What Does it Mean to Watch for the Lord?

Steve Schwetz: What does it mean to watch for the Lord? Is it something that we think about maybe occasionally or something that quietly shapes the way we live and follow Him every day? Welcome to the Sunday Sermon on Through the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz. And in this never-before-aired message from our archives, Dr. J. Vernon McGee takes us to Matthew 24 where Jesus speaks about His second coming and calls His followers to be ready. So as you find your place in God’s Word, Greg and I have got some evidence to share that God’s Word is changing lives, this time in Ghana.
Greg: Ghana is located in Western Africa. Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it or you can look it up on Google Maps. The point is that Through the Bible is taking the whole Word to the whole world, and by God’s grace, we’re getting to some far-flung places.
Steve Schwetz: Yeah, and Twi, which by the way has like nine million speakers, we’ve been seeing tremendous fruit. I had the opportunity to be in Ghana and go to a listener’s gathering, if you will. It was a local radio station, and people came in, and man, those folk can party like you wouldn't believe in terms of just their excitement for the Gospel and the teaching and the love that they have for the Word of God. And Through the Bible, it was such an encouragement.
Greg: Yeah, and Christian missionary work began in that country way back in the early 1800s, which is incredible. And more than half of Ghanaians now say they’re Christian, but a lot of them are just nominal. And of course, like we hear throughout Africa and much of the world, Islam is growing in the north and is aggressive. And so you might say, "Well, if two-thirds of the people say they're Christian, do you need Through the Bible?" And the answer is absolutely.
Steve Schwetz: Absolutely. Yeah. Here’s a letter of encouragement from a young mother. Her name’s Sissy, and she shared this with our team in Africa.
Sissy (Letter Reader/Female): I cannot go a day without this teaching because whenever I miss this program, it seems something precious has been taken away from me. Scriptures that are difficult to understand have been simplified and also communicated in the local language for easy understanding. God bless you for this program.
Greg: It’s so significant. And sometimes it’s easy for us in the English-speaking Western world to forget that there aren't the richness of biblical resources that we have access to. And so this is really significant what she said.
Steve Schwetz: Yeah. The other thing that's an encouragement is Sissy says here what she really summarizes, without knowing it, the entire philosophy of Through the Bible going into different languages. One: scriptures, some are difficult to understand; they're simplified and they're communicated in the local language. And that's what we're trying to do with Through the Bible.
Greg: I love it when the listeners feedback that we're hitting the center of the target by the grace of God. Now Bernard listens regularly and he tells us that living by God's Word and living in community has become really important to him. And here's what he said.
Bernard (Letter Reader/Male): I urge all of us to take solace in God’s Word and also praise and show gratitude to those who do good things for us. Some people are so ungrateful, and many have decided not to assist others. But the Bible admonishes us to be grateful even in difficult times by giving thanks to God. After hearing these sermons on Through the Bible, I attend to my neighbors more and enjoy praying together over the gifts God has given us.
Steve Schwetz: Such an encouraging letter. This is another one from Bright. Bright’s letter is familiar because it touches really on things that we hear a lot from our listeners in Ghana. Here’s what he said.
Bright (Letter Reader/Male): You taught me that faith is the ultimate thing that moves God to answer our prayers. It’s not about pastors or church elders, so I urge all believers to stop placing their faith in false prophets and greedy pastors as they are not messengers of God.
Greg: Yeah. And we want to be careful and gracious, but this is a big problem on that continent. The prosperity gospel, again from being there, they would have crusades and campaigns, and it was basically a big money grab. And even our own homegrown, if you will, US prosperity gospel preachers look at Africa as a whole as a huge opportunity and they’ve spent a significant amount of time there, frankly, taking a lot of money out of that country.
Steve Schwetz: I remember some time ago hearing a letter read, you might have read it or we might have read it together, that said something like, "My pastor used to stand up and tell me about all his financial needs, and now I’m listening to Through the Bible and I’m actually learning the Bible." And that’s a sad reality, but it’s why we’re there. You want to read this last one?
Greg: Yeah, it comes from Kaselli.
Kaselli (Letter Reader/Female): God through this program has brought healing to my soul. I went through some troubles which I do not want to publicly disclose, and this nearly ended my life. But as I got in touch with this program, I have been inspired to always cast my burden unto Jesus, which I did, and I am free from all bondages of the problem I went through. I pray for abundant resources to enable the program to stay on air forever.
