Cowboy Lee Homoki

[0:00] All right, this is my wife Darlene, and she's my very important right-hand companion in gospel ministry, and she does a very good job of telling you what's going on and asking for your interest and for your prayers, and that also saves me from, I can't do that without getting wound up and spending too much time at it.

[0:34] So, and before you ask, you may notice that she's got a black eye. I didn't do that. I didn't do that.

[0:47] So, I'll let, enough said. All right. Okay, well, first we want to say thank you for your prayers and your support. It's really appreciated. We've had a busy year.

[1:00] Each year we say we're going to slow down, and each year we don't manage to do that. It's hard to say no, and so we just keep going, and as long as the Lord gives us strength, we'll just keep going and doing what he's called us to do.

[1:13] We started out this year in March with three weeks with Youth for Christ in Evansville, Indiana. It's Tri-State Youth for Christ. It covers Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.

[1:25] We were there for three weeks, and each night of the three weeks, we went to a different church to conduct a youth rally. And that is really neat to work with young people all across the country.

[1:37] I remember especially one night, it was Henderson, Kentucky. George Jooms, the director of Youth for Christ, said, I know nothing about this church. We've not been here.

[1:47] I don't know what we're getting into. He said, all I know is that they have a program for inner city kids on Wednesday night, and they expect about 100 young people here. So he said, that's all I can tell you.

[1:59] He said, I don't know what goes on. So we walked into the gymnasium, and it was chaos. And I thought, how are they going to make any sense out of this chaos? There were about 100 young people running everywhere.

[2:12] Some were playing basketball. Some were talking, and they just were going around. And I thought, how are they going to ever get control of these kids? But they did, and the Lord worked. And it was a lesson to me on how the Lord works in spite of us.

[2:27] They fed the kids supper, and they set up bleachers, and the kids went over there very orderly and all sat down. And Lee began speaking. He was doing his ropes and whips for the kids, and he began speaking.

[2:39] And he got so sick, and I've never seen him do that before, where he got so sick, he finally just laid his ropes and whips down. And he said, George, you've got to take over. I can't go anymore. So George took over and gave the message.

[2:53] And when the invitation was given that night, even out of all this chaos, there was 38 young people that trusted Christ. So it was just a lesson to me that God is in control.

[3:04] We might think everything is falling apart, but God is still working. And he is still in the soul-saving business. And so it was neat to see these young people all come forward and trust Christ. We had a fantastic time there in Evansville.

[3:17] I think there was a total of about 60 young people that trusted Christ over the 20 days. And what's really neat is the follow-up program they put into place. They do follow up each of these young people with letters and with letters to the pastors and keep going.

[3:33] In fact, we just talked to George the other day, and he said they're still contacting these kids and trying to get them all involved in their churches. So that's really neat to do that.

[3:43] That was in March we did that. And we went back to Grand Rapids for the month of April. And then Lee started in Ashtabula, Ohio, in May. He went over there for two meetings in Ashtabula.

[3:55] One was at the First Grace Gospel Church. And then the other one was with the Generation Next, which is college-age young people from our Grace Movement, from all different facets.

[4:09] And they gathered together for a conference once a year. And he was able to go there and be a speaker there. I didn't go because I had surgery on my eyes and I had to stay home and get stitches out and all that kind of fun stuff.

[4:22] But as soon as he got back from Ashtabula, we loaded this little trailer up, and we were on our way for our summer ministry. We started out in Livonia, Missouri, at Camp Victory, which is a camp that was just purchased by one of our cowboys and setting up as a Grace Youth Camp down there in Missouri.

[4:46] He bought this campground. It has the total facilities to start a camp. They can house 200 kids. And the fellow that had owned it had camped there for 35 years, and he had a heart attack, and he just sold it.

[5:02] And it was as is. So when Neil and Diana took over, everything was still there. In fact, the freezers were still loaded with food. Of course, they didn't have any idea how old it was or what it was, but everything was still there.

[5:16] The chapel, the microphones, and all the sound equipment was just left there. Everything was there. And so we went down and spent two weeks doing some work and getting it ready for our cowboy camps.

[5:29] So we were there for two weeks, and then we left and went up to Morovia, Iowa, where we had a vacation Bible school and a Nazarene church. It was actually a community vacation Bible school with a Nazarene church, the Methodist church, and another independent church.

[5:44] Morovia is a small town in Iowa. They have 400 kids in their school system there. We had 200 children at vacation Bible school every day.

[5:55] That was really a challenge. They told us they would have a big group, so we planned for about 100. And so there was 200 there each day. It was a great vacation Bible school, and we really enjoyed it.

[6:07] We left Morovia and went right down to Unionville, Missouri, for the Rodeo Bible Camp. Now, that is sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys, and it is not just a cowboy camp.

[6:21] It is a rodeo camp. They train these kids from 10 years old to 19 years old to ride bulls and broncs, do bareback riding, the whole thing. And then on Saturday, they put on a rodeo for the parents.

