There Will Be An After This

Introduction

So we thank you for joining us as we come together to praise our God and to study from his word. We have with us this weekend Brother Antoine Holloway, who has been with us since this Friday evening. He began our teen weekend with a lesson for the congregation on Friday at seven, and then spent significant time with our teenagers yesterday. We had 35 or 36 teenagers actually in presence yesterday. It was a wonderful day. And many made that happen. We thank you for each and everyone that contributed to that. But we especially thank Brother Holloway and Sister Holloway for being with us this week. I’m not going to take much of his time, but just wanted to say to the congregation just what a wonderful day yesterday was and to thank the congregation for their continued support of any effort that we make to preach the gospel and to edify any and all.

And we thank Brother Holloway again. And I hope you’ll pay attention as he delivers what is now his last lesson with us this weekend, and to be edified even as we can sit continue to consider the life of Jacob and how that can impact our lives today. Brother Holloway.

Once again, God has seen fit according to his own purpose and grace that we gather together in this assembly to hear and to study another portion of his holy and divine word. It’s so good to see everyone out here on this morning because there were many places you could have been on a Sunday morning. But you made the choice to come to the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. It’s amazing that we’ve come to the final message on this series of the life of Jacob. There were many directions we could have gone in, but when the Bible commits approximately 25 to 26 chapters to one man, then I believe that his life is worth investigating.

And we see that in the life of Jacob, we read about his birth, and for the young man Cody who led us in songs and read the scripture dealing with his death. It’s just a reminder to each and every one of us that we will close our eyes for the last time. And the life that we live will determine where we will spend eternity. Our goal is to spend eternity in the place that we’ve been singing about this morning. That place called heaven. That’s where we want to go. That’s where we desire to be. To see the face of our God, to spend eternal communion with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, a place where there’s no more sickness, where there’s no more sorrow, where there’s no more pain.

But what determines whether we go to that place is the life that we live now for as long as we have breath in our body and blood in our veins. We started off Friday evening talking about responsibility. Heaven is going to be a place filled with people who are responsible. They were responsible in the life that they lived at home. They were responsible and how they carried out their jobs. They were responsible in how they responded to their neighbors. They were responsible in regards to how they worship God. They were responsible when they left home. They were responsible. When they started a family, they were responsible when they got married, and the spouse that they chose and the life that they lived, they displayed responsibility. And I want us to understand on this morning that we’re all called upon to be responsible, to do God’s word, God’s way, and to live according to his will for our lives so that we can see the king someday.

So, based upon the reading of Genesis chapter 49, verses 28 through 33, I would like to draw upon the blackboards of your minds and preach from the subject, there will be an after this.

1. There Will Be an After This: Make Our Dash Count

And we will see something commonly called a tombstone. On this tombstone, we will see the name of the one buried at that location. The name is by far the most visible part of the tombstone. On this tombstone, we will not only see a name, but we will see two dates: the day, the month, and the year this person was born, and then the day, the month, and the year this person died. But also on this same tombstone may even have a saying or a quote, such as, rest in peace, or in the loving arms of God. And all of these items, if you will, we just spoke about on this tombstone, are easy to recall because they are obvious. Nevertheless, the most important part of this tombstone is also the most ignored.

It is the only part of the tombstone God considers to determine whether we live life responsibly or whether we live life irresponsibly. What we are talking about on this morning is the little dash that is in between the day that person was born and the day that person died. And in life, we must make our dash count. Because that dash is what we are going to be judged by. And when we look at the life of Jacob, yes, many chapters have been dedicated to his life, but in the realm of eternity and in the realm of time, it was only a dash. That dash that he lived is what caused Israel to even serve God for many generations to come. Whenever they prayed to God, they said, the God of our father Abraham, the God of our father Isaac, and the God of our father Jacob.

The same God that delivered Jacob from so many things, the same God that has been with Jacob wherever he went. Israel said, This is our God. And I want you to know on this morning that we serve the same God. We serve the God of Jacob. And if God can work for his people between the pages of inspiration, God hasn’t taken us a battle. He is still active and will work in the lives of his children today. But we have to understand that we must be faithful to him. We must worship him. God is ever present. He’s all knowing. He’s omniscient. He knows what kind of father you are. He knows what kind of mother you are. He knows what kind of husband you are. He knows what kind of wife you are.

