One Day Too Late
(Don’t wait too late to get saved!) Updated January 2016
Luke 14:16-24
NOTE TO SERMON CENTRAL MEMBERS AND GUESTS…. This is a sermon that has been adapted from a great sermon preached by Eddie Champion. I don’t know much about him or even if he is still living, I can just tell you that I once received a cassette tape with this sermon on it. From what I can remember this message was copied from tape to tape to tape and passed out all over to servicemen, sailors, and to anyone who needed to get saved. (AND MANY DID GET SAVED) That has been many years ago, but I recently recovered a small portion of Eddie Champion’s message. Although I have adapted in a number of places, much of Eddie’s own words remain intact. I have preached variations of this powerful truth many times since entering the ministry.
Eddie said that, “A good sermon is like a good Gospel Song, you can sing it once or sing it a thousand times as long as God is in it.” I pray that this will touch many lives in the days to come as well.
If you can tell me anything about Eddie Champion, or his ministry, I would love to know more. My e-mail is brianbyers@live.com or ww2k@live.com
Introduction
This Title of this message is “one day too late!” It is a message of urgency. It is a message of time.
Because You see.. When we read the bible and preach it, we find
That you can wait too late to get saved!
This thing of going to church is more than to satisfy your part in trying to do something that God is pleased with.
People come to church for many many reasons, but salvation is not going to church. salvation , is a life and death matter , it’s a matter of heaven or hell!
it’s a matter of eternity! and it transcends anything or any reason why anyone would come to church.
One of the main thrusts of the ministry is to preach the gospel in hopes that people would get saved.
In Luke 13:22 it says that, “Jesus went through the towns and the villages teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “lord, are only a few people going to be saved.?” then he said to them “ make every effort to enter the narrow door, because many , I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to.
There will come a time when some will seek to enter in and not me able to!! You may say now Pastor Brian is that scripture? Is that Bible? oh ya, you just stick with me and we’ll see it.
“Once the master of the house gets up and closes the door, you’ll stand outside knocking and pleading, sir open the door for us. But “He will answer,” I don’t know you or where you come from.
Turn if you will to Luke 14:16…
Now Jesus is going to a great dinner and he is at the house of one of the Pharisees , and of the chief Pharisees.
The Pharisees were ultra conservative, ultra religious people. They were church people!! You could not look at a Pharisees and call him a modernist. Or a radical,.. Because they just were not that way. They were ultra and extra religious.
Jesus is seated at the dinner table of the Pharisees, and they begin to find fault with Jesus . They are finding fault because Jesus sees a man that is sick with a disease called dropsy and He heals him and immediately the Pharisees become angry!!
They don’t say anything to Jesus but Jesus reads their hearts. He knows what ‘s in our hearts, and he knows what’s in your heart today.
Jesus then tells them this story which we are about to read . And He tells them this story because they are religious ,....... but even though they are religious they are not ready for heaven!!
They are religious but they put off salvation. You might be like that today. You may be religious; you may come to Sunday school. You may put money in the offering plate.
You may have your name on this church roll. You be a good person. You may even be a Baptist spelled with a capital “B”. But hear me,... if you are not born again you are in need of salvation today!!
The offer of Salvation has a time element to it!
Someone once said that the greatest lie that the devil tells is not that you can’ t be saved, it is that you can get saved tomorrow!
Follow along with me in Luke 14:16
JESUS REPLIED ‘ A CERTAIN MAN WAS PREPARING A GREAT BANQUET AND INVITED MANY GUESTS.
.... I think that it would be well if we looked at the man preparing the banquet as being God, because I think that there is a certain typology here.
AT THE TIME OF THE BANQUET THE SENT HIS SERVANT,
...I like to think of the servant going out to invite people to the supper as being a picture of the holy spirit of God that is at work in this service today.
He sent his servant TO TELL THOSE WHO HAD BEEN INVITED, COME FOR EVERYTHING IS NOW READY! BUT THEY ALL ALIKE BEGAN TO MAKE EXCUSES. THE FIRST SAID I HAVE JUST BOUGHT A FIELD, AND I MUST GO AND SEE IT PLEASE EXCUSE ME.