[6:33] I have to admit, it's kind of scary to watch those little tiny kids get on a bull or something like that. But praise the Lord, nobody was hurt. They took some pretty good tumbles, but nobody was hurt.

[6:45] We go there. Lee goes down to teach the rope spinning and the skills, cowboy skills. But it's a real good challenge. They have two Bible studies each day.

[6:56] They have two chapels each day. So the kids receive the gospel and have some Bible lessons. So that's good. It was a good time. And so we left Unionville and went right back down to Livonia, Missouri, for two weeks of our cowboy camp, our family camp, and then our regular cowboy camp there.

[7:15] And it is fun. We say it by the end of the week. How can you get so tired just doing nothing but eating and wandering around, but you get exhausted by the end of the week?

[7:28] But we had two good camps. Our family camp is unique in that we don't charge for it. We charge a $50 registration fee. That is just so we can have some idea of how many people are coming.

[7:42] We had about 50 people this year. And that's the only charge we make is the $50 and then free will offering. But we had a wonderful time of fellowship.

[7:53] It was really great. We had some good Bible studies and so on. So the family camp was good. Then our cowboy camp was good. Then we left. We had to leave cowboy camp a day early because we had to be in Florida for teen missions on Saturday.

[8:07] So we left on Thursday and drove down to Florida where we were with teen missions. They had teen missions sends youth groups, young people, or teams of young people out to different missionary fields across the country.

[8:22] I think they went to 39 different countries this summer sending groups out. They're out there right now. Those kids are out there now. There were 700 teenagers there at the boot camp, at the senior boot camp, and then they had the pre-teen boot camp going on at the same time.

[8:37] They train the young people there for 10 days, and then they send them out. And it's really neat to watch these kids load onto the buses and take off and go to the planes or wherever they're going for the summer.

[8:51] And they do service projects for mission fields. Any missionary can call teen missions and say, we need a building built. We need some painting done. We need some work done. Could you send a team down here to do it?

[9:02] And that's what they do. They train those kids how to build or whatever they're going down there to do during this 10 days, and then they go down there. Plus, they all have to learn at least one song in the language of the country they're going to and a puppet program for the language they're going to so that they can present some puppets for kids and do things like that.

[9:23] So it's really neat. It's a fun time to be down there with them. Lee spoke every night for a week to these kids, and it's really a neat program.

[9:33] Teen missions is, that's not the only thing they do. I was really impressed by one, well, two projects they have going. Over in Africa, they have what they call the AIDS Orphans Project.

[9:45] And they have built buildings in villages where they can provide food and clothes and shoes for the orphans of Africa. There is, I think they said, 13 million AIDS orphans that they know of now whose parents have died because of AIDS, and the kids are just left, and nobody wants them.

[10:05] There's nobody to take care of them. And so these kids just, when we were there in Africa a few years ago, we knew that, too. The kids just wander around. They don't have any discipline or they don't have anybody to watch over them or take care of them, provide for them.

[10:19] So Teen Missions has gone in and set up these rescue centers where they provide food for them, a pair of shoes, and an outfit of clothes for any kids that come. So that is really a real ministry.

[10:31] While we were there, the kids at the boot camp raised $39,000 in order to send containers of clothing over to Africa. They're ready to send three containers, about 50 tons of clothing, shoes and clothing, over to these kids.

[10:46] So they have a real program. The other program that really impressed me was their motorcycle Sunday school. You know, we used it, the circuit riders. You had John Wesley with circuit riders years ago.

[10:58] And after this idea, they have set up Sunday schools in villages. They now have 221 going, using national young people, riding motorcycles out to these remote villages and having a Sunday school.

[11:11] The director of Teen Missions, Bob, said they found out that they have a lot of opposition if they go in and want to start a church because there are so many Muslims, and the Muslims cannot attend a church.

[11:22] But they found out that the Muslim kids can attend a Sunday school. So they started this circuit riding Sunday school, and they can have hundreds of these kids come, and they have Bible lessons and Bible stories.

[11:34] They also teach them phonics to begin teaching them the English language. So it's really quite a ministry they have in Africa of doing this. So it was exciting to be a part of this ministry.

[11:46] And so we left Teen Missions, and we drove up here, and now we go back to Michigan where we have two more weeks of cowboy camp. And again, we have to leave our cowboy camp a day early because we're going to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for Children's Bible Ministry Camp.

[12:04] And we'll get back into Grand Rapids in the middle of August. I jokingly say we get into town just long enough to go see the doctors and take care of those kind of things anymore. And then we leave again the 1st of September.

[12:18] Around the 1st of September, we're going to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We're going to Wisconsin and Minnesota, Idaho, and then back down to Florida before we're done with our schedule.

[12:29] And that may continue on. Knowing Lee will have some additions before we're done. But we just ask you to continue to pray for us. We've had no problems on the highway.