You may have everybody fooled in here, but there is one person you’ll never be able to fool, and that is the God of heaven that doeth all things well. Young people. God knows what kind of daughter you’ve been. God knows what kind of son you are. God knows what kind of employer you are. God knows what kind of Christian you are. Be not deceived. God is not marked. Every step that we take, every decision that we make, we will be called into judgment for these things. This is a part of our dash. Are we living responsibly or are we living irresponsibly? We have to understand that when we talk about death, death has been a part of humanity ever since sin entered the world. Understand the fact that there would be no such thing as death if there was no such thing as sin.

Don’t you know that everybody that has died that is the consequence of sin. Death should cause us to live a life so righteous to show our outrage as a result of sin. People dying because of strokes. People dying because of cancer. People dying because of STDs. People dying because of AIDS. People dying because of murder. It is all because of sin, and sin should make us sick. And for this reason, we are to live right before God. Doing the right things the right ways for the right reasons. Death is something that we witness among our family and even among our network. Some of us have parents who have died. Some of us have spouses who have died. Some of us have had to endure the death of children.

We just read in the text in which Jacob had to deal with the death of his parents. He had to deal with the death of his wife Leah and Rachel. He had even had to deal with the alleged death of his son Joseph. He had to endure it all. Some of us have had friends who have gone on before us. Co-workers that have gone on before us. People that we love, people that we know that have gone on before us. Death is something that we read about in the newspaper when someone has been murdered. Death is what we observe on the television while watching the news when chaos reigns. Many individuals throughout our lifetime have had many things to say about death. I believe it was Mark Twain who said the fear of death follows from the fear of life.

A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. I believe it was Lucius Seneca who said that the day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity. I believe it was Martin Luther King Jr. that said, a man who won’t die for something is not fit to live. Death comes to every individual. There is an amazing democracy about death. It is not an aristocracy for some of the people, but a democracy for all of the people. Kings die and beggars die. Rich men die and poor men die. Old people die and young people die. Death comes to the innocent, and it comes to the guilty. Death is the irreducible common denominator of all men. But then he continues to say that death is not the end.

Death is not a period that ends the great sentence of life, but a comma that punctuates it to more lofty significance. Death is not a blind alley that leads the human race into a state of nothingness, but an open door which leads man into life eternal. This is what men had to say about death. But I’m so glad that we serve a God who has a Holy Spirit, and that Holy Spirit told us something about death as well. And it’s the most important thing that we need to understand about death, and that is found in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27. In Hebrews chapter 9, verse 27, the Bible reads, and just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment.

If you get nothing else out of this message on this morning, at least get this. We must understand that there will be an after this. We might not be recognized for our academic affluency. We may not be recognized by being financially solvent. We might be even recognized for our economic vitality, but we have to understand that there is going to be an after this. When we close our eyes for the last time, we are not like the dog rover. We are not dead all over. But there is an intrinsic part of us that keeps on living after we die. So when we close our eyes for the last time, what’s going to matter is not how many friends we had on Facebook. What’s going to matter in that day is not how much money we had in the bank.

2. Children Obey Your Parents in the Lord

What’s going to matter in that day is not the car that we drove or the house that we lived in. But what’s going to matter at that moment is the life that we live before an almighty God. Did we make our dash count? There’s three passages of scripture that I want us to take a look at on this morning. And then the lesson is yours. The first scripture is found in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1, talking to our young people on this morning. Listen to what the book has to say. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1. The book says, children obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. For this is right. Every scripture that we read, we have to read it with eternity in mind.

Is disobeying your parents worth spending an eternity in a devil’s hell? Think about that for a moment. And while we’re talking to young people, you know, a lot of young people, they always talk about going to parties. And you know, in order to get to that party, you have to be invited. And if you go to a party by which you have not been invited, how does that make you feel? People are looking at you. Hey, how are you doing? What are they doing here? I did not invite them. God invites us to come to heaven. Did you know that? He has an open invitation for us to come to heaven. All we have to do is receive the salvation from his son, Jesus the Christ.

We have been invited, but there is one place we have not been invited to. We have not been invited to hell. Because hell is not for us. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 25, verse 41, that God created hell for the devil and his angels. So why would you go to a place by which you have not been invited? There are people that are busting hell wide open, being lowered down in a proverbial handbasket because they decide that they want to do things their way rather than God’s way.

3. Remember Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth

Judgment is coming. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 1 is still in the Bible. In regards to that command, have you been responsible or have you been irresponsible? There are consequences for being irresponsible. But there is a reward for being responsible. I want us to take a look at another passage of scripture. That scripture is found in Ecclesiastes to chapters 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. And I want us to take a look at verses 1 through 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 1 through 7. There the Bible reads, Remember also your creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them. Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain in the day when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song of brought low, they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way, the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails.

