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Have ears to hear this morning and to understand the Bible as it's preached. Open now our eyes that we may behold wondrous things out of thy law. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now in this morning's sermon, I want to talk to you about a little phrase found in the Bible. It's an event that's found in the Bible, and this is more of a kind of a Bible study this morning. It's a sermon, but it's something where you need to really think and pay attention to the sermon this morning and try and understand what's being said here. But this phrase is first found in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6. The reason we read Philippians chapter 1 is that it's mentioned a great deal in the book of Philippians, and we're going to see that this morning. But look at Philippians 1, 6. The Bible reads, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now what does that mean? That he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now the title of my sermon this morning is The Day of Christ. The Day of Christ. It's a phrase, it's an event that's mentioned seven times in the Bible. Seven times it's mentioned in the New Testament, the day of Jesus Christ, or the day of Christ. Now look at verse number 10 in the same chapter. It's the second time it's mentioned in the Bible. It says, that ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Now according to verse 6, God has a work that he's working in you. God's the one doing the work, and he's working something in you, that work will be completed at the day of Christ. Look if you would at chapter 2, verse 13. This is building the foundation here. Chapter 2, verse number 13. The Bible reads, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputes. He's talking about complaining and fussing. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ. Second time we see that phrase. That I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Now you don't have to turn there, stay in Philippians, but let me read you some other scriptures. Hebrews 13, 20. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect. So God is working in us. The Bible says that God will make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Turn, if you would, keep your finger in Philippians, but just two pages over to Colossians chapter number 1. This is the introduction, but keep your finger in Philippians. Look at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 verse 28, the Bible reads, Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Verse 29, Whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. So we've seen two mentions of the day of Christ in Philippians chapter 1. We've seen this concept in the Bible that God has started a great work in us. That work will be completed at the day of Christ. What is he working to do? Well, in Hebrews chapter 13 in the verse that I read, it said that he's working in us so that we will do every good work that is pleasing in his sight. Here we see that God's working in us so that we, as in verse 28, we can preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom. You see, God is trying to make you into the kind of person that he wants you to be. We'll see later that God's trying to make you into someone who is as much like Jesus Christ as possible. How are you going to be like Jesus Christ? What is God trying to make you? Well, he's trying to make you do the works that he wants you to do that are well pleasing in his sight. He's trying to make you clean and pure in the sight of God. And he's trying to make you here a soul winner, preaching to every man, warning every man, teaching every man so that they can go to heaven so they be saved. So God is working in you to make you perfect. Not perfect as in you never make a mistake, but perfect means complete, well-rounded. Entire is what the Bible uses that word for. He's working in you to make you perfect. He's working in you to make you someone who's pleasing to him. And number three, he's working in you to make you a soul winner. Now, here's a verse that you ought to let sink down into your ears. This is Matthew 4.19. You don't have to turn there. But I want you to dwell on this verse for a moment. And he's saying unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Now, that's a promise from God, isn't it? He's saying if you follow me, this is just like when the Bible says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. If you do this, I'll do this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is what you do. Thou shalt be saved. That's what God does. He saves you. But here he says, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. That's a promise from God. So, either you are a fisher of men, or you are not following Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. I mean, you say, well, Pastor so-and-so, he's not a soul winner. He doesn't personally win people to Christ. He doesn't knock the doors. He doesn't open his mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel. He doesn't ever sit down with his Bible. I've never seen him sit down with his Bible and open it and get somebody saved from the Bible. That man is not following Jesus Christ. He's following someone else. Because if you follow Jesus, he will make you a fisher of men. Are you following Jesus Christ this morning? Are you here in church because you're a follower of Jesus Christ? Hey, if you're a true follower of Jesus Christ, he's going to make you a soul winner. He's going to make you a fisher of men. He's going to make you something that he wants you to be, which is someone who preaches the Gospel to every creature. You see, the Christian life is not all just about what you do, although what you do is a huge part of it. But the goal in your Christian life should be to become the kind of person that God wants you to become. That's what you ought to be working for. What are you like today? What are you like this morning? Are you the same way you were a year ago? Are you just the same as you were five years ago? Are you just the same as you were six months ago? You ought to be coming to church with the goal of being made and formed and fashioned by the Spirit of God into what he wants you to be, like the potter has the clay. You remember the story from the book of Jeremiah, where the potter had the clay, and God said that he was the potter, and he says, you're the clay. He says, I'm trying to make you into what I want you to be. And if you follow me, he says, I'll make you perfect. I'll make you complete. I'll make you someone who does my will. And he says, I'll make you a fisher of men. I'll make you a soul winner. There's an interesting statement. I don't have it in my notes, but this just popped into my mind. There's an interesting statement in the Old Testament. And I believe it's in the book of Exodus, when he's going on and on, describing the tabernacle and how it's made and the different rituals of the tabernacle. He talks about how when the king comes to make his sacrifice at the house of God, that he's not supposed to enter it. He can either enter in to the door by the north or by the south. No one ever entered in to the temple by the east side. But the Bible says that he was supposed to enter in from the north or from the south. He had the choice. You say, what in the world is that? Who cares? Who