Thank you for coming out. It's lovely to see you tonight. Just a few announcements that I want to make just for our own young people. Remember, Sunday morning, the early morning prayer meeting at 8 to 9. Make sure you're there to pray and seek God's face. No meeting tomorrow night. You have a time off, so have a good rest, young people. And then on Sunday night, we meet at 8.45, and you're more than welcome to come again. Lovely to see you all out this evening. Thank you, Jeannie, for the word of testimony. We trust that the Lord will bless us. all together. Now we're going to turn our Bibles to Luke's Gospel and the chapter number 12. Luke chapter 12. We're going to commence at the verse number 13. Luke 12 and the chapter number 13. If you don't have a Bible, you just sit and listen to the Word of God. You trust that the Lord will speak to your heart. Luke 12 verse 13, And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto him, take heed, and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake 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 where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build a breeder, and there I will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy knees, 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. Amen. May God bless the reading of his word. Let's keep our Bibles open and let's bow for a short word of prayer, please. Our loving Father, our eternal God, who reigns in heaven. We bless Thee, Heavenly Father, for all that has gone before in this meeting. We thank Thee, dear Father, Lord, for the change within a life that can only be accredited to an encounter with a living Christ. We bless Thee, Heavenly Father, for the power of the cross that changes, dear Father, a drunkard into a lady that is sober. A Lady Father that wants to serve the Lord. Father, we bless Thee, Lord, that we believe in the power of the cross and in the power of the Holy Ghost. We pray, Heavenly Father, Lord, that Thou wilt come and, Lord, still every heart open every year. Open every heart, Father, in this meeting, Lord. Thou dost know those that are in this meeting just out of duty. Just out of a friend, because they've asked, Father and Lord, they have intended never to come back again. We pray in the name of Jesus, that God, the blessed Spirit of God, would, Father, Lord, reach their hearts tonight. We pray, Heavenly Father, that Thou wouldst use the preaching of Thy Word. We pray, Heavenly Father, for this, that Thou wilt grant, O God, this, Thy servant, Father, an anointing, dear God, a special anointing, an anointing, Lord, that will break the yoke, an anointing, O Father, that will see sinners, O God, tremble under the very power of the preaching of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, the anointing, Father, Lord, that will cause men to see that they are sinners and they need a Saviour. Father, Lord, we say with the hymn writer, empty that thou shouldest fill me, a clean vessel in thine hand, with no power but as God giveth. Graciously, with each command, answer prayer in accordance to the promise, if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? For we ask this in Jesus' precious and worthy Name. Amen and Amen. You know, as the Lord Jesus Christ rose to speak on every occasion, it was never His intention to be a crowd-pleaser. You know, the Saviour never strived after or never did He desire to become Preacher of the Year, 30 AD. That was never His desire. For his messages direct from heaven were filled with serious and eternal issues as he ever pressed the congregation and the crowd for a decision, a decision in response to the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 12, we see the crowd once again throng the Savior to hear his words. Verse number 1 of chapter 12, it says, that there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another. In the midst of the Savior's message concerning such eternal and witty issues, concerning hell and concerning the issue of the unpardonable sin, The Saviour is rudely interrupted by a man who desires the Saviour to settle a family quarrel. It is a quarrel that has arisen between two brothers. A will has been left, and one brother will not divide the inheritance of the will. In answering the man, the Lord Jesus Christ conveys a truth that there are more important things in life than money, lands, and possessions. For He tells him in verse number 15, that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things in which he possesseth. Now, in order for the Savior to back up this spiritual truth, the Lord, again, will bring the gathered multitude. He's going to tell them a story. He's going to tell them a parable. It is the parable of the rich farmer. And it's upon this story that I want us to consider a few thoughts as this meeting comes to a close. Tonight, I want to speak on the subject, Billionaires in Time, but Beggars in Eternity. billionaires in time, but beggars in eternity. I want us to consider, first of all, the farmers' forward planning. The farmer had never seen such a bumper harvest like this one that he had just reaped and gathered. The yield was so great that the storehouses within his own farmyard were too small to store this harvest. And so he goes to the local architect and he draws up blueprints, so he does, to erect new and bigger and greater barns and storehouses. As he does that, he says to himself in the verse number 18, he says, this will I do, I will pull down my barns and I'm going to build greater. And then he decided that whenever that was finished, he was going to go into early retirement, he was going to give up the farming, which is a wise thing to do whenever you're ahead, to give up the