doors are opened up again, and then you've got this happening, and who knows what will be the effect on that. The intensity that was there to fight the virus went out the window.

As soon as, the doors opened up again. And so we saw the images like we did at the beaches, and at the lake of the Ozarks, and now this was going on around us. You know what? We can't do that. We can't forget the intensity. We can't forget what we done, what we did during that time. We can't go back to the way we were before and say, hey, you know, if I do this, that's enough.

I can blow that off, and I can blow that off. God's okay with it. No, God's not okay with it. God's gotten our attention, and our job going forward, if we intend to be in His kingdom, is to be even more intense going forward, and not to lose the intensity that we have developed this time, and the closest to Him, and the closest to each other. That is a good starting point that we need to build on, and build on from here on out. Let's just look at a couple of verses here. Ephesians 5, very familiar verses, but in context of this, very telling. I think we read this. If we didn't read it at the Bible study this week, we read it the week before.

Verse 15, Ephesians 5, verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time. Redeeming the time. You know what that means? It means God's giving you more time. Make use of it. He's gotten our attention, and His intent is not go back to the way you were before, because all of us, the way we were before, wasn't enough of what God wanted us to do. What we were before, we're not the same people. We didn't know then what we know now. We haven't been through what we be then, what we have been through now. We haven't felt the intensity and returning to our first love and doing what God says first and putting Him first in everything, not just a few things in our life. Redeem the time because the days are evil. You know, the days are evil.

When we look at what's going on in the world, right? What starts off as peaceful and maybe with a well-intentioned end in mind can turn pretty scary pretty fast, can't it? You see some of the things that happened and result of this that I don't think the original protesters or the protesters really wanted to happen. You watch what's going on in Seattle and seeing what's going on there, and that'd be a prelude to what other cities will face as people try to commandeer and take over law enforcement and try to have police-free zones. You know, I saw some of the pictures of what went on in police-free zones and I thought I wouldn't want to live in that society.

It doesn't look at all appealing. It looks like I would want to go anywhere else but there.

Now, people carrying guns, people lighting fires, doing whatever they want, some to some, their idea of a police-free society spells lawlessness in the book of the Bible, right? Lawlessness. So we see what lawlessness is and we see what are in some people's minds and not all the protesters, okay, just a few that have done that, but we see what is in the minds of there and we see this concept of lawlessness. So when God tells us, redeem the time, pay attention to it, use it, because the days are evil. The days are evil. Where this world is headed is not to a good place.

If you listen closely to all the things that are going on out there, no one has an answer. There is nothing that they know. No one knows how to solve any of these problems. You know, maybe there will be a virus. You know, if the world wants to have that as their God and that's what they're looking to, my God, the vaccine, not the virus, the vaccine's going to do it all for us, I think they're going to probably be sorely disappointed. Maybe for a while it'll it'll soothe their nerves. If they think of police lists, lawless society is the answer, not the answer.

The intensity that we have to feel going into a time that may be leading to that is something that we should really pay attention to because as we go into that time, the Church of God is in danger. You and I are in danger when those times come. I didn't turn. Yeah, let's turn to Romans 13. One more verse just to put in your notes there, and then I'll continue the thought I was just in. Romans 13. Oh, okay. And then 14. That's why it didn't look like the right verse. Okay, verse 11, chapter 13. Do this knowing the time, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. You know, Paul, he saw the need to do that. And as we read those words, you know, no one is saying, no one knows how long it will be before the return of Jesus Christ.

You know, God can speed things up as it looks like they've been gone to the last few months. Things go very quickly. He can slow them down, and it could be another several years. What do we do? You know, well, we know what the answer is. You keep your eyes on God. You keep your focus on Him. You don't let your arms start falling awake. You keep up the spiritual strength. You keep looking to God, knowing the time is near, knowing that the time of lawlessness is near, because we see that for the first time in our history. And I heard this week that this is the longest period of protests in the history of America. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know what to believe when I hear it on the news anymore, but I'll assume that in my lifetime, I don't know that 18 days there's been protests for 18 days in a row. And I find myself wondering, how long is this going to go on? What, you know, what is the end result? What is the purpose now? Everyone knows things aren't right and everyone knows that this has to be addressed in some way, but no one has the answer. But, you know, we head toward, we see these little things begin, and those little things begin, and they spread. In a time of lawlessness, right? What does Christ say about a time of lawlessness?

He says, when lawlessness abounds, the love of many will wax cold. That's a time of danger for you and me.

When those times come about, the love of many will wax cold. Many will fall away. They will sleep back to their old ways. They'll fall asleep. They won't remember what we've been through. They won't keep up the intensity with God. They won't keep up the relationship with Him. They won't continue to put Him first. Excuse me. They'll go back and they'll kind of look at the world and say, man, you know what? I'll just kind of be like them. It's just not that important to me, or, you know, I'll have that attitude. As long as I'm doing this, that's enough for God.