These are excuses that people give when they are confronted with salvation.
This morning if you are lost and not saved and you hear the call of God and the invitation of the lord to get saved there will be excuses that are given you by the enemy that will keep you in that lost condition!!
One man began to make an excuse ... he said I bough a piece of ground and I don’t even know what I bought.
ANOTHER SAID I JUST BOUGHT FIVE YOLK OF OXEN AND I AM ON MY WAY TO TRY THEM OUT, PLEASE EXCUSE ME.
This man said I just bought these animals and I don’t even know if they can walk, I don’t even know if they can work. I bought them but I don’t even know what I bought ....... what an excuse!!!
That is just as foolish as some of the excuses that people make because they don’t get saved!!
STILL ANOTHER SAID, I JUST GOT MARRIED SO I CAN’T COME.
THE SERVANT CAME BACK AND REPORTED THIS TO HIS MASTER.
THEN THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE BECAME ANGRY, AND ORDERED HIS SERVANT /
GO OUT QUICKLY INTO THE STREETS AND ALLEYS OF THE TOWN AND Bring IN THE POOR, THE CRIPPLED, THE BLIND AND THE LAME.
SIR, THE SERVANT SAID,” WHAT YOU HAD ORDERED HAS BEEN DONE BUT THERE IS STILL ROOM.
THEN THE MASTER TOLD HIS SERVANT GO OUT TO THE ROADS AND COUNTRY LANES AND MAKE THEM COME IN SO THAT MY HOUSE WILL BE FULL.
Now I want you to notice the next verse. I TELL YOU NOT ONE OF THOSE MEN WHO WERE INVITED WILL GET A TASTE OF MY BANQUET.
What the lord Jesus is saying to those religious people that were there, in this message is that he is wanting them to realize is that there is time element involved here!!
He is saying that those people who were invited to that banquet and who refused, ...
When they refused the master then offered the invitation to somebody else!!
He said THOSE WHO WERE INVITED WILL NOT GET A TASTE OF MY BANQUET, it was too late for them to come and partake of the banquet.
-Pause-
I know that people put off getting saved.
Among other things I know that because I know from my own life.
The first time that god showed me that there was a place called hell,... and let me say that there is a hell today.
You don’t here much preaching about it. But there is a hell,... and it’s a place where lost people go.
It’s a place for people who don’t get saved!
In my own life there was a time when I began to say,” god I am a good guy!! And god I don’t lie! And god I am a hard worker!!! And god I always try to do the right thing!!”........
But all that stuff didn’t bring peace into my heart!
I still had that emptiness in my heart.
What the lord Jesus is saying is that you can put off salvation until it is too late!
There are people here who say,” well I’ll get saved tomorrow”
You don’t know what will happen tomorrow!
And you don’t know if you’ll be here tomorrow.
And the word of god tells us that tomorrow is too late.
Because we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. Do you know what’s going to happen tomorrow?
I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.
The bible says,” DO NOT BOAST ABOUT TOMORROW, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT A DAY MAY BRING FORTH.
Friends you may die tomorrow. You may not make it until tomorrow.
The prophet Jeremiah said,” THE HARVEST IS PAST, THE SUMMER HAS ENDED, AND WE ARE NOT SAVED.”
You know how quickly time can go by.
It seems like just yesterday I was in junior high and just yesterday I was leaving home for the first time.
And now I am in a place where I am married with children, and now I am in a place where my hair is gone and my teeth are gone, and time has gone on by!
For some of you it seems that just yesterday you were just getting out of high school and now you are in the latter days of life.
Time passes quickly and we can’t go back to yesterday. We only have today!!
The word of God said,” IN THE TIME OF MY FAVOR I HEARD YOU,..
There is a time when you can go to go god, there is a time when god deals with your heart,
There is a time when god draws you; there is a time when god will accept you.