farming, hang up the welly boots. And he was deciding to go to cut his losses and he was going to have early retirement. He was going to enjoy himself, so he was, but he says in the word of God, he says, I'm going to enjoy myself and I'm going to take my ease, I'm going to eat, I'm going to drink, and I'm going to be married because I'm going to just have one big party. And there's many in this land tonight, and that's the philosophy of their life. Life's just one big party. And this was this man's attitude. But I want you to realize that there was only a problem. There was a problem in this man's plans. You see, this man planned to do all these things. He planned to pull down the barns and then to build Greeter. He planned to go into early retirement. But the problem was that he left God out of his plans. And how often that is in society today, that people leave God out of their plans. There are individuals in this meeting, and you plan to go to university and get a degree. But I want to ask you the question, what then? Well, you may say, well, I plan to set up my own business. But then I ask you, what then? Well, I plan to get married if anyone takes me, and I plan to have children. What then? Well, if I've made enough money, I'll go into early retirement. What then? Well, I'll join the golf club so well, and I'll join the yachting club, and I'll join every club in society there is. But then, what then? Well, I suppose then I'll have grandchildren around me and I can nurture them and have happy times with them. But what then? Well, then I suppose I might be put into a nursing home. What then? You see, folks, it always comes to the time whenever we all have to die. And we all have to ask the question, what then? What then? What then if you have lived your life for sin and the pleasures and the drink and the alcohol and the sexual immorality? What then? What then whenever you come and God requires your soul and calls time on the party? And he says time's up and it's not time to go out and meet God. Whenever you stand naked in the presence of Almighty God, having rejected Him for so many years, having blasphemed His name, having thought no thought about Christ, having crumpled up the Gospel tracts, having thought nothing about the Gospel Open Air Preacher, having disregarded the loving prayers of a mother and the loving prayers of a father, what are you going to do then? Whenever you stand before your God without Jesus Christ, see it always comes to a time that we all have to stand before God. There are a few things about this farmer's future plans that I want us to consider tonight that reveal to us his thinking. The first thing that I see about this man's thinking in this passage of scripture was that he was preoccupied with transient things. He was preoccupied with transient things. In other words, his life consisted and was consumed with things that were passing away. Now you often hear or you often know a lot about a person by what they talk about. That often gives you a good gauge of them and what their desires and what they're preoccupied in life. You sit and talk to a young man, you know, talk about football, well then you know that's what his mind is preoccupied with. Speak to a young girl and she's occupied about her hair or the colour of her nails or whatever that, I don't know what girls talk about, I don't know, I haven't a clue. But you know they talk about these things, so they do, and you know that that's what they're preoccupied with. See, what you talk about is what you're preoccupied in. And we read in the word of God in the verse number 18, he said, this will I do. I'll pull down my barns. He was preoccupied about his barns. But little did that man know, if he only had a thought 50 years down the road, that barns always rust, they always decay, and they always pass away, because he was thinking about transient things. You know, he talked about the word of God says that he talked about his fruit. But we all know that fruit always rots and decays and all weasels up, so it does, and it passes its sell-by date. Well, it passes its sell-by date unless you live in our house, because whenever it all weasels up, my mother decides to get it all together, cut it up, and put it into a fresh fruit salad. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem the emphasis on the fresh fruit salad part of it, so it does. And she needs to be remembered about that. But that's what happens. It all weasels up, it all rots, and it all decays. He talked about his goods, but we all know that goods, they rip and they tear and they devalue and they break up. He talks about eating, drinking and being merry. In other words, he talks about the parties and the house parties and the discos and everything and the wining and dining that he's going to do. But you see, it all comes to an end someday as well. You see, all that this man was preoccupied with was things that were passing away. You see, Satan had preoccupied his mind with the things of time that he forgot about eternity. And that happens in life in general. That happens because Satan is the greatest distractor that has ever came onto earth. He will distract you so much that you will live your life, whether it's 30, 40, 50, 60 years, whether it's into next week. He will preoccupy your mind so much that you don't consider your soul. You'll not consider the things of eternity. You'll not think about heaven or hell, getting right with God, becoming a Christian. And at the end of the day, you will be launched out into God's eternity. He preoccupies men's minds with education and their study. He occupies people with their career. He occupies people with their relationships, whether it's