[12:42] We've got a borrowed truck that has given us quite a few problems this summer. But the Lord takes care of us, and we just ask you to continue to pray for us as we continue to travel and preach the gospel wherever we go.

[12:59] Thank you, Darlene. And I want you to turn with me in your Bible to 2 Peter 3. And while you're doing that, I'll just tell you that I believe that God's Word is inspired.

[13:17] God means exactly what He says and says exactly what He means. And we appeal to the Lord for His grace and ministry of the Holy Spirit to be able to apprehend it and understand it.

[13:37] Just one addition by way of an announcement. Two, we have appealed to different churches all over the country for any real-to-real tape recorders you may have and are not using.

[13:58] Over the years, Bible doctrines to live by. That's our ministry. We have, so far as I know, the largest collection of audio tapes.

[14:14] Literally hundreds and hundreds of reel-to-reel tapes. Some of them go back 60 years. I even have some wire recordings. And these are messages that have been captured on these magnetic and magnetic tapes of some of the founders and some of the grace preachers that have long since gone home to be with the Lord.

[14:44] One of the problems we have is that those kind of tapes deteriorate as time goes on. And many of them are already lost and will not be able to recover them.

[14:56] So what we're trying to do is to capture some fantastic Bible teaching, a dispensationally oriented Bible teaching.

[15:08] And we're trying to preserve those by refurbishing these reel-to-reel tape recorders. And then we will give, those who volunteer, will give them that recorder.

[15:21] And then we will, in time, send you 10 tapes, 10 reels at a time. And we'll ask you to record that from the reel-to-reel to the computer, which is digital.

[15:38] And that will preserve it from deteriorating. And then another part of that project is we have transcribers that can take then that audio recording from the computer and run it through a program called Audacity.

[15:57] And that will take all of the scratches and the old background sounds and the pops of some of these old recordings. And actually, we can filter that out and make them like a brand new tape recording.

[16:16] Then these will be preserved on MP3 tapes. And those have a shelf life that's much, much longer. And so I appeal to you, if you would like to get involved in that with us, either to donate a reel-to-reel tape recorder or to help us with the recording.

[16:38] That's where the rub is. That's the hard part is because it's one-to-one. If it's an hour-long study, it takes an hour, at least an hour, to record it.

[16:49] And then if we're going to transcribe it, unless you've worked with this, you'll probably not appreciate the fact that what a person preaches does not come right across when you try and put it into print.

[17:03] That's what we're trying to do is not only get these preserved on the recorders, but we want to take some of these studies that have been lost and never been put in print, and we're going to transcribe them then.

[17:20] And then that's difficult because most preachers do not preach in full sentences and paragraphs. So it takes a lot of time then for our team of proofreaders to, first of all, proofread them, and then somebody working with the grammar and to do the formatting for print.

[17:42] So I share that with you. And if you folks would like to be involved in a very, very meaningful ministry, I share that with you. All right, I've asked you to turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3.

[17:55] And I want to begin by pointing out three special days in the future. Now, before I read it, I need to tell you that I'm not a prophet.

[18:08] I'm not the son of a prophet. I have no special insight into prophecy, except that I know that you and I are creatures of time. And I know that God has a plan.

[18:21] I know that the number one feature of God's plan, and he said so, he was not willing that any should perish. And as we read the Scriptures, we begin to see the unfolding drama of God's plan of redemption.

[18:37] And acquiring an understanding of that makes you aware, as a creature of time, that the clock is ticking.

[18:50] And we are moving in the direction of eternity future. So with every day, with every passing hour, we are growing older, but we're also growing closer to our eternal destiny.

[19:07] And having said that, and as we read this Scripture, you'll understand that according to prophecy, there are some specific prophetic days mentioned and described in the Scripture.

[19:25] And it's important for us to know what lies ahead. It helps us to orient to the fact of just who are we, and to also understand the frailness of our mortality and the passing of time.

[19:48] But it also helps us to anticipate both the good and the bad that lies directly ahead. And that gives us some orientation.

[20:03] It helps us, then, to adjust our plans, our thoughts, our vision, our goal, our priorities.

[20:15] And as the clock ticks and as time passes, that all becomes that more urgent. So the first thing I want to do is to identify those special days in the future.

[20:30] And I'll make a few comments along the way. And actually, I'm going to introduce a fourth day. There are three special days, prophetic days, mentioned in this text.

[20:42] And yet there's another fourth day also mentioned elsewhere in the prophetic future. So the first day I want to introduce you to is found in verse 7.

[20:56] 2 Peter 3, 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire, unto the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

[21:14] So please notice, it's the heaven and the earth that are now. It's referring to planet earth. It's the world that we are a part of.

[21:29] We look outside, we see the green grass, we see the blue sky, we see the vegetation. We know some of the animal life. We rub shoulders with people of every race, every culture, every color.