And he said THERE IS A TIME OF MY FAVOR. And he goes on to say, “ I TELL YOU, NOW IS THE TIME OF GODS FAVOR, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION!! Not tomorrow!!!!!!! ,...
....... Not a week from now. You may not be here a week from now.
The lord said TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.
Now I ‘m not talking about joining the church,.... I believe every saved person should join the church.
But I am not talking about joining the church. And I am not talking about getting baptized!!
Baptism does not save you. Baptism shows what God has done in your heart, and you make it public and take your stand with god.
It is sort of like the wedding ring that I have on my finger. It does not make me married.
I can take it off and I am still married. But I had it put on there (Bless God) to let everybody know that I belong to somebody!!
But If you get baptized, and you Haven't placed your faith in Christ... you will come out of the water…. as a dripping wet ..... UNSAVED sinner. (no apologies here for this painful truth)
-pause-
You don’t know what tomorrow holds; you see tomorrow is too late to get saved!
Why? Because you might die today. The word of god says in Hebrews 9:27 IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MAN ONCE TO DIE! AND AFTER THAT THE JUDGMENT.
When God birthed you into this life, brother he wound you up, and he wound me up and God set the clock of your life...
and.. there will come a day, and God knows when it is; and it will be the day when you leave this world and go out to meet god.
It is appointed unto men! It is a time set!! IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MEN ONCE TO DIE.
God’s got that time set for everybody that’s here today.
ILL--
I think about a dear lady who played the piano at a church in another town.
Her and her family went to church on a Wednesday night and worshipped God and when church was over her and her family got into their car and drove home and went into their house.
And little did they know that there was three men burglarizing their house.
They took the family and tied everybody up. Then they mistreated the mother and the daughter and then they killed everybody and set the house on fire
And in just a few minutes this dear lady and her family were out into and eternity (clap) just like that!!!
And they didn’t have tomorrow.
Thank God they were saved, amen? Thank god that they didn’t meet God unprepared.
Thank God that there names were written in the lambs book of life!!
They Lord said you need to get saved today because this may be the last day that you live your life upon this planet.
Transition...
I am also telling you that you ought to get saved today because it takes "an agreement of the will of the mind" to get saved!!
You can’t get saved unconsciously; or accidently...
Friends you get saved when you agree with God; when God says,” you are a sinner and you need to be born again”
That word repent means to have a change of mind.. It is a change of mind about your sin that is so strong that it also causes you to have a change in direction. You repent of your sin, and turn from your sin. ....
You turn from your sin, and if you didn’t repent, you didn’t get saved.
The Lord says that you have to agree with God. (paraphrased thought)
Hear me,... if you have a stroke tomorrow and it scrambles up your brains you're in a dangerous place!
You ‘re alive but it may already be too late! . And if you loose the reasoning power today,..
Maybe you have a car accident or maybe you mess your mind up with drugs
. Or if you have an aneurysm and you can’t reason ... you could be in big trouble!! !!
You see family..... You’ve got to have your faculties to believe God and believe the word of God to receive Him.
As a side note, for those who are already saved …I believe that you ought to witness wherever you are.
This business of just witnessing on Sunday mornings is not right.
If you are saved and you love god you ought to tell about it wherever you go!!
The bible says,” LET HE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO WHOM HE HATH REDEEMED FROM THE HAND OF THE ENEMY.
Ill----
There was a preacher who witnessed to a man who was a good guy. This man didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t cuss.
He had pretty flowers in his flowerbeds, you’d be glad to have him as your neighbor. But he just wasn’t saved.
And the preacher witnessed to him over and over when he saw him and he would make fun of the witness, and he would make light of the matter of hell and joke about going to hell
, .... And little did the preacher know that in just a few weeks this man had an aneurysm just like that!!
A blood vessel in his brain burst and he passed out on the floor, almost died,. ....... But he lost his mind.
He couldn’t talk, .......and he could not understand . And to my knowledge that’s the way he was until the day he died.
He’d said no for the last time!!
I’m telling you this thing of getting saved or not getting saved, this thing of receiving Jesus or not receiving Jesus is serious business.
Ill----
The word of God says in the book of Daniel chapter 4 that there was a great king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar.
And Nebuchadnezzar went out one day on the balcony of the palace and he looked out over the kingdom of his
And the word of god says that pride welled up in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar began to say all of this is because of me
And all of these improvements are because of me and all of this majesty is because of me.
God heard him, and god said I won’t share my glory with any man.
And god didn’t like it, and you know what happened to Nebuchadnezzar?
God smote him, and he lost his mind!!
For seven years the king was like an animal, for seven years the king walked upon all fours, for seven years,
Sometimes he’d lie out at night and the dew would cover his body, he was like an animal, he’d eat grass.
The word of god says that his fingernails grew until they looked like the claws of an eagle.
He had no dignity, he lost his brain, lost his mind. Couldn’t reason!
After seven years,... by gods grace and gods mercy god let him have his mind back.
And old Nebuchadnezzar got up off his knees and prayed and said,” Oh God, thou art the god, the only God in heaven and earth!!”
And the king gave his heart to god. ..
But you know what would have happened to Nebuchadnezzar if he would have died in the state that he was in?
I can tell you this much.... I sure wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes! !!
-Pause-
You see you know what’s so dangerous today?
It’s that people come to the house of God just like this.
You can sense Gods presence here today.
Gods dealing with lost people and dealing with hearts about getting saved.
and you can sit here and here the preaching of the word of God
And as you do, The spirit of God is dealing with your heart
And saying that, "you need to get saved!!"
Or you sit here, and explain it away. ....... And the next thing you know.... If you do that...
Your heart gets a little harder and a little harder,.. And the preaching doesn’t grip your heart like it used to.
The word says to EXHORT one another,,
That word EXHORT means to encourage or to warn.
ONE ANOTHER DAILY, SO THAT NONE OF YOU MAY BE HARDENED BY SINS DECEITFULNESS.
You know that sin is deceitful, and sin will harden your heart.
There are people who claim to be a Christian and go to the house of god; but also they go out and commit gross sin.
Why? Because the heart’s hard.
Sin hardens the heart.
ILL....
If you look in the Old Testament you will find a man called pharaoh. Moses went to pharaoh and said that there is a great god called, ‘ I am”
And he is the god of heaven and earth.
And Moses would come and God would do a miracle and he would use Moses to do the miracle,
It was God doing the miracle not Moses.
Pharaoh sat there and saw the power of god on display in a way that most of us don’t,, and yet he explained it away. ....
The bible says his heart was hardened.
There are folks that come to the house of god and they will see God save somebody and they’ll say,” well he won’t last very long”
They’ll here the word of God preached and their heart gets a little harder and a little harder and a little harder.
They go deeper and deeper into sin until the time comes when they drop out and they don’t want to here anything else about God. ..
.. And sin doesn’t seem so much wrong anymore.
We live in a day when society smiles at sin.
What I am saying is that if you are in Hollywood and you live in adultery, and you have children in adultery, and you never get saved and you never get born again....
Man everybody thinks that you are great and you’ll probably get the academy award!!
But it’s sin and it’s wicked in the sight of god.
---- Pause-
You see you ought not to put off salvation.
Allot of people put of salvation because they are like the fellow in the bible who was harvesting the crops
And when he was putting all his crops in the barns he decided to build bigger barns,... he said,
” Soul take thine ease, eat drink and be marry.”
Man you’ve got it made, everything’s going your way. You’ve got your retirement, you’ve got your bank account, you’ve got your possessions.
You’ve got enough to eat. Have a good time,.... enjoy life!!!
But the voice comes back on the word of god and said,
“ THOU FOOL!! ... TONIGHT SHALL THY SOUL BE REQUIRED OF Thee, AND THEN WHOM SHALL THESE THINGS BE??
A MANS LIFE CONSISTS NOT IN THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS THAT HE POSSESSES.
I’m telling you that some people get distracted.