a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Well, I couldn't come to Christ tonight, because I know if I came to Christ that the relationship would be over. And so you put your girlfriend or your boyfriend before getting right with God. But the Word of God says, what shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and he lost his own soul? And what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The devil occupies other people's minds with their family. Well, if I came to Christ, how would I tell my mother and father? He occupies people with their friends. If I came to Christ, you know, what would my friends would laugh at me? If I went into the changing rooms tomorrow at the football match and said, you know, I've become a Christian, they'd only laugh at me. So I'd rather just go on with life and not come to Christ. He occupies people with their nightclubs, with the discos, with the Bentley. with Dormans, with the Beach Club, with Kelly's, wherever you go to at the weekend. He'll occupy your mind with sport and drink and drugs and sexual immorality and music and television and newspapers and novels and magazines. Then there'll come a day whenever you'll lift your eyes and hear. Lift your eyes and hear. You know, have you ever considered eternity? Have you ever sat down in a room by yourself and thought, why am I here? Where am I going? Have you ever considered, is there a God? And if there is a God, does he know me? And have you ever considered, is there a heaven? And is there a hell? And if there is a hell, will I be there? You see, these are eternal. You see, the devil doesn't want you to think about those things. And that's why you don't come to gospel meetings. That's why it took so much effort to try and get you to come out tonight by another saved person. Because you don't want to be confronted with these issues. But this is reality. This is what life is all about. Life is not about making money. It's not about getting married. It's not about having children. It's not about making a name for yourself. It's not about these things. Life is all about death and where you're going to go after death. The second thing that I noticed about this man's thinking was that he was dissatisfied with his present lot. He was dissatisfied with his present lot. You know, instead of this man being content with the barns that he had and the storehouses that he had, this man wanted to pull them all down and he wanted to build greater and bigger. And we live in a society where people are dissatisfied with life. They're dissatisfied with what they have. You see, society tells you that you need more money to be happy. You need a bigger car to be happy. Or you need a bigger house to be happy. Or you need a better looking girlfriend to be happy. Or you need a better looking boyfriend to be happy. We live in a very much dissatisfied life. You know, I can tell a lot about a person by their appearance. See if there's peace in their heart. It's very easy to spot a person that hasn't got peace in their heart because one day you walk down the street and they've got black hair. And then the next week you walk down and they've got blonde hair. And then the following week they've got red hair. And next week they've got purple hair. And it reminds you of the course, red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in this life. And their hair changes that. But it's only an outward evidence of the lack of inward peace. You see, people And they have nothing in their ears one week. And then, especially young men, they have nothing in their ears one week. And then you see this sort of earring coming out of the ear. And then you see the next thing. They get an eyebrow ring up here. And then they go here. And they get it hanging here. They get a tongue ring in here. And then the girls, I don't think any fellas, get belly buttoned. But then they get pierced. And there's more holes in them than in the pudding cushion. And then you see boys, and they've got their tattoos. They get a tattoo here. That's not enough. So then they go and get a tattoo here. And then they get a tattoo in the back. Tattoo there, and they get tattoos everywhere, and you know there's more ink on them than the Belfast Telegraph. That's how much ink is in them. But you know folks, it's all an evidence of the lack of inward peace. I see it by people's appearance, the lack of inward peace. I see the lack of inward peace by people's possessions. You young fellas know what I mean. First of all, your first car, Vauxhall Corsa, because that's the cheapest I'm sure, obviously. So you get your wee Vauxhall Corsa, but that doesn't satisfy So then you take that in, trade it in. You go out to Colin Francis and you trade it in. And I don't know what you get. Maybe you get a Peugeot 306. And that doesn't satisfy. So you go up the market a bit. And you go for a Golf GTI. And then a year later, well, they're not enough. So they've got a Volkswagen Bora. And that's not enough. And so they go to an Audi A4. And then they're back to the Wevox. Of course, because they can't afford the repayments on the last car that they got. And that's true. And you see them about the time. I've stood enough times on the street corner to see young men have different cars every week. And you know they try and they put on the alloys and they put on the spots. It's all a lack of inward peace. You know, I can't understand. Someone can explain to me going out the door. I can't understand what it causes a young man to spend his money driving around the town time after time after time after time again and sitting in a car park. To me, that means you have no life. And it is true. They don't have any life. Life is not about sitting