[21:48] And this is a dire prediction. There is a day of judgment coming. Please notice, it cannot be described except in terms of fire, judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.

[22:09] There is a judgment day coming. The second day that I want you to be aware of is called the day of the Lord. And that's found in verse 10.

[22:20] But the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. That means unannounced.

[22:33] Come as a thief in the night, into which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

[22:52] Now again, notice there's something in common with the day of judgment. Please notice that it has to do with the heavens and the earth shall pass away.

[23:06] The elements, again, that's the world around about you, shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also, and the works thereon, thereof shall be burned up, seeing then that all of these things shall be dissolved.

[23:28] Now that's frightening to me. Fire, judgment, the elements will melt with fervent heat, seeing then that all of these things, here I am, a creature of time, a tick, tick, tick, that clock back there is ticking.

[23:53] And with every minute, with every second, we are moving closer and closer to those special days in the future. And here the apostle Peter says, Now seeing.

[24:06] So obviously this is something designed to get us to set up and take notice. And now I don't know anybody who has all of the answers, but we certainly can take God at His word.

[24:23] And I think we need to study it in detail. I think we need to ask questions. But there's areas of revelation here about things of which we need not challenge.

[24:37] It just flat out says, There's a day of judgment coming, and then there's the day of the Lord. So there's two specific days, but please notice they both have one thing in common, and that is fire and destruction.

[24:52] And of course, when we talk about the perdition of ungodly men, we know that that's not comfortable. There isn't anything about those two days that would cause us to say, Oh, that's great.

[25:08] That's wonderful. There's nothing comfortable about that. In fact, if we're normal, I feel that.

[25:26] I feel a sense of anxiety, a sense of concern, even pain. It's hard to talk about those days.

[25:37] I don't think anybody really likes to. I find myself, when God lays a message like this on my heart, I find myself a little bit reluctant. Frankly, I just as soon hold that all at arm's length.

[25:51] It's not really that I want to challenge it, or not believe it, but I don't feel comfortable. especially when I think in terms of a lost mother or father, a lost grandma or grandpa, a brother or sister, or just the whole human race.

[26:13] And then I realize, God is not willing that any, any, any should perish. Judgment is coming.

[26:24] Then I turn over the page to verse 12. And here's another day, a third day in God's prophetic plan.

[26:37] In verse 12, looking for and hastening unto the day of God. So you have three days here, day of judgment, you have the day of the Lord, and now you have the day of God.

[26:52] Where in the heavens please notice, there's the common denominator. Somehow or another, there's a conjunction. There's a termination point where all three days terminate.

[27:09] You have the day of judgment. You have the day of the Lord. You have the day of God. And one of the descriptions of those three days is here wherein the heavens being on fire shall be, this is the second time he says, dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

[27:34] Verse 13, nevertheless, we, and the we here is a corporate we, it refers to believers. We who are believers, nevertheless, we according to his promise look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

[27:53] So we can actually move, we can move beyond the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, and the day of God, knowing that there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.

[28:10] And that we can enjoy, and that we can anticipate, and that we can rejoice in. But then there's another day, and I want to mention that before I go any further.

[28:25] And that go with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and herein is another day. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and here is another day mentioned in the Bible.

[28:56] It is not mentioned here by the name the day of Christ. But the day of Christ is mentioned elsewhere. Philippians chapter 1, verse 6.

[29:08] 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and verse 3. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 14. 2 Thessalonians 2, 1. 2 Timothy 4, 8.

[29:21] And here we are, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16. So there it is named, it is mentioned this day that I'm referring to is mentioned 8 different times in your Bible.

[29:36] And in every case, in the close context, every case, it's mentioned, there is the element of comfort and joy. So that's, that's, important to keep in mind.

[29:52] As the clock ticks, I look down the corridor of time and I take no special joy or comfort in any of that.

[30:04] But by way of contrast, when now the Bible mentions another day called the day of Christ, in the immediate context, is the element of joy and comfort.

[30:18] Theologians refer to this day as the rapture, the day of Christ. And this passage of Scripture here says, For the Lord Himself, verse 16, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ.

[30:42] Now there's the key. There's two groups of people here. When we're talking about the day of judgment, the day of the Lord, and the day of God, that fire is primarily focused on the destruction or the punishment of those who are the unsaved.

[31:03] Oh, that doesn't mean that they're any better than we are. No, because we're not saved by our behavior. We're saved by our belief. When I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, and when you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you passed from death unto life, but another wonderful thing happened.

[31:23] The holiness of the Lord Jesus was credited to your account. And the moment you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, that prepares us then for this day of Christ.

[31:37] When the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead, there it is, the dead in Christ shall rise.

[31:48] And then those who are left behind shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. There's comfort in that. Those who have gone before are, and there again you see the dead, the resurrection, the graves are opened, and we meet, and then those who are alive and remain shall be caught up together, and I like that.