You know, it wasn't enough, I don't think, for God, what we were doing before March 7th as a church. You know? And I think, you know, we probably still have a ways to go, what we need to do to please God and be the people He wants us to be. Individually, maybe collectively as well.

But when lawlessness occurs, that's when you and I should be really waking up and thinking we need to redeem the time. It's not time to just kind of give into the world and think whatever. It's time to have our minds really in tune. Because, you know, one of the things that we learned during this time that we shouldn't forget is that word that we've talked about many times, and that's that word suddenly, right? Suddenly. Now, on March 7th, none of us saw what was going to happen by the following Sabbath. Suddenly, the world shut down. Suddenly, without warning, the world shut down. We all learned what the word suddenly, when God talks about the word suddenly, is.

The world learned about the world suddenly, too. Of course, that took them all by surprise.

And some of them, really by surprise. They may have been over in Europe, they may have been down in South America, they may have been on cruise ships, and found themselves all of a sudden not able to come home. Kind of abandoned. Kind of there. No way to come back. You know, there may still be some people who are, you know, where borders are closed, waiting to come home because they didn't see it coming. And, oh, had they known that that was coming, they wouldn't have gotten on that cruise ship the week before. They wouldn't have gone over to Europe or South America or wherever they were the week before. They would have stayed home. But God says things happen suddenly. You don't see them coming, even with our technology, even with everything that we can watch in the world today, you don't see it coming. We learned. Something we better not forget as we go forward because the people of God should be prepared. But let's go back. You know, there's verses that you're very familiar with, with the word suddenly. Isaiah 30 verse 13, you know, we talked about the wall bursting, right? And we can kind of see it happening. We watch over here, and that pipe's about to burst, and we get kind of used to it. And then one day, suddenly it bursts.

And all mayhem, all mayhem breaks out, right? Even though we saw it coming, when it passes, it's like, oh no, all of a sudden, I wasn't ready for this. And then the pipe bursts.

You know, let's go back to look at a couple more verses to talk about suddenly, because it is a way that God works in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. He'll give us warnings.

He'll get our attention. But He does work suddenly. Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 verse 1. 29 verse 1. He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck. Well, maybe we fall into that. You know, I have been told that a number of times. I think, that's not me. I don't need to hear that. I'm dull of hearing. I don't want to hear that. I'll just close my ears. Applies to everyone else doesn't apply to me. He who is often rebuked, whether it's personally, by wife, by friends, by whatever. He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed. And that without remedy.

Well, that first gets my attention. You know, it's like, am I? Do I get rebuked in some ways? And I'm just kind of like, you know, that's not me. I'm not going to change. I don't even want to hear that. Whatever. We might all look at that and make sure that we aren't falling into the category of suddenly being destroyed because we simply close our ears. You know, one of the lessons out of the book of James is, you know, swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, certainly has its place in times when we're being rebuked. Isaiah 48. Isaiah 48 verse 3.

Not the verse that we usually read when God talks about him declaring the end from the beginning, but in verse 3 of Isaiah 48 it says, I have declared the former things from the beginning. They went forth from my mouth and I caused them to hear it. I let them know what was going to happen.

Whether they heard it or not is up to them suddenly. Suddenly I did them and they came to pass.

Suddenly I did them. Now for 40 years they heard it in ancient Judah. Suddenly it happened.

Jeremiah 4. Jeremiah 4 verse 19.

Jeremiah 4.19. O my soul, my soul, I am pained in my very heart. My heart makes a noise in me. I can't hold my peace because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

You've heard it. You know something's coming. You know the day is coming. You know these things. You've heard these things. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is plundered. Suddenly, suddenly my tents are plundered and my curtains in a moment.

Suddenly I heard the trumpet. I heard the sound of a war. I saw a destruction upon destruction. I saw it happening and then suddenly my tents were plundered. Suddenly it came on me.

And let's go back to a verse we read not too long ago again in 1 Thessalonians 5.

A verse to bear in mind as we go forward. And if you ever hear these words in the world, don't become comfortable in it. Don't embrace them. Get right to the Bible. Get back close to God and realize the times we live in. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 3, for when they say, Peace and Safety, we don't have to worry anymore. Everything looks good. You can go back to the way your lives were before. Whenever they say, Peace and Safety, then sudden, sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. And they shall not escape. Kind of a warning when God says suddenly and he gives us the warnings ahead of time.

And the last three months have been eye-opening wherever. However long that God has in mind, that's between...that's His decision. Our choice has to be to follow Him no matter how long it is to have that patient endurance that we talked about on the Bible studies right until that time, whether it's very soon or whether it's far, far longer down the road than we might expect.