in a Union Street car park and watching other young fellas drive their cars and saying, oh, look at the alloys he's got. That's sad. That's sad for me. And people say Christians are sad. At least I have a life, and Jesus Christ has given me that life. I see it in people's relationships, a lack of inward peace. You're walking down the street one week, and there's a man, and he's got a woman in his arm. And then the next week, she's gone. She's disappeared. Eureka. She's disappeared to Houdini. She's disappeared. And you're sort of thinking, and he's looking, and his heart's crushed. and he doesn't know what to do. And then the following week, he's got some other unsuspecting victim on his arm. And that always happens. And it's a change from one relationship to the next relationship, because a person in this society gets what they want out of that girl. They get what they want out of that girl or that fella, and then they ditch them. Because it's not love, it's lust. It's lust. And I want to say something in this meeting. I want to say something, this means I make no apology for it. That the Word of God makes it absolutely clear that no fornicator will enter the Kingdom of God. Now you may be scratching your head, what's a fornicator? A fornicator is someone who commits an act of sexual activity outside the bounds of marriage. Now the Word of God says that no fornicator will enter the Kingdom of God unless they repent of their sin. You may say, you're old-fashioned. No, I'm a Bible believer. and a Bible will bear. And that's what the Word of God says. You may say, but that's not society today. Yeah, and that's why there's so many broken hearts, so many broken homes, and that's why divorce courts are full tonight. You see it? The Word of God says, the wicked are like the troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. No peace. And you see, you may have your car, and you may have your girlfriend, or you may have your boyfriend, but have you got peace with God? You see, whenever you go home from your friends at night, can you lie upon the bed and you can say, if I'm called to die tonight, I'm going to be in heaven, because I can say that. I don't have these things that maybe all you have, but I can tell you that I've got peace with God. And money cannot buy that, and money, and no one can take it away. You know, another thing about this man, he was unconcerned about his future destination. You know, we read of this man's conversation, and we don't see him going to the harvest home and bringing in the gifts and the ties and the fruits and taking them to the harvest home to thank God for all that God had done for him. We don't see him do that. We don't see him kneeling down in prayer and saying, Lord, I want to thank you for this bumper harvest that you've given me. No, no. We don't read of that. You know, he didn't ask in verse number 17, and he thought within himself the word of God says, what shall I do? He didn't turn around and say, what shall I do to be saved? Now, that's a good question. And the answer to the question is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. But he didn't ask that question. He didn't ask the question, what shall I do to be right with God? He didn't ask the question, what shall I then do with Jesus, which is called the Christ? He didn't ask the question, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? There is no questions like this, because his riches blinded him to his need of grace. You know, there are individuals in this meeting, and I know that you're in this meeting. And you have absolutely no concern about your soul. You're kind of thinking, I wish you would hurry up, get the message over, I'll get out, I'll have done my duty, and I'll not be coming to those gospel meetings again. I know that that's people's attitudes in this meeting. And you're in this meeting not concerned about your soul. You couldn't care less about the things of God. You couldn't really care less about eternity and heaven and hell and getting right with the Lord. There's even people in this meeting and you think that you don't need God. But every man needs God. Every man needs a Savior. And I'll give you some reasons why I believe every man needs a Savior. First of all, every man needs a Savior because everyone has a past that they're ashamed of. Everyone needs a Savior because every person in this meeting has a past that they are ashamed of. The Word of God says that whoso covereth his sin shall not prosper. Unsaved person in this meeting, do you ever wonder why life just doesn't go smoothly for you? Do you ever wonder why relationships break up and you never seem to settle and there's never any peace in your life? Do you ever wonder why you just go from one disaster to the next? It's because you've tried to cover your sin. And the Word of God says that if you try and cover your sin, you'll never, ever, ever prosper. The Word of God says, be sure your sin will find you out. The word of God tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes that God requireth that which is passed. You see there are skeletons in your cupboard tonight that you are petrified that people would know. If I was to put your life up against this wall tonight you would run out of that building and you would never return again because there are things and sins in your life that you have committed that you don't want anyone to know about it. You have committed adultery with another man's wife. and you don't want anyone to know about it. You've looked at things on the internet and you don't want anyone to know about it. God requires that which is past and you might hide it from men but someday it's going to be brought out into the