The Time is At Hand (June 2, 2024)

The speaker talks about the urgency of the time, emphasizing the need to be ready for Christ's return or for our own departure. They reflect on the recent loss of three people they knew, highlighting the importance of gratitude and giving thanks to God. They encourage listeners to focus on praising God and shifting their perspective, even in difficult circumstances. The speaker emphasizes the need to prepare for death and to fear God, seeking wisdom and giving Him glory. They remind listeners that all things work together for good and encourage them to look to Jesus as the author and finisher of their faith. In Revelation 1 and 3, it is written, blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of prophecy, and keep the things, keep the things, keep the things, keep the things which are written in it, for the time is at hand. Today is one of those days that Elder Bobby's constant reminder on Wednesday nights as we have been walking through the book of Revelation, that it is ever so true family, that the time is at hand, the time is dear. Hallelujah. And whether or not the time is at hand because he's soon to return, or the time is at hand because he's hastening our departure to be with him, as we leave this body and to be in his presence, the time is at hand. Last night I went to bed, and as I went to bed I was simply awed by the fact that I have never experienced a time in my life that I actually personally knew three different people who were all simultaneously in hospice in Gainesville, Florida, or anywhere else. And last night as I went to bed, you know, my aunt, Mother Barbara McKnight, who's in her 80s I would suspect, in hospice, and having Reverend Marcus Boston Sr., who's probably in his 90s, in hospice, and then having our sister Barbara Wilbur Smith, who I've known since kindergarten, me and her brother Donnie being best buddy pals when we were in elementary school. And then to wake up this morning, and to see multiple texts, and to find out that Sister Barbara Smith transitioned last night, and being that, of the three people that I know, she's the younger of the three, as she was about 60 years old. And it reminded me that, family, that the time is at hand, and the time is now where we need to, if we're not, if we're not, if we're not, we need to get ready. We need to be ready, and we need to stay ready by yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit, giving ourselves up so we can be at that intersection between the Word and the Word, between common sense and the Holy Ghost, and to just live as best we can in accordance with God's perfect will. That's the goal. We're going to miss the mark, I know, but our game plan, our aim is to just be in tune with doing God's perfect will. I'm not talking about a religious mindset. I'm not talking about how often we can go to church, and that's part of it. Not how often we read our Bible, engage in praise and worship, but all of that's part of it, too. But the main goal is not to be a part of a religious mindset, or a traditional mindset, a legalistic mindset, but just to live freely, because where the Spirit of the Lord, there's liberty, but to live freely, to do God's perfect will. Each and every moment that we have, we need to make sure that that moment is filled with gratitude. Gratitude, gratitude, and every time that we are given an opportunity to respond to somebody's question, hallelujah, the response should be filled with the gratitude in knowing that God woke us up this morning. We were clothed, hallelujah, and in our right mind, having full activity and use of our limbs, there's so much that we can be grateful for. And I can hear Fishers Senior talking about, while the blood is still running warm in your veins, hallelujah, there's so much we can thank God for each and every moment that we are blessed with, that the Father entrusts us with, should be filled with a sense of joy and thankfulness, hallelujah. Make me to hear, that's what the psalmist said, make me to hear joy and gladness. There should be joy and gladness, that God the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, has blessed us to be better, hallelujah, and not bitter. He's given us riches, he's given us prosperity to enjoy. We got so much to be grateful for. The word of mine says that in all things we ought to give thanks. Certainly this morning we want to give thanks unto the Father. We want to lean in to persevere, hallelujah, put our shoulder into it, regardless if the circumstances are positive or not, and just give God thanks. It's amazing when we begin to thank the Lord, how there comes a clarity of mind, a peace of mind that passes all understanding. Just give him thanks. And we give him thanks not because we have to. We give him thanks because we want to, hallelujah. It's in us to do it, hallelujah, because a cup runs over with his grace, with his mercy that endures forever. This morning, if there's something that we can put away, if there's something that we can lay aside as a weight that so easily besets us, if there's something we could just cast aside and cast it so far away that we can't easily go back to it, it's the weight of unthankfulness. Sometimes we're just unthankful. Sometimes we have allowed the circumstances to make us bitter, and it happens. We're human. I'm just trying to call us to go further, hallelujah, in the name of the Lord. And there is, there's often so many occasions that we can so easily complain about what has been done to us, what has not been given unto us, how this person or that person made us feel, and how they spoke to us. And it's okay to be angry, hallelujah. We have emotions. We have our ups and downs. The Bible says, be angry and sin not. So I'm not saying don't be angry. I'm just saying in your anger, hallelujah, dear thanks. Begin to praise God, hallelujah, for what he's doing, and know that even in the midst of that stuff, hallelujah, that God is good all the time, and all the time. God is good. In the midst of the tornadoes, as difficult as it is, dear thanks, not for it but in it, instead of focusing on what we want. We need to praise God more and more for who we have, for who we have, for who we have, and also for what we have. Thank God we can go through the tornadoes of life, and we might see that some of our stuff has been taken. But thank God we're still here. Thank God our family is still here. The time is at hand, and today many may be experiencing a brand new day, a new day without a loved one, a new day without a daughter, without a son, without a sister, without a