Only God knows but our job. And our commitment should be, I will endure till then.

While reading those verses, you know, Christ talks about this time of suddenness as well. Matthew 24. I'd be remiss in not turning Matthew 24 and read words that are...that the words should just sort of strike us at the suddenly thing. Of course, in Matthew 25, we know we have the story of the parable of the Ten Virgins. Five of them weren't ready. They were sleeping a little too soundly. Even though they knew the bride we grew was coming, they just weren't ready when it happened and they found themselves on the outside looking in. But in Matthew 24 and verse 28 or 38, you know, Christ says it this way. He says, as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving a marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark. And they didn't know until the flood came and took them all away. It came to them suddenly. Noah felt that ark for a hundred years, but to the people of the world, it came suddenly. Oh, well. Well, where did this rain come from? Well, it's raining even harder than we thought. No doubt it had rained some time in that hundred years, but this time the rain kept coming. They didn't know until that day and took them all away, so also will this coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left.

One's ready and one's not.

Which one do you want to be? What do you need to be to be the one that God said he'll be the one taken? And what will we be if we're the ones left? Will we be the ones that haven't learned lessons, that aren't growing closer to God, that put other things before what God would have us do, that think we're good enough, that think that we have need of nothing as the Laodicean Church is described, but that God is happy just as long as we do the little bit we were doing before March 7th, even though we've learned and put some things in place since March 7th, that I think are very healthy for every single one of us. Two men will be taken. One will be two men in the field, one taken, one left. Two women will be grinding in the mill.

One will be taken, and the other left.

When it comes suddenly, God makes the determination. This one is ready. This one kind of was asleep. This one kind of enamored with the world and involved with all the carousing and partying and everything that goes on. Verse 42, watch therefore, watch therefore.

We talk about that word watch so much. And yes, we need to watch ourselves, but you know what? Today it is important to be watching what's going on in the world, too. I would say everyone should be watching what's going on because events move pretty quickly. And if we're thinking and if we're reading the Bible and if we're close to God, we begin to see the things and how they fit into prophecy that we can kind of see where it's going if we don't have ourselves so thoroughly asleep or in denial thinking that it could never happen to America and it can't happen in our lifetime, that we're just too great of a nation to have any of these things happen because if you ever think that, back in March and April, the whole country was shut down. It came to a complete halt.

Watch therefore. So keep your eyes open. Don't bury your head and say, I don't want to watch this. I don't need to watch the news. Yes, we do need to watch the news because as you see things happening and as you read the prophetic times, you know, watch what's happening. Be aware of what's going on. It will inspire you. It will make you realize the world we live in. It'll give you some direction, you know, if you watch it. Watch therefore for you don't know what hour your Lord is coming. You just don't know. We don't know the year today. We don't know anything. We know it's coming, but we don't know when. We know that when we look at the prophecies of the Bible, all all the things that are predicted, the world we live in looks like the time of the end.

You can go down the list and Daniel and Matthew and Revelation and you see them all heading in that direction. You can see the leaves on the, or buds on the trees that weren't there all too awfully long ago. So we know the time is near. You know, you can mark down Luke 21, Luke's account of the, this section here talks about don't get involved in the carousing of the world. When the world goes to lawlessness, the love of many will get cold. They'll just, tell you to wait. Let's not let that be any. Let's not that be any of us, right? Let's make sure and be committed to one another and apply those verses where we work with one another, too, and help one another to stay focused and to stay with the calling that God has given us.

You know, one more, one more, one more thing that we can think about as we begin to come back together again and as we see, you know, what God has planned, you know, in all the churches all over the world, you know, going forward. You know, the first time here in Jacksonville that we met wasn't in this room that we normally meet in, but at a hotel on Pentecost, and 20, I think it's 21 of us were there that day. And it wasn't escaped on me that, you know, here we are at the end of this spring holy day season and we're beginning to open up again. And people are beginning to gather again today. And when, you know, and many churches around the country began to do it that day, a lot of them didn't, and many are happening today, from what I understand. You look back at history at Pentecost and the people that were gathered there that day, right? They were there, they were the disciples of Jesus Christ, and even though Jesus Christ had warned them he was going to be killed and he was going to be resurrected, when he was killed, when he was crucified on Passover Day, to them that came suddenly. Even though they'd been warned they didn't get it, they didn't understand it, and it jolted them. And they retreated, if you will. They went into hiding, you know? I mean, here they were. It took them by surprise. Peter denied Christ three times. None of the disciples were there with him at the site of the crucifixion. Only John was there.

And they had some introspection to do when this thing happened to them. And they retreated.

And you can imagine what they were going through as they were there. What is going to happen? What is the world around us going to do? The Jews killed him? Of course they're going to kill us.