Steve Schwetz: Well, and that’s a natural segue for us to say thank you to everybody that supports Through the Bible. If you support with your prayers, if you share with others, if you're able and God leads you to support financially, that person just thanked you because we're only able to stay on the air year after year after year because of the faithful support of God's people.
Greg: Yeah. And just to reiterate how faithful you have been as our listening folks and being a part of Through the Bible. We get financial reports every month and we just every month say, "Praise God, the Lord has been faithful and used the faithfulness of our listeners to give us the gas for the Bible bus to run around the world."
Steve Schwetz: Amen. And we do our best to buy the best price gas and be good stewards, but without you, we couldn't do it. So thank you. Greg, let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for Your faithfulness to us, the faithfulness of listeners, the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit in providing for our every need. I pray that You would bless the ministry as it goes out in Jesus’ name, amen. Now here's the Sunday Sermon on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I'd like to read some verses here in the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew to get us into the atmosphere of this conclusion of the discourse, beginning at verse 30 of the 24th chapter. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Now we have seen that our Lord in the Gospel of Matthew is answering two of the three questions which the disciples brought to Him. He answered the other one, but Matthew, for his own purpose, did not record that answer. We did note that it is in the Gospel of Luke and it fits into the purpose of the Gospel of Luke. But the two questions that we've seen here are: what is the sign of the end of the age? and what is the sign of the coming of Christ? Now we've been able to identify that particular period because the Lord Jesus identified it and said that the end of the age will be called the Great Tribulation period. And He said that you’ll know that you’re in it when you will see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Now very candidly, you and I are not looking for an abomination of desolation. That's not the hope of the church. But after the church is removed and the rapture takes place, the church is out of the world. Then may I say to you that this will be a sign to those that are then on the earth, that when they see the abomination of desolation, and they'll know that they're in the Great Tribulation period. Now, we saw last time that He gave the sign of His coming. He says that the sign of His coming is, first of all, His coming will be public. And it will be public in the sense that He’ll not be coming as He did before to Bethlehem. Before, when the wise men wanted to know where to find Him, they were told that "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah." That had to do with His first coming to the earth. But the next time, you won't need to go to Bethlehem. He compared it to the flashing of lightning—probably the most public thing that ever takes place is lightning. And you can certainly know when that's taking place. And when He comes, it'll be public. There'll be no such thing as somebody saying, "Well, He's over here," or "He's over there," because the whole world will know when He comes the second time. Now this is His coming to the earth to establish His kingdom upon the earth. Now when He takes the church out of the world, we're told the dead in Christ will be raised, those that are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Now there's a great argument about whether that's secret or not. I rather think it'll be secret. I always felt like Dr. George Gill was right when he used to say, he says it'll be so secret that they're going to be some churches that'll meet the next Sunday after the rapture and they won't miss a member. I believe that there'll be some like that. I’m sure they’ll be some like that. Because of the fact, I do not think it's going to make the impression upon the world that a great many people think that it's going to make when He takes the church out of the world. But His coming to this earth at the end of the Great Tribulation to establish His kingdom is going to make quite an impression because at that time He puts down all unrighteousness. And they're told, we saw last time, then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And we attempted to identify that sign as far as we know. And I would not want to be dogmatic about this. If you have a better guess than I do, why I'd certainly be willing to accept it. That this probably is the Shekinah glory. When the Lord came the first time, that Shekinah glory was not there. True, the star was over Bethlehem, but didn't apparently stay there very long. It disappeared. And the pictures that show Him with a halo around His head are just don't happen to be the way that He walked this earth by any means. He wasn't marked out like that. That Shekinah glory was left. And that, I think, is all that He did leave. He didn't leave His deity when He came to this earth. Why, He was God. But when He comes the next time, that Shekinah glory will be the sign. Not to the nation Israel, which was the only nation that ever had the visible presence of God. And I want to say the church has never had the visible presence of God, and the church never will in its existence. We walk by faith and not by sight. How we need to learn that. And may I say, it would keep some of you from running after these sensational folk today that are performing miracles. May I say to you, that is so-called. Because you would know that that which is genuine today is that which appeals