[32:13] Together. Reunion. Family reunion. Together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, that's what it says.

[32:25] Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. The songwriter picked up on that many years ago. Oh, oh, there's going to be a meeting in the air in the sweet, sweet by and by, and I will meet you, I'll meet you over there in that home beyond the sky.

[32:43] Such singing you will hear, never heard by mortal ear, to will be glorious, I do declare. And God's own Son will be the leading one at that meeting in the air.

[32:55] And every time I talk about this, I have to ask my audience, do you know Him? Do you know Christ? No, I didn't ask. Do you know about Him? But I ask you, do you know Him in a personal way?

[33:10] Has there ever been a time when you acknowledge the bad news? The bad news is the whole world is guilty before God.

[33:22] All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In Adam, all die. There's no comfort in that. Why will you die? The Bible says, why will you die in your sin?

[33:35] Why? Why? That's the bad news. But the good news is that Christ Jesus, why did He come? I try and make a lot about the fact that in the fullness of time, at the right time, born of a virgin, qualified being born of a virgin, He's qualified then to be the sin bearer.

[34:00] That's why John the Baptist could point at the Lord Jesus and say, behold the Lamb from God which bears away the sin of the world.

[34:11] The good news is that Christ is the sinner's substitute. The wages of sin is death. But Jesus took our place. He paid the penalty.

[34:23] He suffered, bled, and died, and rose again. And here's the Bible. Here's what it says. Seeing He's alive, He is able to save all of those who have come to the Father by Him.

[34:37] Oh joy, oh delight, the songwriter wrote. Should we go without dying? I'd like to be a part of that raptured generation.

[34:49] But if not, the dead in Christ are going to rise first and then those who remain shall be caught up together. Comfort one another. Hug yourself there.

[35:00] Listen, if you know the Lord Jesus, that's the most wonderful, comforting thing in all the world. I am so hid with Christ. The moment I got saved, the Holy Spirit baptized me or identified me.

[35:17] He placed me into Christ. My life is hid with Christ in God. I belong to Him. And there's no, no, no separation.

[35:29] And comfort one another then with these words. Now, let me give you just a little orientation on that.

[35:40] Let me see if I can put it in a perspective that you might understand. Again, here's eternity past. Christ. And God has a plan. And God is executing that plan towards its final culmination.

[35:58] God entrusted that plan, first of all, from Adam to Abraham. He entrusted that to the Gentiles. We would say, the ball in the language of a football player.

[36:16] The ball is in their court. They were responsible for executing the plan of God. Two thousand years.

[36:28] But, it's recorded in the Bible, Romans chapter 1. Because that when they, the Gentiles, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, but became faint in the imagination.

[36:41] And God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. But the plan of God goes on. And so, He turns from the Gentiles.

[36:53] He turns then and gives the ball to the Jews. The Bible says that salvation is of the Jews. What advantage hath the Jew?

[37:06] Much in every way for unto them was committed the oracles of God. They had the ball. They were the ones who were responsible for the execution of the plan of God.

[37:19] But that also failed because of unbelief. The Gentiles, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination.

[37:30] And their foolish heart was darkened and God gave them up. But the Jews, another 2,000 years, who were the Jews?

[37:44] They were the apple of God's eye. They were the head nation, not the tail nation. Oh, what wonderful blessing, responsibility, and privilege was theirs.

[37:58] But the Bible is very clear. Christ came to His own, and His own received Him not. They cried out, Crucify Him!

[38:11] Away with Him! We'll not have this man to reign over us! His blood be upon us! Can you imagine? His blood be upon us!

[38:33] And upon our children! But, God still has a plan. And of course, the Bible says that Christ Jesus came. He's the one who fulfilled those expectations and those dreams.

[38:48] the law and the prophets were until John, but then Christ Jesus is the end of the law to everyone now that believes. Jesus, as the virgin-born Son of God, is now the one who executes the plan.

[39:04] The law, the Gentiles, could never satisfy God's righteous demands. And then, when they had the opportunity, they failed.

[39:15] So, obviously, the coming of Christ, Christ does something for the whole world from eternity past to eternity future. What could never have been done in any other way, He satisfies the holiness of God.

[39:32] So, what is this? Here's Christ on the cross. It's the axis upon which all of history rotates. That's why it's called His story.

[39:44] And so, Christ, that's why the focus is not on ceremonies, on rituals, on sacrifice. The emphasis is not upon man's ability to do what man and man cannot do.

[40:00] The emphasis is upon Christ who, being both God and man, could satisfy God on the one hand, and He could be a substitute for sinners on the other hand.

[40:13] and so, Christ came. And now, this side of the cross, guess what? God is still in the soul-saving business. And we're told now that the simple gospel is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

[40:27] But now, the righteousness of God is revealed without the law. A wonderful change took place here. And the sad thing is that most people still don't figure that out.

