Today Is The Day Of Salvation
The Bible says today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow. Not next week, month or year. Not 30 years from now. No, today is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says: (For He saith, “I have heard thee at an accepted time, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee.” Behold, now is the accepted time! Behold, now is the day of salvation!)
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Today is the day to get right with God. Why? Because Life is but a vapor. We are here today and gone tomorrow. Come now, ye that say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain”; whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:13-14).
You Don’t Know What Tomorrow Will Bring
You don’t know what tomorrow will bring. An old classmate of mine from high school is hurting right now because his son just recently died. This man says that he is lost and hurting because his son is dead. He’s devastated. He didn’t expect his son to die before he did, but his son did die. You and I are not guaranteed tomorrow. We are not guaranteed our next breath.
The same God that gives you every breath that you take will one day give you your last breath. He will remove His hand of mercy from you and He will require your very life. One day you will breath your last. One day you will be here no longer.
And He said unto them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” And He spoke a parable unto them, saying, “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, because I have no room to store my fruits?’ And he said, ‘This will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I store all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said unto him, ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’ So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” And He said unto His disciples, “Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment (Luke 12:15-23).
Seek Ye The Kingdom Of God
Luke 12:25-31 states: And which of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? “And seek ye not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubting mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.
You Are Not In Control
You are not in control of your life. You may think that you are, but you are not. God is sovereign over all, whether you acknowledge it or not. But one day you will face the great God of Heaven and earth. Are you prepared to meet your Maker? What are you going to do with your sins on Judgment Day? What defense will you have? There will be nowhere to hide. No excuses will be acceptable on that great and terrible day of the Lord.
You see Judgment Day is not a trial date. It is a sentencing date. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). And since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, you will have no excuse on Judgment Day. Your mouth will be stopped. Your head will hang low. There will be no gay pride on Judgment Day. There will be no proud kings or presidents on Judgment Day. There will be no proud Hollywood actors on Judgment Day. There will be no proud professional athletes on Judgment Day.
There will be no unrepentant sinner proudly holding their head high on Judgment Day. No instead of being proud, you will bow your knee and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. You will do that on Judgment Day, even if you are a hardened God-mocker and scoffer today. On Judgment Day you will understand that you were wrong. That God is real and He is Holy, just and righteous. Because He is Holy, just and righteous, He must punish unrepentant sinners and He will do so.
Cast Into The Lake Of Fire And Brimstone
After you bow your knee and confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord, you will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where you will suffer God’s righteous wrath over your sins forever. Don’t believe me? Listen to what Jesus says in Revelation 21:8: But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Oh folks, this is what is facing you if you continue running away from God. This is the end that awaits you if you continue mocking God and you die in your sins. You will split Hell wide open after you die, if you die without Jesus Christ.
You Can Be Saved
But this is why we come out here tonight to tell you that you don’t have to continue barreling down the broad road to destruction. You can be saved through Jesus Christ alone. For even unto this were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps, “who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”;
who when He was reviled, reviled not in return; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed (1 Peter 2:21-24).
Christ Jesus is the only Savior. Jesus said unto him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6). We need a Savior because we have all sinned against God. We have all rebelled against God. Each and every one of us have said No to God at one time or another. If you think about it, when you say no to God, you are actually placing yourself above God. How foolish is that? You, a mere mortal are telling the eternal, One True God that you know better than He does.
I’ll Do What I Want To Do
Or you are saying that you are going to do what you want to do, no matter the consequences. Tonight, you know right from wrong (even if you claim that there is no absolute right or wrong) because you have a God-given conscience. You know it’s wrong to murder, rape, steal, covet, blaspheme God and yes, you even know that it’s wrong to lie. Yet you lie anyway. You do what you want to do because you have placed yourself above God.
God shares His glory and honor with no man. You are merely deceiving yourself if you think that you are smarter than our Creator. God is all knowing, ever present and all powerful. He knows your next thought even before you know it. God knows every wicked thought that has ever popped into your head. He knows every vile cussword that you are about to speak before your mouth even forms the filthy words. God knows your heart and that should scare you. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
God is Holy, righteous and just and He cannot tolerate sin. Your sin separates you from God. If you die in your sins as a God-hating, God-mocking, Christ-rejecting, unrepentant sinner, you will be separated from the love of God for all eternity. Oh your suffering the eternal flames of torment will bring glory to God because your just punishment points to His righteousness, but it will not be good for you. There are no parties in Hell.
No, there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth. There are only screams of torment and people begging for mercy, but there is no mercy in Hell.
Mercy And Grace
Mercy and grace can only be found in this life and it is only given to you by God through repentance toward Him and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus saves. He saves those with humble and contrite hearts. Jesus saves those who admit that they are sinners. Those who cry out for mercy and those who repent and put their faith in Jesus.
Is this you tonight? Are you willing to confess and forsake your sins? Are you willing to come to Jesus and surrender your life to His Lordship? Are you willing to say no to the devil? Are you willing to swallow your pride and humbly beg Jesus to save your soul? Is there one person tonight who is tired of the lies, pain and misery caused by your sins? Is there one person who is ready to cry out to Jesus – Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Oh sinner, if you will do this tonight, Jesus will heal you and make you clean just like He healed the leper 2,000 years ago.
What can wash away your sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make you whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Christ Jesus shed His sinless, precious blood for guilty sinners like you and me. But you must receive the gift of salvation. It is the free, but very costly gift from God.
You receive the most amazing gift in the world, salvation, eternal life, through Jesus Christ alone. Admit that you are sinner. Beg Jesus to save your soul. Repent and trust Jesus. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do this tonight. Today is the day of salvation. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Call upon the name of Jesus and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
(This message was proclaimed in the open-air in downtown Springfield, MO on April 28, 2017)