to faith and not to sight at all. We got so many people that are looking for something, something they can fasten their eyes upon. Well, we walk today by faith and not by sight. Now, we are told here, He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now He’s going to send His angels. And I know now we’re not talking about the church because we’re told that when the church is taken out, that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with the shout, the voice of the archangel—somebody says, "Oh, there’s the archangel." No, it’s not. It’s His voice. May I say that the important thing at the rapture is He doesn't need a trio. He doesn't need two to help Him. He doesn't need someone there to blow a trumpet, and He doesn't need Gabriel there. I personally don't think Gabriel even has a trumpet. I’m sure he can't blow a trumpet. He's just not in the trumpet-blowing business at all. When our Lord calls His church out of this world, He’ll need no one to help Him. He’ll do it alone. When He was here before, and He raised the dead, He always did it by speaking to them. The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with the shout. And the voice of the archangel—His voice is like the voice of an archangel which denotes the majesty of it and the authority of it, and the sound of a trumpet. Well, somebody says there’s a trumpet there. No, no, there's not. If you turn over to Revelation 1:10, you will find out that John says that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He heard a voice like the sound of a trumpet. And he turned, and whose voice was it? It was the glorified Christ. His voice will be like the sound of a trumpet when He calls His own out of this earth. And they alone will hear, and they alone will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But now when He gathers His elect, and His elect here, I think, is the nation Israel—that 144,000 that were sealed to go through this period are at this time scattered throughout the world because they will have witnessed. They will have done in seven years what the church has not done in 1,900 years, and that is evangelize the world. They will have covered the entire world. Now He's going to gather them together. And they are brought together for the kingdom that is to be established, beginning in Jerusalem, for it is the capital. Now He speaks by giving a parable. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. Now I'm not going into a great deal of tedious detail here, but I think if you'd turn back in the Old Testament that you'd find two things. That the vine and the fig tree represent the nation Israel. Isaiah speaks of the vine; Jeremiah of the fig tree. And that the fig tree is a sign of the nation Israel. And I think now He's talking about the nation Israel. When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. And the thing about the fig tree is that it puts forth its leaves, as you know, early in the summertime. Now there are those that like to relate this to what is happening over there now. Now may I say that what's happening over there now, I think, is quite wonderful. But I do not think that it's the fulfillment of this at all. I think that you're going to see a great deal more that will take place when God begins to move with them than what you're seeing today. I think what you are seeing today reveals, as it's convinced so many, that here is a nation that's been out of business for 2,500 years that all of a sudden comes back into existence. And God said that's what's going to happen to it. And I do think that that is very impressive today. But using the slang expression, we haven't seen anything yet. I think that fulfillment of this, when that fig tree begins to bud, you're going to see some buds, a whole lot of buds, more than we're seeing today. Now will you notice. So likewise ye, when ye see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. That is what? His coming. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Now there's been two ways of interpreting that word generation. The genea—does it mean here the nation Israel? That this generation, that is the Jewish people, will not pass away till all these be fulfilled? Or does it mean the generation that's then living is going to see all of these things take place? And may I say, both of them are true. And I'm not sure but what the Lord had both in mind when He mentioned this. Now He enforces what He said with this: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And if you've noticed now, that this has been the second time that He has inserted a statement like this—that His word is important and that attention should be given to it. You remember when Paul's talking about the rapture? He says, "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord." And I think Paul means he had a special revelation on it. And I think that the Spirit of God means for us to pay particular attention when that sort of thing is said. Because you and I are living in a day when these things are ridiculed. And they're ridiculed in the church today. Many people do not believe these things that concern prophecy. They poo-poo them; they say that these things will never come to pass. You remember Peter said that these days would come, when they would say, "Where is the sign of His coming?" and they would ridicule this great truth of the Word of God. And so He's come forth to enforce this in this particular case and also relative to the rapture. But He says now, But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. The only thing that disturbs me when someone comes along and announces a date is that I know that that date I can't look for Him to come because He's coming at a time when they know not. And I've often wondered if it might not be the day after one of these