[40:39] They're still wrapped up in do, do, do. That's called religion. But on this side of the cross, the emphasis is on done, done, done, whatever is necessary to save poor lost sinners.

[40:54] God is still not willing that any should perish. But because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and because He paid it all, and He said so from the cross, it's finished.

[41:05] all that the sinner needs to do is to believe that that was on their behalf. That Jesus died for them, and if they had been the only sinner on the face of the earth, it would have satisfied the holiness of the Father, who is both the just one and the justifier.

[41:26] So, the moment you believe, you pass from death unto life. And now we are living, oh, this side of the cross for the last 2,000 years. I'm trying to orient those three days now to who you are and where you are in your life.

[41:46] And I'm going to ask again, do you know Him? Do you know Him in a personal way? To know Him is to know life.

[42:01] Notice I never said Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Catholic, Pentecostal. See, those things cloud the issue.

[42:14] Salvation is not by my behavior. It's dependent upon where I put my confidence. I cast aside every other confidence.

[42:30] And I put my confidence for my sins to be forgiven and be a child of God and my hope of heaven in the person of the Lord Jesus. Now, this side of the cross, for 2,000 years we've been living in what's called the dispensation of grace.

[42:44] Back here, was God a respecter of men? Absolutely. To the Jew first. They had a head start on everybody.

[42:55] what about today? Oh, something wonderful happened. Wonderful. Now, whosoever will, neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free, male or female, rich or poor, educated or illiterate, red, yellow, black or white, just come to the Savior.

[43:20] By the way, that's why this side of the cross in the day and age in which you live is not only a wonderful day of opportunity, it is specifically identified as the day of grace. Now, why is that important?

[43:34] Does that mean there was no grace back here? Oh, it's all of grace, let me tell you. Anytime God in any age of dispensation offers somebody salvation, believe me, it's not earned or deserved.

[43:48] It's a gift. So, was there a grace here? Sure. But I'll tell you something, with the cross, something happened. The world has never seen, never seen anything like or the privilege like you have today.

[44:06] Whosoever will may come. Like the Philippian jailer, God begs that jailer to come and say, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

[44:19] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, what have I just described to you? Where we're standing? This is the day of Christ.

[44:31] This 1,007 years. And now, there's good men that will disagree with my mathematics here. But at the end of this age, the day of Christ, at the end of that dispensation of the grace of God, God, the Lord himself, this day of grace will come to an end.

[44:55] It will come to an end with a crash. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout. The voice of the archangel, the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

[45:14] Now, the choice is yours. It's mine. In this dispensation of grace, the door is still open. You can either believe it or reject it. But I can tell you on the authority of God's word, if you believe it, your eternity is sealed.

[45:34] You're kept in the hollow of his hand. On the other hand, if you reject it, there's nothing to look forward to. Except fearful judgment, fire, perdition, pain, and suffering.

[45:58] And that's called the day of judgment. It's described in detail in the book of Revelation. It's called the great white throne judgment. And all the dead, that's the unsaved dead, will stand before God God.

[46:15] Who is the great potentate, the ruler of the universe, the creator, who's described as the greatest giver in all the universe.

[46:27] There is neither shadow of turning. He is pure white blinding light of holiness. And sinners small and great will stand before him.

[46:44] Eventually the pronouncement to hell, sinner, to hell. And then the elements, the day of God, the day of judgment, the day of the Lord, that's the termination.

[46:57] Then it comes to the end, but the good news is there's a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now just very quickly, let me explain what it says here in 2 Peter.

[47:11] verse 1. This is the second epistle beloved that I write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.

[47:27] Now I'm going to stop there for a moment and say this. This is the second time. Now generally that's what we would call if we were putting this in proper grammar, that would be a very large exclamation point.

[47:44] When God says something once, that's true. He doesn't have to repeat something twice or three times for it to be true. But when he does repeat something twice, you know that that's an important thing.

[47:57] And here's Peter. He says it's a second time. So how important is it for us to orient ourselves to these special days? Are you oriented to the day of Christ?

[48:09] Are you oriented to the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, or the day of God? That's the only two alternatives. So he says, I wrote this.

[48:21] This is twice now I've said it. And I did it to stir up your pure mind by way of remembrance. The word pure here means indoctrinated mind. That tells me something. You have to know something in order to properly execute it or relate to it.

[48:39] You've got to know something. That's part of the problem we have even in the church. It's one thing to say, yes, I'm saved.

[48:51] Praise God, I'm on my way to heaven. But are you aware of what's going on around you? Are we aware that time is running out? God's God's life is going on to love?

[49:07] How many more wonderful opportunities will we be at liberty to give? We had 600 teenagers there for 10 days.

[49:19] And I have to tell you, I have no greater joy, nothing thrills me more than to know that there are still God-fearing teenagers who are willing to live for the Lord and dedicate their lives.

[49:31] At Teen Missions, we have what we call an open altar. And I know that's sort of old-fashioned and it's often discounted.