light. Everyone has a past that they are ashamed of. The second reason why I believe men need Jesus Christ and why we're having these meetings is because everyone is a present. If you're unsaved, everyone is a present that they are dissatisfied with. That they are dissatisfied with. We have read about this man. He was dissatisfied with his present lot. And sinners are often dissatisfied with what they have. Remember we talked about the rich young ruler on Monday night? Whenever he had all, he had reached possessions. He had got position in society. And whenever he had everything that his heart desired, he said to the Savior, what lack I yet? What lack I yet? And there are many in society now that have got everything that money could buy, and yet they know in their hearts that there's still something lacking. I'm sure you all know Robbie Williams. Robbie Williams, the singer. Robbie Williams in the Times newspaper admitted to a newspaper reporter that he cries himself to sleep every night. because he's got no peace. He cries himself to sleep every night because he's no peace. Do you ever wonder why people like Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse are in rehabilitation centers? Ever wonder why? It's because they've got no peace and they're dissatisfied with life. Do you ever wonder why a young man goes and takes a rope and puts it across a barn and takes that noose around his neck and falls and commits suicide? Ever wonder why a person does that? because they're dissatisfied with life. Because the devil promised so much, and yet delivered nothing. Delivered nothing. You see, the devil said, try the drink, but he didn't tell him that you would end up an alcoholic. Try the drugs, but he doesn't tell you that you're going to end up in some dry-and-out clinic. Try the sexual immorality, but he's not going to tell you that you're going to end up a single-parent family. Try everything, and then you're dissatisfied with life. And then the devil says, well, why not try suicide? Why not try and take your own life? People need Christ because they have a past they are ashamed of, a present that they are dissatisfied, they have a future that they're uncertain about. See, unsafe person in this meeting, you really don't know what the future holds for you. That's why a lot of people read the horoscopes. That's why a lot of people go to Palmas. That's why a lot of people read their stars Try all these different things, because they don't know what their future holds. But the word of God says that as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. The word of God says, man dieth and wasteth away. Yea, man giveth up the ghost. And then there comes the question, where is he? Where is he? Everyone has a future that they're uncertain about, and that's why you need Jesus Christ, because he can make your life certain, and he can give you a home in heaven. This man's thinking was all wrong, because all he thought about was the here and now. And you're maybe in this meeting, and all you're thinking about is the here and now. But can I tell you that the journey of life is very short, very short. And you need to make preparation to meet your God. the farmer's forward planning, but I want us to see the farmer's foolish presumption, because we read of it in the verse number 19. It says, and he said, I will say to my soul, soul thou has much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. You see this farmer believed that he would have the health and the strength to enjoy the benefits of his working days. But I want to say that no man is guaranteed tomorrow. I bring it even closer. No man is guaranteed the next hour. I bring it even closer. No man is guaranteed the next five minutes. I bring it closer. No man is guaranteed their next minute. No man is guaranteed their next breath. Do you know why? Because God holds your next breath. It says in the book of Job 12, in the verse number 10, in whose hand is the soul, speaking of God, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. Do you realize that the air that's going into your lungs tonight has been given by God? And God, because of mercy, mercy, because of mercy, keeps you still alive, keeps you still alive to get right with God. But mercy, Mercy runs out. Mercy someday runs out. He was foolish. He was foolish. What was he foolish? He presumed. He just presumed in God. And there are individuals in this meeting, and you, you presume in God. You may say, well, what am I presuming in God? A lot of people presume that God's Spirit will always strive with them. But that's never the case. The Word of God makes it very clear that my spirit shall not always strive with man. You see, there's people in this meeting and you think, well I'm going to come to Christ whenever I'm just a little older. Oh, give me a little longer. The world, it is so bright. I'll get saved when I am dying. I'll get saved, but not tonight. Not tonight. Individuals believe that God's Spirit will always be striving with them. You may ask, well, what is this striving of God's Spirit? Are there any symptoms that I know that if God starts to speak to me, that that is God trying to speak to me? Are there symptoms that come whenever God's Spirit strives with an individual? I believe that there are. There's a sense of guilt over your sin that weighs heavily upon your shoulders and your heart and your life. There is a fear of dying that comes into your life, a fear of dying unprepared and going out into God's eternity without the Saviour. There is the pleasures that once satisfied you in life, they no longer satisfy you. There is a haunting of memory over past sins, things that you've done in the past, and God by His Spirit is