days that some of these fellows predict. May I say that this is a business that we ought never to go into, is even to come so close as to say, as right now, I'm hearing voices that want to say something sensational. And they say, "He's going to come in our lifetime." I've heard that. How do you know? I'd like to have that verse. I'd love to have that scripture and that teaching from the Word of God. He's going to come in our lifetime? I don't know. He could, but I don't know it, and I don't think they know. And there are those that say, "Well, He is going to come now in this century." And I can't find where the century was to be singled out. And there all sorts of methods made. Now I won't be around for this, but some of you will. And when you get to it, you remember that that preacher down there at the Church of the Open Door way back there said this was going to happen when we get to 2,000 AD. My friend, there will be an epidemic then of date setters. And they'll tell you He's coming in 2,000. You say, "How do you know that?" Because 1,000 AD saw that same sort of thing. We need to recognize the fact that though you're looking for Him to come, we are to stay away from this business of date setting. And nothing will bring the study of prophecy into disrepute more than for anyone to attempt to set a date. And our Lord scored it for this, His coming to the earth, and also for His rapture, that no one knows. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Now will you notice: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Now what kind of days were the days of Noah? Well, we've seen that God looked down and He saw that all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And it was narrowed down now till there was just one man left, and that was this man Noah that was faithful to God, the only man. And it was said of him that he walked with God. And it's reduced to one individual. May I say to you, that means that this day of Noah was a terrible day. Lawlessness we're told, immorality. But wait just a minute. That's not what our Lord mentions. Listen to this: For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noe entered into the ark. Now what is wrong with eating and drinking? If you do too much of it, of course. But what's wrong with eating and drinking? There's nothing wrong with it. They're marrying and giving in marriage. Is there anything wrong with that? And of course, there's nothing wrong with marrying and giving in marriage. Well, what does our Lord mean when He says that in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage? What's wrong? I’ll tell you what's wrong. They were eating and drinking as if God did not exist. They said, "That old fellow out there, he says that there's going to be a flood. What nonsense. We know there's not going to be a flood." And they had marriages, and friends, God was left out of them. It's very much like today. People are living as if God does not exist. I'm of the opinion that a great many people that go to church on Sunday, and they come generally Sunday morning—you never see them any other time. I'm confident from one Sunday morning to another Sunday morning, God's not in their thinking. He doesn't enter into their thinking. He doesn't enter into their home. He's not deared into their lives at all. There's no reality whatsoever. And that's the way that it was in the days of Noah. Men were marrying and giving in marrying—nothing wrong with it other than God was left out. They were doing these things as if God did not exist and as if they'd be here forever. And they were right in the presence of the flood. I do not know this, but a very wonderful Bible teacher—and we were riding in the car going to Chicago—and he reached over and tapped me on the knee. He said, "You know, McGee, you and I have been talking on prophecy this week. But if you and I really knew how close we are to the rapture, you know we may be frightened. That it may be closer than we dream it is." I wonder if we are not living today as if the things just going to continue forever as it is right now, and there'll be no change in it. How much does God enter into your daily life? Now, as I said this morning, the church work is not done inside the walls of this church. It's what takes place outside. What'll take place Monday? It's what'll take place on Tuesday? It's what'll take place on Wednesday? How much of the Word of God goes out from you during the week? Or when you put on your work clothes in the morning, it's goodbye God, we'll see you next Sunday morning—hope you'll be around. It's if that attitude—that's the way it was in the days of Noah. Godless days. And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Now will you note: Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Now there's somebody going to say, "Well, finally, preacher, you painted yourself into a corner. You've been saying that the rapture is not in the Olivet Discourse, and here it is. There's two in the field, one taken, one left. And that's not rapture? What is it? And here two at the mill grinding, one taken and one left. If that's not rapture, what is it?" Well, it's not rapture. It's altogether something different than rapture. Now what's the pattern that we have here? The days of Noah. The godless crowd, they knew not until the flood came and took them all away. Who was really raptured at the time of the flood? Noah? No, he was left here. He went on. Who was taken away? This generation that married and were given in marriage; they ate and drank as if God didn't exist. They are the ones that were taken away. And that's the way it'll be when He comes again. Who is it that will be taken away? They'll be taken away in judgment as they were in the days of Noah. Those that are left are left to enter into the kingdom. If you’d keep on in this discourse, you’ll find out that He’ll say, "Blessed are ye of my Father, enter into the kingdom." And then He says to the other, "Cursed are you and you’ll enter into outer darkness." So that may I say that I don't think I painted myself into a corner. This is not rapture. We're talking now about the days of Noah. And when those were taken away, they were taken away in judgment. And that's the way it'll be in that day. This is not the rapture, where they're taken out of the world to meet the Lord in the air and so shall they ever be with the Lord. That's not the picture that you have here at all, but altogether different. Now will you notice. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. I do not know whether you detected in the text or not, but there is the note of anxiety, there is the note of almost fearfulness. And it's like this: But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. May I say to you, it's like watching for a thief. Now is that the way the church is to watch for the Lord to come? No, the language is just absolutely the opposite. You remember Paul said to the Thessalonians, "How ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." It's an altogether different word, by the way. And then he goes on in the 5th chapter to say that the Lord is coming to this earth like a thief in the night. But he says you're not the children of the night. And He will not come to you as a thief. Do you think He's coming to the church as a thief? You don't welcome the thief. The church is looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. It's not looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the thief. Now when you left home tonight, did you leave a note on the back door saying, "Mr. Thief, I have left the door unlocked, you will find the family silver in the second drawer to the left." Did you put a note like that? I’m sure you didn't. I’m of the opinion that you locked everything up. You probably double-locked in these days everything to keep the thief out. You don't want the thief to come in. And when the Lord comes to the earth to establish His kingdom, do you think the world will want Him? Would you think that tonight this group of communists that have met in Moscow, do you think that they made any or plans for the Lord to come and take over? I don't think so. And I do not believe that in this country of ours today, they have very much room for Him in Washington. I don't think they have any. And I'm not talking politics because it doesn't make any difference what party that you have in. They’re not looking for Him. And if He came tonight, He'd be a thief breaking in. But He doesn't come that way. And watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Watch. And I detect in that the thing that the Old Testament prophet talked about. He says in that day they're going to say in the morning, "Would God it were night," and at night they'll say, "Would God it were morning." What's the difficulty? Fear and dread are in their hearts. As they look about them and they're watching in fear. The church is to wait for Him to come. I got interested in this several years ago, in fact, many years ago now. And I found out that back in the Old Testament alone, there are 17 different words that indicate watching and waiting. And of course, we have only really the one word to translate "watch." And somebody says, "Well, I just don't see how that there could be that many." Well, may I illustrate? I think there can be several ways of watching. Here is a man. It's the fall of the year, the deer season opens. And his neighbor and he have been going deer hunting up here in Utah every fall for about 10 years. And so they get their gear together. They get in their camper, and they start out the day before. And they drive up to their familiar spot and they camp that night to be ready the next morning when the season open. And so the next morning before it's daylight, they crawl up to that accustomed spot. One of them takes his place at that hogback right where they're deer tracks, where he's been every year. He got his deer there one time—that was 10 years ago, he hadn't had one since—but he goes right back to that spot to wait because he's sure another deer is going to come over there one of these days. So he sits down on a log that is there and he begins to watch. He hears a noise over in the brush, and he raises his gun. It's another hunter. And so he doesn't shoot him this time—he may get him next time, but he don't get him this time. So he's watching. And that's one way of watching, by the way. But suppose you meet that man a month later down here at 6th and Broadway. And you see him standing on the corner and he looks over there when the light changes—when the light changes, oh, he looks over here, and then he looks down the street. And there he is watching again. And you wonder what in the world he's watching for now. You go up to him, says, "Waiting for someone?" Oh, he said, "Yes, my wife is 30 minutes late. She went down there to Bullocks and she was to be here 30 minutes ago." But he's watching for his wife. And that's different than watching for the deer to come. Now let’s move up now two or three more months, and you go out to the hospital. And you see him and his wife now sitting by the bedside and there is their little boy that's in the bed. The doctor says about midnight the crisis will come. They're sitting there watching. Now that's different than any kind of watching that he did up yonder watching for a deer. That's different than waiting on the corner for his wife. It's a different way of watching. May I say to you, in that day and our Lord makes it very clear here that it's like watching for a thief in that day. It will be a note of urgency and a note of fear and a note of anxiety. That's the way they watch. But for the child of God today, it's looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. And may I say that I believe that if we really hold this hope, that it will do quite a few things for our Christian lives. The first thing is it's going to put us on our toes where the church is not tonight. Now one of the things that's said to the church again and again is "Awake, awake! You're not children of the night. Don't let Him come like a thief." You are to be awake, you're to be alert. And I think that every Christian in this day in which we're living ought to be on his toes for the Lord. Honestly, this put reality in it. Suppose He had come tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. Where would He find you and what would you be doing? Suppose He came tomorrow night at 10 o'clock. Where would He find you and what would you be doing? You see what I mean? May I say to you that looking for Him to come is not some little pious expression. But it's a life that enters into every moment. I remember hearing the late Dr. Gerard Lowe, who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Memphis years ago. He was telling about he had an officer in his church, an elder, who played golf with him—he was a lawyer. And every Monday, he and the lawyer went out to play golf. And he called the lawyer and asked him was he going to be able to go out this particular Monday? And so he said yes, he would, but he said, "I have a client coming in noon. You come on down to my office and just wait, and my secretary will be gone but you just come on in and wait. And we'll go play golf as soon as I get through." So Dr. Lowe told me, says, "I went on down, I went up and sat down in the office to wait for him. And I heard him in there talking. Said in a few minutes, said he came out with the client and he introduced him." And when he saw me, Dr. Lowe said he saw that we were going to play golf and he said, "Well, I'm sorry"—calling the lawyer by his first name, Bill or Jake—said, "I’m sorry I detained you." And he said, "Oh, that's all right. Said we spend the rest of the afternoon out playing." And then this man who was the client said to the lawyer, said, "Look, said I used to see you out at the club on Sunday afternoon playing golf. Said now why is it I haven't seen you out there recently?" "Oh," he said, "this preacher’s responsible for it." And Dr. Lowe told me, says, "I just don't like for a preacher to be made responsible for things like that. And so I immediately spoke up because I wasn't responsible, and I said, 'Look here, I never preached about playing golf on Sunday in my life. And I never said anything to you about that.' He laughed. He said, 'That's right, he never did. But he's responsible.'" And this man says, "Then how is he responsible?" "Well," he said, "I’ll tell you." Said, "You know, I never knew the Lord was going to come back one of these days and He might come anytime." And he said, "This is the first preacher that ever told me that." And he said, "You know, I began to look for Him. And I am looking for Him." And he says, "One Sunday I was out there playing golf. Now," he says, "I don't think it's wrong to play golf on Sunday, I still don't. But said you know I got to thinking about if the Lord came that Sunday afternoon, I'd be a little embarrassed. And I felt like maybe I better be doing something else." And he says, "For that reason, I gave it up." Now don't you go out of here and say that the preacher at the Church of the Open Door said playing golf on Sunday's wrong, because I didn't say that. I just said that one man, a layman, came under conviction when he really started looking for the Lord. You don't have to preach against particular things if people really begin to look for the Lord to come, my friend. That'll take care of itself because then the man doesn't need a watchdog to go with him. He doesn't need the FBI to check up on him. The Lord is watching him all the time and he's watching for the Lord to come. And it makes a lot of difference in your life, my beloved, when it becomes a reality and not just a doctrine. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father, we truly thank Thee for Thy Word and we thank Thee for this wonderful hope Thou hast given to us. A hope that Thou hast called a purifying hope. And we believe that it will shape our lives. We believe that it will cause us maybe to be doing things that are more profitable than some of the things that we are doing. And we recognize it's not even a question of right and wrong; it's a question of pleasing the Savior. Before whom we shall appear someday and give an account of ourselves to Him for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account of every moment of the day that we spend as a child of God down here. We pray therefore that we'll be able to sit down with Him and we'll be able to look at the record and have a record that will be able to stand the white light of His presence. May it indeed affect our lives, for we pray in His name, amen.
Steve Schwetz: Dr. McGee has more to say from Matthew this week on the daily Through the Bible program. You can listen on our app, at ttb.org, or call 1-800-65-BIBLE if we can help you find a station that’s near you. And when you’re in touch, be sure to tell us how you catch the Bible Bus. Do you use our app? Maybe your favorite local radio station, is it Alexa or maybe even YouTube? There’s so many different ways to listen. We really do use that information to make good ministry decisions about where we need to allocate resources. So thanks for letting us know. I’m Steve Schwetz, praying that we’ll live each day ready for our Savior’s return. See you here next time.
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