cares which way he walks in? It's four doors, so what? Well, it says that if he walks in the south, then he needs to leave by the north. And if he walks in by the north, he's supposed to leave by the south. What's God showing you? Hey, when you go to the house of God, you're supposed to walk out different than the way you walked in. That's what God's trying to show us there with that. See, these things are all symbolic. And God says, hey, don't go to church week after week, month after month, year after year. You come in the same and you go out the same. Allow God to make you into what he wants to make you. He began the good work in you the moment that you got saved. When you believed on Jesus Christ, he put his spirit in you and he began to work in you that which is well pleasing in his sight. He began to work with you and try to make you into what he wants you to be. And he's going to complete that work. He's going to continue to work in you until the day of Jesus Christ when that work will be complete. Now, look, if you would, at verse number, let me see here, look at chapter two of Philippians. Chapter two of Philippians, okay. It says, for it is God which worketh in you, verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now, let me read this for you. Romans 8, 28. This is a very famous verse. You've probably heard this before. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, so basically God knew in advance who was going to get saved. Does God choose who gets saved? No, we choose whether we're going to receive or reject Jesus Christ. But the Bible says, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And so God is saying here that our destiny as Christians is one day to be conformed to the image of his son, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Keep your finger in Philippians, go back one book to Ephesians chapter one, verse nine. Ephesians chapter one, verse nine. And the Bible reads in Ephesians one nine, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Now are you seeing a pattern developing here? God is doing a work in us and that work is to change us as a person to make us what he wants us to be and to make us conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. The Bible said when we did foreknow we also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, to make us like Jesus Christ, to make us a soul winner like he was a soul winner, a fisher of men like he was a fisherman, clean and pure like he was clean and pure, righteous and holy in the sight of God like he lived the righteous and holy life in the sight of God. And here the Bible is saying here that when the time culminates, the fullness of times, he's going to one day gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Now what do you think that's talking about? What do you think that's talking about when one day gathered together, everyone who's in Christ, both those that are in heaven and those that are on earth, they're going to be gathered together. What do you think that's talking about? The rapture, right? That's talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ. When he comes in the clouds and the trumpets out and he gathers together in Jesus Christ, all things in heaven, all things in earth that are in Christ are going to be gathered together with him at the fullness of times. And if you remember, the Bible said that God's work that he began on us will be completed when? At the day of Christ. He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Look at Philippians chapter 3. We saw Philippians chapter 1, chapter 2. Look at Philippians chapter 3, verse 21. The Bible says, well look at verse 20, the Bible says, For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working, there's that term again, whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Now here we see that we're looking for Jesus Christ to come one day. We're looking for our Savior Jesus Christ to come one day, and when he comes, the Bible says that he's going to change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the work whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Now, you think about our body, our flesh. Boy, some of us have physical ailments. And boy, the older you get, you know, maybe you're young and healthy and everything, but the older you get, you're going to get more and more physical ailments. Why? Because sometimes you damage your body, and sometimes it just can't be fixed. You ever get in an accident with a car, and you get the insurance, pays for you to take you to the body shop and get it fixed? But when you get it back, it's just never the same again. Our car, the red car that we drive, it got in an accident. It was just completely wiped out, went to the body shop, fixed, and it's never been the same since. Is it the same? It's not the same. It used to be that it had more power, it just ran better. Ever since we got it back, it just has never been the same. And we took it back and said, look, this isn't the same. And the mechanic said, I fixed everything, there's nothing else I can do. I mean, we did everything. But there's just something, sometimes things that you just can't repair. Now, other things, maybe just something that's an illness happens to you. It might damage your body in such a way it can't be repaired. There are people who've injured themselves permanently, they've broken bones and now they have a rod in their leg or whatever. Our body decays and waxes old with time. As you get older and older, your body's going to begin to stoop and get old and tired and worn. But the Bible says that one day your body is going to be changed to be like the glorified body of Jesus Christ, the perfect body. Not only that, but your flesh that you live in is the reason why you sin. The lust of the flesh is what causes you to sin. And one day, look at 1 John, keep your finger here, but look at 1 John chapter 3. One day when Jesus Christ comes back in the clouds at the rapture, when he gathers in one all things to himself, at the day of Jesus Christ, when his work of sanctifying you and making you like him is complete, the Bible says in 1 John 3 verse 1, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So one day, we're going to be completely like Jesus Christ. We're going to be conformed to the image of his son Jesus Christ. When we see him, we're going to be sinlessly perfect. The flesh will be gone, our vile body, our flesh will be changed into his glorified body, and we will never sin again. We'll be completely righteous and holy in the sight of God when we behold him face to face, and we see him as he is, we shall be like him. So look at verse 3, it says that every man that hath this hope in him, purifyeth himself even as he is pure. You see, there's a process in our lives that's going on right now. It started the moment that we got saved, and it's a process of purifying yourself. It's a process of God working in you, purifying you, cleaning you up, cleaning up your life. He said, every branch in me that bringeth forth fruit, he says, purify, purge it so it'll bring forth more fruit, like a branch that he clips things off of. He clips off the branches of your life that he doesn't like. He's trying to purify you, to purge you, to make you more like Jesus Christ throughout your life. You see, one day you will be like Jesus Christ. One day you will be perfect. One