bringing them before you to show you that you are a sinner and that you do need Jesus Christ. There is an uneasiness within the Gospel, meaning the sweaty pants, the singling you out by the preacher, That concern, that trembling within your soul, that buying of your head, that trying to get distracted by anything and everything and trying to think about tomorrow and the day ahead. There is that increased interest in the things of God. You know, you, you like coming to gospel meetings now. You like being amongst God's people now. You love coming to hear the singing. You're here in this meeting. You have traveled a distance and tonight you could have been out into the world. But you like these sort of things. My dear friend, this is evidence of God's spirit. striving with your soul. But as quickly as the Spirit of God can come to strive with an individual soul, the Spirit of God could go. And you could be left, you could live maybe 30, 40, 50 more years, but God could never speak to you again. And that's why Isaiah said, Seek ye the Lord. while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. And whenever Jesus Christ is passing in this mission, and whenever he's touched other people's lives, God forbid that you would miss out. God forbid you would miss out. God's spirit will not always strife with man. You see, a lot of people think that God's like the fire brigade. You just call him up someday and he'll come running. Well, God doesn't do that. You just don't ring up God and say, well, whenever I'm 70 years old, I'll ring up God and I'll tell him I want to become a Christian. It doesn't work like that. You see, you can only come to Christ whenever he's calling, whenever the Spirit of God is striving. And that's whenever you come, because behold, now is accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. There comes a time, like Solomon said in Proverbs chapter 1, He said, there's going to come a time when people are going to be concerned about their soul. And I'm sure there might be people in this meeting, and there'll come a time in life whenever you will get concerned about your soul. But the Word of God says, then shall they call, but I'll not answer. And then shall they seek me, and they'll not find me. You see, you must come whenever God comes, and whenever God's Spirit is striving with your soul. You know, people presume that death Death's not going to come today. Death's not going to come tomorrow. The day of my death is a way down the line. That's whenever I'm going to die. I know that. Every man knows that they're going to die. But it's a way down the line. But the word of God says, boast not thyself of tomorrow. Tomorrow. For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Think about the young men in our own district. If you read the ministerial last week, You would have seen the funeral service of that young boy, playing Gaelic on the Gaelic pitch, and ushered right into God's eternity. 13, 11 years of age, ushered right into God's eternity. And there are people in this meeting, and you're older than that, that do think that death's some way down the line. And Willie Garvin will not be left in your coffin too soon. Or Mr. McCusker will not be left in your coffin too soon. Or Mr. Waters will not be left in your coffin too soon. But I want you to realize that death is just around the next corner. And death could take you tonight. Some people presume that Jesus Christ isn't coming back again. You know, a lot of people think that, well, he's been away 2,000 years, so he's not coming back again. But I want to say that Jesus Christ is coming back again. The Word of God says that we must be ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Now, a lot of people think, well, what's he going to come to do? He's going to come, and he's going to welcome everybody into heaven. Not on your life. Not on your life. The Word of God tells us what he's going to do in the Book of Jude. It says that, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. And he's going to come to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them. Do you know one saved person in this meeting? Do you know all that laughing that you have done at the Christians? God's going to judge you for that. You know all the jokes and all the gospel tracts that you threw down? You know all those times whenever you took the name of God in vain? God's going to judge you for that because Jesus is coming back again. Jesus is coming back. A lot of people say, well, I don't believe that. Well, then you're a fulfillment of prophecy. What do you mean? Well, it tells us in 2 Peter 3 verse 4 that there's going to come in the last days scoffers walking after their own loss. And you know what they're going to say? They're going to say, where is the promise of his coming? In other words, you're going to say, he's not coming back again. And there are individuals in this meeting, and you believe that Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ is coming back again. This farmer foolishly presumed that he would have many years, and yet he didn't realize that he had just a few hours. You know, this meeting could be your final meeting. This could be your final opportunity, your final gospel message. and you could go out through that door tonight, get into that car, you could go round a sharp corner tonight, and your car could swerve out of control, and you'll be launched into eternity. And the first thing that you're going to remember is this message. This message. God's final pronouncement. God said unto him, This night thy soul shall be required of thee. You know, I can see this man. Picture it in your mind. I can see this man as he goes across the farmyard that