Welcome to today’s sermon review. The pastor, today, dwelled upon Matthew 13: 3, where he examined the sower who sowed NOT different kinds of seeds but only ONE seed which is the word of God. This seed (the word of God) fell upon different types of heart; stony heart, etc.
TEXT: Joel 2:2:28, Matt. 13: 3, 37, Matt. 24: 3, Matt. 25: 1, Matt. 13: 4, Galatians 5: 16-20, 2 Thess. 2 : 5, Rev. 22: 12
You are admonished to do away with anything that will make you miss the rapture. Missing the rapture was illustrated with gaining admission into the university and along the line expelled for committing certain offences. No man in his right sense would wish to be expelled from the university without getting a certificate. Therefore, if you must not miss the rapture, then you must be willing to run the race of christianity with the aim of getting a reward. If anyone, after hearing the word of God, will not go in the rapture, there is no such ill-luck that could be more compared to it not even that of being expelled from university.
A rapture candidate, like the disciples in Matthew 24: 3, will always be eager to know the signs of the coming of the Lord and will also with these signs, wait diligently for the coming of the Lord.
What will make you miss the rapture?
Despite the so great a love that God has shown to you, the greatest thing that can make you miss the rapture is the sin that you keep committing ignorantly. You will not know that the sin you’re committing is a sin because the word of God is not falling on a good ground in your heart. The word of God is the only one that can check your excesses and weaknesses, that’s why it must always meet with faith in your heart.
A man that ears the word of God and does not understand it will lose the ones he has before (Matt. 13: 19) because the word of God falls on his stony heart. And a stony heart cannot absorb the word of God. A heart that has no root won’t be able to absorb the word of God and as such, when tribulation comes, he would be offended and fall off; such a person will miss the rapture. But a good ground is a heart that hears the word of God, understands it and bears fruits.
Because the spirit and the flesh are always at war, if you’re not in the spirit (if the word of God isn’t in you), your heart will not bear fruits of the spirit (patience, long-suffering, endurance, faith, etc.) but will fulfil the lust of the flesh (adultery, fornication, stealing, witchcraft, etc.).
They took their lamps but took no oil with them.
The foolish virgins in the Bible took their lamps but had no extra oil. That is the reason you can see dreams, prophesy and see visions but still miss rapture. You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit (extra oil) which will carry you through this journey of faith. The Holy Spirit will also help you not to miss rapture. It is important that you keep refilling the Holy Spirit in you so that you can run the Christian race successfully. Don’t rely on the first day you became born again. You need to keep growing.
Both the foolish and the wise virgins had the grace of God with them. There were five wise virgins and five foolish virgins – five represents grace. The wise and foolish virgins both had the grace of God in abundance in their lives but the foolish virgin didn’t do an extra work. They couldn’t rekindle the fire of God in their hearts, they relied upon grace while the wise virgins had extra oil (Holy Spirit) in them.
Deceitfulness of riches
An anxious man can do anything to make money. And it’s impossible to have everything you want in this world – the more you have, the more you will want to have. Gaining the whole world will separate you from the Holy Spirit. A heart that is filled with the anxiety of this life is a heart of thorn; such heart will never see the sign of the coming of the Lord, will not be able to watch for the Lord’s coming and will definitely miss rapture.
Therefore, brethren, don’t allow the cares of life to occupy your heart because if you can’t make rapture in a time of grace like this, it might be impossible for you to make it during the great tribulation when the Anti-Christ shall have come.
May God rekindle his fire in your hearts.
Shalom! Kindly follow the sermon video here