day you will be pure. One day you will be righteous. One day you will be like him at the day of Christ, at the coming of Jesus Christ in the rapture. You will be like Jesus Christ. But if you have that hope in yourself, that you can see that off in the distance, that that's your destiny, as the Bible uses that word predestined, that's your destiny, you ought to be now purifying yourself. Now, let God change you. Now, let God make you a soul winner. Now, come to church. Now, and sit down in church, listen to the Bible preach, and when you walk out, you ought to put into practice the things that you hear from the Bible. Don't be a hearer of the word and not a doer of the word. The Bible says if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. It's saying it's like a man who looks at himself in the mirror. If any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man which beholdeth his natural face in a glass, for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. You see, the only way for you to not forget what you hear, you ever just go to church, and then like a couple days later, so what was the sermon about on Sunday morning? Uh, I don't know. Oh, hey, you know, you get home from church, somebody at your house that maybe doesn't come to church. Oh, so what did the pastor preach about? I don't know. Oh, can you listen for me? Oh, you've been going to Faithful Word Baptist Church for a year now? Can you listen for me like five sermons that you've heard? Uh, I don't know. Why? Because God is saying here, if you don't do the work, you're going to forget what you heard anyway. That's what he said. He said if you don't do what you heard in church, if you don't take what you hear preached in the Bible, and put it into practice in your life, you're going to forget all about it. And you're going to live your life just the same every year. You know, you haven't arrived in your Christian life. Your Christianity is not good enough. My Christianity is not good enough. My soul is not good enough. My cleanliness and purity in my life is not good enough. I'm constantly pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, still praying as I'm onward bound. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. And you ought to let God work in you, that which is well pleasing in its sight. He began that good work when you got saved. Don't let it stop there. Don't let him finish that good work until the day of Jesus Christ. David said in Psalm 17, verse 15, you'll have to turn there. He said, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. Talking to God. He said, one day I'm going to look in the face of Jesus Christ and be totally righteous one day. Now, right now there's nothing righteous, no, not one. But we shall all be changed at the resurrection. And he said, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. He said, I'm not going to be satisfied in my life until I'm just like Jesus Christ, and that's not even going to happen until the day of Christ, he's saying. But we ought to be constantly working toward purifying ourselves, constantly allowing God to work in us, to clean us up. Look, there may be something right now that God's trying to take out of your life. Let him, let go of it. Let him take it out of your life. You don't need it anyway. You're going to spend all eternity, you know, things that people have such a hard time giving up. Friends that they have a hard time giving up that are the wrong friends. Music that they have trouble giving up that's the wrong music. Do you think you're going to have that music in heaven? How long are you going to be in heaven? Like millions and billions of years, okay, it never ends. You're going to go without that music for a long time. It's going to be a long, long time. You're like, oh man, I haven't heard that song in like five million years. Oh man, I haven't seen that movie since like a billion years ago. That was so long ago. Hey, you're going to go a long time without that garbage that you're hanging on to. Why do you want to be like everybody else, huh? Why do you want to be like the world? Why do you want to be like them that perish, the Bible says? Why do you want to be like somebody that's going to hell, huh? Why do you want to be like some Hollywood star that's going to burn in hell for eternity? And that's your role model, why? I want to be like Jesus Christ. I want to let God change me so I can be more like Jesus Christ. I want to be conformed to the image of His Son. I want to purify myself because I know that one day I'm going to be purified. I might as well purify myself now so that I can win souls now, so I can be used by God now, so I can enjoy my life now. Hey, I'm going to enjoy all of eternity, but I want to taste some of that blessing now by being righteous and holy and clean in the sight of God now. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine, the song says. Don't resist the changes that God's trying to bring about in your life. If you come to this church, especially if you come here for Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. If you come to this church, I guarantee you that there are certain changes when you sit in the pew here that God's trying to bring about in your life. Now, you can do one of two things. You can either let God work in you, or you can resist that change. As Stephen said in his sermon in Acts 7, he said, you do always resist the Holy Ghost. Why are you resisting what God's trying to do? You can either resist it, or you can say, I'm going to let God change me. I'm going to walk out the door different than when I came in. I'm going to let God purge me. I'm going to let God remove things from my life. I'm going to let God mold me and fashion me into who He wants me to be. Who do you want to be? What's your idea? Where do you see yourself? This is like a job interview. Where do you see yourself five years from now? You ever have those stupid questions in the interview? Oh, I hate those questions. Where do you see yourself ten years from now? Where do you see yourself two years from now? Who's ever had that question asked at a job interview? That's like every job interview. Some book tells them to ask that or something. Where do you see yourself? But honestly, especially young people, where do you see yourself five years from now? Do you have any goals in your life? You say, well, I don't know. Whatever. I don't know where I'm going in life. Well, then why don't you let God set the agenda for your life then? If you don't know where you're going in life, that's fine. But why don't you just decide, I'm just going to let God make me into the person that He wants me to be? You think you're going to be happier being what God wants you to be, or being what the world wants you to be, or being a failure like everybody else? Look, there's 99% out there that are just doing whatever they want, that live the way of the world. There's only the few, the proud, who decide, I'm going to let God make me into something. I'm going to let God make me into somebody that's a soul winner, somebody who wins the souls, somebody who's used by God, somebody who's a servant of God, somebody who God is using in a great way, not mediocre, not like everybody else, but rising above the crowd, standing for the stands that need to be made, standing tall. And I'm going to tell you something, in 2007 