night. The sun's about to set, just a few rays left in the sky. And I can see this man as he goes out into the farmyard, and as he goes past the barn door, he shuts it close. I can see him as he walks past the tractor and he goes and he takes the keys out of the tractor and he locks the tractor door for the final time. I can see him as he passes every door in that farmyard and he shuts them closed. And then the final thing that he does is he puts the sheepdog in his kennel for the night. I can see him as he starts to make his way across that farmyard. I can see him as he makes his way to the farmhouse. And as he goes across that farmyard, he hears a voice. Now it's a voice that he's never heard before. It's not the voice of a Christian friend to tell him to come to Christ or to tell her to come to Christ. It's not the voice of a gospel open air preacher to tell repent and believe the gospel. It's not the voice of the door-to-door evangelist that came the previous day but that man didn't want to know anything about it because he's got too many plans and he's too busy for God. It's a voice that is greater than the angels of heaven. It is a voice that is greater than even the archangel itself. It is the voice of the eternal God, rolling down out of eternity, into time, and said to that man, thy foe, this night, tonight, thy soul shall be required of thee. What then? What then? God called him a fool. Do you see if you walk out through those doors or through that door tonight rejecting Jesus Christ? Do you see if you live your life without Jesus Christ? And do you see if you die without Jesus Christ? Then, man and woman, you're a fool! You're a fool! And I'm not embarrassed and you can challenge me at the door because God calls a man He lives his life without Jesus Christ. Little thought of Christ getting right with God, being born again, being a genuine Christian. God calls that man a fool. A fool. You may say, I don't believe in God. I don't believe in God. Well, the Bible has something to say to you in Psalm chapter 14 in the verse number 1. And in case you miss it in Psalm 14, then he repeats it in Psalm 53. Do you know what he says? He says, the fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Sure, every man knows that there's a God. From the cosmos of creation to the own conscience that God has put within your soul, every man knows that there is a God. Every man knows that there is a God. What will God's final pronouncement be over your soul? You know, we read of a man by the name of Abner. Abner. Abner was just at the city of refuge he had slew. He had slew a man's brother, Joab's brother. And because he had done that, he was told that if he escaped to a city, it's called the cities of refuge, and if he crossed that threshold of that city gate, then he would be spared the man's slayer. Joab starts to run after Abner. And Joab gets to the city gate before Joab, before Abner gets there. And Abner runs, and he sees Joab in the gate. And Joab calls him to the side. Instead of Abner crossing over just one step into salvation, he takes a step to the side. And Joab puts his arm around him. He sticks a knife under the fifth rib. And Abner dies just one step from salvation. King David attends a funeral. Everybody's there to see the funeral of this man Abner. And I believe that this passage or the passage recorded in the Word of God is the only funeral service or the only graveside sermon that is recorded in the whole of Scripture. And King David is the preacher. As King David stands there and thinks about Abner and thinks about how he could have got into salvation, how he could have got beyond the avenger of blood, how he could have got beyond judgment, how he could have got into a place of security and safety, King David with tears rolling down his face, with a heart that is breaking, he cries out, died Abner as a fool, die a fool. He called him a fool, because he was one step from God's salvation. He was so close, and yet so far. I wonder what the preacher could say at your funeral service. You see, it didn't really matter what the preacher said at this man's funeral, because it didn't make any difference to his final destination. You know, it didn't matter what the family pleased in the Jerusalem Chronicle under his death notice, whether it was safe in the arms of Jesus. It didn't matter what they put on the death notice, because it made no difference to his eternal destination. It didn't matter what hymns they sang at the funeral, whether it was safe in the arms of Jesus or the Lord is my shepherd. It didn't matter what they sang at this funeral, because it made no difference to his eternal destination. And it didn't matter what they chiseled on his headstone as they erected it over his grave. It didn't matter what they wrote on it because it made no difference to his eternal destination because this man lifted his eyes on him. And it'll not matter what the preacher says, it'll not matter what hymns they sing at your funeral. The only thing that matters is what God says about you, sir. What God says about you, sir. This man went to hell because he missed the cross. He missed the cross. 