When man is going to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheels broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. In other words, God is saying, Remember me while you still have time. Don’t forget about me. Because life will come to an end. Don’t make the mistake that many young people have made before you. Oh, I have time. I’m only 13. I got time. Don’t you know that when you go to the cemetery, there are as many short graves as there are long graves. There are as many people who die in their 80s as there is as people who die as their 18.

I lived five minutes from my daughter’s elementary school. And I had dropped one off at 7:30. I came back because the other one had to go to school at 8. So I left the house at 8:20 because I would get there at 8:25, and then I can make it to my office by 9 o’clock and get things done. But I got by the time I got to the school, it was 9 o’clock. Because they had shut down the street. Because there was an accident, in which there was a 19-year-old young lady who decided that the speed limit that says 35 did not apply to her. And she went through a guardrail and fell down a cliff and died upon impact. But it wasn’t just that day.

Because after I dropped my daughter off, I said, well, I can’t go this way. I got to go this way. So I decided to take another way to the building. And then that street was cut off because somebody else decided that because it’s raining outside, that they can continue to drive the same way as if it was dry outside. And they went through four lanes of traffic and ended up having another fatality. Two accidents, same day. Young people. Why? Being irresponsible. I don’t know what was on in their mind. Maybe they thought that, you know, my dad drives like this. He’s 55. I can drive this way too. But don’t be irresponsible because your father’s a fool. I mean, we might as well tell the truth and shame the devil on this morning while we’re in the house of God.

You know, don’t do foolish things because you see other people doing foolish things. That doesn’t make sense. Time and chance can happen to us all. Remember your creator in the days of your youth. For as long as you have blood in your veins and breath in your body, we need to be praising God, thanking God, honoring God, knowing that He is the only reason why we’re here. Every time we’re able to make it, we just need to say thank you, Lord. When we wake up in the morning, instead of saying, Good Lord, it’s morning, we need to say good morning, Lord. We need to just show appreciation. You woke up this morning, you read the obituary, your name wasn’t in there. Thank you, Lord. You sent your children off to school.

Your children come back, hug your child, say thank you, Lord, because God protected them. You leaving for the office to go to work. You leave the house to go to work. You get to your car, you realize you don’t have your keys. All of a sudden, you’re running back in the house. Now, who moved my keys? I know my keys were here. And who moved my keys? And you go off and you start yelling at everybody in the house, and then you finally find your keys, and then when you start going to work, you realize there was an accident that that car could have been you if you had left on time. But somebody misplaced your keys and saved your life. You need to go back, call your parents, call your family, call your husband, call your wife, apologizing for thank for yelling at them, and then you need to go to God in prayer and say, Thank you, Lord.

4. Be About My Father’s Business

We have to understand these things. Remember your creator in the days of your youth. Judgment is coming. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 1 through 7 is still in the Bible. Have we been responsible or irresponsible in regards to this command? Finally, I want us to take a look at Luke chapter 2, verse 49.

Luke chapter 2, verse 49. As the story goes, Jesus and his family went to Jerusalem to the feast of the Passover. And as they were on their way home, they realized Jesus wasn’t with them, but they thought that maybe Jesus is with the family or the rest of the company. And then a couple of days have passed, and then they realize, Mary, have you seen Jesus? No, I haven’t. I thought he was with you. I thought he was with you. Wait a minute. We left him in Jerusalem. So they went back to Jerusalem, all looking everywhere for Jesus. And then they found Jesus in the temple, asking questions and talking with scholars and doctors of his day. And then they said in verse 48, son, why have you treated us so?

Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. Listen to Jesus’ words. He says, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house? Some translations say, did you not know that I should be about my father’s business? There is no such thing as being too young to do the work of the Lord. Understand that if you start young, if you start off right, you have a high probability of ending your life right. And talking to the young people in the class this morning, I talked about some of my experiences when I go to the islands of the Caribbean to preach the gospel. And one of the things you see throughout the Caribbean is that you have young people that worship and then you have older people that worship.

But you have no in-betweens that worship. I see that you all have a 20 and a 30-something Bible study. That cannot happen in the islands. You know why? Because people worship God from zero to 18, and then from 60 to death, and sometimes that death is 75. And here’s the reason why. These young people are made to go to worship, not because of their parents, but because of their grandparents. Because the grandparents are the ones that are faithful, not the parents. So they make sure that their grandchildren come to worship. But then these young people, because they don’t have the proper influence from their parents, decide that when they turn 16, 17, and 18 and get a high school diploma, that they’re going to be out on their own.