there aren't that many that are standing tall. There aren't very many Christians that stand up tall and say, this is where we stand, we're not moving. Why don't you be one of those few? There aren't that many knocking the doors in this area, preaching the gospel to every creature. Why don't you be one of the few where God looks down and He sees you knocking the door? He only sees a few doing it, my friend. Why don't you be one of the few? Why don't you let God make you what He wants to make you? Why don't you walk through the door of church saying, you know what, and I realize our building only has one door, but if you walk in the door and say, I'm going to walk out different, go out the window. I'm going to walk out different than the way that I walked in. Why do you want to just be the same? Why do you even come to church if you just want to be the same all the time? I hope I'm not the same the year from now. I don't want to be the same. I want to be better. I want to be closer to the image of Jesus. I want to remind people more of what Jesus is like. I want my actions to reflect what Jesus was like, where He just went about just constantly winning souls and preaching the Bible and loving people and helping people selfless, not worrying about Himself. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to let God bring about the changes in my life that are necessary to bring me to that position of being more and more like Jesus. Clean, righteous, holy. Make sure I don't leave any out of there. 1 Corinthians 15, if you would turn there. 1 Corinthians 15, and look at verse 49 of 1 Corinthians 15. Now remember, we're talking about the day of Jesus Christ, the day of Christ. Now, the day of Christ is going to be the culmination of God's working in us, changing us, making us into the person that He wants us to be. Okay, that's all going to be culminated in the day of Christ when we are like Him, when we do behold His face in righteousness, when we do awaken His image. And so, let me say this before I get to this, if you're still turning to 1 Corinthians 15. Soul winning is not just something that you do. It's a kind of person that you are. Being a fisher of men is an attribute of your personality. It's not just something that you do. It's something that you are. See, there are certain people that are a soul winner. It's people who do win the souls. It's people who have the ability to win the souls. It's the people who have obeyed God and followed Jesus Christ to the point where He's been able to make them into that kind of a person. I mean, if I took you and sat you down with somebody who's unsaved, I mean, are you the soul winner that you need to be where you could get that person saved? I mean, what if an unsaved person came through the door and I said, so-and-so, would you take them aside and win them to Christ's grave? Would you please just preach the gospel to them and do the best you can? And obviously, it's their choice, but would you do the best you can to win people? Would you even know what to do? Would you even know what you're doing? Have you ever even done that before in your entire life? Okay. Maybe you need to allow God to do some molding on you. Maybe you need to allow God to change you. Maybe you need to show up for soul winning time. Maybe you need to let somebody in this church take you out of soul winning and show you how it's done. The Bible will show you how it's done. Jesus shows you how it's done. We'll show you how it's done because we're following Christ, okay? And that's what we're talking about here, being a person who's a soul winner, not just showing up for soul winning, because showing up for soul winning is fantastic. Being a silent partner, you know, many people, when they start soul winning, they're just a silent partner for months. They just listen in, and that's wonderful. That's great. You can learn and learn how to do it and just get used to going to the doors and talking to people and everything like that. But you know what? Going out and just knocking doors and just inviting people to church is not being a soul winner. Being a soul winner is when you personally have the ability to win somebody to Christ yourself. That's the only way you're going to see some of your friends and loved ones saved, is if you personally win over the Lord. And so you have to be what you need to be. You say, I could never go soul winning. You're right, but with God, all things are possible. And God is the one who worketh in you. Remember, God worketh in you, both willing to do with his good pleasure. Jesus said, he didn't say, go make yourself a fisher of men and come back and talk to me. He said, no, follow me. I'll make you a fisher of men. Jesus has the ability to make anyone a fisher of men. Do you understand that? I mean, do you understand that anybody can be a soul winner if Jesus makes you a soul winner? Okay, do you know that anybody can get rid of the things in your life that you want to get rid of? The alcohol, the cigarettes, the drugs, the movies, the pornography, the rock music, whatever it is. Did you know that God has the ability to take those things out of your life? God has the ability to purge you. But see, it starts by bringing forth fruit, because he says, if you bring forth fruit, I'll purge you so that you can bring forth more fruit. Allow God to work in you. It's not going to be overnight that you become what you need to be. It's a process. It's a work that continues until the day of Christ. You've got to allow God to remove the one thing that he's trying to remove today. And then tomorrow, it'll be something else. Let go of it. Let God remove it. Wednesday night, you might hear something else that you need to do. Sunday morning, it might be something different. Sunday night, Monday morning, when you're doing your Bible reading, it's going to be something different that he's trying to change about you. Tuesday morning, you read the Bible. You say, I need to change. This does not represent what I am. What I'm reading and what I am are two different things. I'm not going to change the Bible. I'm going to change myself. See, that's what we're living in a day where people change the Bible to match their lifestyle. You know, the people who made the NIV, you know, one of them was a faggot. I hope you know that. And another one was a lesbian, Dr. Virginia Mollenkop, who was on the Old Testament committee of the NIV, was an open lesbian, wrote a book about her lesbianism, how she's a Christian and a lesbian. So what did they do? Did she conform to the Bible? No. She conformed the Bible to meet what she is, and that's why the NIV removes completely the word sodomite. It takes out every reference to the word sodomite because they're trying to take out negative references to homosexuality. Why? Because they are one. And so they're conforming the Bible to them. When you read the Bible, don't try to twist what the Bible says. No, match your life up to what the Bible clearly states. Don't try to change the Bible. You change yourself to fit the Bible. But in 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 49. The Bible says, And as we have borne the image of the earthly, referring to Adam, if you studied the chapter, we look much like Adam looked, is what the Bible is saying. As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly, Jesus Christ. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. You see that? We shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. You see, God is going to change us completely at the rapture, at the day of Christ, but we ought to decide that we're going to be changed now. Let's let God change us now. You can't win any souls when you get to heaven. Who are you going to win to Christ? Everybody's already saved. Okay? There's only one thing you can't do in heaven, and that's win people to cry, besides sin and ungodness. There's only one righteous thing that you can't do in heaven, and that's win people to cry. You can't do it. You're done. So one day you're going to be like Jesus Christ, but it's going to be too late for you to do anything, to earn any reward, or to make a difference in some sinner's life and get him saved. Why not let God change you now? Why resist the change when you're going to be changed one day anyway? Now let me do a quick review here of what we're seeing. Seven mentions of the day of Christ. Okay, let me read them for you. You don't have to turn them. I'm just going to read these off for you. Philippians 1, verse 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. What's that good work? Changing you. Making you in the image of Jesus Christ. Sanctifying you. Getting the sin out of your life. Making you clean and pure. And at the day of Christ, that work will be performed. It'll be done. But until then, God's trying to do that work in you of purifying and cleansing you and making you into what he wants you to become. The second mention, Philippians 1, 10. That you may have proved things that are excellent that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. The third mention, Philippians 2, 16. Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labor nor in vain. That's the verse where a few verses before he talked about willing and doing of his good pleasure, God working in you. Now here's a fourth mention of the day of Christ. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1, 8. You don't have to turn there. Who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the Bible is saying you will be blameless in the day of Christ. He'll confirm you unto the end. He said you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a fifth mention. 1 Corinthians 5, 5. To deliver such an one, we'll turn there because this is kind of a story that you need to see. Look at 1 Corinthians 5, 5 and I'm trying to go through these quickly here. 1 Corinthians 5, 5. We're talking about changing. Well, that's just the way I am. Then change. Well, I've just never been a reader. Change. I just never enjoy reading. Change. Because God says to read the Bible every day. Well, I just don't like to talk to people. Change. Because you need to open your mouth and preach to God with every creature. Well, that's just kind of always the way I am. My mom did it. My grandma did it. My great-grandma. And that's just the way I am. I'm just thus and so. Change. One day you will be changed. But God's trying to change you now. Let him make the changes in your life. But look at 1 Corinthians 5. The Bible says, it is reported commonly, verse number 1 of 1 Corinthians 5, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. So here's a man who's fornicating with his stepmother. Okay? With his father's wife. And so a man is fornicating with his own stepmother here. Well, the Bible says that this is what Paul wanted them to do in verse number 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. There's another reference of the 7 to the day of the Lord Jesus. The day of Jesus Christ. The day of Christ as it's called. Look at the last verse here in verse number 13. But then that are without God judgeth, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. So here's a man that's in this church and he's just openly, flagrantly, everybody knows about it, no secret about it, no bones about it. He's called a brother, he's not really saved, but he's calling himself a Christian and he's sleeping with his own stepmother. And so what did Paul say to do? Throw that sucker out of the church, get that leaven out of your church, get that junk out and take that guy and throw him out. Now, it says here to deliver such an one, in verse 5, unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Now do you remember another person? Is Satan able to cause bad things to happen to somebody? Yes. Okay, remember in the book of Job, Satan actually caused Job to lose everything and to lose all his money and his children to die and Satan actually afflicted his body with a disease where he had boils all over his body. Do you remember that? That was Satan that did that. Now, what God is saying to do here is throw that guy out and then pray that some really bad things happen to him that will get his attention so that he'll get saved and realize that he needs to be saved because let his flesh be destroyed, let him get in a car accident or get a disease or something terrible to happen to punish him for this filthy sin he's committing so that his spirit can be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So that at least at the day of the Lord Jesus he'll be saved and go to heaven. That's what it's saying here. Okay. Look at another mention. 2 Corinthians 1.14. You don't have to turn there. But the Bible says, As also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoicing even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. So let's review here. We've got six mentions of the day of Christ. What is the day of Christ? Well, we know from Philippians 1.6 that it's going to be the culmination of God's changing us, God's good working in us, making us perfect and like Him. We know that in Philippians 1.10 we're to hang on and be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ. So there's an ending point there. We know from Philippians 2.16 we'll be rejoicing in the day of Christ because of those that we've won to Christ. They will be our rejoicing in the day of Christ. We're going to be thrilled to see them at the day of Christ when God gathers in one all things in heaven and earth that are in Christ. We know from 1 Corinthians 1.8 that we will be blameless and perfect at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we'll be confirmed under the end that we may be blameless at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 5.5 we saw that salvation occurs in the day of Christ. You say, wait a minute, salvation? I thought we're already saved. Well, your spirit is saved. But the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that the redemption of your body, your flesh will be saved. Your body will be saved at the day of the Lord Jesus when you're changed. We saw in 1 Corinthians 15 we saw that we're all going to be changed one day to be in the likeness of Jesus Christ. We saw in verse number 6 that our joy and our rejoicing is going to be built up in those that we've won to Christ to see them in the air with Jesus Christ. So what is the day of Christ? It's only mentioned seven times. We know what the day of Christ is, don't we? The day of Christ is that glorious day when the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so it is well with my soul. That's the day of the Lord Jesus, the day of Christ, the day when we are changed never to sin again, never to do wrong again, to see Jesus Christ face to face for