1 Corinthians 118, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness belong to us which are saved. It is the power of God. I want to say, young person, in this meeting, as we bring this to a close, if you miss the cross, then you'll miss heaven. You'll miss heaven. You need to get that. I don't care what you think about this preacher. I don't care what you think about the style of this preaching. That doesn't matter to me. I don't care what you think about my name. But you miss the cross of Jesus Christ, then you'll miss heaven. You'll miss it. Outside the walls of Jerusalem, there stands a hill, and it's called Calvary. And on that hill, there stands a cross. And upon that cross, there is none other than a 33-year-old man by the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He has lived a perfect life. He has done nothing amiss. That's what they said. Pilate said, I find no fault in this man. This is history's greatest miscarriage of justice. His judge said, I find no fault in this man, and yet they still crucify him. the man on the cross hanging beside him said, truly this man has done nothing amiss. The centurion at the bottom of the cross said, surely this was a righteous man. And there Jesus Christ as God's only Son, the sacrifice for my sin and for your sin, there the cross becomes an altar and on that altar There is the slain lamb of God the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God's own Son. It tells us in the book of Isaiah that He made His soul an offering for sin. It would be there on the cross that it would please the Father to bruise His own dear Son. There He would become sin for us. He wouldn't become a sinner, but He would become sin for us. That we might be made right with God. And the broken law demanded death. The broken law of God demanded death. And in the courtrooms of heaven, way back in eternity, there was a plan. A plan to redeem men, to rescue men from their life of sin. I can hear as the angels gather to listen to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit communing about this. And they're saying, man will fall and we need a plan. Who will go and die for sinners? Michael the Archangel, will you go? No, I cannot go because my sacrifice will not be enough. Cherubims, will you go and die for sinners? No, we can't die for sinners because our sacrifice will not satisfy God's law. Angels, will you go and die for sinners? And heaven was searched to find somebody to die for sinners, and nobody was found. and then up stood Jesus Christ and he says I will die for sinners and die he did and died for me and died for you he died the just for the unjust some of you don't have sons or daughters but imagine would you give your son for somebody to spit in his face Would you give your son to have men, 70 grown men, clench your fists and punch the Saviour 70 times like the Jewish Sanhedrin done? Would you give your son to do that? Would you give your son to be tied to a pole and to have Roman men whip him? Some people believe that he was whipped 40 stripes he had won. Not in your life. It was the Romans that done the whipping and the Romans showed no mercy. The Romans would whip a man until he fainted. Would you give your son to be kneeled to a cross by his hands and by his feet and have a crown of thorns placed on his head? Would you give your son for that? But God gave his son. Why? To save your son. To save your son. You know, this man never got to the cross. And if you want to get into God's heaven then you'll have to get to the cross. You'll have to get to the cross admitting that you were a sinner, believing that Jesus Christ is the only saviour and confessing your sin at the foot of the old rugged cross. This man gave little consideration for the things of eternity and he lost his soul. I challenge you with the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 verse 29, Oh that they were wise, is that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end. I'm going to close with this. Have you ever stopped to wonder what this life is all about? Why you're here and where you're going when your lease of time runs out? Maybe you've been far too busy, trying hard to reach your goals. Would you let me ask you kindly? Have you thought about your soul? You may reach the highest portals, and your dreams may all come true. Wealth and fame may be your portion, and success may shine on you. All your friends may sing your praises. Not a care on you may roll. What about the great tomorrow? Have you thought about your soul? Don't forget your days are numbered, though you may be riding high. But like all of us poor mortals, someday you'll just up and die. Your success and fame and glory won't be worth the bell they toll. Let me ask you just one question. Have you thought about your soul? If you've never thought it over, spend a little time today. There is nothing more important and will ever come your way. When the joys of sin is forgiven, I know that you have been made whole. In the name of Christ, my Saviour, have you thought about your sin? I trust that you will today. Let's bow our heads in prayer. If you are concerned about the things of God and the things of eternity, myself and Roger are here. You can approach us. I'll be standing at that outside door. I'll have some booklets in my hand concerning a new beginning. That's your way how to come to Christ. But if you'd like to speak to myself or Roger, Roger will be in this part of the building and you can approach him. You can come back again whenever others have left, but think about your soul. and think about where you'll be if at 10 o'clock tonight God requires your soul. Just you think about that. Father, we stand on the portal of eternity and we pray, Heavenly Father, that people would make the right choice. We pray in Jesus' name. that you will bring father people to the cross because we know that if they miss there they'll miss heaven take us to our homes in safety and for those that have not peace with God we pray that you'll take sleep from off their eyes and father bring them there to a consideration of their latter aid. Bless the world, bless the food to our bodies, and glorify the name of Jesus in the salvation of the rest. We ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen.