Living with Urgency: Embracing Eternity Today

1) "The second coming of Christ was set in stone by God the Father before he ever even made the first stone. The dates and times are known. And when this whole thing started back, if you will, even in Genesis chapter 1 when God just made the matter, there was an expiration date. And every day that passes by, you must understand, you do get one day closer to that expiration date. Not only of your time, but of all time. And that's what we focused on last week, is conceptually you have to understand there is a difference between the two of those. And running out of your own time is hugely important because what you do in that time determines what will happen to you at the end of all time." [34:31] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "But the one area I think is most common is people literally put off their eternity. They just don't deal with it. They don't, some people don't conceive of it. Some people procrastinate and think I can do it tomorrow. Some of it is followers who are saved and they forget about forever. And here's the truth. You have to know. And this is what the writers of the new Testament from Christ to Paul, to James, to Peter, and even John with revelation who are going to tell us, but here is an absolute truth. It's not just a Garth Brooks song. Tomorrow may never come. And you've got to get that deep within you, not just for your salvation, although that's the most important thing." [41:32] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "The proximity of the Lord's coming and that word proximity in the Greek language and the English language actually are used the same way. Proximity in the English can mean spatially physically near or chronologically near. Okay. I am near you but also Thanksgiving is nearer now than it was yesterday. Same concept. Okay. And in the New Testament I'm going to go ahead and say every time it's used it means both that spatially Christ is near he's here physically to give us the courage to give us the strength to believe that we are here for a reason but also don't forget he's near because tomorrow it may never come." [47:00] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "And truly, if you think about it, if you didn't come yesterday, we're one day closer today. So it's time to start putting off today what you think you have time to do tomorrow. Because what if tomorrow never comes. What then, right? Especially your salvation. You're going to see that now. By the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment and destruction for the ungodly. Just like Noah. Judgment is coming. It is literally coming. And Noah didn't know the day before the rain started. Nobody did. Nobody knows when Christ is going to come. But when he comes, you're not going to miss it." [50:53] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "You realize that one day there will be the last person who ever gets saved? What if it's you? What if we're all waiting on you? You realize you're worth the wait. But it's not delay. It's not denial. It's patience. It's patience. Because he doesn't want anybody to perish. Nobody. So we've got to be people who set the example that delay does not mean denial. Delay never means denial, because I know tomorrow may never come. Today, the writer of Hebrews, chapter four, today is the day of salvation. Do not, having found yourself missing the opportunity to enter his rest. As long as it is today." [52:15] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "What kind of people ought we be? Right? I mean, like it's going to come like a roar. It's all going to be gone. Tomorrow may not come. What kind of people should we be? Well, not a bunch of glum lot worry warts. You know what I mean? Like some of y 'all, you can't even get your mind off November 5th. What do you think if Jesus comes back November 4th? Well, amen. Right? Amen. Come on back. I don't need America as much as I long for heaven. How about you? Right. So, and again, this is not some fairytale mindset. This is real. If that's real, and it is, what kind of people should we be? People who chase their dreams, who aren't afraid of failure. People who make new friendships. People who really do begin to practice the disciplines." [56:43] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "You ought to live. You ought to live. Now he's going to tell you how to do that. Holy and godly. Holy is distinctive, different. Godly is expressing his characters, his characteristics, his attitudes, the image of God that's within you. Look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about destruction of the heavens by fire and the elements will melt with heat. But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to it. Forward to it. What are you looking forward to? Right. I'm looking forward to that day, man. I hope you are as a follower. Woo! I literally can't wait." [01:01:27] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "So let us behave. What's the opposite of put on the armor of light? Here's, this is the highest standard. Isn't this crazy? Let us behave decently. All right? All right. And here, that's probably one of the most things we've lost more than anything. It's like, do you know what it means to be, just be decent. You treat people according to their humanity. You treat all people with respect. You've never locked eyes on a human being that doesn't matter deeply to God. So deeply to him that he crushed his one and only son for their iniquities. Are you a decent human being? Do you know how to say please? Do you know how to say thank you? Do you know how to shake a man's hand firmly and look him in the eye? Do you know how to treat older women with grace and with respect and make sure you're opening the doors? Be a decent human being. That's all you've got to be. It's decent." [01:06:58] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "You can put up with difficult people, but there's a place where I'm not your doormat. And your dysfunctionality doesn't have to become mine, okay? I can put up with you and your difficulties, but I'm not the source of your difficulties. I'm not going to be your doormat. I can only let you approach, if you will, spiritually and emotionally so close. And as followers, what we do is the first step is a little bit back. Give them some space to reconsider. But at a certain point, our dignity matters to God, too. You can only step into my space so far, and that should be true for you. And at a certain point, my patience with you is done. I'm not moving anymore. You're going to. Because I've moved back as far as I can. You don't have the right to strip me of my integrity, my dignity, my honor. So you're going to have to stop. Firm. Isn't that beautiful? What a balance. Because the Lord's coming is near." [01:10:48] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10) "Tomorrow may never come. And if you're in Christ, I want you to start celebrating that truth. Celebrate it every day. You know, in my phone for years now, 8 a .m. every day, you're going to laugh at this, a reminder comes up as though it's an appointment. Be nice today. Every day at 8 a .m. It goes off and I look at it and it says, be nice today. Because I can remember my mom for years saying, Gregory, be nice. Why do you think my mother would tell me to be nice? Because I had a really hard time being nice. Be nice. You know, it was in my phone. This morning at 4 .30 a .m. I changed it. Now, every day at 8 a .m. the notice that comes through will say, tomorrow may never come. I'm going to look at it every day at 8 a .m. and remind myself, tomorrow may never come. Tomorrow may never come. We as followers live in the moment. The lost live for the moment. Huge difference. Huge difference. The lost live to see what they can get out of it. We live it to see what we can get from it. From it. Life. Life everlasting." [01:18:55] (72 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)