the first time. No man, no one has ever seen Jesus Christ that's living in 2000, and I promise you that. Oh, but I went to this church, and Jesus appeared to him and everything. No. Paul said that he was the last person to see Jesus alive. He said, I was the last apostle. That's 1 Corinthians 15 if you study that. He said, I'm the last person who ever saw Jesus Christ. The next time anybody sees him is when every eye shall see him, is what the Bible says, at the day of Jesus Christ. So one day, my friend, this is a real thing. This isn't a fairy tale. One day you literally will lay eyes on Jesus Christ in the clouds, in the air with Jesus. One day you're going to lay eyes on Jesus Christ. One day you're going to be changed. You're going to be like Jesus. You're going to live like he lives. You're going to be pure like he's pure, righteous like he's righteous. You're going to look him face to face. Not only that, but at the day of Christ you're going to look face to face with those who you've won to Christ personally as a soul winner. And you're going to be rejoicing and happy based on how many people there are that you've won to the Lord. That's what's going to make you happy. That's going to be your greatest reward is to see somebody who you made the difference in their life and got them saved and won them to Christ. That's what the day of Christ is. The day of salvation of our body. The day of our change from mortality to immortality. The day of our change from unrighteousness to righteousness. The day that we're changed from what we are right now to be perfect and spotless in the sight of God. We shall know him. We shall be like him. We shall see him as he is, the Bible says. Now look at 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1 and we'll see the seventh and final mention. The first six I gave to you out of order, but I gave you the first six mentions of the day of Christ. Let's look at 2 Thessalonians 2 and we'll see the seventh and final mention of the day of Christ. Now, you must have a King James Bible in your lap this morning because if you have an NIV it will not read the same thing. Let me see if I've got my handy-dandy NIV here. Yes, I do. I'm going to open up the NIV to 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1 and we're going to see a profound difference. See, all Bibles are not the same. I hope you were here when I preached on the King James Bible recently. It was very eye-opening to some of you, maybe, the differences. But, in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 1, if you're reading the King James Bible you'll see the seventh and final mention of the day of Christ. Do you see that? That you may be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as it is from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Do you see that 2 Thessalonians 2? This is what the NIV says. Not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report, or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Now, is that the same thing? No. The day of the Lord is something that's mentioned hundreds of times throughout the Bible. Hundreds of times. Okay. The day of the Lord is mentioned all throughout the Old Testament. The day of the Lord is mentioned all throughout the New Testament. Okay, it's not the exact same terminology being used, is it? No. The day of Christ and the day of the Lord are not the exact same thing. Okay. It's a difference there. They're trying to change what the Bible's saying. Now, let's read this together. Now we beseech you, brethren, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him. Now right away, what are we talking about? When are we going to be gathered together with Jesus Christ? The rapture. We're going to be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord wherefore come from one another with these words. It says now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us like pretending to have come from us is what he's saying as that the day of Christ is at hand. Now let me ask you something. Is the day of Christ at hand according to 2 Thessalonians 2? No. Don't be troubled that it's at hand. Look at verse number 3. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Now is the day of Christ going to happen at any time? No. What does it say? Look down at your Bible. Does it say it can happen at any time? It can happen during the service. It might happen before I even finish preaching this message. Is that what it says? No. The Bible says now should we allow someone to deceive us and tell us that it's at hand, that it can happen at any time? Look at what the Bible is saying. Don't be soon shaken in mind whether it be by a spirit, neither by word, nor by letter as from us and that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. Now who is the man of sin, the son of perdition? Well let's talk about the antichrist. The antichrist must first be revealed. First before the antichrist is revealed there's going to be a great falling away the Bible says. A great apostasy is what that means. A great falling away from the faith, people forsaking the faith, forsaking what the Bible says, forsaking what the truth is, forsaking what the Bible teaches. Look on further we're going to see this man of sin who he is. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God siteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. So what's the antichrist going to do? He's going to sit in the temple of God and say to himself, he's going to say to everyone, I am God. Do you see that? It says he's going to show himself that he is God. He's going to claim to be God in the flesh. He's going to claim to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ claimed to be God. When he was on this earth he said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and my Father are one. He said, Thomas fell on his knees before Jesus Christ and said, my Lord and my God. And he said to Thomas, blessed art thou because thou is believed. You see, Jesus Christ was the first coming of God in the flesh, Jesus Christ in the flesh. Jesus Christ is coming again one day, right? In the clouds. But what's going to happen first before that day of Christ? What's going to happen first before that day when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds? What's going to happen first before we meet up with him in the air and we're changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye? Well, first, there's going to be a great falling away from true Bible believing Christianity. And not only that, but the man of sin is going to appear and he's going to be revealed and he's going to say, I'm the second coming of Jesus Christ. I'm God. Look what it says, remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things and now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. He's saying there are other things that have to happen first before Jesus Christ comes. