I don’t believe Jesus is going to tarry much longer, but should He tarry, what do we tell the generations?  How about this story of one generation speaking to the next.  The Lord has chosen to tarry, and we’re on the threshold of the trumpet sounding and the man of sin being introduced.  After that introduction, you can’t buy or sell without this mark.  Aren’t you thankful that God’s coming to get His church before that hour?  But it didn’t say that we’re going to just waltz through this last day without having been hated, without suffering.  All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  “Pastor, I’ve never really been persecuted.”  Well, maybe you have and you didn’t realize it.  That’s possible.  You might have the outlook on life, “Things are so bad I wouldn’t know it if I was persecuted.”  Well, all that live godly in Christ Jesus should have somebody that’s upset with them over the gospel.  Have you?

How offensive are we?  Is there enough light in our lives that those people we work with can change their course, change their direction and know that you’re the man to talk to there, if they want eternal life?  Are you that light?  Well, you can’t hide it under a bushel and be that man.  “Well, I’m just the guy that’s got my head down, and I’m living righteously and everybody’s seeing my righteous living.”  What you received in secret, shout it from the housetops, praise God!  "Once I was dead, once I was blind, once I was cast away.  I had no hope.  Then I heard the gospel, praise God."  There are a lot of people out there right now whose hearts are failing them for fear, who are walking in darkness, who have no hope, and are without God in this dark, damnable world that we’re living in right now.

I’ll never forget when this guy, John, came up, the first time I ever met him. He came up to me and said, “Can I tell you my testimony?  I was going to kill myself, and I turned my radio on, and I heard this voice, saying, ‘Well, praise the Lord, friends, this is Star Scott, coming to you on the Sword of the Spirit broadcast. We’re here to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, our Father.’”  He said, “I heard that and I listened.”  He gave his life to the Lord, and God had spared him and did a great work for him.

I was just thinking about that song, “Thank You.”  Thank you for giving to the Lord.  Thank you for giving up your own time and the comfort zone and whatever else it might be that we choose ourselves and then try to justify it, by “a man’s got to eat, can’t lose my job, we’ve got to eat.”  Can I go back to that testimony?  “Did you know that grandpa used to have a job working for this big company?  He was making a lot of money.  We would have inherited a lot of money, but he offended people at his work because he chose Jesus.  Here’s what he left us (amen?), a testimony, “as for me and my house, we’ll serve the Lord,” praise God.  That’s what this memorial means.  That’s why we do this today.  That’s why God just answered our prayer and supernaturally met our need.  Yes, it’s only sufficient for the day, but grandpa left us a great heritage, that “God would never leave us nor forsake us and that His ears are open to the cry of the righteous, praise God.”  That’s not a bad legacy.