[49:42] But quite frankly, I don't know what moves me more than to see hundreds of boys and girls when the opportunity is given and the challenge is, come on! You're all on the altar of sacrifice laid.

[49:57] Will you dedicate your life? Will you trust Christ? And to see those boys and girls come visibly, unafraid, unashamed to tell others, I'm going to serve the Lord.

[50:14] Did you know, I hope you caught what my wife said. Those 600 teenagers, 600, gave $33,000 in one offering for nothing more than to buy clothing and to ship three big containers to the sub-Sahara desert where there's 13 million AIDS orphans.

[50:42] They're the lowest people on the totem pole. God help me. The clock is ticking.

[50:54] I don't know what God lays on your heart. But I pray that... Oh, I pray. And I'm not sure I see it yet.

[51:08] But I pray that God will help me to see what God sees. I'd like to feel... I'd like to... Just... I'd like to feel what God feels.

[51:21] I would. I'd like to lift up my eyes and really see the fields that are white already on the harvest. If I didn't see anything else, dear God, help me to see a lost mother, father, brother, sister, neighbor.

[51:38] Help me. Help me. Help me. Because the clock is ticking. The day of the Lord is coming. And the Lord Himself will descend. The day of Christ.

[51:50] The day of the Lord... The day of Christ will come. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are lying remains shall be caught up. That's coming. But then following that, you don't want to go there.

[52:03] You don't want... You don't want your best... You don't want your best friend or your worst friend to go there. One last illustration.

[52:16] There's much more to be said, but... It would be interesting to point out... There were scoffers, and there's scoffers today.

[52:32] Verse 4. And they said, since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were. So the clock is ticking. They're not even aware of it.

[52:43] They have no idea. And then, knowing it, of that, they are willingly ignorant. Do you know what that means? They know to do right, but won't do it.

[53:00] It's not that they haven't been told. They just are willingly ignorant. The Lord, down in verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promises.

[53:17] That means God's not off schedule. Some people think, okay, God, you're really slow. You've made certain promises and nothing's happened.

[53:29] But the problem there is that mankind does not keep time like God keeps time. With God, a day is as a thousand years, or a thousand years is one day, which means that's a different clock.

[53:45] It's a different... But He's not off schedule. It's coming. And then the last thing is here. The elements, verse 10, shall melt with fervent heat, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

[54:12] Wherein the heavens, verse 12, being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Now look up here. I'm not a... My brother is a nuclear physicist.

[54:27] He taught for many years at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I can't even spell nuclear physicist, let alone explain it to you. But one day we were reading this, my brother and I together, and he took his finger like that and pointed to what I just read, and he said, do you realize that what you've just read is a perfect example, a correct example of an uncontrolled chain nuclear reaction.

[54:55] And I don't know about you, but that's scary. We're still talking about... Just recently we had that nuclear meltdown there in Japan. That's nothing. One of the things that the world's worried about right now is somebody...

[55:08] We always ask the question, I wonder who's got their finger on the button. Who's going to one day just say, let's set the world on fire.

[55:22] Well, I don't know who or what or when, but I do know that God's the one who's got his thumb on the button. And someday God's going to push that nuclear button.

[55:37] And the elements... Now get this. The word for element is descriptive. It doesn't use the word... It doesn't use the word atom, but it's descriptively correct of the atom.

[55:51] It is the smallest particle of matter. That's what an atom is. The atom is one of the smallest building block of the universe.

[56:05] An interesting thing about... That's the word. Look it up. The elements. Interesting thing.

[56:18] The atom, as we know it... Ask a scientist. Don't ask me. And they'll have to explain it. I won't, but I think I've got the idea. The atom is made up of neutrons and protons.

[56:33] But the problem is, they don't match. They're like a magnet. You and I have played as children with magnets. And when you turn them the right direction, they attract.

[56:47] If you reverse the polarity, they react. They go apart. And that's the atom.

[56:57] The atom is turned. Everything that we know about the atom says it should self-destruct. Nobody.

[57:08] There's not a scientist in the world that can tell you what holds that atom together. The scientists have to have an answer.

[57:21] And so, up until just this week, they've said, Oh, well, we don't know what it is, but let's call it gluon. We don't know what else to call it, but it's gluon.

[57:34] Do you know what happened this week? Do you know that just this week, they say, Oh, we know.

[57:46] Now, whether that means they know or not, I don't know. But just this week, they made the big announcement. We found the God particle.

[57:58] Anybody else read that article? The God particle. Now, they don't like calling it God. Nobody likes to give God any credit for anything. But it's that God particle that gives weight to the atom.

[58:19] It's the one thing that glues it. It's the one thing that slows it down. You're aware that here in Chicago, we have what they call a nuclear accelerator.

[58:35] They have another word for it. A nuclear, what do they call that? A non-accelerator. That's what it is. It's a magnetic field.