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked, capital W, talking about Satan himself, the anti-Christ, then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now this chapter is not difficult to understand at all. What God is saying here is that before the day of Christ, someone else is going to come, an imposter of fake Jesus Christ. The anti-Christ is going to come. Now, when the anti-Christ comes, think about this for a moment. Just think for a second. Now, how many of you have been in churches where they taught you Jesus could come back any second, any moment? You've heard that before. Put up your hand if you've heard it before. There's no shame. We've all heard it. Okay. Jesus could come back at any time this second. He could come back today. It could be like the next five minutes. Okay. Now, who are those people looking for to come next? Any moment. The next spiritual event on God's prophetic calendar is the rapture. Who are they looking for to come? Jesus Christ. Who's really coming first? The anti-Christ. Are you starting to understand? It's starting to make sense to you a little bit? Like, if Jesus already came, why would people be fooled into believing in the anti-Christ? Are you starting to follow this a little bit? Okay. This is what's going to happen. The anti-Christ is coming first. Jesus Christ is coming after the anti-Christ claims to be God, after all these things. Now, how is it, the Bible says here, you say, well, wait a minute. Good night. How in the world are people really going to believe in the anti-Christ? I mean, how in the world are they really going to believe that the anti-Christ is God? I mean, he's going to be a fake, right? Everybody's going to know that he's a fake. Well, does everybody know all these churches are fake? Half the churches in this town? No. Does everybody know that the Catholic church is fake? Does everybody know that the cookie that they ate is not really Jesus? No. Why is it that people will think that the anti-Christ is Jesus Christ? I mean, is the anti-Christ going to come in the clouds and blow a trumpet? No. But how are people going to believe? Well, the answer is in verse number 11. The Bible says, and for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. See, God is going to warp their mind. God's going to send a delusion to them that those who've rejected Jesus Christ will believe that the anti-Christ is real when he comes. All the phonies out there, all the fake professing Christians, when they see the anti-Christ, they're going to think that he's really Jesus Christ because God's going to send them a delusion that they should believe a lie. And when the anti-Christ comes, he's going to be seemingly like what Jesus Christ would be. He's going to bring world peace, you know, at the expense of killing people that don't agree with them. But he's going to unite all the religions of the world. And there are many charismatic teachers that are teaching the doctrine that's preparing people for the anti-Christ. Let me prove it to you. Have you ever heard this statement? Our job is to win the whole world to Christ. Is that ever going to happen, according to the Bible? No. The Bible says, broad is the way which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Is the majority ever going to be saved? No. Was the majority ever saved in history? No. It's always been the minority. It's always been few that be saved. A man asked Jesus, one of his disciples said, Master, are there few that be saved? And he said, Enter in at the straight gate, because narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. He answered the question in the affirmative. Yes, there are few to be saved. It's not the majority. Our job is to get as many people saved as we can. Our job is to preach the gospel to all nations. But are we ever going to win the world to Christ? No. But you see, the charismatic movement of our day, the Pentecostal great big crusades and deals of our day, they're trying to say that we're going to win the whole world to Christ. And they even use this phrase, We're bringing in the kingdom. Have you ever heard that phrase? We're bringing in the kingdom. We're going to turn all nations to Jesus Christ. Who they're really going to turn the nations to is the Antichrist. Because when Jesus comes, they're going to say, Here he is! The whole world is following him. He's ruling and reigning over all of us. He's Jesus Christ in the flesh. You know, good night. If Jesus Christ walked through that door and the Antichrist walked through that door, you know what the Antichrist would probably look like? He's probably going to be like all these phony pictures of Jesus with the long hair. If I see some long-haired guy stand up and say, I'm Jesus Christ, I'm going to say, No, you aren't. Okay? You are not Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ would obey the Bible and have short hair like the Bible says. But you see, that just shows what a warped view people have of what Jesus is like. And when the Antichrist comes, people will think that he really is Jesus. Period. They're going to look at him and say, This is exactly what I imagined it would be like. And it's going to be just like what they thought he was like, but it's not going to be the Jesus of the Bible. It's not going to be the true Jesus Christ. Now, here's how I'm going to close the sermon here. Understand this. There's two different philosophies that you can have, my friend. You can have a philosophy that says Jesus Christ can come back at any time, any moment now, that Trump's going to sound. Any time now, it's all going to be over. So I just need to go out and do as much as I can before that trumpet sounds. You know, I'm going to go out and do everything I can, get everything done, because we don't know how much time we have. It's really so. We're running out of time. Let's just do everything we can just for the right now. Let's live for right now and let's just get something done before Jesus comes. Or you can understand that Jesus is not coming back at any time. First, there's going to be a great falling away. I believe that falling away is happening right now. I mean, if you look around, you probably see that. If you grew up like I did in independent fundamental Baptist churches, you know there's a great falling away taking place. People are falling away from the King James. They're falling away from the doctrines of the Bible. They're falling away from, by grace through faith, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And they're starting to add works. They're starting to twist the gospel. They're starting to say, repent of all your sins to be saved, which is nothing more than work salvation. If you have to give up your sins or be willing to change your life. They're warping the gospel. Droves are following them. Churches are changing all around us. There are so few that are left standing for the gospel. Cities of one and two and three million people where there's only a few people, only a few churches that are even still knocking the doors, doing the soul winning, preaching the gospel like they need to be preaching it, standing tall for righteousness and clean and holy living and what's right. There's a great falling away going on. I don't know if you've noticed that. And we as Christians ought to understand that it's not just trying to get something done. And yes, I'm trying to get something done. Yes, I'll be out soul winning after the service today. Yes, I'll be out knocking the doors, preaching the gospel this afternoon, getting something done for Jesus Christ. But it's not just the work that I'm doing. It's important for me in 2007 to let God do the work in me that He needs to do and change me and for me to become who I need to become. Because I'm going to tell you something. When that falling away takes place and when