brother, without a mother, without a father, without a friend. But instead of focusing on that, somehow we have to shift. Hallelujah, we've got to shift. There has to be a paradigm shift that we're not conformed to the circumstances, but transformed by the renewing of our minds that is charged with thankfulness. And we begin to pray. Hallelujah. We pray. We pray for our family. We pray for our friends, and especially this morning we pray for those who have just experienced that new reality of having lost a loved one. And because we know even so clearly now, again, as Elder Bobby has been preaching to us, the time is at hand. It is difficult for us to really want to appreciate, plan for, but the reality is that for many death is not optional. It's appointed to man once to die, and then the judgment. And yes, this morning while we have this opportunity to gather on this call, and while we are breathing, while the blood is still running warm in our veins, while we are, hallelujah, living and we're clothed and in our right minds, this is a time that we begin to prepare for the obvious. Let's take advantage of the time that we have to get prepared to meet the Lord. And this morning, as we're preparing ourselves to meet Him, and hopefully we can just meet Him in the air, hallelujah, I pray for the rapture to come. But this morning, we prepare and fare by giving God the glory. Give Him the glory because the beginning of wisdom is to fear God. And if we're going to wisely prepare ourselves for what's coming down the pike, we have to do so with wisdom. Wisdom builds her house. And with the Word, and with the wind comes wisdom. And with that wisdom comes praise and thanks, hallelujah. And so we can praise Him and we can thank Him, even as we consider what is to come. That may not be the most favorable circumstances, but it's the circumstances that we see that Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith, and recognize that love is a process and a product. And as we're going through the process, and as we're waiting on the product, we can praise Him. We can say thank you, Jesus. We can glorify Him. We can declare that His mercy endures forever. This morning, let's continue to praise Him, regardless of what we think in the moment. Because in our minds, we can easily look at a situation or circumstance and we can describe it as being unfavorable, but the Word comes. And the Word comes with this phrase that, and we know, hallelujah. We know that all things, all things, all things are working together for the good to them that love God, who are recalled according to His purpose. Between hallelujah, the lemon, hallelujah, we go through the process, and then we get to the lemonade, and between the lemon and the lemonade, the Word and the wind comes to revive us, to say once again, and we know. We know that all things, and that knowing is not, we knew it before the lemonade, we know it prophetically, hallelujah, that even when it ain't seen yet, because we know that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. So, between what He told us, hallelujah, and what He shows us, hallelujah, as a praise. And in the midst of what He told us and what He showed us, we hold to the things which are written. For the time is at hand, and we praise Him, and we praise Him, and we look to Jesus as the author and the finisher of our faith. Let's don't look at the problem, let's look at the author. Don't look at the so-called authority, because the so-called authorities, they ain't got no power anyway, because they got to be connected with the author. Let us look to the author and the finisher of our faith. Let's pray about the problem, hallelujah, that's okay, but let's praise Him, hallelujah, that even in the midst of the problem, He's still working things out for our good, hallelujah. Let's pray about the problems on our jobs. Praise Him for the people who are causing the problems on our jobs, hallelujah, and praise Him for the fact that we got a job. That's what we need to really give God the praise. We're complaining about the car this, and the car that. I got to get this done to the car, and that done. Just praise Him for the car. Don't know what you're going to wear tomorrow, this old and that old, but thank God that you got a place where you can go to sleep. Thank God you got a closet. Thank God that you got clothes in the closet. Just give God praise. We're so wired to be, if you will, pessimistic, but this morning, as we consider that the time is at hand, stop complaining, stop complaining, and start praising, and pray to Him because not only are we living, y'all, we actually are living our best lives. Once we have yielded to the Holy Spirit, when we're at this intersection between the Word and the wind, and we can't go wrong, we're living our best lives because Christ came to give us life, and life more abundantly. We're making our best decisions right now, not only to be blessed to be, but to be a conduit of the blessings. This morning, as we consider that the time is at hand, we need to reflect upon that, should the Lord delay His coming. Once again, that the things that we're going to have to do, and things that we're going to have to prepare for. I just thank God this morning that He is blessing us, and as He's blessing us, I believe He wants us to be filled with His joy. And so, family, this morning, let us consider that the time is at hand, and let us choose to be filled with His joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. And may that joy, may it become so full within us, and so complete within us, that we are moved not just from joy, but to unspeakable joy. Hallelujah! Unspeakable joy. We may not in the moment be able to fully describe it. Hallelujah! But it comes to us in a way. Hallelujah! And it's, mmm, it may be just that, mmm, thank you, Jesus. Maybe we can't get the words out, but the expression of the joy is there. We may be raising our hands upward and outward, but in our, mmm, in our reflection, in our smile, in our eyes, in our speech, let there be joy. It doesn't happen all the time, but if we can just give ourselves, hallelujah, to becoming a willing vessel to allow His joy to enter into our hearts, we will see ourselves resonating and expressing gratitude and thankfulness in everything we need to give thanks, in everything we need to reflect that God is good all the time. And all the time, God is good. We can set our minds to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, knowing that the time is at hand. The hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Amen. God bless.