[58:46] It's been constructed. And over in Netherlands, they have the largest one. It goes for miles and miles and miles. And the idea is that in this magnetic field, colliders, the word I'm looking for.

[59:01] They insert that proton, that molecule, in that magnetic field. And that speeds it up infinitely fast.

[59:17] And somehow or another, then they split the atom. And that's what releases the energy. And believe it or not, that's exactly the language that you're reading here.

[59:30] The day of God, wherein the heavens shall be on fire and shall be dissolved. The elements shall melt.

[59:44] melt. The word melt is the Greek word lua. Or excuse me, lua. And it means to loose.

[60:00] The elements will be loosed. And as a result, they will melt with fervent heat.

[60:11] Now, I'm finished. Beloved. Verse 14. Beloved. Now, here I think Peter is talking not only to the body of Christ, he's talking to the Christian community.

[60:34] Because he brings up Paul here. He brings up the Apostle Paul. Right here, the most unlikely place to have found a reference to the Apostle Paul. So, he's not simply referring just to the Jewish Christians.

[60:50] He's talking to the whole Christian community. The body of Christ. Beloved. Seeing ye look for such things. Be diligent.

[61:00] that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. Where's peace? We're living in it.

[61:13] I want to be found knowing my eternity is secure. I'm in peace. And I want to be found without spot.

[61:26] I want to be living my life pure and holy before God. an account verse 15 now listen to me I'm almost finished an account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.

[61:41] Now wait a minute. He's talking to believers. So he's not talking here about soul salvation. That word salvation means deliverance.

[61:52] He's talking about believe. That's what he's saying here. the long suffering of our Lord is deliverance. God's keeping the door of grace open so that we won't be destroyed.

[62:07] Nobody. So that's your deliverance. Deliverance from what? Well according to Peter if you read that book completely you'll find out he's talking about believers in the tribulation period coming they will be delivered through it.

[62:26] They'll be delivered through it. Most of them will die but that doesn't mean they're lost. They are saved. They're saved through the tribulation period. Oh but then he brings up Paul.

[62:37] Even as our brother Paul what's Paul talking about? He's talking about deliverance too. So what's he talking about? He's not talking about being delivered through the tribulation like the Jewish believers will be.

[62:52] He's talking about us delivered up. We're going to be delivered out of the tribulation. They will be delivered through the tribulation but either way it's still deliverance.

[63:05] It's far better than what's coming by way of hell and perdition and fire. And so I repeat wherefore comfort one another with these words.

[63:16] Even our brother Paul according to the wisdom that's given unto him wrote unto you and in all of his epistles in them these things in which are some things which are hard to be understood which they which are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures.

[63:35] Wherefore beloved seeing ye know that these things before beware lest ye also being led away with the air of the wicked fall from your steadfastness not necessarily fall from your salvation but fall from your steadfastness and now he says but grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ with every head bowed and every eye closed.

[64:07] Special days in the future. Father God we thank thee then thank you for this your word thank you Lord that you've treated us with great love and kindness you didn't leave us in the dark you expressed yourself and your plan in careful words and we found comfort in them and I pray to God that every person here in answer to the question do they know Jesus and I pray Lord that they do that they can say when they leave here today that I remember a time God helped them to know that there was a time when they personally saw their need of a savior and when they said yes I believe it I will trust Christ alone I pray for that tonight and I ask your blessing in Jesus matchless name with heads still bowed and eyes closed

[65:14] I know it's not popular today to have an open altar heads still bowed eyes closed I'm not going to invite you to come forward I'm not going to meet you at the door I'm not going to embarrass anybody in any way this is privacy this is between you and me and God but quite frankly I'd like to know if God spoken to your heart this morning and somehow or another you're sensing that you've heard about all of this but you know about Jesus but you've never personally put your faith in him and I'd like to invite you right now with your heads bowed and eyes closed and just in silence you don't pray out loud just tell God just tell him Father right now it's best I know how I'm putting my faith I'm putting my trust in the fact that Jesus is my

[66:14] Savior and I'm trusting that alone for my salvation just tell God that in your own words and on the authority of God's word I believe that the moment a man believes that he becomes a child of God your eternity is settled and I wonder how many of you now in that silence would say Cowboy Lee I've never ever done that but right now God willing me I'll not call your name I won't meet you at the door just between you and me and God I wonder how many would say with the uplifted hand just do it so slowly and quietly so nobody else will know it's just between you and me put your hand up right back down so say Cowboy Lee I want you to know that I'm trusting Christ as my Savior alright anybody else put your hand up right back down say Cowboy Lee I've never done that but best know how right now today I'm putting my trust in Christ for my salvation anybody else alright dear Father thank you then for this time together and for the generosity of these people who have allowed me to have this pulpit thank you thank Marv thank him and this congregation for your steadfast love and participation in our life and ministry in Jesus name

[67:37] I pray Amen