You might be thinking, man, if I can just get out of this church, I won’t come back!
You may not,.... but you’ll meet God one day!!!!
ILL...
And just like in the days of Noah. God said that the stench of their sin has raised up into the nostrils of God and god came down and god brought judgment upon this earth. !!
Gods going to bring judgment on this earth again someday!
Expound....
Noah was building an ark. And gods word says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness for a hundred and twenty years.
For a hundred and twenty years every time Noah drove a nail, Noah preached a sermon.
And he told them about God, and he told them about the judgment to come.
And he said,” you need to get saved “ and for a hundred and twenty years nobody listened!!
I imagine that they laughed at Noah like people laugh at the Gospel today.
They call us “bible thumpers” have you ever heard that??
And the news media makes light of Gods people. And they make light of the word of God.
I am going to tell you what brother, ... the story has not ended yet. Amen?
They laughed at Noah that day, and then there came a day that God said Noah go into the ark.
He and his family went onto the ark. And all of the animals went into the ark and for seven days you know what God did?
He left the door open,.. Why? Because he wanted to give everybody an opportunity to get saved!
The door was open, and I think as people passed by Noah would say, “come in!!” But they laughed and said “Noah where’s all that water you were talking about?? “
---
You know what people say to us today?? They say man you guys have been preaching about the lords coming for years,... man where is he??
God said IN A DAY THAT YOU THINK NOT THE SON OF MAN COMETH!!
Brother I am going to tell you what, ... he’s right on schedule!! He’s coming!!
And I believe it’ll be soon. I pray that it’ll be today. And if not today, I pray that it will be tomorrow.!!
We need to live in the awareness of his coming! And if you do that,.. Everything else,, just looses it’s value!! Unless it’s eternal it looses its value!!
What does it matter how much money that you accrue in life if you are going to do and leave it all here??
Never seen anyone take it with them yet,.. Have you??
You see THE STUFF THAT PEOPLE DIE AND LIVE FOR OVER HERE.... THEY WALK ON IN HEAVEN!!
Judas Iscariot is in hell today!!
He walked with Jesus for three and a half years,.. he saw the miracles, hey saw all the wonders that Jesus did.
but he died and went to hell , because he didn’t get saved.
man you think about it! were talking about real people here today.
god knew you ‘d be here today. and god knew you needed to be saved of you’re here lost. ,.
and that’s why over 16 years ago God laid this message on my heart to preach to you today.
and not only today but any day. and to get this message out any way that I can. .
"Don’t sin away your day of grace!"
----- Poems!!!
Someone wrote the poem, “THERE’S A LINE BY US UNSEEN, THAT CROSSES EVERY PATH , ... THAT SEPARATES GODS MERCY FROM HIS WRATH.”
“There is a time I know not when, there is a place I cannot tell that separates the destiny of man for heaven or for Hell!”
------
**** Make a transition here.... Now that the need to be saved today has been emphasized.... Share some of the attractive imagery to show what God can do for you....
Imagery of the courtroom...
Imagery of the Slave Market...
Imagery of Adoption!
---MESSAGE CLOSE----
I’ve said enough… by this point you’ve made up your mind what you are going to do with God’s word as it has been preached to you today.
I’d like for us all to stand and we are going to open the Altars
Now we are going to sing and as we sing I invite you to come and kneel at this altar (on the window side) of prayer and get saved.
God’s time clock is ticking away, and you don’t know how long you have. Don’t put it off any longer…
And as we sing, if you have a family member or a friend or anyone whom God has laid on your heart.
I would like to invite you to come and pray at this other altar to intercede for them. Now I want to be clear. You can’t get saved for them…. But you can ask God to draw them! You can ask God to convict them! You can Cry out to the Lord on their behalf.
Time and eternity will only tell of how many prayers my Grandma sent up to heaven on my behalf in hopes that I would get saved! It took 27 years…. But God answered those prayers!
There came a day when I didn’t wait too late…. And I surrendered all!
As we sing #486 in your hymnal “I Surrender All” please come now!