So they go to college and then they decide to live life their way because they felt that they were forced to live life somebody else’s way. So they go out here and they party and they revel and they get involved in drugs and alcohol and fornication and just go party all the time and living life lebita loca. They just do all of these things. And then they realize that they are mortal. Right around when they’re 55, 60 years old. So they decide that you know what? I’ve done things my own way for 30, 40 years. I need to do it God’s way because grandma was right. The Bible was right. So they finally get their life right with God. But because they have not lived life God’s way, but rather have lived life Satan’s way in their own way, life has beat them up.

To the point that you have people that are 60 years old that look like they’re 95 years old. You have people that can’t walk and can’t talk. Why? Because they just ruin their lives doing things their own way rather than God’s way. But if they had just simply taken life seriously and decided to be about the father’s business, they would not find themselves in that way. And they always have the same regret. They see someone like me in their 30s and say, Oh, young man, you just keep doing what you’re doing. If I was serious about God when I was your age, I wouldn’t be operating with one and a half lungs today. I wouldn’t be operating on one kidney today. I wouldn’t be on this walker today.

I wouldn’t be suffering the way that I’m suffering today. People 50, 55 years old on oxygen. I wouldn’t be on that today if I had just left these cancer sticks alone, if I had just left all of this bad stuff alone, if I had not put these things in my system. And sometimes we take these things for granted. Why? Because we always have the testimony or the resolve to say, hey, it’ll never happen to me. It’ll never happen to me. Yeah, that happened to you because you didn’t smoke it right. You didn’t drink it right. It’s the people you hung with. See, it depends on who you do drugs with would determine whether you end up like that or not. Man, don’t believe the hype. The devil is a liar.

These things will kill you, but being about the father’s business will give you life eternal. Jesus was about his father’s business from a very young age. And we must be about the father’s business at a very young age. We shouldn’t wait until we’re 50 and 60 and 70 and say, you know what? I’m going to take God seriously. Maybe I need to start worshiping consistently now. Do you know how great your life would be if you had started serving God faithfully and consistently then? Understand, young people, that if you are hearing these words that are coming out of my mouth on today, you are blessed. Because there are many people that did not have the luxury to actually grow up in a Christian home. Your parents may even be first generation Christians that can tell you from experience that living out there is not worthwhile.

Don’t follow mama, don’t follow father. Listen to the words that I’m giving you now. Obey God. Keep his commandments, fear God, love him with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. Start serving him now. Worship is not a waste of time. Hearing God’s word is not a waste of time. Reading God’s word is not a waste of time. Singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to him is not a waste of time. Talking to God, offering up prayers to him, telling him what’s on your mind, asking for himself is not a waste of time. Be about his business. It will save your life. We need to understand these things on this morning because there is going to be an after this. And all the things that we know that we’re supposed to do.

5. God’s Plan to Remove Sins From the Soul

It’s going to be too late to do those things when we close our eyes for the last time. It’s going to be too late to respond to the invitation when we close our eyes for the last time. Or if they had just sung one more song, then I know I would have come forward. Come forward now. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can remove sin from our lives. When we talk about the plan of salvation, hearing God’s word, believing God’s word, repenting of our sins, confessing Christ, being baptized in water to have our sins washed away and remaining faithful. We’re not quoting some formula. This is God’s plan to remove sins from the soul. Do you know why we have to hear God’s word?

Why it’s so important? Because hearing destroys the ignorance of sin. People sin because they’re ignorant to it. They don’t know sleeping with a man that’s not their husband is sin. But the word of God would make it clear. That’s why they need to hear it. People don’t understand the fact that not worshiping God is sin. But if they read the word of God, they would no longer be ignorant to it. We may be the only Bible some people read. We have to live a life according to this book so that they can take this book seriously. That’s why we need to hear the word of God, because it destroys the ignorance of sin. But we also need to believe what we heard. You know why? Because believing destroys the love of sin.

See, if I actually believe that this book teaches that I’m on my way to a devil’s hell, that I’m not going to make heaven my home, then I no longer am in love with sin. I fall out of love of sin. I hate sin. The Bible teaches us in Psalms 119, verse 128 and verse 104. Through thy precepts I get an understanding, therefore I hate every false way. If sin is over here, I’m going to be over there because I don’t want to have anything to do with sin. Because I know what it’ll do to me. So I have to believe that. But we have to go beyond belief. See, we have to understand that belief is a verb that presupposes action. Faith is a noun that describes that action.