the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, and when the persecution comes and the tribulation comes, you better be what you need to be. You better be strong enough. You better let God change you and make you who you need to be or you will fall in the evil day. The Bible says that you may withstand in the evil day and having done all the stand. You see, doing what you need to do is important. But being what you need to be is more important. It's not going to be over today. It's not going to be over a year from now. It's not going to be over two years from now. It's not going to be over three years from now. Jesus Christ is not coming back for the next several years. I'll tell you that right now. I promise you that. I can prove that to you from the Bible because all these other things have to happen first. And so it's not going to happen today. It's not going to happen tomorrow. But other things are happening like America's changing, like the falling away is happening, like persecution is beginning to happen, like hard times are coming. And you're not going to disappear before that happens, my friend. I know it would be great. I mean, it would be cool. Just if today we just disappeared and then all hell breaks loose. But that's not what the Bible says. And so you ought to focus right now on saying, you know what, where do I see myself in two, three, four years? And I'll say this. If you can't even show up to church now when things are going great, what are you going to do when the heat gets turned up, when the pressure's on? You're going to be, oh, I'm going to stand for Jesus. I'm going to go to church. I mean, what if it's illegal to come to church? Would you go to church then? You don't even come to church now. Okay, you know what I mean? So what's God trying to say here? Hey, look, be what you need to be now. Let God meet you what you need to be now. We may be living in the generation that sees the second coming of Jesus Christ. I don't know if we are or not. Maybe it's going to be a hundred years from now. I don't know. But I personally believe, and probably everybody's always believed this, but I personally strongly believe that Jesus Christ is coming back in our lifetime. I mean, I strongly believe that. I mean, I'd be surprised if it doesn't happen. And maybe it won't happen. But I believe that it's going to happen in our lifetime. Do you want to go out with the blaze of glory? Do you want to be the one that stands tall? Do you want to be the one that stays with it all the way to the end? Do you want to be the one that stands up in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and cries aloud and spares not and preaches the gospel and takes the stand? Do you want to be the one that's the hero of the faith, the martyr, or the one who preaches the gospel, the one who did what you need to be? Or do you want to be the one who fails and flops and who's ashamed of Jesus like Peter was ashamed of Jesus? You ought to decide right now that you're going to be what you need to be. You ought to decide right now that you're going to let God change you. There's nothing more clear in the Bible than that God wants to change you. I'm a different person than I was ten years ago. And I hope ten years now... I mean, if you knew me when I was ten years... I should show you a picture after the service of what I looked like ten years ago when I was sixteen years old, okay? You don't think I've changed? I'll show you a picture, okay? I've changed. And people who knew me back then, my friends back then, are not my friends now. They do not like me now. They lied to the old Steve. They don't like Pastor Anderson at all. You see, it doesn't matter what you are right now. It doesn't matter what you think you'll always be. Let God make the changes in your life so that you can be what He wants you to be, so that you can do that which is well pleasing in His sight, so that He can work in you that which is well pleasing in His sight. You ought to let God change you into a soul winner. Some of you young men ought to let God change you into a preacher. You say, I don't think I ever see myself as a preacher. Why don't you come to our preaching class and learn what you can learn so that God can change you and make you into something... Well, that's not what I want to be when I grow up. But what does God want you to be when you grow up? Let God change you into what God wants you to be, not what you want to be. Don't ask yourself, well, what do I want to be? What does God want me to be with my life is what you ought to be asking yourself. You say, I could never do that. You're right, you never could, but God can change you. Come to the right church, it'll change you. Walk in the door of church, walk out changed. One word that I want you to remember from this sermon. You know, it's a word that talks about the rapture. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. It's a word that's used throughout the Bible. Sometimes it's used this word, repent, repentance, change. You know, change what you believe in regard to salvation. Repentance in your life is changing, becoming a different person as a Christian, changing. Remember this one word, change. Well, that's the way I am, then change. Well, I don't read the Bible, change. I don't go sowing, change. I'm just not one that prays, change that. Well, it's just how I dress, change the way you dress. Well, it's just the music I've always listened to. Change what you listen to. You say, well, the hymns aren't my style. Change your style. Who are you anyway? Who do you think you are? You have to do what's well pleasing in His sight. Let Him work in you, let Him change you, let Him mold you and fasten you into the righteous, pure, clean, soul winning creature that He wants you to be. You say, well, I'm a woman. God wants to change you into a soul winning Christian. God wants you out there preaching the gospel. God wants you winning people to Christ in your own family and your loved ones and door to door. God wants to change you, ladies, into being a soul winner. He wants to change you into being clean and modest in the way that you dress. He wants to change you into somebody that's well pleasing in His sight. We all need to change. I need to change and you need to change. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for this truth from the Bible, dear God. Thank you for continuing the good work that you began in me when I got saved. I'm glad, dear God, to know, it gives me comfort to know that you're still changing me and that you won't be done changing me until the day of Christ, the rapture. Thank you for changing me, dear God. Thank you for doing the work that you're doing in me. God, I pray that you would change me God, I pray that you would continue to change me in the years to come and I pray that you would change every person in this room and that they would walk out of the service this morning changed. That they would get on their knees this afternoon with the Bible and read the Bible and be changed. Help them to show up for soul winning and be changed. Help everyone in this room who's a man, you know, come to the preaching class, be changed. God, help us not to care what we want to be or what other people want us to be or all the things that we think we need to be doing but help us to let you change us into what we need to be, dear God.