And they had to muster some things up. And I dare say they were paying a lot of time praying. And they weren't worried about all the trappings of life. They were, what just went on here? What do we do? And God brought them together at that time. And he said, you know what? I want you to come back together. I want you to be in one accord and one place.

And as they gathered together that day, you know, they were not a strong people. You know, they were just kind of like hiding, if you will. And then on the day of Pentecost, you know, a new day, if you will. We talked about Pentecost, about a new beginning. It's the end of one era, but a beginning of another one. Jubilee period, people being free, all the things we talked about that Pentecost represents. And God's Holy Spirit, when God's Holy Spirit came on them, they went out with boldness, didn't they? They were different people. What had happened to them, they couldn't go back to the way it was before. It was never going to be the way it was before Jesus Christ was crucified. It was not going to be that way at all. But they were people who became strong and courageous and committed. And you know, as we read through the book of Acts, what they did, and how it says they turned the world upside down. They knew and they had the power of God, and they put Him first. They risked their lives. They were willing to sacrifice anything for what they knew. When they marched forth from there, it was a new day for them. Not the way it used to be, three and a half years before, or even a week, you know, not even, well, a couple, three months before, right? Different day. Different thing. Brethren, we live in a different day today. It's a new day for us, coming out of what we've just come through, and no matter what we go through going forward, we're in a different time than we were before. You know, we've talked about how in the world is facing these problems. They don't know how to solve this virus problem. They don't know what the answer to the protesters are. They don't know what the answer to what went on in Minneapolis is. They don't know how to do that, because there are no answers that mankind can come up with. You know, I'm reminded when I think about all these things with, you know, someone far wiser than any of us sitting here today, years and years and years ago, he would go around to leaders of nations, and what he would tell them, that the only way you're ever going to change what's going on in society is to change human nature, right? Change human nature. That's the only answer, and no man can do it. Only God can do that.

We couldn't have changed our human nature on our own accord. Only God, with his Holy Spirit in us, and us doing our part, right? Repenting, coming to God, doing the things, doing his will, putting him first and not second, third, fourth, or way down the list. Only God could change our nature.

The only answer to the world's problems, and we see them glaring at us right now, is for Jesus Christ to return. It's the only way. Why are there no plans out there? Because they don't know. It's like, we don't know. We don't know how to solve all the problems. How do we make everyone happy? We see that when people return. We see them coming together, and they're all being taught the law of God. They're all coming to Jerusalem. They're all looking to God. This is the law. This is the way. This is the way we're going to be. And God says, I'll put my spirit in them. I'll put my spirit in them, and they will change. Or they will follow me. Let's look at Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel 18, in the first last few verses of the chapter there. Let's begin it in verse 30. Ezekiel 18.30. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent, words that we should always repent, and turn from all your transgressions so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Don't let your sin that you don't want to repent of. Don't let that sin that you just want to hold dear and you want to deny that's even there. Repent so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

You see what God is saying there? He'll give us the spirit, but it's up to us. Wouldn't it be nice if God would just do everything for us? If he would just change the way we think, change the things we have. No, he says you repent. You have to do it. You cast away the transgressions. You put me first. You make the choices in your life to do the things that you know you need to do. Cast away from you the transgressions which you've committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. I've given it to you. I've made it available to you. You use it. You take it. You take it, and you run with it.

Then he asks a very poignant question, for why would you die, O house of Israel? Do you recognize if you don't do this, you'll die? God doesn't want anyone to die, he says in verse 32.

But the only way to eternal life is to yield to him.

It'll be a new day when Jesus Christ returns. There's new days in our lives, and I think that we have entered a new day in our life in this world, in this age, when we see what's going on, because we should not even want to return to be the people that we were before. We should be aspiring to be a people closer to God. We should not want to be returning to exactly the way things were before, even in our church makeup, right? Or the church things that we do, but that we look to God to lead us and guide us into what his will is for his body to be doing, and how we grow together. Oh, we are in a new day. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 1.

We then, Paul writes, and we could say that here, right? Say it to here, to you in Jacksonville, those listening in Orlando, all those who are listening online with us today. We then, as workers together with God, we plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

Look what he's given you. Look what he's offered to you. Don't waste it. Don't make it futile.

Don't waste the time that we're in or the gifts that God has given or the things that he's given us. For he says, An acceptable time I've heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.

Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.

Suddenly, suddenly we find ourselves in a new day, in a new space, with a new attitude and with new history behind us, and things that have changed our minds, hopefully for the better, and created that commitment to God and that continued intensity of learning from him, seeking him, remembering the things that we have done and growing even closer, and not ever getting tired and not ever growing weary of doing well. Let's march forward. Let's continue to let God lead us, but let's not forget the lessons that we learned during this time, and let's build on them going forward.