This is where the denominational world gets it wrong. All you have to do is believe. If you can just affirm in your mind that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you shall be saved. You don’t have to do anything. That’s a devil’s lie. Don’t believe it. Because believing presupposes action. If I truly believe something, then I’m going to obey. And every woman in here understands that. If you’re married. What if your husband? What if your husband just kept saying to you before he became your husband, you know, Katie, I believe in you. I love you so much, you know I believe in you. And five years later, he’s saying the same thing. I still believe in you. You know, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I can’t see myself with anybody else. You know I believe in you. Ten years later, she said, Well, when are we going to get married? I, you know, listen, all you need to know is that I believe in you. Would you believe that he believes in you? If he never makes the next step to make you his wife? Or would you just be satisfied with him just saying, you know, I believe in you? Oh, you know, I believe in you. Oh, I’ve always believed in you 25 years later. I believe in you. 30 years later, you know I believe in you. Well, when we’re going to get married, you know, my social security is about to kick in. Girl, you know, you’re the best, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

You know I still believe in you. You would not accept that. But we expect God to accept it. How come you don’t worship me? Well, God, you know I believe in you. How come you don’t obey my word will and way? Well, Lord, you know I believe in you. How come you’re not living faithful? Well, you know, Lord, I believe in you. Let me tell you a story. There’s a story about a man who took some people to the top of a building with him one day. And when they got to this five-story building to the top of the roof, people observed that there was a rope tied from one end of a building to another building. And he said, ladies and gentlemen, I just want you to know that I am a professional typerope walker.

Who believed that I can take this whale barrel, walk across this typerope with it, and come back? Everybody said, ah, yeah, right, okay, whatever. And then, you know, there was about maybe one or two hands that said, Well, you know, he says he’s a professional. I believe he can do it. So that man took that wheelbarrow and he walked across, typerope with it, and he turned it around and he walked back to it. And when he came back, everybody applauded him. Everybody said, Oh man, that was great. That was awesome. He says, Who believe I can do it again? Everybody said, Well, you know, he’s a professional. And we saw him do it one time. We believe he can do it again. He said, Who truly believes that I can do it again?

And everybody said, Oh, yes, you did it once. We believe you can do it. You’ve made a believer out of us. We believe, we believe. He says, Can I get a volunteer in the wheelbarrow?

And nobody moved. But they all said that they believed he could do it. They just didn’t, they just didn’t believe that he could do it with them. God is looking for some people to get in the wheelbarrow. He’s looking for some people to do more than just say, I believe, but to actually practice what they teach. This is why we repent. Do you know why we repent? See, repentance is not a word to say. It’s a command that must be obeyed. We repent because repentance destroys the practice of sin. If I believe that sin is bad, then I’m going to do something to get rid of this sin. I’m going to stop practicing it. That’s what I’m going to do. If I believe that the pleasures of this world is bad, then I’m going to stop engaging in these pleasures.

That is common sense. And that is God’s plan. If I believe sin is evil, if I believe that sin is killing me, if I believe sin is going to keep me out of heaven, then I will stop sinning. I will not look for God to accept me while I continue to engage in a few sins or to lead off of some sins. You have to totally give it up. Well, you know, brother, you know, sin is something difficult to get off out of. You know, maybe we need to teach people to wean themselves off of sin. See if that explanation works with your wife when she’s caught you in adultery. Well, honey, you know, I’ve been committing adultery for quite some time. And uh, you know, it’s just not hard.

It’s just too hard for me to just give it up just like that. You know what I’m saying? So, can I just wean myself off of other women? We laugh, but some of us say that to God. You know, God, I’ve been sinning for quite some time. It is just so difficult for me to just get rid of sin. Can I just wean myself off of sin? Do I have to give it all up today? Do I have to commit myself to live for you totally today? Absolutely, if you want to make heaven your home. This is why we have to confess Christ to be the Son of the Living God. Saying that I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, those are not magic words like hocus pocus or abracadabra, that if we say them, then all of a sudden God is going to, you know, take away our sin.

