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The Peril of Missing Eternal Riches 0:00 Welcome to this pray dot com series from w publishing. In this episode, doctor David Jeremiah outlines the open invitation from Jesus we all have. If you enjoy this series, you can go deeper in doctor0:12 Jeremiah's New York Times best selling book, The Great Disappearance.0:16 Chapter 30, the final invitation. Belinda Luscombe recalled the time she lost a large sum of money by forgetting to claim stock0:27 options. 1 day, she wrote, I had 70000 dollars waiting to be claimed. And then about a month later, when I realized I had forgotten to click on the exercise trade button on my0:39 computer, poof, the opportunity was gone. Belinda's first panic thought was how she could tell her husband about her mistake. Then the weight of her0:50 situation began to fully press down. In her words, it's hard to describe the feeling exactly. I imagine you could replicate the effects by lying on the ground and having a friend drop a bowling ball1:02 on your abdomen from atop a stepladder. There's a little shock, some confusion, pain, nausea, and a profound wish that this had happened to somebody else. For a while, it1:14 hurts to breathe. I had made something, she wrote. It was there. But through sheer incompetence, it was gone, and it was all my fault.1:27 I hope you never experienced the gut wrenching regret of losing tens of thousands of dollars from carelessness, but that pales in comparison to the soul shattering terror of missing your opportunity1:39 to claim the eternal riches offered by Christ. We've now spent 29 chapters exploring the reality of the rapture. A moment is coming when our world will change in the1:51 twinkling of an eye. The lord Jesus will appear in the clouds and gather his people to himself. First, those who've died in him and then those who are fortunate enough to witness his return2:02 in the sky. As we've seen, that moment will mark the beginning of the end for this phase of human history. Once the rapture occurs, our world will experience a 7 year2:14 countdown called the tribulation that will end with the end, the battle of Armageddon. Any person who has not yet accepted God's free gift of salvation at that point2:26 will run out of time. The option will be closed. If we procrastinate until the opportunity is gone, it will be all our fault. The2:38 Bible ends with a final warning, a last invitation to Christ. You'll find it on the last page of the last book of the Bible. Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires,2:50 let him take the water of life freely, Revelation 22 17. Those may be the most important words you'll ever read. Let me show you why.3:04 Your invitation is ready. Who has the option to accept the riches of salvation through Christ? Anyone. Everyone. And, yes, that certainly includes you.3:16 As we saw in chapter 12, heaven is restricted to those people who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, but there are no restrictions when it comes to responding to that gospel. In my3:28 decades as a servant of Jesus, I've had the privilege of sharing the gospel with thousands of people, many of them face to face. Often, that message is received with joy, with eyes that brighten and lips that3:40 twitch upward into a smile of joy. Sometimes, though, the person hearing the gospel lowers their head. Their eyes go to the floor, and they sigh with such weight and such sadness that3:52 it breaks my heart every time. Even when they don't say the words out loud, I know exactly what they're thinking. It's not for me. If you only knew what I've done, if you only knew4:04 what was done to me, if you only knew what I'm capable of, I don't qualify. No. None of us qualify. And that's the point. That's the beauty4:16 of the gospel. You don't have to be perfect to qualify for salvation. You don't have to be above average or ahead of the curve to pass through the gates of heaven more good things than bad things on your ledger.4:28 You don't have to be good or pure or nice, nor do you have to be a certain age or a certain color or live in a certain place. If you want to know God, if you want to4:40 experience his love and grace, and if you want to enjoy fellowship with him for all eternity, all you have to be is thirsty. Remember the words of4:52 Jesus's last invitation. Let the 1 who is thirsty come, and let the 1 who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22 17,Embracing the Free Gift of Living Water 5:04 NIV. 2 bible translations say, whoever desires, let him come. Richard Baxter once wrote about the wonder of that word. I thank5:16 god, he said, for the word whosoever. If God had said that there was mercy for Richard Baxter, I am so vile a sinner that I would have thought he meant some other Richard Baxter. But5:28 when he says, whosoever, I know that it includes me, the worst of all Richard Baxters. I know whoever includes me. David Jeremiah5:40 desires, so let him come. I've tasted of that living water, which is why I feel such eager anticipation for everything that is yet to come. Whether my journey takes me through the doorway5:52 of death or through the thrill of the rapture, I know I will be with Christ. Do you know? Have you tasted? If your answer is no, it's not too late,6:04 but time is short. Your response is required. As I said, there are no restrictions around the offer of salvation, but the gospel does require6:16 something of everyone in need of living water. Verse 17 says, let him take the water of life freely. The only thing a thirsty person has to do is reach out and take6:28 the water. It's available to all, but we must make the choice to drink. You must make that choice. Is it really that easy? We feel there must be6:40 something significant we have to say. There must be something more we have to do. We think there must be some level of maturity or goodness we have to attain, some kind of schooling or education we have to undergo.6:52 No. Just come and drink. That's not a form of good works. It's just God's goodness and his grace. Reaching out and receiving a gift doesn't7:04 mean I did anything to earn the gift. The gift is offered freely. That's what makes it a gift. The response of the thirsty person is simply to take that, which is offered7:16 freely by grace. If there was anything you could do to help yourself get saved even a little bit, do you think God in heaven would have sent Jesus Christ to this earth to die on the cross for your sin?7:28 If there was any human way you could merit salvation or recommend yourself to God, Do you think he would have paid the high price he did by giving his own son as a sacrifice?7:40 God sent Jesus Christ into this world because there is not a single thing any of us can do to save ourselves, nothing, except to take the living water freely offered to us.7:52 We use various terms to refer to this process, belief, trust, commitment, but it means the same as taking the living water and drinking deeply. The prophet8:04 Isaiah said, is anyone thirsty? Come and drink. Even if you have no money, come take your choice of wine or milk. It's all free. Why8:16 spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.8:28 55 1 and 2 n l t. The apostle John borrowed from Isaiah's words to craft the final invitation of the bible. Whoever desires, let him take8:40 the water of life freely. Don't neglect to exercise your option, for this is truly the Bible's last word on the subject. The rapture is real. Right now,8:52 it is 1 day nearer than yesterday, 1 breath closer than your last exhalation. There is a moment in the future when all options will be removed and all fates sealed.9:04 We have to pray sincerely in a definite act of faith. Dear lord, I confess my sins. I'm so thirsty on the inside of my life, and I now receive9:16 Jesus Christ, the living water. Come into my life and help me live for you from this day forth. Presbyterian evangelist Benjamin Mills told of a friend of his,9:28 a pastor, who was preaching 1 night in his church. He invited people to come and kneel at the front of the room if they wanted to receive Christ as savior. Several did so, and the pastor started to kneel and9:40 pray with them. But suddenly, he was impressed to stand up and say he thought there was at least 1 more person who needed to come. Instantly, a young lady rose from the back seat and9:52 hurried forward, kneeling with the others and giving herself to Christ. 2 weeks later, this woman suffered a sudden fatal illness. On her deathbed, she said to the pastor,10:04 I shall be glad through all eternity that you gave that last invitation that led me to Christ. Oh, you'll be thankful through all eternity that Jesus has given you 1 last invitation.10:16 I'm going to ask you as if I were sitting there beside you. Have you taken the living water that God offers in the person of Christ? The Bible says, whoever calls on the name10:28 of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10 13. Let whoever be you.In this video 0:00 The Peril of Missing Eternal Riches5:02 Embracing the Free Gift of Living Water
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