It don’t work that way. When we confess Christ, what are we doing? We are pledging our allegiance to God. We are destroying the allegiance to sin. We are saying, Satan, you no longer have control over my life. I’m turning my life over to God. And I want the world to know it. Why do you think so many people in Jesus’ day said that they believed that Jesus was the Christ? John chapter 12, verse 42 and 43, but out of fear of the people, they would not confess him because they love the praises of men more than the praises of God. Because they knew to acknowledge Jesus was to say that God is right, the Pharisees were wrong. They didn’t want to make that commitment. When you become a child of God, that is a bold, radical move.

And you don’t care who knows that you made that move because pleasing God is more important than pleasing man. This is the confession. And you must be baptized. Why? Because baptism destroys the status of sin. See, once you are no longer ignorant of sin, once you hate sin, once you have stopped practicing sin, once you have destroyed the allegiance to sin, then you need to be baptized so God can remove all this sin from you because you’re no longer holding on to it. So now it can be washed away. It would be comical if it wasn’t sad how people sit there and want to change the definition of repentance and believe that dunking you in water is going to take care of all your problems when you have not even met the prerequisites.

If you go to the peach after you have been rolling around in sand, and then all of a sudden you want to get this sand removed from your body, so you jump back into the ocean, but you still have a handful of sand in your hand. Once you come out of that water, even though the sand may appear to have left your body, you still are holding on to sand. So therefore the ocean did not fulfill its purpose in your life because you have refused to let go of the sand. What do you think is going to happen if you refuse to let go of sin? What good did being dunk in water do for you if you refuse to let go of sin? Give up sin.

It will kill you. It is killing you. Death is no respecter of persons. Get your sins washed away today. And let me assure you that when you come up out that water, you would have made a decision to make your dash count. Because God will forgive you of your sins, Acts 238. He’ll make you a new creature in Christ Jesus, according to 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. What kind of creature? A creature that will be responsible. A creature that will be a responsible human being in this life, a creature that will love their family. A creature that will be obedient to their parents. A creature that will worship God and never compromise their relationship with him. A creature that recognizes that God is worthwhile. So I’m going to serve him.

Not some of the time. I’m going to serve him all the time. And God will add you. Don’t you know you don’t have to join, you don’t have to find, you don’t have to search because God will add you to his church. The only church that you could read about in your Bible. And don’t you know that that church is the church of Christ? Jesus said he was going to build that church in Matthew chapter 16, verse 18. He built that church in Acts chapter 2. Purchased it with his blood, according to Acts chapter 20, verse 28. He adds the saved to it, according to Acts chapter 2, verse 47. That’s what God stands ready to do for you. Don’t you want to be a member of a going church for a coming Lord that does all that the Lord authorizes?

When people ask you, where do you attend? You don’t have to go to the yellow pages. You don’t have to go to a website. You can go to the Bible and say, This is where I go.

This is where I attend. Somebody asked me the other day, uh, preacher, which church is the right church to go to? I said, I’ll tell you what. Start reading with the book of Matthew, and when you find the church, go to it, and I’ll see you on Sunday. There’s only one. There’s only one. When he says, I’m going to build the church, that’s a definite article meaning one. Ladies, if your husband only owns one suit, and this morning he’s standing in front of the closet.

And you say, honey, what are you doing? I’m trying to figure out which one I’m going to wear. You would think something was wrong with him up here. Because he only got one and he’s trying to figure out which one other one he’s going to wear. When God says one, then that means that eliminates choice. You don’t get to choose. We made the wrong choice our entire lives. We chose to sin. We chose to be disobedient to parents sometimes. We chose to live life our way. And then all of a sudden, when it comes to salvation, God’s going to say, I want you to choose the church of your choice. How much sense does that make? The church of our Lord is not baskin robins. This is not no 31 flavors that we get to choose from.

Conclusion

If I don’t like Rocky Roll, I’ll just go to the vanilla church. Doesn’t work that way. There’s only one. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Get in the body of Christ. You get into his body through obedience to the gospel. Let today be the first day of the rest of your life in which you’re going to start serving God according to his word, his will, his way. You may be a Christian. Have you been living according to the standard? Have you been responsible in your worship? Have you been responsible in the life that you’ve been living? Have you been responsible in the family that you’ve been raising? Have you been responsible as the type of spouse that you’re supposed to be? Have you been responsible to your parents?

Have you been responsible in your worship and the life that you’re supposed to live? If not, don’t leave here this afternoon. Not making things right with your God. Because today could be your last. Make a wise hearted decision. Make a responsible decision because responsibility begins with wisdom. Do it right here, right now, while together we stand and sing the song that has been selected. Jesus is definitely calling people.